Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito

Author:Frank Anthony Polito [Polito, Frank A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2022-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The night before the murder . . .

Kyle sat at the bar, drowning his sorrows in high-end bourbon. He fumbled with his phone, checking the time on the display: 12:02 a.m. He beckoned to Danny the bartender like he was Kyle’s own personal servant. “I need another drink!”

Danny brusquely walked away to wait on other customers.

Kyle snapped. “Don’t ignore me!” He stood and attempted to flag down Danny, who dismissed him, his back to the boy.

The second Kyle lifted his body off the stool, the room spun around him, and he fell backward onto his butt.

“Girl, you messy.”

Kyle sensed the tender touch of a soft hand upon his shoulder. He recognized the beautiful blur beside him as everybody’s favorite Queeraoke host, Ms. Harmony House.

“How come you haven’t sung tonight?” she asked Kyle, squeezing in between the barflies to lean against the counter. “Oh, wait. Cuz you’re too wasted to read the lyrics on the monitor, maybe? If you could even make it down to the mic.”

At a loss for words, Kyle crunched hard on the ice in his rocks glass. The drag queen had hit the nail squarely on the head. He was indeed a disaster, more so than usual.

When he didn’t reply with his normal snarky response, Harmony placed her hand on Kyle’s back and gave it a gentle rub. “Tell Momma what’s wrong?”

It felt nice to hear a friendly word, considering the awful night he’d had. After confronting Hunter27 earlier, Kyle had come to the conclusion that the younger boy had been telling the truth: He may have private messaged with Kyle’s boyfriend on the Lads4Dads app, but Hunter27 hadn’t actually had an affair with CashMan. Though, if this were the case, why did Kyle fear the worst with regards to his current relationship status?

With the toe of his tennis shoe, he kicked at the metal footrest attached to the bottom of the bar, bleary eyes cast down. “My birthday is next month.”

“Happy birthday next month, Baby Face!” Ms. Harmony beamed, showing off a sparkly set of perfect pearly whites. “Remind me on the night of. I’ll serenade you.”

Kyle hung his head, dreading the idea of everyone at Shout! knowing he was one step closer to hitting a major milestone. “I won’t be celebrating.”

“Of course you will! Remind Momma how old you’re gonna be?”

Kyle frowned, cursing his swiftly fading youth. “Old.”

“How old?” Harmony House stared down her broad nose at the boy.

“Twenty-nine.” He knew that he sounded ridiculous. But with the upcoming turning of the calendar, Kyle realized he’d be on the verge of losing the love of his life, come next year. Tom Cash would never remain in a relationship with him once he’d turned thirty.

The drag queen let out a husky laugh. “When you’re forty, see me. We can talk about what old is.” She slapped Kyle lightly on the cheek and signaled to Danny at the far end of the bar. “Be a doll and get Baby Face some H-two-oh,” Harmony House said sweetly. “Then call him a car and get him the hell outta here!”

“I got this.

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