“You won’t be doing anything dangerous, right?” Zoe asked.
He hated lying to them, but there was no way the girls—especially Chloe—could handle the truth. So, he took a page from Jes’s book and merelystretchedthe truth a bit.
“Nothing too dangerous,” he said. “We’re looking for a teenager who went missing a week ago. We’re just trying to figure out what happened to her and how we can help bring her home.”
The twins exchanged glances again, and Jake knew they were going to ask for more details. Which he wasn’t going to give them even if he could. So, instead of going there, he changed the subject.
“What have you two been up to today?” he asked, taking a sip of coffee and trying to make the question sound as casual as he could. Which wasn’t very casual, based on the way they both rolled their eyes. But thankfully, they let him slide.
“We worked until noon, then Mr. McKay gave us the rest of the day off so we could get some more furniture and stuff for the apartment,” Zoe said.
Jake glanced over at Jes. “McKay offered the girls part-time jobs doing administrative work for STAT. They don’t have security clearances, so there’s only so much they can do, but he definitely keeps them busy.”
“Austin and Colt came over after they got off work and put together the bookcases we got, then we all went out for pizza,” Chloe added.
Jake scowled. To say he wasn’t thrilled about two guys hanging around the apartment when he wasn’t there was putting it mildly.
“Austin Dunn and Colt Holland?” Jes asked.
Zoe nodded. “Do you know them?”
“I’ve worked with them a few times.” Jes glanced at him, as if she knew what he was thinking. “They’re great guys—the kind you’d want keeping an eye on your family when you’re out of town.”
The twins smirked and Jake was waiting for them to stick out their tongues and tell himI told you so. Wisely, they refrained from doing that. Instead, they munched on more M&M’s, cuddled their puppies, and asked Jes what she knew about the young FBI agents they clearly had crushes on. At least the guys didn’t have criminal records. That was something, he supposed.
They talked for another half hour, and even though it was over a laptop screen and they were thousands of miles away, it was still good to talk to Zoe and Chloe and see that they were doing okay. It was difficult hanging up, but it was getting late back home, and he wanted the girls to get to bed, even if they swore they wouldn’t be able to sleep for hours now that they’d talked to him and Jes.
“And remember to be careful,” Chloe reminded him. “Both you and Jes.”
He smiled. “I’ll be careful and so will Jes.”
Beside him, Jes smiled and nodded, then made a show of crossing her heart.
That seemed to make Zoe and Chloe happy, and they both grinned and waved before logging off. Jake closed the laptop with a sigh, wondering for the hundredth time if he’d done the right thing by joining STAT. Risking his life when he was a SEAL and even a cop was completely different when all he had to think about was himself. He had two people who depended on him now.
“You hungry?” Jes asked, pulling his attention away from his new family and how his choices were affecting them. “I’m making grilled cheese.”
He lifted his head to see that Jes had gotten up and was taking a cast iron frying pan out of a bottom cabinet. There was a loaf of bread and a package of cheese already on the counter beside the stove. He considered pointing out it was five o’clock in the morning and that grilled cheese sandwiches were probably more of a lunchtime thing, but then decided melted cheese on bread was good anytime, day or night.
“Um, yeah,” he said. “I could eat.”
Setting the skillet on the stove, she turned on the gas, then took a knife out of the block that was big enough to take off someone’s head and approached the wheel of Double Gloucester.
“How about I cut the cheese and you handle the bread and butter?” he murmured, moving across the kitchen.
“Okay. Thanks.” She set the knife on the counter and opened the bag of bread. “How many sandwiches do you want?”
Jake considered that. “Four or five.”
He cringed inwardly. That was way more than a normal human ate and he waited for Jes to say something snarky, but she made no comment about his crazy enormous appetite as she took out a dozen slices of bread.
The Double Gloucester wasn’t as hard as he thought it’d be, but he made sure to concentrate on cutting the orange cheese so the slices would be even.
“If I’m being too nosy, feel free to tell me to back off, but I’m curious how you ended up as Zoe and Chloe’s legal guardian,” Jes said as she spread butter on the bread.
Jake paused in mid-slice, wondering if it was a good idea to reveal those kinds of secrets to someone like Jes. There was no reason not to. With the security clearance she possessed, getting into his personnel file wouldn’t be that difficult. Then she’d know everything there was to know about him and the twins.
“About six months ago, several men broke into Zoe and Chloe’s home in Utah,” he said, cutting another slice of cheese. “The assholes murdered their parents right in front of them, then kidnapped the girls. They had no idea where the men were going to take them, but considering they were in Santa Fe when they were finally able to get away, there’s a good chance the bastards were taking them to Mexico to sell them. Twins can fetch a lot of money in the human trafficking auctions down there.”
