in his eyes just as easily as he got lost sometimes in the blue of the water as he stood near the waves. He swallowed and said good night to both Tucker and Joshie, thanked them for dinner, and then left the apartment.
He closed the door to his home behind him only to have it open and Terrance breeze inside. “Did you find out anything?”
“Unfortunately not. He doesn’t know who the man who hired him was, and he played on Tucker’s desperation the way we feared. I think we’re going to have to be watchful for further activity.”
“And what about the package in your closet? We have to do something with it. We aren’t to be involved in any illegal activity, and being in possession of that money is very illegal.”
Gerome smiled and shrugged. “How so? I didn’t do anything to get it other than pick it up off the beach. I can get rid of it quickly if the need arises, but….” He was about to continue when a knock interrupted him. His apartment was turning into Grand Central Station.
Gerome opened the door and Richard came in with a six-pack of beer, which he settled on the counter.
“You may as well start at the beginning,” Terrance groused before grabbing a beer and flopping into one of the chairs. “He didn’t find out anything, and we were talking about the package in his closet.” He tipped the bottle to his lips. “I told him he should get rid of it.”
“Why haven’t you?” Richard asked.
“I think we need to try to locate these people, and that bundle may be needed as bait. The thing is, I don’t want it just landing in their laps. If they’ve lost that much cash, then that’s a pretty expensive cost of doing business. Maybe they’ll pick somewhere else the next time.” Gerome grinned.
“Then what do we do?” Terrance muttered.
“We watch without looking like we’re watching,” Gerome explained. “You’ll hear things at the bar because news concentrates there. Both of you. I’ll watch after Tucker, and—”
Terrance snickered. “I see the way you want to watch him, all right.”
“Stop being an ass,” Richard told him without malice. “So he likes the kid. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Says the guy who already has someone….” Terrance finished the beer and asked for another one.
Gerome handed him one. “Is that what this Grumpy Bear routine is about? You’re jealous?” What the hell was Gerome supposed to do with that? “I can understand, I guess.” He grinned. “Who wouldn’t be jealous of me?”
Richard preened, and Gerome took a swipe at him, missing by a mile, but at least the tension was broken.
“Can we get past this?” Richard asked, pointedly looking at Gerome.
“With enough beer I can get by anything,” Terrance quipped, and Gerome smacked his leg. “Okay, let’s do this thing.” He lifted his current bottle as a sort of salute. “What are we doing?”
“You both saw the man at the bar….”
“Yeah, the one making trouble for Puppy-Dog Eyes.” He snickered, and Gerome wondered just how much Terrance had already had to drink. “I mean Tucker.”
“Terrance, knock it off,” Richard snapped more forcefully than Gerome had heard him in a while. “This is a danger to all of us.”
Terrance shrugged. “No, it’s not. It’s some guys doing what the fuck they want to do, and it has shit-all to do with us. We lie low, live our lives, and should stay out of it. But we can’t, because Gerome has the hots for Tucker and he’s already interfered. So now we’re involved, Tucker is living across the hall, and Gerome is making eyes at him the same way you were with Daniel.” He finished the second beer, belched like a sailor, and eyed the next one before pushing it slightly away. “What the hell are we? I don’t get it. We should bust open that bundle of money, use it to make ourselves a little more comfortable, and spend the fuck out of it. We can save our paychecks, and no one is going to think twice about it.”
“What if it’s not real?” Richard asked. “What if this is worse than drugs—counterfeiting?” He held his head. “It’s trouble, and we need to figure out what’s happening on our doorstep.” He stood and stalked over to Terrance. “Like it or not, this is our home. Both of you. We have to keep the shit off our turf. Period.” He turned and seemed almost haunted. “Do you want to be relocated? I sure