I dropped my chin to my chest, the worry from earlier reappearing, only much worse. Waverly didn’t talk about her relationship with her father, other than to say they didn’t have one. We were similar in that sense. There’d been no mention of an upcoming meeting with him, so she either purposefully kept it from me or it was sprung on her. From the high blood to alcohol ratio circulating through her veins, my guess was it was a surprise..
Regardless, whatever happened was bad enough for one officer of the law to resort to violence while the other contemplated murder.
Feck.
“I’m gonna get going.”
“Nooo, Shayne. Stay.” She reached across the table, grabbing the other woman’s hand.
“Sorry, Way. I’ve gotta get back to work.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I raised a brow, circling my finger over the half a dozen empty highball glasses.
“Oh.” Shayne grinned. “Those are all hers. I’m stone-cold sober.”
It was going to be a long night.
She’d fallen asleep—er, passed out—within minutes of settling in the car. I contemplated waking her up, but ultimately decided carrying her into the house would be easier for both of us. Plus, I loved having her in my arms.
“Thanks, Wes,” I offered as he unlocked the front door, holding it open so I could maneuver through with my precious cargo.
“I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
“You don’t need to stay. We’re not going anywhere.”
“No offense, sir, but Joel said I’m on duty until instructed otherwise. He also asked that you call him later.”
“All right then.”
My cell had been blowing up with texts since I tore out of the office. Half were likely from Joel, while the remainder were almost certainly from his wife. Noreen had fallen in love with Waverly just as fast as I had. If I had to wager aguess, she was currently going out of her mind. Once I got Waverly situated, I’d message them both.
Bypassing the couch in the living room, I opted for our bed. At forty years old, I was in excellent shape, or so I thought. My usual rigorous cardio routine had nothing on carrying a sleeping bundle up a flight of stairs though.
The back of my dress shirt was damp with sweat by the time I reached our room. Without jostling her too much, I eased Waverly onto the bed, then rolled her to her left side. Even in sleep, there were signs of whatever hell she’d gone through. Lines formed between her eyes from her furrowed brows and her color was paler than usual. Physically, Waverly was tough as nails, it was the emotional aftermath of whatever went down that concerned me. The sooner we dealt with it, the quicker we could move on.
A whimpered sigh left her lips when I covered her with a soft blanket. The need to climb in next to her rode me hard, but I knew from experience, if I didn’t update Noreen soon, there’d be hell to pay. The last thing either of us needed was an uninvited guest popping up, no matter how well intentioned she might be.
Leaving the door cracked, I went back downstairs to the home office and opened my secondary laptop to catch up on whatever emails had come through since my abrupt departure. No surprise, there were forty-seven. Most were inter-departmental communications where a response from the boss wasn’t necessary or expected. A few others should’ve been sorted into the junk category. But one in particular caught my eye because of the subject line. It was from Sloane and read:Times up.
Brother dearest,
I know you may not be ready to deal with the fact we have a new sister, but tough turds. I’ve let you stew on theinformation for a few days, now you need to put on your big boy pants and deal. Regardless of whether or not she donates a kidney to Pop, she’s our family. The twins have an aunt who they’ve never met. It’s not Shannon’s fault, just like it’s not ours. We’re victims of our DNA. Maybe a support group is in order. We’ll call it the Spawns of Shawn. Catchy, huh?
Anyway, I’d really like for you to be with me when I meet Shannon. Correction…I need you there. You’re my rock. I couldn’t do this adulting gig without you. Give it some thought, but make the right choice, Finn.
Love you. XOXO
Sloane
My sister was the queen of guilt trips. She was also right. I wasn’t purposefully dragging my feet because of our new sister. Shannon and I would meet when the threats against me had been neutralized, not a second before. It was bad enough that Sloane and the twins had targets on their backs because of me, I wasn’t about to put another innocent person in danger. Also, Joel would have to run a background check. Not that I thought Sloane was being scammed, but I wouldn’t take any chances.
No, the real issue was my father. Having to deal with the arse made me break out in full-body hives. But, like it or not, he was sick and there was no way to avoid it. That didn’t mean all was forgiven as far as he was concerned, not by a long shot. For Sloane though, I could pretend to forget for a while. I’d play nice in the sandbox long enough for him to get better, then he’d be out of my life again.
Rather than text, I pulled out my cell and clicked the icon next to Noreen’s number. She sounded out of breath when she answered.
“We’re walking into the grocery store now. Is there anything you need me to pick up?”
“Whoa, hold up.”Damn, I was too late.“I appreciate you wanting to swoop in to take care of everything. Really, I do. Just, please, hold off until tomorrow. Give me a few hours to sort out where Waverly’s at.”
