Chapter 10
10
Wraith
I scowled at her. I didn’t want her bringing that up. I couldn’t get into it with the kid and she was just making things more difficult. Talking about my job was a non-starter, and she knew that.
Luckily, Xander didn’t pester me about it. He just nodded slowly and set the phone aside. There was a whole host of shit I’d need to get done for him to take care of him properly. It was a little daunting. Custody was only part of it. I needed to get him healthy, get him into school, get the things he needed, like a laptop and new clothes. Unless it was the new style to be drowning in your clothes, he needed shit that would actually fit him.
Tank’s hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed gently, bringing me back to reality. When I looked around, no one else was paying attention to me but him. Mel was telling Xander about the other kids in the crew. It didn’t escape my notice that she included Rooster in that group. Technically, he was an adult, but he acted like a big kid, so it counted.
“Doin’ alright?” Tank asked softly.
I nodded, but I think we both knew it was a lie. I was in over my head and it’d barely been a day. I wasn’t about to walk away, but I hoped I could do enough to help him. To give him what I couldn’t have when I was his age. Someone to protect him.
A whine came from my bedroom, and I heard Thor scratch at the door. I put him in there when Xander first showed up because I didn’t want him to be overwhelmed. Thor was intimidating at first, and I wasn’t even sure if the kid liked dogs. Of course, Mel had less trepidation than I did.
“Oh! Xander, do you like dogs?”
Xander’s brow furrowed, and he lifted a shoulder uneasily. “I guess.”
That didn’t tell me anything about how he’d respond to Thor, but Mel didn’t wait around for me to ask more questions. She popped to her feet, heading for my door and throwing it open like she owned the place. She immediately started up with the baby talk, cooing at Thor as she kneeled beside him.
“Who’s a good boy? You are! Yes, you are! Such a good boy!”
Thor, the terrifying rottweiler who made my entire crew nervous the first time they met him, turned into a whining puppy, his whole butt wagging with his excitement. A smile tugged at my lips as I watched them interact. Mel was the only one who never acted afraid of Thor. She was too kind to ever be afraid of a sweet dog like him.
Xander hadn’t moved from his seat, but I could see the mix of trepidation and longing in his face. Scooting back in my chair, I grabbed the treats from the jar on the counter, handing him a few.
“Here. Give him these.”
He took the treats and startled hard when Thor noticed and came barreling for him. I made a tsk sound behind my teeth, stalling the big puppy from jumping on the injured kid. I taught him not to do that already.
“Thor, sit.”
He did, plopping on his butt and looking at Xander expectantly. He wanted that treat more than he wanted to cause trouble. Xander offered him one, snatching his hand away and dropping the treat before Thor could get too close. Since Thor probably weighed more than he did, I didn’t blame him for that.
“He doesn’t bite.” Not unless I tell him to, anyway. The kid didn’t need to know that. “Try again.”
Thor had been distracted by gobbling up the treat on the floor, giving Xander a minute to get his bearings. He sucked in a shaky breath, offering the next treat when Thor’s head came back up. And because I taught my dog well, he took the treat delicately before eating it. He was around little kids too much for me to allow him to snap treats out of people’s hands.
Xander’s shoulders came down, and a smile tugged at his lips as he offered Thor his hand to sniff. Of course, since he started with treats, that’s all Thor was interested in. He sniffed Xander’s hand and nudged it with his nose, looking up at him with those puppy dog eyes. I shook my head, exasperated.
“No. He’s not giving you more treats. You’ve had enough.”
“Aw, so mean,” Mel chastised as she came to Thor’s side. She rubbed his ears, using that stupid baby talk again. “Is he so mean to you? The bestest boy deserves lots of love, doesn’t he? You wanna come live with me instead, don’t you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Stop trying to steal my dog.”
Everyone knew how much Mel loved dogs. She’d have a dozen if she could, but her schedule didn’t allow for that. She wasn’t cruel enough to leave an animal alone all day while she was working. Instead, she commandeered Thor whenever she had the chance. I didn't mind it since it meant I got to see her more often. Not that I’d admit that part out loud. Prez would murder me.
“Stop having the best dog on the planet. Then I’ll stop trying to steal him,” she replied casually. I swore I spent half my day rolling my eyes at her.
Xander snickered, listening to her banter. He might be standoffish with me, but he was warming up to Mel. It was hard not to. She was the kind of person who you just wanted to surround yourself with all day.
While they were playing with Thor, I headed upstairs to make up a bed for Xander. I had two rooms upstairs that I didn't use much. One was a guest room that sat untouched most of the time. The other I used for storage for some of the tech stuff I had lying around. Aside from my work, I liked to tinker with it. I had a few apps out there too as a passive income, but I didn’t give them much of my attention. Snagging some fresh sheets from the linen closet, I made the bed, making a mental list of all the stuff we’d need to stop at the store for. I wasn’t even sure the kid had his own toothbrush.
Mel’s voice got clearer as she got closer to the stairs. “Okay, so since this is basically a big man cave, it's a pretty open concept. Straight shot from the living room to the kitchen. The door to the master bedroom is behind the stairs, and a bathroom is right next to it if you need it. Two more bedrooms upstairs, I’m sure Wraith will tell you which one is for you. I don’t know why I’m the one doing this, since I’ve only been here a few times.” She raised her voice to make sure I heard her. I made an irritated sound, finishing up the bed before heading downstairs. She stood near the front door, her eyebrow raised in question.
“I was putting new sheets on the bed,” I growled.
She just gave me a bored look. Brat. I waved a hand toward the stairs behind me. “There’s only one room with a bed in it. That one is Xander’s.”
It was as much of a tour as I felt like I needed to give. It wasn’t that big a house. But Melissa rolled her eyes at me, beckoning Xander by wiggling her fingers at him and climbing the stairs. “Come on. Some of us are better at socializing than others. We’ll get you set up for the night.”
Annoyance flashed through me, but before I could comment, a knock at the door distracted me. I was only a few feet away, so I pulled it open, giving Prez an up nod in greeting.
“You’re back early.”
He lifted a shoulder. “You’re more important than a rally. How’s it going?”
I stepped back so he could come inside, closing the door behind him. He gave Thor a pat in greeting, lifting his eyebrow at me. Irritation swelled when I thought about everything that was happening, and I stormed off, heading for my office. I needed to get my paperwork for Prez anyway.
My office used to be a front room, but I renovated the house to have it blocked off. The only way to get to it was through my room. There was a keypad to access it and fail-safes if someone tried to log into my computer without my permission. Too many failed attempts would wipe the system completely. It was the only way my boss would let me work for them remotely. It was either that or having a three-hour commute each day to El Paso. I punched in the code on the keypad, stalking over to the file cabinet against one wall. I didn’t print things or get paper copies often, so most of the files in there were personal, not work-related. It made it easy to find what I needed.
“Wraith?” Prez prompted calmly.
“How do you think it’s going?” I finally growled. “He looks like someone used him as a punching bag and he won’t tell me shit. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
“Probably what you’re doing right now.”
His words made me pause, and I looked over my shoulder at him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but that patient look said he wasn’t judging me for my outburst. He understood me better than anyone, even if I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud.
“I should’ve known, Wyatt. I should’ve checked.”
We didn’t use birth names often. Only when it was important. I’d been friends with Wyatt since we were kids, and I needed his help. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could handle this on my own. This wasn’t an infant with simple needs. This was a twelve-year-old kid who’d been abused and treated like shit, probably for his whole life. I had to fight for custody for him and get him healthy and back on track and I didn't know how the hell to do that.
Wyatt’s arms relaxed, and he reached for me, squeezing my shoulder. “You couldn’t have known. And it doesn’t really matter. There’s no changing the past. You need to focus on right now.”
“How?” I had to ask because it all felt like too much.
“One step at a time,” he replied, squeezing my shoulder again. “Come on. Let’s write a list. We’ll sort it by priority and get things done, so the kid is taken care of. What’s his name, by the way?”
“My brother’s name is Xander.”