Beau Black had been right about one thing, for sure: Titus hated having to sit around while he was working a case. He’d spent the last four days reading the books he’d brought along, ignoring the occasional silverfish that appeared on the walls of his new motel room. He’d tried to break up the monotony with shopping for clothing to supplement what he’d packed, and to try and look less “cop”. It had resulted in several trips to the local stores that had left him increasingly more stressed about the drivers in this state and far more inclined to just stay safely tucked into his motel room, no matter how infested it was turning out to be.

The call to his department head had gone about as well as he’d predicted, with Sandoval initially chewing him out for making so little progress before finally agreeing to talk to the chief on his behalf to petition for an extension on the timeline. Titus had seriously had to keep his temper in check in the face of Sandoval’s casual dismissal of the severity of the case when he’d been told about the possibility of more missing persons and their tenuous link to the teen he’d been sent to find. And he’d almost forgotten to ask for an extension on the shirt checked out of evidence, only remembering as Sandoval was trying to say goodbye. 

It was as Titus was pondering whether any online retailers would ship to a motel room that his phone alerted to a text from an unknown number. “Danni has info, 4 pm” it informed him, followed by an address. A second text came through about 30 seconds later reading, “It’s Beau, BTW.” Looking up the address on his GPS told him it was a residence in a smaller town not too far away, though he’d have to leave within the next ten minutes or so to get there on time. That left just enough time for him to change into one of the new Hawaiian print button downs he’d picked up and a comfortable pair of jeans, as he wanted to prove to Beau that he actually owned said jeans. He also saved the number into his phone before texting back a quick, “See you soon”. 

The drive was probably the least hazardous one Titus had experienced yet. He found that as he got further out of the city proper, there were less cars on the road and therefore less shitty drivers behind the wheel. With the radio firmly tuned to a country station, the drive was almost enjoyable. And, Titus admitted to himself, it might be nice to see Beau again. He’d found himself wondering more than once what the Lyco had been doing while his sibling was out gathering information for them. Though Titus swore to himself that the first thing he was going to do when he arrived was ask Beau how in the hell “Jamul” was pronounced.

The house Titus eventually pulled up in front of was a small ranch style prefab on what he guessed was a couple of acres of land. A white vinyl rail fence spanned each side of the driveway, which had a cheerful yellow subcompact parked in front of a two car garage. The fence only blocked the front yard from the street and didn’t continue up the sides of the property, which Titus thought was an “interesting” choice. Faded blue paint colored the weathered siding on the house itself, accentuated by grey fake shutters on the windows to match the grey trim at the eaves and lintels. For some reason, none of this seemed like choices Beau would have made. Maybe his sibling had been responsible for the colors. The house seemed to have more of a Danni feel to it, as far as Titus was concerned.

But the address matched the one he’d been sent. Titus pulled his rented hybrid up to the curb and parked, running his fingers through his hair in the mirror before getting out. A quick walk up to the front door and Titus rapped on it solidly before taking a step back to wait.

“Oh! You must be the gentleman Tobias has been expecting.” The woman who answered definitely held a strong resemblance to Danni. She was also very much human, with a friendly smile and laugh lines accentuating her chocolate brown eyes. Grey hair pulled up in a bun topped her head, with a few frizzy strands escaping to frame her round face. She was dressed fairly conservatively in a long flowing skirt and loose green blouse, which Titus appreciated immensely as it made him feel comfortable with his own choice of attire for once. The only thing that made him stifle a frown was the smoldering cigarette held between two of the woman’s fingers. He tried hard to not judge people, but it was also difficult for Titus to fathom how anyone could still smoke in this day and age.

Before Titas could inquire who “Tobias” was, Beau arrived behind the woman. “Yes, Ma. This is Titus. You gonna let him in, or just make him stand on the stoop?”

“Oh! Where’s my manners? Of course, come in, come in!” Beau’s mother stepped back to make room for Titus to squeeze inside. “I’m Isabelle, dear. Do you want something to drink? I just made up some orange juice from concentrate.”

“I’ve got it, Ma,” Beau interrupted. “Don’t forget to save some money for your dinner tonight.”

“I will, I will,” she assured her son, reaching up to pat him on the cheek with that hand not holding the cigarette. “The Elks always have burgers available for Bingo Night, so I’ll be sure to get one on my way in.”

“Good choice, Ma. Proud of you.” 

Isabelle beamed at her son’s praise, then slipped past Titus to head toward the car in the driveway. “And remember, Tobias: No boys in your room!” she teased over her shoulder.

“Christ, Ma! I’m 37, not 13!” Beau bellowed back.

Titus raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was usually ‘no girls allowed’.”

“And now he knows I’m gay! Thanks, Ma!”

Isabelle just laughed as she got into the little yellow car. Which seemed to perfectly fit her personality, in Titus’ opinion.

With a shake of his head, Beau huffed a sigh. Though Titus also noted the bemused smile touching the other man’s lips. “Well, come on then,” Beau commented as he shut the door. “Brisket’s about ready. Figgered you were gettin’ tired of eatin’ out all the time. We can talk while we eat.”

“Nice place,” Titus commented as he followed Beau deeper into the house, trying hard to not ogle Beau’s backside. The ratty cutoffs paired with a dark blue crop top he was sporting today didn’t make that easy, though.

“Ma and Danni live up front here,” Beau explained. “I got my own little place in the back. Doesn’t stop Danni from invading it, though,” he added, sounding resigned.

Titus chuckled in sympathy. “My cousins were the same way,” he commiserated. “Couldn’t keep them out of my room, no matter how much I complained to my parents.”

“The other part of it is my nose, of course. Don’t know how Danni can stand the stink in here.” Beau waved a hand in front of his face for effect as he pulled aside a sliding glass door and let them both out onto a shared patio slab. “Ma smokes worse’n a wet campfire.”

“And we gotta watch her gambling,” Danni added from where they were clacking together a set of tongs near a meat smoker. They were at least dressed this time, though the booty shorts and eye searingly orange muscle tank were definitely a choice. “She’d blow the entire month’s grocery money if we didn’t keep an eye on things.”

A thought occurred to Titus. “Beau, how come you sound like you’re from Texas and Danni doesn’t?”

Both siblings laughed and gave each other a knowing look before Beau answered. “Well, I tried to play into the ‘gay cowboy’ stereotype for a while, but the only part of it that stuck was the drawl.”

“Didn’t help that the horses were afraid of him,” Danni added.

Beau smirked back at them. “I think they knew the only thing I could ride well was the other cowboys.”

Titus found himself blushing again at the complete lack of filters both siblings seemed to possess. Apparently, no topic was taboo between them.

Taking the tongs from Danni, Beau lifted the lid on the smoker just long enough to poke at the meat inside. “Yeah, that’s done,” he declared. “Danni, hold that plate over here for me, then bring out the beans and coleslaw from my kitchen.”

It wasn’t until they were all sitting down at the patio table that Beau allowed the conversation to turn to what Danni had discovered. “So. Fill us in,” he finally instructed his sibling.

“Right.” Danni swallowed their mouthful before launching into it. “So Domingo got back to me early this morning. He checked in with half a dozen other haunts. The good news, Titus, is that your missing Lyco was definitely spotted alive and well. At least, as of 36 hours ago or so. She ended up in Mike’s place over in Spring Valley. He said she was telling people she was supposed to meet some Nostu guy there, to get a batch of Simp syringes. Mike saw her reading one of the rag sheets while she waited. He didn’t know if her guy ever showed, though.” Danni took another bite and chewed for a bit before continuing. “That’s not the only interesting thing, though. Domingo says that not only were his missing regulars not seen at other haunts, the other places have been seeing a few of their regulars go missing, too. Not too many; no one reported more than a handful. But these were familiar faces with nowhere else to go. Lycos and Nostu that were homeless or couch surfing. A couple of runaways like your teen. But mostly folk that had no friends or family except those they saw at their haunt.”

Titus frowned into his meal, pushing the beans around as he considered this new information. “Has anyone reported them missing?”

Danni scoffed. “In this town? Hell no. The cops don’t give a shit. No offense, Titus, but you’re the first cop I’ve met in a long time that actually got off their ass and looked for one of us. We’ve tried taking this to the cops before, but a missing Lyco is just another Simp junkie that skipped town to avoid legal repercussions in their eyes. And a missing Nostu is just another dealer off the streets.”

Though they sounded bitter, Titus didn’t blame Danni for it one bit. It was an attitude he’d encountered himself far more than he liked to admit. Bile soured the flavor of the delicious smoked brisket he’d been contemplatively chewing and he had to force himself to swallow the bite. 

“Is there any way for me to talk to this Mike?” Titus hedged. “Would he even speak to a human like me?”

“Doubtful,” Danni replied immediately. “I know it sucks, but a lot of us don’t even bother to talk to the cops anymore. They come sniffing around and we just pull up stakes. It’s safer for us to not encounter them in the first place. We don’t wanna get beat senseless or left to smolder in the back of a black and white. But I’ll tell you what: I know I can get Mike to talk to me. If you want, I can take like a questionnaire or some shit to him. Don’t know if it’ll help, but since you seem to actually be on the up and up, I’m willing to at least give it a shot.”

“It’s already more info than I had before,” Titus allowed. He turned the idea over in his mind a few times before agreeing, though, weighing the risks to Danni against the potential information he could glean from this new source and whether he’d be able to get any new leads without speaking to the informant himself. There was the potential that he wouldn’t get anything new at all, or that Danni wouldn’t know the right questions to ask about the information Mike could provide. But if he didn’t take this opportunity, the case was likely to go completely cold. “Okay, I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” he finally agreed. “Is that something you could do this evening? Knowing Corinne is alive gives us a bigger window for finding her, but missing persons cases can be incredibly time sensitive. A lot can happen in a short time. And I’ve already asked my supervisor for an extension on closing this case,” he admitted, ashamed on behalf of the entire rest of his precinct. 

“Yeah, I can do that.” Titus felt a wave of relief at Danni’s easy agreement. “Just get me a list of what you want me to ask him.”

Titus nodded. “After we finish eating,” he replied. “Beau was right that this is the best food I’ve had since this whole trip started and there’s no way I’m letting it get cold.”