Alex in Wonderland (The Wonderland Series Book 1) (11 page)

16

The Odd Couple

It was almost
ten p.m.
when the bus pulled into Jacksonville.
Alex had never been so hungry, and as he followed Cord into the station, he had
never been so scared either. He was now the subject of a national manhunt and
didn’t need Cord’s police training to know the importance of keeping a low
profile. Afraid of being recognized if he sat in the restaurant, he went to the
farthest, emptiest corner of the station and waited for Cord to bring him
something to eat. They were an odd couple indeed, the beefcake and the homely
dark-haired woman, but no one seemed to notice. As the son of Randolph Sumner,
Alex was used to plenty of attention, but now he welcomed being ignored.
 

“Know what?” he said as Cord handed
him a chilidog. “I have new respect for ugly women. People look right through
me, like I’m invisible or something.”

“Count your blessings,” Cord
grunted. “And come outside. We’re gonna eat in the dark.”

His edgy tone alerted Alex. “You
just heard something, didn’t you?”

“Yup. Your old man just cranked up
the heat a couple of notches.”

They hurried outside and found a
spot in the shadows of an idling bus. Alex was so hungry he scarcely noticed
the noxious fumes as he gobbled his chilidog and waited for Cord’s news.
“Well?”

“He’s offering $50,000 for anyone
with information—”

Alex whistled. “Fifty grand?! Jeez
Louise! He’s really getting desperate.”

“So are a lot of people who’d like
that fat reward.” Cord shook his head. “You can’t trust anyone, man.”

Does that include you, Alex
wondered. Sure, you blew off hocking a bunch of designer watches and even
ignored $10,000, but with Daddy upping the ante, was $50,000 too much to
resist? Didn’t every man have a price? Alex nervously gnawed his hot dog as the
earlier uncertainty returned in a harsh rush. Even though Cord had confessed to
a brutalized childhood, he was still someone Alex barely knew and, besides,
that sad confidence wasn't really surprising. People told perfect strangers
things they wouldn’t tell their best friend. On the other hand, Alex felt less
secure when he remembered Cord’s upbringing included values so skewed he could
consider killing his own father.

“Shit,” he muttered.

Cord swilled down the last of his
cola. “I know what you’re thinking, Alex.”

“I’m not thinking anything,” Alex
lied. “I’m too damned scared.”

“Sure you are. You’re wondering if
I’d turn you in for the reward money.” He chuckled at Alex’s feigned shock.
“Man, it’s a good thing you didn’t try acting because you’d be terrible.” His
straw made a noise when he sucked air instead of cola. “Relax, man. Your
secret’s safe with me.”

“Why should be you be different,
especially when you’re dead broke?”

“Who knows?” Cord waved his hand
dismissively. “Maybe I’m a sucker for a hard luck tale, even one as lame as
yours.”

“Why is it lame?” Alex bristled. “I
can’t help who my father is, any more than you can. It’s all the luck of the
draw.”

“You’re right. That was a shitty
thing to say. I guess I just get fed up with rich people’s sob stories. All
this woe-is-me business. I’ve had to work for every nickel I ever got. Nobody
never gave me nothing.” He snorted. “The bad English was intentional by the
way.”

Alex ignored it. “Put yourself in
my position, Cord. What was I supposed to do? Insist on going to those godawful
New Orleans public schools instead
of private schools where I’d learn something? Tell him I didn’t want a car and
trip to Paris for graduation? Tell
him I preferred Sear’s to Brooks Brothers and—”

“You got a car
and
a trip to
France?”

Alex resented the accusatory tone.
“Yes, I did, and I’m not apologizing because I didn’t ask for either one. They
were offered, and I accepted. Only an idiot would say no.”

“I always wanted to go to Paris,
but I was too busy struggling to make rent.”

Alex’s resentment turned into
annoyance. “Give me a break. That sounds like some damned Bette Davis movie.”

 
Cord gave him a strange look. “That better be
a joke or I’m gonna be pissed.”

“It’s a joke,” Alex said quickly,
hoping he sounded believable. He reminded himself he couldn’t afford to offend
his only ally.

“I’m not so sure,” Cord grumbled.

Alex was scrambling for some sort
of self-defense when Cord grabbed him hard and kissed him on the mouth. He was
sputtering for an explanation when he looked over Cord’s broad shoulder and saw
a glowering security guard. Alex wondered how long he’d been standing there and
if he’d heard Alex’s deep voice.

“What’s going on here?” the guard
demanded, crossing his arms over a belly big as an inner tube. “Well? You two
deaf or something?”

“Just telling my wife good-bye,”
Cord explained, mussing Alex’s wig to cover more of his face. “She hates public
displays.”

The guard looked dubious, chilling
Alex as he waddled over for a closer look. Alex told himself he was being paranoid,
that the guard couldn’t possibly know his identity, and prayed the man was as
stupid as he looked. He held his breath as the guy leaned in.

“What’s your name, young lady?”

Alex inhaled, making his voice as high
and breathy as possible. “Dorothy Gayle.”

The guard got closer still, close
enough for Alex to smell onions on his breath. “You sure look familiar.” He
frowned, and Alex’s heart pounded as he waited for recognition to flood the fat
face. After what seemed like an interminable pause, the man said, “You related
to the Gayles down in Clay County?”

“Oh, no, sir,” Alex whispered. “I’m
from Kansas.”
 

“Umm.”
The
guard grunted, scratched his inflated stomach and stepped back. “Well, this bus
is getting ready to board, so you two better move on.”

“Yes, sir.” Cord positioned himself
between Alex and the guard as they hustled toward the terminal. “C’mon, honey.”
His affectionate tone changed as the minute they were out of earshot. “Are you
fucking crazy, man?”

“What do you mean?”

“Dorothy Gayle
from
Kansas
?!
What if he’d seen
The Wizard of Oz
?””

“I was scared,” Alex blurted. “It
was the first name I thought of. Actually it was the second.”

“What was the first?”

“Cindy Birdsong.”

“Jesus!” Cord shook his head.

“For God’s sake, Cord. Nobody
remembers Dorothy’s last name. In any case, the guy was an idiot.”

“Maybe so, but you’ve got to stop
doing stupid things.” Cord glowered. “We can’t take any more chances.
Understand?”

Alex nodded. “Thanks, Cord.”

“For what? Telling you something
any fool ought to know?”

“No. For saving my ass back there.”

 
Cord ignored the praise, grateful to hear an
announcement for the
10:50
for Miami.
“Well, that’s us. C’mon.”

“I’ll tell you something else,”
Alex said, taking Cord’s arm as they headed for the gate.

“What’s that, I’m afraid to ask?”

“You’re not a bad kisser.”

 
“Aw, shut up, Dorothy.”

17

Miami
Vice

Seven hours and five stops later,
the bus rolled into Miami. For most
of the trip, Alex had slept, although fitfully, and looked out the window at a
faint gleam over the Atlantic. The sun wasn’t quite up,
but it was burnishing the sky like a pale topaz. Alex had only a glimpse before
buildings obscured the ocean view and, except for the occasional cocoanut palm,
the bus could’ve been rumbling into Anywhere U.S.A. He sat up and stretched,
careful not to waken his seatmate.

Cord was sound asleep, lips parted
slightly with a soft, steady snore. He looked peaceful under the first pale
fingers of dawn, features softened, guard down. Alex studied his slumbering
savior, deciding the guy was handsome despite the broken nose and ugly scar. He
thought about the first moment he had seen Mr. Beefy Tee and figured fear and
flight had kept him from realizing Cord oozed the sort of natural sex appeal
that couldn't be cultivated. And that body! Alex's eyes roved over biceps and
thighs, wondering if the rest of Cord was as well developed. Then, just as
quickly, he chided himself.

Keep your eyes on the prize, he
thought, the prize being Key West
and this man the escort to safely get him there. He felt new gratitude for
Cord, for quick thinking that had bailed him out more than once, and then
shuddered when he considered what might have happened if he had wandered the Tallahassee
bus station without knowing his face was all over the television monitors.
Thanks to Cord he was right where he should be, and if things stayed on
schedule, they would have a forty-minute layover in Miami,
catch another bus at
6:20
and be in Key
West by
10:45
.
Key West, he thought, and Chandler
Wilde. He felt a slight erotic stir but forgot about Chandler
when Cord opened sleep-slit eyes.

Alex smiled. “Good morning.” Cord
barely grunted. Alex raised his voice when more passengers awoke and started
tugging belongings from the overhead rack. “Sleep okay?”

“No. The usual bad dreams about the
old man.” He yawned and closed his eyes again.
  

Alex gave him a nudge. “C’mon,
Cord. We’re pulling into Miami and
we’ve only got forty minutes to grab breakfast before the next bus. I’m
starved!”
 

“Hope I can stay awake that long,”
Cord muttered. He was still half-asleep when they ordered breakfast but woke up
fast when he took inventory of their fellow diners. “Shit, Alex! Check it out!”

Alex had been so hungry he hadn’t
paid attention to anything but the menu. Until he followed Cord’s gaze, he
hadn’t noticed half the men in the restaurant wore tank tops or tee shirts
stretched to the max by ripped pecs. They were surrounded by bodybuilders, and
it took them a nanosecond to determine they were all gay.

Cord leaned toward the adjacent
table and grinned. “What the hell is this, man? A gay bodybuilding convention?”

“Sort of.” The beefcake returned
his smile. “We’re headed for the Mr. Gay Key West Contest.”

“I’ll be damned!”

The stranger’s smile broadened as
he evaluated Cord’s physique while totally ignoring the plain woman at his
table. “Maybe you ought to enter too.”

“I’m no bodybuilder, man. Just a
personal trainer.”

“No shit?!” The guy scooted his
chair closer. “What's your secret?”

Alex resented the stranger’s
incursion and was further rankled when he and Cord had an intense discussion
about diet, discipline and steroids. Alex didn’t give a damn how much Cord
could press or how many carbs he didn’t eat. All he cared about was somebody
intruding on the private bubble he shared with his protector. The situation
worsened when Cord’s new friend insisted on dragging him from table to table
and introducing him to the other bodybuilders. Upset at being ignored, Alex
wolfed down his breakfast and decided he didn't need Cord any more. Screw him,
he thought. All I have to do is get on the bus, keep to myself, and coast down
to Key West.
 
It never occurred to Alex that he was being
driven by pure, old-fashioned jealousy as he downed the last of his coffee,
slung his bag over his shoulder with mock drama nobody noticed and stomped out
of the restaurant. He didn’t give Cord the satisfaction of looking back, but
loud laughter prompted him to glance through the window. His resolve to go it
alone was complete when Cord moved his breakfast to a table of complete
strangers.

Alex hurried through the station,
surprised at how busy it was at such an ungodly hour. He glanced at his watch
and checked the monitors, grimacing when he saw the bus to Key West was half an
hour late.

“Shit!”

Needing to kill time and wanting to
get as far from Cord as possible, Alex headed outside. As he walked away from
the terminal, he reviewed what had happened in the restaurant and was as angry
with himself as with Cord. He realized he had behaved like a jealous lover,
petty and petulant just because other men fawned over Cord and he had been left
alone. Alex reminded himself he’d known the guy less than twenty-four hours and
had no claims, emotional or otherwise. Sure, Cord had been helpful during this
insane flight from Daddy, but only the last leg of the bizarre odyssey
remained, and he could finish it by himself just fine, thank you.

Alex felt more confident as he
continued his stroll, even chuckling when he caught his ridiculous reflection
in a storefront window. It was not quite light, so he used the glow of
streetlights to adjust his wig and touch up his lipstick. He thought he heard
something but ignored it until it grew more pronounced, and he realized too
late that he had wandered down a deserted street.

“Gimme the bag, bitch!”

In a flash, Alex was knocked hard
to the ground, banging his head against the sidewalk. He looked up just in time
to see a shadowy figure flee with the Prada bag and everything in it. Seconds
later another blurry form sped by.

“Cord!”

Alex watched Cord pursue the mugger
around a corner, then got shakily to his feet. He leaned against the building,
heart in his throat as waited for the rest of the ugly scenario to unfold. He felt
like it was forever before Cord reappeared, gasping for breath and,
unfortunately, empty-handed.

“Couldn’t catch the bastard,” Cord
said. “You okay?”

“I guess so.” Alex rubbed his head
where a knot was already rising after his collision with the sidewalk. “Except
for losing my last cent.”

Cord glared. “Your cash was in the
bag?”

“Jolie said it would look
suspicious for a woman to carry money in her hip pocket, so my wallet was in
the bag.”

Cord didn’t ask who Jolie was.
“What about credit cards?”

“Daddy cancelled them.”

“ID?”

“Gone.” Alex thought for a moment
“I’m really screwed now. I sure as hell can’t go to the police. What am I going
to do?”

“Well, you’re just a few hours from
Key West. When you get there call
someone for money.”

“I don’t even have a quarter for
the phone.”

“I think I can spare a quarter or
two.”

“I can’t take your money,” Alex
sniffed.

“It’s a fucking quarter, for God’s
sake. Stop being such a drama queen and act like a man. And use your head once
in a while. I swear every time you wander off alone you get into trouble.
That’s why I came looking for you as soon as I realized you’d left the
restaurant. When I couldn’t find you in the terminal, I figured you were dumb
enough to go for a morning stroll. Don’t you know Miami’s
a fucking dangerous town?”
 

“I’m not dumb,” Alex said
peevishly.
 
“I just made an error in
judgment.”

“One that could’ve cost more than a
damned bag,” Cord reminded him.

Alex fought tears. He was
embarrassed as well as broke and scared, but he was damned if he was going to cry. He tried hiding behind anger. “Fuck
you!”

Cord blew it off. “Fuck you too.
Now c’mon. We got a bus to catch.” He took Alex’s arm and steered him toward
the brightly lit terminal. “Promise me something, will you?”

“What?”

“Promise you won’t wander off alone
again.”

Alex took a deep breath to control
his trembling lower lip. He was furious with this man, for nothing other than
being right all the time. At the same time, he was more attracted than ever and
wondered how this lunacy would finally play out. To keep from going crazy, he
pushed it from his mind.

“Okay.”

“And another thing.”

“What?”

“Fix that damned crooked wig!”