Greg didn't sleep as well as he had been and he knew that was due to the heroin, one of the side effects of the drug that he would have to get used to covering up with Nick around. He woke up early and stepped out of the bedroom. He was starting to feel a little edgy, so he grabbed his cigarettes from his jeans pocket and stepped outside on the porch. He sat down at the table outside and lit up a cigarette. He was thinking about how he can get a chance to take his next hit when he heard the sliding glass door open.
"Since when did you start smoking again?" was the first question to come out of Nick's mouth. He looked a bit perturbed. He sat down across from Greg who was stubbing out his cigarette.
"The night you were shot. I was a nervous wreck and I ended up walking across the street to the 7-11 and got a pack. I think this is the first time I have smoked at home. I have smoked some while at work," he shrugged.
"So that is why you take a shower right away when you get home. You didn't want me to smell it on you. Why are you smoking one this morning? What's going on?" Nick was curious why suddenly he felt a need to have one.
"I don't know, I just didn't sleep as well last night so I guess I was a little edgy when I woke up and felt the need for one. I promise not to make it a first thing in the morning ritual," Greg told him.
"Well I rather you not be smoking at all. I'm going to be okay. I got my doctor's appointment today to see if I get clearance to go back to work."
"Maybe that is what is making me nervous, knowing you might be going back to work soon and being in danger again," Greg said to him, realizing himself that it was partially true. It had been nice knowing he was safe at home the last two weeks. Now he was probably going back in a day or two and he would be worried about him again.
"You know there has always been that danger. We both encountered danger on the job. You still have the scars on your back from the lab explosion," Nick reminded him.
Greg subconsciously reached over his shoulder and felt them on his upper back. "Yeah I guess, but they have faded a lot over the years. You're bound to have a scar on your chest from the bullet wound as a reminder."
"Scars are a part of life, Greg. We all have them. Some more than others," Nick said quietly. Greg knew he wasn't just talking about physical scars now. There were those emotional ones too and Greg had plenty of them, although they were more so demons to him.
Nick could see he had put Greg in a sober mood. He really didn't want him that way. It seemed the last two weeks he rarely saw him looking happy. It worried him that he was feeling down.
"Is it really just me being shot that has put you in the mood you have been in lately? Is there something you are not telling me?" Greg looked at him and shook his head. He was so good at lying and Nick still half the time never caught on.
"No, there is nothing I am not telling you. I just worry about you."
"Yeah, well I worry about you too, so we make quiet the pair," Nick chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I guess we do." He was starting to feel the withdrawals come on more. He had to think of something in order to get a chance to be alone for a few minutes.
"Say how about some omelets for breakfast?" He asked. He got up and looked in the refrigerator. He remembered not having gone grocery shopping recently and using the last egg the other day. He turned back to Nick and frowned. "I forgot we need some groceries. Look I can make a quick run to the grocery store and grab a few things that we need and then make breakfast."
"You don't have to do that right now. I am sure we have something we can scrounge up for breakfast," Nick said to him.
"Hey, you need to eat a healthy breakfast. You are still recovering. I won't be too long. Just grabbing a few necessities, I mean we need stuff anyway at some point." Greg really hoped he would just let him go.
"Fine, Chef. You can run to the grocery store. It just better be a damn good omelet if you are making the trip for it," Nick smirked.
"It'll be one of the best you ever had. Let me go put on some regular clothes real quick and I will leave," Greg told him.
He got dressed quickly. He decided he would go to the store first and buy the stuff. Then he would find a good place to pull over before going home where he could quickly prepare the heroin. It's not like he hadn't done it before in his car. He used to shoot up at all sorts of places.
He had to wait a few minutes to ride off the high before heading home after shooting up. His trip took a little longer but he could say the store was busy or he had trouble finding what he wanted.
He walked in and Nick was busy reading the newspaper. "Anything interesting going on?" Greg asked him as he brought in the couple of grocery bags and started unloading them in the kitchen.
"Yeah apparently there is possibly a new serial killer out there," he said to Greg. He looked at him seriously. "I'm grateful you have a regular job now."
Greg finally looked over at him and noticed he looked concerned. "Why do you say that?" Nick looked back down at the newspaper article. "Two dead male prostitutes in two weeks, both were killed in a similar manner with the same word written in blood on the wall of the motel rooms. 'Whore'"
Greg felt a chill go down his back. "Really? Is there, uh, names published?"
Nick only now realized that Greg might have known them. "Yes, one was James Roberson and the other was Mike Homberg." Greg ran a hand through his hair. "Shit!" He suddenly had to sit down. He sat across the table from Nick. "Can I see that?" He asked, pointing to the newspaper.
Nick handed him the newspaper. As he started reading the article, he spoke. "I knew Mike. We both worked at Rocco's. Stabbed five times both of them, damn."
"Yeah and apparently beaten pretty good too prior to the stabbings. Apparently the guy cleans up the scene pretty good otherwise, not leaving any evidence behind that can identify him it says. I bet Jack has more details on it," Nick added. "Are you going to be okay?"
Greg tore his eyes from the newspaper and looked at him. "Yeah it's just freaky, you know?" Nick reached out his hand and took Greg's. "Yes I know."
"Damn, I kind of lost my appetite now," Greg frowned.
"Say if you don't want to cook, no worries. I can make something for myself." Greg looked up at him as he stood up from the table. "Thanks."
Greg was glad he took a hit not long ago. Hearing that news would have really worked him up, this way he was a little calmer because of the heroin running through his veins. He wondered if this guy doing these killings was on the books. Usually if a 'date' was set up by Rocco, was recorded in his files. Granted Rocco no longer ran the place but someone else took over as he knew it was still in business. It could be this guy was a past customer of them and knew how to contact them outside the books. Greg had a few like that. Shane had been one of them. Frankie on the other hand was always on the books, as he wouldn't be with him unless Rocco arranged it. It was five times too many anyways to be with him.
Nick noticed he seemed deep in thought. "Hey, you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Greg looked to see what he was making. He had some waffles that he had bought too. He was a little hungry. "Okay, give me what you are having."
They ended up eating in silence, because Nick figured if Greg wanted to talk he would when he was ready about the situation. He was right. After Greg finished his waffles he sat back and sighed.
"Mike and I once got totally trashed together. It's amazing I can still remember it, honestly. And when I say trashed, it was mostly alcohol. Anyway, we got to talking about our former lives. He had gone to medical school and shortly after getting a residency at a hospital, he was in a freak accident that permanently damaged his right hand. He wasn't able to hold his medical instruments properly. They dropped his residency after his injury and he couldn't find a job anymore. That also meant he couldn't pay his student loans anymore. He had constant pain in his hand too. He started on heroin the same way I did, with the pain killers. To pay for his habit and his bills, he started selling himself for sex."
"Anyway we kind of bonded that night after realizing we both had fairly successful lives until painkillers got the better of us. I really didn't see him much after that night and I'm not really sure why," he looked away, soberly.
"I'm sorry you lost someone you knew," Nick said, not really being sure it was the right thing to say but felt he had to say something.
"I lose a lot of people," he replied quietly, still looking away.
Nick stood up and went around the table and knelt down so he could be at eye level with him. He noticed his eyes seemed watery. "You have not lost me."
Greg started trembling. "What if I screw up so bad one day you don't want me anymore?"
"That's never going to happen, Babe," Nick promised him. But Greg snorted. "You say that now but you might feel differently in the moment."
"Have I not seen you at your worst already, pretty much?" Nick asked him. Greg thought about it a moment and figured he might be right but that was not the same as being clean as long as he was and then ruining his sobriety after he promised he would not.
"I guess but I don't know…things happen," Greg said as he wiped away a tear that fled from his eye. "Things do happen, but we get past them and move forward again." Nick wondered if it was his recent slip with the OxyContin that made him feel this way. He wasn't going to say anything about it though at this time. He knew it was probably just realizing that his former friend died doing a job he had done less than a year ago.
Nick got up and grabbed Greg's empty plate and then his. "Come on; let's not dwell on this all day. I have a doctor's appointment to get to and you have work later on."
Greg's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh by the way, I am going in a little earlier tonight. The newer part time guy needed today off so I am covering his shift."
"Oh, okay. Then I guess you won't be going with me to the doctor," Nick pouted.
"I'm sorry. I completely forgot when I offered I could," Greg lied. He had no shift earlier. He figured he would go see Shane before work to get his Smack and shoot up before working his normal shift.
"It's okay. I can handle going myself. So I guess we should clean up the dishes here. We can then catch up on a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones before we both have to go," Nick said to him.
"Sounds good to me."
x
Greg was pulling into the parking garage at the Hilton. He had called Shane once he pulled out of the driveway from home to see if he was around so he could get some more Heroin from him. Shane told him he was and to come right over. He would meet him downstairs in the lobby again to bring him up to his penthouse since he needed the special key on the elevator to get to that floor.
They weren't alone in the elevator so they did not say anything until they got off on their floor. Shane opened the door to his room and let Greg go in ahead. "You must have heard the news. You look a little shaken up."
Greg nodded and sat down on the sectional sofa. "Yeah, Nick saw it in the newspaper and told me about it. When I saw Mike's name it kind of hit a chord with me, you know?"
Shane nodded his head. "Yeah, I knew him too. The other guy's name didn't sound familiar. It's scary thinking there is a serial killer out there. I bet you are glad you are not doing that anymore." Shane had sat down and was preparing a syringe for himself. He had handed Greg his own stash to make his own syringe worth.
"Yes, like I said, going back to this is bad enough. I will not go back to doing that, especially hearing about this now. It was dangerous before with wackos like Frankie who just liked to smack you around for the fun of it." Greg started heating up the plastic spoon. "I really knew I needed this before work today. I know some of my co-workers who know about my past will probably be asking if I knew them. It was hard enough talking to Nick about it, but he witnessed me in those days. These guys at work didn't."
"Well glad I could help you with your need. We can just sit back and try to relax a little before you have to leave for work," Shane told him. Greg nodded as he tied off the tourniquet on his arm. He prepared his needle and shot up. He leaned back once he finished and let the drug make him feel better at least for a little while during that initial rush.
After a few minutes he spoke to Shane. "You're a decent guy, Shane. I don't know why you have not found an actual boyfriend. Or do you just prefer not having a steady guy?"
Shane shrugged. "I don't know. I've had boyfriends but I always run into them being gold diggers in the long run. They really just want me because I am rich. The one guy I really cared about years ago died in a car wreck. Since then I have kind of been a loner overall. I guess knowing I am paying for the guy upfront makes me feel in more control."
Greg couldn't help but giggle. "In control…I think more people who solicit a prostitute are out for that. Controlling who they want, what they want, how much they will pay for what they want, and how and when they want it."
Shane couldn't help but agree with him. "I suppose you are right. I mean you should know, you were on the other side. If you and Nick weren't a couple, would you ever get a prostitute?"
"Hell no! Knowing what I know as being one and seeing half the others, no. I would probably just stay high a lot more often," Greg laughed.
"Different strokes for different folks," Shane smirked.
They ended up talking a bit longer before Greg realized he had to leave to be to work on time. He said his goodbye and took his stash for the next few days to get him by.
Nick got home from the doctor's office after getting his approval to go back to work and was about to call Jack when there was a knock at the door. He looked out and it was their new neighbor, Joe. He opened the door and greeted him. "Hey, how you doing?" Nick asked him.
"Um, okay. Look, I need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?" Joe seemed rather serious about something.
"Yeah, sure come on in." Nick walked with him into the living room and they both took a seat. "What's up?" Nick asked.
"Well, it's something I had to think about a while before deciding to tell you what I saw." Joe said mysteriously.
"Did you see a crime?" Nick asked, thinking maybe he was nervous about going to the regular police but since he knew one personally he would ask him.
"Um , not really. Shit, I'm just going to tell you. I've seen Greg two days in a row now meeting one of our VIP guests in the hotel and going up to his room," Joe said quickly.
Nick's face suddenly became dark. "What exactly are you implying?"
"Look, I know about Greg's past. I mean it was all over the news here. And yes, I know I only moved here but I was curious about my neighbors. I do that kind of thing. It was not hard to find information on the net about you two and especially his past."
"So it is in his past, what makes you think he is doing something wrong?" Even as Nick asked it, he knew something was wrong. Greg never mentioned going anywhere but to work and being at work the last couple of days.
"Well I happen to know this guy is a local rich playboy who is staying in our penthouse suite while his mansion is renovated. I've seen him bring, um, escorts up to his room before," Joe said nervously.
Nick had to take a slow, calming breath hearing this news suddenly. "What makes you think Greg is having sex with him? Maybe he just knows him from the Bar he works at and is being friendly with him."
"I mean, I guess that is possible, but when I saw Greg leave yesterday, he looked damn relaxed and happy. He never seems to look as happy when I see him here."
Nick ran his hand through his hair. "Do you have the name of this guy?"
Joe shook his head. "I can't just give you that information. We do have to protect our guests' rights."
"So you saw Greg but he didn't see you?" Nick asked again.
"I was behind the front desk working. They never stopped there. Plus I don't think he remembered I worked there. Otherwise I don't think he would have been so obvious."
Nick finally stood up and started pacing. "It has to be something else. I can't see him cheating on me." Then Nick stopped suddenly. Greg had mentioned to him in the past who some of his 'clients' were. He remembered him saying one of his favorite was some rich guy that was nothing like Will had been. He was trying to remember if he mentioned a name. One finally dawned on him.
"Is this guy's name Shane?" Joe didn't even need to answer; Nick saw it register in his eyes. He waved his hand to stop when Joe was about to deny knowing him. "Never mind. Look I need to process this alone and deal with Greg on my own. Thanks for letting me know."
Joe nodded soberly and knew it was time for him to leave.
Once Nick closed the door after he left, he grabbed a small metal vase that was on the table and threw it at the wall. "Damn it!"
