“You’re all the family I got. Don’t ever forget that.”
I nodded. “You want to come through for dinner with me and the family tonight? I was supposed to be cooking but mom is covering for me.”
“I’d love to, but I’m afraid I’ll have to take a pass. Maybe next time?”
I chuckled. “You have other plans? Since when?”
“You’re an ass.” Grim rose and walked back to his locker to pull out a shirt. He shrugged into it. “I’m not sure what I was thinking—but I promised Morgan I’d go with her to this concert she’s been raving about for the last six weeks. I don’t even know what a Veeker is.”
“That’s the name of the band?”
He nodded.
“Well, good luck with that. Let me know how that goes.” I slipped my feet into my shoes and gathered my things. “I’m going to head home before the family put out an APB on me. You have fun tonight.”
“Thanks.”
We hugged and I left the station via the backway. More lectures were coming, and I didn’t feel ready to handle them.
The weather was torture. The heat rose upward like a fog. Sure, with the sun going down, the heat was a little more tolerable, but barely. The shirt I wore was thin, but it was still bothersome against my skin. I wanted to remove my shirt, but it hid the gun against my hip.
Another thing I signed up for when I became a cop after leaving the SEALS.
By the time I arrived home, my driveway was full. My father’s Cadillac was parked to the right and my brother Malik’s Porsche sat on the left. I pulled my Nissan GTR to the lawn now brown from the lack of water. Rain hadn’t fallen in weeks and it would be a waste of water to water the lawn—there was no saving it. I probably should put in some cobblestone to save myself the issue when winter wore off and summer returned.
I killed the engine and pulled myself from the front seat. Every part of my body hurt.
It took some heavy brainpower to enter the house. The moment I made my presence known, the others cheered, welcoming me home. I tried not showing any pain. They’d just have questions and I didn’t want to bring my job home to them.
“I love you guys, but I need a moment,” I told them.
“You okay?” My father asked.
“Oh yeah.” I kissed the side of my mother’s head. “My vest was put to the test today that’s all.”
They’d find out sooner or later—it was better I told them straight out.
My mother gasped.
“Mom, don’t freak out. I’m fine. I just need to put away my gun and shield.”
Malik eyed me suspiciously and Jesse squinted in my direction. Somehow, I managed to smile at them and headed out of the room.
“He works too hard,” my father said.
“Yeah.” Jesse agreed. “But have you ever talked to him about taking time off? Head meet brick wall.”
Malik laughed. “He’ll be okay.”
But I wasn’t so sure. Lately, my body had been taking a beating. It was barely a week ago when I was forced to jump from the second story of a building because a bomb was inside. I was banged up, but luckily not too bad.
Now this.
No, I couldn’t tell them this punk took a shot at me and walked away from that brain-fart.
Climbing the stairs reminded me just how old I’d become. The fact I hadn’t taken vacation time since I was assigned to the Marshals didn’t help my case either. I’d lost track of how many times my captain threatened to force me to take time off. But what would I do with that time? I hate flying of late, so I wouldn’t be leaving the country.
I’d rather work.
