This isn’t the worst life. I’ve been spending a ton of time with Mickey and have finally started working on many, many community engagement plans I’d been procrastinating for the clinic.
Ashley pretends she hates them, but she’s delighted. I do actually hate them, but I like money, so I don’t really mind.
And I have a beautiful, sexy man who likes to cook dinner for me. I mean, I don’thavehim, but at least the cookingdinner part is true. Besides, he’s his own person, not owned by anyone. Not me, notNatalie. Anyone.
I don’t really hate that Nicholas is here, that's the point I’m trying to make.
“You seem to have really taken to your role as a dog dad,” I say, because my mind needs to be stopped. I point to the happy dog snoozing in his new bed under the window. For someone who was rescued just last week after spending a week in supposed captivity with a dog-napper, he looks pretty relaxed. I heard the negotiations were rough and lasted for days.
Nicholas smiles. “C’mon, you can do better than that, El. Tell me I’m a great dog dad,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “I’m not the one who doubted that,” I point out.
“True, true. I was worried because I thought it’d be too much responsibility,” he admits. “Okay, this is gonna sound so weird. Can I confess something weird to you?”
“Almost exclusively,” I say.
He laughs. “I kinda missed living with Matt when we moved to different places. It made sense to do it because we were adults and we could. But I got— I just like having people around. And we still lived close, but then Oliver came along, and he’s great. I love him so much. He’s so good for Matt, and Matt is so happy. But…” He pauses, looking embarrassed.
“But you miss him,” I finish.
“It’s so weird, and I have so many friends, and I spend so much time with them. But then Mickey came along, and it’s a bad comparison, but I just like he’s there with me, you know?”
I nod. Maybe not intimately. I look at Nicholas’s hopeful face again. Or maybe a little too intimately. “You’re a caretaker. You need someone to take care of. Matt doesn’t need that from you anymore, so you didn’t know what you were supposed to do with yourself. Now, Mickey needs you, and that’s fulfilling again. I get it,” I say.
Nicholas’s eyebrows climb up. “Uh… Wasn’t expecting the whole psychoanalysis thing, but I guess that makes sense? I mean, Matt is older than me, but he went through a lot before he became my brother, so I took on the responsibility of helping him, even when I was all of nine years old. He was just a kid. He didn’t deserve any of it, you know?” He looks contemplative.
“No one ever does,” I say, my voice shaky.
He looks at me with narrowed eyes.Fuck no, we’re not talking about my childhood. “The food is too salty. You might be losing your edge, Harper,” I say before he can utter a single word.
He laughs. “And whose fault is that?”
I shrug. I hate that I don’t hate Nicholas sitting on my couch even a little bit. This is going to turn into a disaster, isn’t it?
Chapter Twenty Four
Boring Tasks, Bleary Eyes, and Buried Confessions
Nick
The biggest disadvantage of working for the Bureau is being stuck with the grunt work. No matter how much of a bigshot you are, if you’re a field agent and are available, you’ll be a part of the Alibi Confirmation Protocol.
Even if it means driving four hours outside the city to check one of the suspects’ alibis on your rare off days. For all the talk of delegation, there are some boring tasks that even I can’t escape. But considering Dominic, the person I’ve been delegating most of my work to, joined me, I can’t very well say it’s all on my shoulders.
And Sloan is here too… for some reason.
The day was exhausting, and I’m glad it’s over. If only the drive back would end before I give in to the sweet oblivion of sleep. Then again, I’m very confident Dominic and Sloan can carry me to bed and tuck me in if it comes to that.
At least the day was fruitful, if you consider ruling out one of our last suspects and ending up back at square one, fruitful.
It wasn’t difficult to explain the situation to the wife of one of the Vigilante Wolf Hunter’s victims, especially after we told her what was going on. She was extremely cooperative. So thechances of her being the humans’ killer were very low, but we had to do our due diligence.
Since we couldn’t ask her colleagues to confirm her presence at the office on both days, we had to sit through hours of footage of her office that she kindly provided access to.
A full day sitting in front of a laptop, looking at tiny people doing the same thing the entire fucking day, makes for very cranky, exhausted law enforcement officers and an annoyed forensic tech.
“C’mon, I’ll get you back in less than two hours, and we've got a solid alibi, so there’s no confusion. That has to count for something,” Dominic says cheerfully.
