He knew that Alex was probably beside herself after hearing what had taken place.
He excused himself and stepped outside on the back porch.
“Ace,” Pierce answered.
“We heard. How’s Charley?”
He leaned against the railing. “About as good as expected. I think being away from the hospital, and all everything is starting to hit her.”
“I bet,” Ace said with a sigh. “No updates on the shooter?”
“No. Nothing yet.”
“Is she at your place?”
“Yeah. She’s in the shower right now.”
“Good. Keep her safe.”
Pierce spent the next couple of minutes updating Ace with information that he hadn’t known yet. He promised to have Charley call Alex once she settled.
When he ended the call, he exhaled slowly.
Behind him, the back door opened.
Ray stepped outside quietly and held out a beer. “Figured you’d need it,” he said.
Pierce took it automatically. He didn’t open it yet. He just held it.
Ray leaned against the porch railing beside him. They stood in silence for a moment, shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the backyard like they were back overseas watching a perimeter.
After a beat, Ray spoke. His head was slightly tilted. “How areyoudoing with all this?”
Pierce let out a humorless breath. “Not sure how to answer that either.”
Ray didn’t push immediately. He just waited. Pierce appreciated that.
His fingers tightened around the beer bottle. “I’m pissed,” he said finally. “And I’m worried. And I…” He paused, the words catching. “I was scared as hell when you told me there’d been a shooting and Charley was involved.”
Ray glanced at him, expression steady. “I could tell.”
Pierce swallowed hard, the memory hitting him like a shockwave. “I haven’t felt that kind of fear since Afghanistan.”
Ray’s gaze sharpened. “The mission you almost didn’t come home from.”
Pierce nodded once, jaw clenching. “Yeah. That one.”
Ray let the silence sit for a second, then asked, quieter now, “You really like her.”
It wasn’t a question.
Pierce’s mouth curved slightly, but there was no humor in it. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I do.”
Ray watched him. “More than like.”
Pierce didn’t answer right away. He stared out into the dark, hearing Charley’s sobs against his chest earlier, seeing that fucking bandage wrapped around her arm.
“She got through to me,” Pierce said finally, voice lower. “I don’t even know how. I didn’t let people in after Brittany. I didn’t want to. And then Charley just appears out of nowhere, so unexpectedly, and makes the impossible happen.”
