CHAPTER 27
What a day. O’Donoghue dead. Not much of a birthday present. Hell, Lucky would rather see the bastard stand trial, pay for his sins. Maybe give them more evidence on others involved in this clusterfuck.
Not now. Good thing the case wasn’t Lucky’s. Still his concern, just not his problem. Hallelujah.
If only he could do like Bo and leave work at work. His family, except for Bo, had no idea the shitstorm he’d been through today. He needed to paste on a smile and play nice. He couldn’t let the family down.
For some reason, his family insisted on acknowledging his birthday.
The same drill year after year left a man wise. No one said a word to him at work, which meant hidden cars and a houseful of people when he got home.
Good thing half of them would be packing, some with more than one gun. Couldn’t get safer than a houseful of agents.
If they ever decided to bring in Jimmy’s brother for mixed martial arts training, Lucky would swallow his pride and be the first in line.
He approached the community gate. Would the device clipped to his visor work its magic today? Oh, hell! A birthday surprise. The gate slid open with fewer than ten cuss words. Fuck. He spoke too soon. The gate opened enough to admit a bicycle, then closed. He rolled down the window and pressed the button.
Again, the gate slid open two feet—and stopped. What the ever-loving hell? They paid the homeowner’s association. Surely whoever took the money could fix the damned thing.
A car pulled up behind him and blew the horn. Lucky gave them a middle finger salute. The gate opened, and the car flew past him, driver laying down on the horn. Assholes.
Maybe his birthday wouldn’t be so bad. After Lucky’s day, he needed cake, ice cream, and no-guilt junk food. Plus, family and friends, though he might not let them know.
He pulled into the driveway. No cars. Nothing unusual. His nearest and dearest liked to think they were sneaky. Hard for Lucky to miss his own birthday.
He took his time getting to the front door, giving his guests time to sweat, and checked the mail. Bill, bill, bill. Hadn’t Bo put all their bills on autopay? His mother’s handwriting graced the front of a card-shaped envelope. Kinda hurt, the reminder of all the years he’d done without a card, or a kind word, or even any word at all.
Water under the bridge.
He slowly approached and opened the door. The alarm had been set to “away” mode, and through the sliding glass doors he spotted Moose, asleep on the porch. He set the alarm to “stay”, though with Landry and O’Donoghue no longer a threat, he could relax some.
Some, but not totally.
He checked the kitchen, the backyard, the dining room, the bedrooms, stopping short of Charlotte’s apartment. No car in the driveway. Maybe she’d gone somewhere.
No Bo, but lately, Bo worked a lot of late nights.
On his third circuit of the house, he found a note.“Lucky, Rett and I went shopping. Don’t wait up. We’re taking the kids out for pizza.”
They always tortured him with too much attention on his birthday. His heart ached a little. As much as he’d learned to hate birthdays back when his folks didn’t speak to him, he’d gotten used to having family and friends around again. Now, not even Bo, and he’d love to see Andro’s chubby cheeks stretched into a grin, and to hold baby Jenny.
Tires in the driveway made him perk up, and he dashed to the front windows. Bo! Lucky plopped down onto the couch, scooped Cat Lucky off the back, and laid the feline in his lap. Nope, not watching for someone to come home. Not at all.
Bo came in and disabled the alarm before the beeping turned to a blare.
“Hey, Bo. You’re home early.” Were folks going to jump out of the woodwork now?
“We had plans, remember?”
Plans? At least Lucky wouldn’t be alone on his birthday. “What plans?”
Bo put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes with more drama than really necessary. “We’re going car shopping, remember?”
Oh, yeah. Right. Lucky had scoped out a few in the impound lot at work, but agents weren’t allowed to buy them. They had to be sold at auction, and even then, agents couldn’t bid. Harsh, but kept the agents from working deals.
Nothing said Charlotte couldn’t bid on a car for Ty, though.
At least Lucky test drove a few models to get the feel of them. He missed his Camaro. Another sports car would be impractical for a man with two kids. He’d need a family friendly vehicle. “Do we have to?” Buying a new car added another payment to their budget, though Bo’s promotion greatly increased their options. Still, a new car meant admitting he’d lost his old one for good.
