Chapter 22
Pierce honestly felt they were no more ahead than they had been fifteen years ago. Today had been completely wasted. He had confirmed Pete Graves’ alibi himself, before Knight and Miranda had headed back to the Baymont to regroup. They’d made it clear they were going to discuss their profile in greater detail—but he’d had no choice. They’d been there one week already, and he didn’t feel like they’d made any progress at all. He knew these things took time, but…he was running out of it. He’d called in every favor he could to get to stay past the four days he’d originally had paid. He’d bought himself one more week. And…that was half over now.
And he had to quit for the night.
His sitter couldn’t stay over. Not tonight. Kai had been waiting. He’d had a bad few nights; he and Pierce were both exhausted. And slamming down on the ice that morning hadn’t helped. He was feeling it, and the weight of everything else, now.
Pierce pulled Kai's door closed, after making sure the monitor was on. His kid was finally quiet. Hopefully it would last all night this time. That was all Pierce really wanted lately—for Kai to make it through the night.
The nightlight was on. Jilly Silly with her plastic red hair and overalls glowed from the outlet near the bed. Vintage. Payton had gotten it for Kai from her own sister-in-law recently. That nightlight was one of Kai’s favorite possessions.
Kai was finally asleep. It had only taken an hour this time. Pierce considered that a win—but he wasn’t going to hope it would last. He had learned his lesson before. The monitor in the kitchen showed Kai's bed in grayscale. Kai was still in the same position.
No nightmares yet. Maybe his son could actually get a good night’s sleep for once. It had been a long time since that had happened. The next step…medication. Pierce was exploring all the options.
His phone buzzed against the counter. It was his jackass brother-in-law. Again. Pierce answered on the third ring, opening the video chat. Luc preferred video. Annoying asshole. Pierce did not quite understand how his sister tolerated Luc’s little quirks, that was for sure. If the guy didn’t adore Payton…
Speaking of his little devil-sister. She was sitting on her husband’s lap, her baby at her breast. Pierce could just see little toddler boy feet near Payton’s hip. Apparently, Patrick was already out, too. They were his only niece and nephew so far. Pierce adored them, and so did Kai. Kai liked being the big cousin and watching over Patrick whenever they played.
"There he is," Payton said. She waved at the camera. "Hi, Pierce. How's my favorite nephew?"
"Asleep. Finally."
"Any nightmares?"
"Not yet. Not tonight, anyway. He made it four hours last night, too." Those were the only four hours Pierce had slept, too. Damn it. They couldn’t go on like this much longer.
“Good. That’s good. Give him a kiss for me in the morning. Tell him that I love him.”
"I will."
"And tell him I'm sending him something. Jillian collected a big lot of Scraggle Popp goodies at an auction. There's a lunchbox with his name on it coming your way. She set it aside special just for him."
"You're spoiling him."
"That's what aunts are for." She settled back against Luc's chest. "Now. My husband has something he wants to ask you, and I'm going to sit here and watch him make a fool of himself."
Well, that just told him everything he needed to know, didn’t it?
Luc cleared his throat. "Are you going to take the job or not? I need to know. Things are spiraling out of control down there. It gets a bit more hectic every day. I really need someone I can trust completely."
"I don't know what a sudden change will do to Kai." Hell, they both knew he had already made up his mind. Pierce just needed to step off the ledge. He’d already given his notice. He had no damned job if he didn’t take the one from Luc.
"I get that. I'll give you fifteen percent more. I need you, even though you probably won’t even earn it. You’ll just be down there watching over them, eating cookies and getting slow and gray-haired."
Payton snorted at that. No. Pierce wasn’t fooled. Luc was trying to downplay this job for some inexplicable reason. Luc’s sisters were probably all demons or something. Pierce had met Paige and Ariella many times, and had met the other two a few times. And everyone knew what had happened to them with that Dr. Eastman guy five months ago. "It's a big risk. For Kai.”
"I'll make sure Kai has what he needs in Finley Creek. I'll even pay for a nanny if you need it, if you will just help me out. I need someone down there that I trust."
Pierce didn't answer. He was starting to get the feeling there was something about these sisters of his in Texas that Luc was not telling him about here. “What is really going on? What do you really need down there? Are they a bunch of gargoyles under the beautiful exteriors or something? Going to roast me alive?”
Luc’s sisters were mostly married women with children. Hell, one of them was married to the current governor of Texas. She already had her own security detail. The other adult woman in Texas was a former cop herself. Not exactly a safety-newbie. There was a teenager, though.
"Just keep my family out of trouble. That's all I'm asking. Regular hours. The house is a smart house, one of my best. In Hughes Heights, one of the best neighborhoods in Texas. It would be almost like a vacation."
Payton laughed. Not a polite laugh, either. The kind that said her husband had lost his mind. Pierce had heard that little monster laugh like that too many times before. Good things rarely followed that Payton-kind-of-laugh.
"He's making an ass out of himself," Payton said. "And he's going to get what he deserves."
