Pandemic Page 13

  “What’s off the service road?”

  “The Bartlettville Motel.” He blushed and sent Wheat a sideways glance. “It’s clean, or it was the last time I was there.”

  Wheat felt an unexpected flare of jealousy. Laurie had gone to a motel with another guy? He knew it was not only stupid to resent someone else for bedding his boyfriend, it was unfair to Laurie as well, since they hadn’t met at that point. At least Laurie hadn’t let anyone he’d hooked up with spank him.

  He reached over and gripped Laurie’s hand, and Laurie gave him a confused smile. Okay, Wheat would just have to make sure he was the only one Laurie went to motels with from now on—Oh, good grief. He shook his head. What was he thinking? Motels weren’t likely to be an option anymore, at least not for an illicit rendezvous.

  Meanwhile, Althea had been following Laurie’s directions, and sure enough, there was the motel. Even though it looked fairly new, there was an air of abandonment about it, thanks in part to sheets of newspaper and other trash driven by the wind tangling with bushes and ornamental plants.

  “Wait,” Laurie said as Althea was about to steer the SUV to the portico in front of the office. “I’m gonna check this out.”

  “I can help,” Althea said as she started to unbuckle her seat belt.

  “Thea, no!” Jo protested.

  “No,” Laurie agreed. “I need you to stay here. If things go south, you get everyone out of Dodge.”

  She didn’t question him, just put the SUV in Park. Laurie opened the passenger door and eased out.

  Wheat felt cold. Why was Laurie holding the carving knife and not the revolver? “Shit,” Wheat hissed in a harsh whisper. “What are you doing?

  “What?”

  “The knife?”

  “If anyone’s in there, I don’t want to let them know they have company.”

  “That means you intend to go hand-to-hand?”

  “No—” Laurie started to deny his plan, but Wheat wasn’t buying it. He folded his arms across his chest and tapped his foot against the SUV’s floor.

  “Laurie!” Jo stared at him with wide, scared eyes.

  “Great. You’ve got my sister worried. It’s fine, Jo. Stay put and don’t let Vic get loose.” He turned to Wheat. “You stay put, too.”

  Wheat ignored him and started to get out of the SUV. He was definitely going with his boyfriend.

  “Morrison,” Father snapped. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “I forbid—”

  “You don’t get to do that.” He wasn’t going to argue with his father at this point. He had a boyfriend who could be walking into danger, and Wheat planned to be there with him.

  “Wheat.”

  Jesus, what did Althea want from him? He turned his head to glare at her, but she was holding out a baseball bat.

  “You might need this. Laurie’s right. You don’t want to make any noise.” She must have seen his surprise, because she gave him a grim smile. “I keep it under my seat. A woman can’t be too careful.”

  “Thank you.” He took the bat and left the SUV.

  Laurie paused a few steps away to scowl at him. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going with you. Don’t argue with me about it.” Wheat used the voice he knew would get Laurie to obey him.

  Laurie ground his teeth and continued to scowl, but as Wheat had hoped, his boyfriend backed down and didn’t offer further objections. They made their way across the parking lot, darting from shrub to shrub and ducking behind the columns that supported the portico. “I feel like I’m playing cops and robbers,” Laurie muttered as they reached the front door.

  “What?”

  “Cops and—never mind. I’m gonna open the door and duck in. Stay behind me.”

  “Laurie…”

  Laurie gripped Wheat’s arm and stared into his eyes. “I need you to watch my back.”

  “Okay.” His mouth was dry, and he was certain this wasn’t a good idea, but he wasn’t letting Laurie go into what could possibly be a dangerous situation without him.

  Laurie put his weight against one of the glass doors and began to push it sideways. It didn’t make much progress, so Wheat threw his weight behind it in hopes that would help. After a stressful minute or so, it did, and they got it open. “We need something to prop this open,” Laurie panted, his back pressed to the door.

  He was right. They might not have time to fiddle with it if things turned pear-shaped.

  Wheat looked around. “Will that work?” He pointed to a large ornamental rock that was in the flowerbed off to the side.

  “Yeah.” Laurie sounded relieved, and Wheat rushed to the rock. It was as heavy as he expected, but he managed to manhandle it in place. “All righty, then.” Laurie took out his flashlight, and nodded to Wheat, who had the flashlight that had been in the bugout bag. They’d decided it would be more useful for Wheat to carry it.

  They entered the lobby of the motel, and a distinctive odor struck Wheat’s nostrils. He’d never smelled it before, but he knew he’d never forget it.

  “It will be dark before we know it,” Laurie said. “We have to hurry.”

  Fading sunlight streaming into the lobby through the door illuminated it enough for the time being, but with power out and the sun setting soon, they’d need their flashlights.

  Wheat glanced down the length of the lobby. It wasn’t very long—it wasn’t a very large motel. It didn’t even have enough floors to need an elevator. “What’s the plan?” he whispered. The silence was eerie, and it unnerved him.

  “We have to find room keys.” He slid the knife into his belt and gestured toward a board behind the receptionist’s counter. Although most of the spaces were empty, a number of keys hung there.

  “Don’t they use keycards?”

  “No, they were going for a vintage look, so they used regular keys, rotary phones in the rooms, four-poster beds, stuff like that.” Laurie studied the area before taking a cautious step forward.

  Wheat caught his arm. “All those missing keys…Are all those rooms occupied?”

  “I don’t know. People might have left them in their rooms when they took off or they might have just taken the keys with them. That was what the motel was counting on. A lot of free publicity.” He drew in a shaky breath, and for the first time, Wheat realized how nervous Laurie was. “Do me a favor? Check out the breakfast area.” He gestured toward a fairly large alcove across from the reception counter. “Any fruit is probably rotten by now, but see if there are any of those individual boxes of cereal.”

  Laurie made a competent leader. Wheat found he enjoyed taking orders from his boyfriend outside of bed as much as his boyfriend enjoyed taking them when they were naked. He turned on his flashlight—the breakfast area was windowless, and it was dark—and did a quick scan.

  A few tables laden with spilled cups of coffee and discarded plates of half-finished waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast were in the middle of the room. The chairs surrounding the tables had been pushed back or overturned in the rush to leave. Whatever had been on the counters was long gone, probably taken by looters like the ones Laurie had told Wheat had ransacked his parents’ house.

  “Oh God.”

  Wheat dropped the flashlight and spun around, his grip tight on the baseball bat Althea had given him. “What is it?”

  Laurie was backing away fast from the counter. “I…I think I found the receptionist.”

  Wheat rushed to Laurie’s side. Lying on the floor behind the reception counter was the body of a woman. So that was the cause of the cloying odor.

  It was hard to tell her age, but going by the style of clothes she wore, she was probably in her mid to late-twenties. What was obvious was that she’d been dead for some time.

  Laurie raised haunted eyes to him. “I knew her. She worked the night shift, and sometimes I’d see her. I’d talk to her about her husband and kids, how well this job worked out for her be
cause she got to put them to bed and still be home in time to get them ready for school…Oh God, the kids.” He swallowed heavily, and Wheat slid an arm around him and urged him away from the sight of the dead woman.

  “She doesn’t look as if someone killed her,” Wheat murmured, trying to offer a measure of comfort.

  “No, but she died alone. I just hope she wasn’t scared or in pain.”

  “From what you told me, and from what Prescott said, it doesn’t sound as if pain is involved.” Discomfort, perhaps, but wouldn’t anyone be afraid to be alone when they died? Wheat shivered. And if there was a God, it would have been fast, before she realized how sick she was and that the odds were her family was just as sick.

  “She must have fallen ill some time during that night and died.” Laurie leaned into his embrace. “Nights during the week were awfully quiet, and if people were already leaving town, no one might even realize it. Should we bury her? Oh God, that was a stupid thing to say. Of course we should, but we can’t bury every single body we come across.”

  “Not stupid. You’re a good man. But you’re right. We can’t bury everyone.” They couldn’t even take the time to find something to cover her body. He tightened his grip for a moment. “Let’s get out of here. Were you able to get a key?”

  Laurie gave a jerky nod and opened his hand. “A few.”

  “I told you you were a good man.” Wheat kissed his cheek and urged him toward the doors. The silence continued to press down on him, and he shivered. “Wait a second. I dropped my flashlight.” He retrieved it, then said, “Okay, we’d better move fast.”

  “Yeah, there isn’t anything we can do here.”

  They shifted the rock that held the doors apart, made sure no one was around, then ran to the SUV.

  Jo grabbed her brother’s arm and shook it. “Are you okay?”

  Laurie gave her a puzzled look. “We’re fine.”

  “You were so long.”

  “We were?” Laurie exchanged glances with him, and he shrugged. It hadn’t felt long.

  “Any problems?” Althea asked as they settled into the back seat. She put the car.in gear.

  “No, we got the keys.”

  “Laurie got the keys,” Wheat corrected. Father turned to glare at him, then huffed, and it was obvious he was still annoyed with Wheat, but he didn’t make any remarks, just turned away.

  Fortunately, Laurie didn’t notice. He was busy instructing Althea to drive around to the back of the motel.

  Chapter 17

  Laurie knew the keys he’d grabbed up were for the rooms around back, and that was where he directed Althea to drive the SUV.

  He wasn’t really surprised no cars were parked in front of the Bartlettville Motel. In addition to the fact it was mostly used when couples checked in, how likely was it people would stop there when the world was coming to an end? Wouldn’t they be more likely to just keep on heading for their destination, wherever that might be?

  The area behind the motel, though, with its diagonal parking slots before each room—it was deserted except for a lone car that had probably belonged to Carla, the night receptionist.

  He shivered and continued to look out the window, unwilling for Wheat to see how shaken he’d been by finding Carla’s body. It hadn’t been so much seeing her lying there dead that devastated him, but knowing she’d died away from her family. She’d always had their latest pictures on the reception counter, and it was easy to see her pride in them.

  “Park here and wait just a minute,” he told Althea. “You wait here, too,” he ordered his boyfriend. He had no intention of letting Wheat put himself in danger; he was still pretty ticked Wheat had come into the motel lobby with him. Although on the other hand, it had been a relief to have company. Laurie eased out of the SUV and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the rooms.

  And of course Wheat was right behind him, hefting the baseball bat and with an obstinate twist to his lips.

  Laurie shook his head and didn’t bother objecting. Instead, he matched the number on a key to the number on a door, then unlocked it and entered cautiously. It was dark—the curtains had been drawn and the only light came from the opened door—and it smelled musty, but nothing like the motel’s lobby, thank God. He turned on his flashlight and examined the interior. There was a four-poster queen-sized bed, a dresser with a useless television on it, an alcove that served as a closet, and a door that led to a bathroom, but nothing else.

  “Okay, it’s empty. Tell the others this room is good to go.”

  He went into the adjoining bathroom and turned on the faucet, relieved when the water ran, even though it was warm. When he returned to the main room, everyone was standing there, even Vic.

  “Decide who wants this room. I’m going to check the others.”

  Althea stopped him. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to separate,” she said, and it was interesting no one objected.

  “What do you suggest?” Wheat asked. “This isn’t a connecting room, and there’s only one bed in here.”

  His boyfriend was right, Laurie thought. Even though the bed was queen-sized, it still wouldn’t hold six people and a collie.

  Althea tugged her lower lip. “Bring in bedding from the other rooms. We can set up additional sleeping areas.”

  “Okay.” He split the remaining keys with Wheat, and they went scavenging. Only once again, Wheat was right behind him.

  “I…uh…wanted to talk to you,” Wheat said.

  “What’s up?” Laurie opened the door to another room and checked for unwanted inhabitants.

  “I’m sorry my father was such an asshole.”

  “It makes sense he’d want you to be with the right person.”

  “You’re right for me.” Wheat pulled Laurie into his arms and kissed him, and Laurie sagged with relief.

  “Thank you.” The hostility in Wheat’s father’s voice had been noticeable, and Laurie had been afraid once his boyfriend was back with his own people, he wouldn’t have any use for Laurie anymore.

  “I know it makes sense to stay together, but I wish we could have our own room. I want to make love with you—so badly.”

  Laurie’s dick twitched. “I’d like that, too, but—”

  Wheat kicked the door shut, dropped to his knees before Laurie, and went to work on Laurie’s belt and fly.

  “Wheat! We can’t—” He groaned when Wheat tugged down his jeans and shorts and took him in his mouth. He groaned again when Wheat let him slip from between his lips.

  “We can. We just have to be quick about it.” Wheat stroked a finger across Laurie’s lips, and when Laurie parted them, slipped his finger inside. “Make it good and wet,” he murmured hoarsely and swallowed down Laurie’s dick again.

  Laurie obeyed, thrilled this action seemed to affect his boyfriend as much as it did him. And when Wheat eased his finger from Laurie’s mouth, he brought it between Laurie’s legs to his hole. Wheat ran his fingertip around the rim until Laurie was wild with mounting lust. He bent his legs and drove himself down onto Wheat’s probing finger, taking it into his body, and Wheat hummed his approval.

  That vibration nearly drove Laurie over the edge. He struggled not to come, completely forgetting they didn’t have time to draw it out.

  It was so good, so perfect…In spite of his determination, Laurie’s knees began to shake, and while Wheat gave his prostate a thorough workout, he sucked Laurie to completion.

  Chapter 18

  Wheat licked the last drops of come from the corner of his mouth and smiled smugly at his boyfriend. Laurie remained upright only by an act of sheer will and the firm grip of Wheat’s hands on his hips.

  “You’re wicked,” Laurie muttered in that breathless tone that caused Wheat to shiver and his dick to ache.

  “That’s my job.” He took the keys Laurie had somehow managed to hold onto and rose to his feet.

  “But what about you?”

  Wheat brushed a kiss across his boyfriend’s lips, sharing hi
s taste. Laurie might have been closeted before this pandemic, but he was out with a vengeance now. “You can owe me.” He grinned as he grabbed up the pillows and let himself out of the room. It would take a few minutes for Laurie to compose himself, he thought complacently, so he planned to distract everyone from his absence. He found another empty room, gathered up more pillows, and then returned to the others.

  “What took you so long, Morrison?” his father demanded, and from his expression, Wheat had the feeling Father suspected what he and his boyfriend had gotten up to, and he sighed.

  “We had to make sure the rooms were empty.”

  “Where’s Laurie?” his sister asked.

  “He’ll be along shortly.”

  Just then Laurie entered the room with blankets piled high in his arms. “Sorry it took so long. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of blankets.” He dropped them on the bed. “I assume you and Mrs. Dupuis will take the bed?” he asked Wheat’s father.

  That was kind of his boyfriend, and it made sense. His parents were older and wouldn’t fare well on the floor, which was hard, even though it was covered by thick carpeting.

  Father seemed taken aback by Laurie’s thoughtfulness, but Mother smiled at him and touched his arm. “Thank you.”

  “Jo, take some blankets and make up a bed for us,” Althea said.

  Us? Wheat and Laurie exchanged glances. Going by his boyfriend’s surprised expression, he obviously didn’t know anything about it, but whether it was the fact his sister was a lesbian or that her partner was the well-known radio personality Wheat couldn’t tell.

  Meanwhile, Althea continued, “I’ll see about getting something for dinner.”

  “Would you mind bringing in the pharmacy bag, too, please? It’s got our radio in it, and maybe we can get some news.”

  “You do realize by this point no radio station has any power?”

  “It’s a dual band radio.”

  “Ah. In that case, I’ll definitely do that.”

  “Thanks.”

  Something was nibbling at Wheat’s mind, and he wanted to talk to Althea about it. “Laurie, set up a place for us, please?” He followed Althea outside before Laurie could answer. “You said something about running short of gas?”