CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Cole

"Are you sure?" I asked the attractive young male in the valet drive. "A week ago?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Positive, sir. I'm the one that replaced Chad."

I scrunched my nose in dismay and looked around the hotel entry and the large overhang shading the valet area. I believed him but needed more proof as my eyes swept the open space. "Did he tell you if he had another job?" I asked, still unconvinced and disappointed that Chad hadn't been there. My nervousness had taken days to overcome when I'd finally decided to make the second move and ask Chad out on a real date.

"He said something about driving up to The Hamptons and visiting some dude," he stated. "And this is the weird part," he added before clamming up. He hesitated a moment before continuing. "Never mind. I probably shouldn't tell you that part."

"I won't tell him you told me," I urged, pulling a twenty from my jeans pocket and waving it at him. He looked around cautiously. "It'll be okay. I promise I won't spill the beans," I encouraged.

"Well… he actually said the dude was dead."

"Dead?" I asked. "Like in a cemetery?"

"Not exactly, sir," he replied. "I asked him that too, and he told me the guy was in the water."

"Jesus," I mumbled. "You sure?"

"Sounds made up, right? I don't know Chad all that well, but people here that do know him say he sees stuff the rest of us don't see," he said sheepishly, like he was embarrassed to be gossiping.

"Thank you," I said, handing him the twenty-dollar bill. "I was never here," I added.

"Understood, sir," he confirmed. "One more thing, sir," he began. "I like Chad a whole bunch. He's one of the kindest dudes I think I've ever met, so I hope that what I said doesn't sound too creepy and stuff. I'd hate for you to think of him in a bad sorta way."

"You're fine," I said. "I like Chad as well. Perhaps you misunderstood him."

He shook his head slowly. "No, sir. I understood him perfectly fine. He even told me the dude's name."

I felt chills racing down my spine. "And what name was that?" I asked, knowing exactly who his answer would be.

"Jack," he said. "He called him a close friend, an advisor of sorts."

My eyes expanded at his answer. An advisor?What the fuck?

"Two calls in the same month after years of no calls?" Perry joked after picking up. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Cole?"

"How about a who? A young man named Chad," I said.

Perry inhaled deeply at the name. "No shit?" he asked, letting his held breath out slowly. "Well, I'll be damn. I knew it. I told Lucas after the last time we spoke that Jack was up to something again."

"Chad said the two of you are friends, so I guess that's true?" I asked.

Perry ignored the question and asked one of his own. "Where'd you meet Chad?"

"His parents are my neighbors now," I said. "Alex is an early investor in my software company. Isn't it a strange coincidence that I bought a house a few doors down from his and Maggie's?"

"Coincidence?" he asked, sounding more like he doubted my explanation. "I met Chad in the valet drive of a hotel in Virginia Beach and thought that meeting was a coincidence."

His admission stunned me. "The one on the main drag next to the McDonalds?" I asked.

"Yep. That'd be the one," he replied. "Chad took me over to his parents' house unannounced the evening I met him. That's how I met his folks."

"I was just over at the hotel looking for him," I admitted.

"So, you've actually met Chad," he reflected. "The beautiful, ethereal Chad."

"Met him?" I joked. "I hired and then fired him."

"Weirded you out, huh?" Perry asked, sounding like we shared inside information.

"I wouldn't quite say that," I defended. "He is certainly something, though."

"Oh, trust me. You have no idea," he said. "Why were you looking for him at the hotel? Couldn't you just go next door?"

I wasn't prepared to admit why I'd been at the hotel, so I fibbed. "I was in the area and wanted to say hi. He's a nice kid. I like him," I said.

"Uh-huh," Perry said, sounding as suspicious as a judge at a Trump hearing. "Okay, my friend. What's the real story here? Why are you calling me about this incredible young man you've been led to?"

His observation was interesting, to say the least. "You believe that I'm being led?"

"Let's just say that I believe nothing is impossible in this wonderful world," he responded. "And if Jack happened to send Chad your way, consider yourself the fortunate recipient of Jack's love."

Perry's direct way of speaking about something so odd was compelling. "This is weird, Perry," I stated. "Highly unusual at best."

"Then tell me this, my friend. Why are you calling me today?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy, but what's the real purpose of your call?"

"Who the fuck is this kid?" I asked, releasing a massive sigh, and basically admitting the reason for the call. I needed a personal vouching for someone who was stuck in my brain and causing my heart to hurt.

"How about this?" he began. "What if we were to simply call Chad… lemme see here… Jack's long-lost twin? The next generation of an amazing man."

"Don't you think he's a bit…" I didn't want to sound flip or mean. "A bit, let's just say, odd? Somehow different?"

"Oh, hell yeah! He most certainly is that. Chad is a whole heap of different, Cole," he exclaimed. "A big, fat, serving of the most different person you'll ever have the pleasure of knowing."

His response was the assurance I needed to hear. Perry had been married to different. He was an expert on different. If he vouched for the mysteriously different Chad, then I could trust the assessment.

"Any idea why he'd drive up to The Hamptons?" I asked.

"Who told you he did that?" he asked.

"His old employer," I replied, breaking a promise not to tell. "The person told me Chad was going to visit a dead friend, and not one located in a cemetery."

"Well, shit," Perry expressed. "That doesn't sound good."