Right Hand On My Heart

How Little We Know

Dave holds the phone up to his ear, listening as his call rings out a few times. He's worried Kirk won't answer his call; worried that James didn't get to Kirk in time. Dave imagines the front door being wide open and the house being ransacked by goons sent either by Menza or Gar. He doesn't want to envision what they might do to Kirk. He doesn't want to imagine Kirk beat all bloody and blue and, god forbid, violated. The thought makes Dave want to dry heave, but on the fifth ring Kirk picks up and Dave lets out a sigh of relief.

"Dave? Are you okay?" Kirk gushes in a panicked, uneven tone.

"Yeah baby, I'm alright," Dave reassures, closing his eyes and smiling at the sound of Kirk's sweet voice. "How are you? Are you doing alright? Is James there with you?"

"Yes. He's taking good care of me," Kirk tells him.

"Good, good..." Dave breathes out. Knowing that Kirk is fine lets Dave calm down and collect his thoughts long enough to get to the root of why he called. "Listen, I don't think I'm gonna be making it back tonight."

"Why? What's wrong?"

He can hear the uncertainty and worry return in Kirk's voice and Dave hates himself for bringing this all upon the young man in the first place. He keeps asking himself why he didn't just keep his important shit at home and the simple answer is to protect Kirk, as ironic as that is. Leaving something like protection money, receipts, and that little black velvet box at his house would just lure thieves to his and Kirk's home. Still, Dave was sure his safe was secure at the club. Maybe it would've helped to have some security cameras. Perhaps he'll invest in some after all of this, considering he makes it through to the end.

"Gar and I had a talk and it seems he might be going after Jason," Dave replies, looking around the alley to make sure he isn't being watched.

"Yeah, me and James sorta figured that out too. I'm really worried about him Dave," Kirk says with urgency. "You gotta track him down."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm already a step ahead of you. I'm gonna find him and get to the bottom of this," Dave vows.

He still isn't sure what part Jason plays in all of this, but there are a few things Dave has his suspicions about. Jason went missing just before the shit hit the fan. The general consensus amongst the dancers and everyone else who works at Dave's club is that they all just assume Jason went back home to visit family, but there's a problem with that because Jason didn't say or mention anything prior to disappearing. But he told someone because how else did the rumors start? Kirk would've mentioned something to Dave if he knew which means Jason, one of Kirk's best friends, didn't even say anything to him. Dave finds that hard to believe. Kirk and Jason were thick as thieves and practically brothers. So what was really going on? There was something Dave was missing.

"Do you think Jason might be connected to that Nick Menza guy?" Kirk inquires after a moment, making Dave's face go completely lax.

"Menza? Who told you about that?" Dave demands. He didn't want Kirk finding out about that but the cat's out of the bag now.

"James..."

"Goddamn it..." Dave sighs under his breath.

Dave supposes he can't be too upset. He never explicitly told James to keep quiet, but he assumed James would know better than to tell Kirk. Then again, Dave wouldn't put it past James if Kirk was able to flash his puppy eyes and get an explanation out of James. He figures it doesn't matter if Kirk knows or not. He was bound to find out at some point. Dave was just hoping he'd be able to sort this all out quietly before anything bad could happen. Gar and Lars fucked that up though.