Page 72 of Switch
PJ leans toward the driver.“How do you know all this?”
“My cousin knew a guy who worked for him.First time he came up short on his take?They broke both his arms.Next time?”The driver pretends to blow dust from his hand.“Nobody’s seen him since.”
“I’m surprised anyone would risk moving in on Brennan’s turf,” PJ says more to himself than anyone else
“Who’s Brennan?”This is the second time his name’s been mentioned.
“Old guard in Belle Argo,” the driver explains.“Legacy local crime boss.His old man ran shit back in the day.According to talk around town, Ghost probably figures ’im for an easy mark.”
PJ shakes his head.His fingers are laced together in his lap, his thumbs tapping against one another fast and steady.His jaw is set.Meanwhile, I’ve got a gnawing sensation in my chest.Something big is going on here.Every town has crime, but I was unaware of it in Belle Argo until now.
This isn’t one of my books.Whatever it is we’re running into is absolute recklessness.There’s no doubt in my mind that PJ would go without me, however.I won’t let that happen.
When we stumble out of the car beside a small but well-kept church, our driver speeds away as if he’s just heard his house is on fire.Looking around, I can see why people don’t come here.
The church is the only building that doesn’t appear to be crumbling or moldering, and even it has window bars and a bit of graffiti on the side wall—some symbol that doesn’t make sense to me.The building’s white paint glows in the moonlight, looking like a safe haven in a sea of properties that have been abandoned or should have been.
“It’s this way.”PJ shivers and starts walking.I’m feeling chilled myself, even though the temperature is in the nineties this evening.
“Talk to me, PJ.Who is Evans, who is Brennan, and what’s so important that we needed to come to a part of town where the rideshare driver was afraid to even stop the car?”
PJ stops, his body tense, eyes flashing in the moonlight.“Most of the people on the East End aren’t dangerous.They’re only trying to survive.Belle Argo’s not an easy town to live in if you’re poor.”
I haven’t been poor since I married Marina, but things weren’t always that way.“I get it.Most of Belle Argo is gorgeous architecture, beaches, and resorts.The cost of living is high.Marina inherited a ton from her parents when they died, and she’d always wanted to live at the beach.Otherwise, I’d still be back in Philly, in an apartment with a fire ant infestation.”
We both take a moment to look around.The street is deserted and eerily silent.The only sound is a rumble of thunder in the distance.Great.
I reach for PJ’s hand.“Come on, Keeper.Last thing we need is to get caught in a downpour.”
“Evans is my best friend,” PJ says after we’ve gone about half a block.“My brother.We were in foster care together.We had plans, a dream we were working on together, and then one day he disappeared.”
“What kind of plans?”
PJ’s shrug is stilted.His charming grin’s been replaced by a hard gaze and firmly pressed lips.I take in the street as we walk, grateful the moon is full.There’s a lamppost every few houses, but only one is still working.
“What kind of plans?”I ask again.
A ghost of a smile appears on PJ’s face.“Ice cream.Evans had food allergies.Loved ice cream but couldn’t eat it without getting sick.He had this dream of opening a little place by the beach serving stuff he could eat.We’d do it together, and I’d run the business while he made the food.That’s what I’ve been working on, getting a business degree.Except we were never going to save enough working minimum wage jobs, and real estate’s astronomical near the beach.”
He huffs a breath and glances my way, as if he’s suddenly remembered I live by the beach.“Anyway.One night while he was waiting tables, a guy offered Evans cash to go with him back to his hotel.That’s when Evans got the idea about escorting.A few days later he left our place and didn’t come home.”
More thunder.I scan the sky for lightning but don’t see any.The storm must not be too close yet.
“And you’ve been looking for Evans ever since?”My heart aches for him.
“I’ve looked everywhere.Showed his picture around town.Called morgues in, like, ten different counties.I checked hospitals.”He stops, staring at me.“There’s something you should know.”
A ball of dread forms my stomach.“Tell me.”
“The only thing I knew when Evans disappeared was that he’d gone to talk to this guy Brennan about a job.I went to see him and ended up agreeing to work for him, so it would be easier to look for Evans.Those dates I’m always going on?Brennan’s the one who sets them up.”
Wait.“You’re saying you’re a?—?”
“I haven’t fucked them, Fallon.Any of them.”He stops short.“I haven’t had sex with anybody but you in the better part of a year.It’s companionship and dinners.Charity functions.Someone needs a date for a wedding.Once, I even put on a pair of booty shorts and danced at a party while businessmen smoked cigars and looked me over like I was a heifer at the state fair.”
“This is…” I don’t know what to say here.My too-young student Dom is also a…sex worker?My brain can’t process this.“Fucking unbelievable.”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you,” PJ rushes to add.“You deserved to know, but it’s not the exactly the sort of thing you casually bring up over coffee in the morning.”
