Chapter Nine #2
He set Dolly down on the floor, and she immediately jumped onto Abe’s lap, turning the brawny sheriff into putty.
Traitorous trollop. He unpacked the bag and looked at the contents in each aluminum pan to decide if it was something they’d want to freeze for later or eat soon.
Abe and Mendoza had basically delivered a holiday feast to their house.
Royce shifted the lasagna to the freezer to make room for the spiral-cut ham and all its glorious trimmings.
He nearly dropped the mashed potatoes on the floor when he heard Mendoza fawning over Dolly.
He peeked around the door and caught his chief making kissy faces at the dog and wished he hadn’t left his phone on the coffee table.
Sawyer still hadn’t returned to the living room, and there was no way in hell he’d believe Royce’s claims without evidence.
Knowing Mendoza wouldn’t want Royce to witness this too-human moment, he finished shuffling food and shut the refrigerator door harder than necessary to warn his chief that he was coming back.
But he put a little too much oomph into it because a chunk of ice fell out of the dispenser and onto the floor.
And it turned out the gesture was uncalled for since Mendoza was standing just on the other side of the door when he’d closed it.
Royce yelped in surprise. “Didn’t hear you sneak up on me, Chief. ”
“He’s light on his feet like a panther,” Abe called out from the living room. “And silent as smoke.”
“Did you need something?” Royce asked.
The smile Mendoza gave him was pure predator. “Could I have something to drink?”
“Of course. Soda, juice, water, or something stronger?”
“Water would be great.”
“Still or sparkling? Flavored or unflavored?”
Mendoza’s brow furrowed. “Anything unflavored.”
“Coming right up.” Royce stepped back, and his foot landed on the slippery ice.
His leg slid out from under him, and he slammed into the refrigerator hard enough to dislodge something from the top, which slid down the side.
“Well, damn.” Royce peered into the thin gap between the appliance and wall, but it was too dark to see.
Reaching into the abyss, his fingers brushed against something thin and plastic. “What the hell?”
Royce didn’t recognize what it was until he pulled the item from the gap, and his gaze landed on the colorful sticky notes plastered all over it. He turned it over before Mendoza recognized Sawyer’s murder board and came face-to-face with a smiling stork.
“What the hell’s that?” Mendoza asked, pointing at the sign.
“It’s a cartoon stork, Chief. It’s a common symbol people use to welcome newborns into a family.”
“Yeah, I know what a stork represents,” Mendoza replied.
“I’m talking about the sticky notes on the back.
Pretty sure I saw headings that read ‘suspects’ and ‘evidence’ above them.
” Of course, eagle-eyed Mendoza spotted Sawyer’s makeshift murder board.
“Are you guys running active investigations while on paternity leave? Tell me you’re not doing that. ”
“We are not doing that,” Royce said.
Mendoza narrowed his eyes and gestured for Royce to give him the sign. He could’ve refused to hand it over since they were standing in his kitchen, but Mendoza’s steely-eyed expression conveyed that absolute compliance was the only option.
“It’s not what you think, Chief.”
Abe entered the kitchen with Dolly tucked under his arm. “It never is.”
Mendoza’s dark gaze raked over Sawyer’s notes before snapping up to meet Royce’s eyes. “This is exactly what I thought it was.” He turned it so Abe could see. “And I think this proprietary and confidential information belongs to your department.”
One of Abe’s golden brows shot up, but curiosity reflected in his expression instead of anger. He was the arctic chill to Mendoza’s raging inferno. “So it is. And it doesn’t take a genius to know where you’ve gotten this information.” Abe’s calm acceptance only seemed to fuel Mendoza’s outrage.
“Why aren’t you angry? Your undersheriff shared confidential information about an ongoing investigation with his former partner.”
Abe shrugged. “Why are you angry? I seem to recall a time when you asked me to bend the rules to rescue this one”—Abe hooked a thumb in Royce’s direction—to clarify who he’d meant.
That took a little starch out of the chief’s expression. “I was only a deputy chief back then.”
“Lio,” Abe said, drawing out his nickname while shaking his head. “Ease up.”
Mendoza narrowed his eyes and studied his husband. “You already knew that Charlie had shared the information with Sawyer.”
“Yes, I’d had several messages from Charlie when I turned my phone back on after landing at the airport. I’d have done the same thing in his shoes, and you would have too.” Abe looked at Royce and said, “I strongly recommend turning off your phones during vacations. It’s life-changing.”
“Noted,” Royce said.
“Did I hear my name?” Sawyer called from the living room before Royce could send a signal for his husband to save himself.
He’d been more than willing to fall on the sword for whatever punishment their chief wanted to eke out, but Mendoza knew exactly where the information had come from and the likely recipient.
They’d both have their heads on the chopping block for this.
“Run,” Royce joked. “Save yourself.”
Sawyer scowled for a few seconds until he saw what Mendoza held in his hand.
Either he hoped the baby would soften their chief’s reaction or he’d forgotten he still gripped the bassinet, because he wheeled Darla into the kitchen with him.
“I can explain.” Unfortunately for him, Evangeline was only a step behind her son.
She read only a few of the notes before putting it all together. “Sawyer,” she hissed, rounding on him. “Tell me you’re not involving yourself in Charlie’s investigation.”
Mendoza handed Royce the makeshift murder board and eased back a few steps. It was the first time Royce had ever seen him look nervous. “We should probably get going.”
“But we just got here,” Abe complained. He leaned over the bassinet and smiled down at Darla. “And I want to hold the baby.”
“Royce,” Evangeline said, “you take your guests into the living room so they can hold Darla while I have a chat with my son.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He’d been prepared to take the full brunt of Mendoza’s anger, but he’d happily escape Evangeline’s wrath.
He eased the bassinet from Sawyer’s grip, kissed his husband’s cheek, and gestured for Mendoza and Abe to follow him to the living room.
“Oh,” he said, stopping suddenly, “I forgot to grab your water from the refrigerator, Chief.”
“I’m fine,” Mendoza said. It seemed not even their badass chief was immune to maternal outrage. He cut a glance in Sawyer’s direction and said, “Guess he’s getting punished enough for meddling in a case outside our jurisdiction. I can let this slide.”
Abe bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing, then led their little parade into the living room.
He made himself comfortable on the couch and passed Dolly over to Mendoza, who held the dog at eye level and told her she wasn’t allowed to lick him.
Dolly let out an outraged yip and did it anyway, catching him on the cheek before he could dodge her.
“Your dog is a lot like you, Locke,” Mendoza declared.
“I haven’t licked anyone who didn’t want it,” Royce replied.
Mendoza’s face turned pink, and he muttered, “You know what I meant.”
“You set yourself up for that,” Abe said as he smiled down at Darla in the bassinet.
He pumped hand sanitizer into his palm from the industrial-sized bottle Sawyer kept on the coffee table and vigorously rubbed his hands together.
Abe eased the baby from her bassinet and said, “Isn’t that right, sweet angel? Uncle Lio stepped right into that one.”
Uncle Lio? Royce figured stranger things could happen than his chief becoming so familiar with Darla that she’d call him an uncle, but there weren’t many.
Mendoza didn’t reject the notion outright, but he was too spellbound by his husband holding the tiny infant.
The chief’s guard was down, and his expression was pure love.
“Don’t hog her to yourself,” Mendoza said.
“I’ve only held her for like two minutes. Kiss the dog and wait your turn.”
In the most shocking turn of the day, Mendoza kissed Dolly on the top of her head. He must’ve sensed Royce gawking at him because he curled his lips in a snarl. “Problem?”
“No, sir. Just don’t leave lipstick on her fur.”
“I’ll do my best,” Mendoza replied dryly.
Royce looked into the kitchen to see how Sawyer was faring with Evangeline, but the dustup was already over.
She passed the makeshift murder board back to Sawyer, kissed his cheek, and grabbed her purse off the kitchen island.
She blew Royce a kiss and then headed down the hallway toward the garage with Sawyer following behind her, wearing a hangdog expression on his handsome face.
“Oh, hey!” Abe said. “That’s Trixie Mattel. What are you watching?”
Royce turned back to the television and saw a very tall drag queen with big boobs, enormous blonde hair, and exaggerated makeup that made her look like a doll.
“Um, I don’t know. We were checking out a hilarious show called English Teacher before our friends and family arrived.
I might’ve resumed the show by accident.
” The scene changed to include a group of high school boys gaping at the drag queen.
Royce hit Pause on the remote, and the show’s name and episode title came up on the screen.
He had started the next episode of English Teacher, but he hadn’t gotten far.
“Oops. I better go back to the beginning and wait for Sawyer.”
“Good show?” Mendoza asked.
“Great so far,” Royce replied.
Mendoza nodded. “Is Trixie in every episode? She’s my favorite.”
“Your favorite actor?” Royce asked.
“Drag queen.”
Royce couldn’t imagine Mendoza watching drag queen performances, let alone having a favorite. “Interesting.” The chief’s scowl made him realize he’d spoken that out loud.
“You don’t watch Drag Race?” Mendoza asked.
Royce shook his head. “Just the kind that involves cars.”
“That’s not nearly as entertaining,” Mendoza told him. “You’ve got three months off work, so it would be a perfect time to watch the franchise.”
“Franchise?” Royce asked.
“It started with a single series in the US before moving to the UK, Canada, and far beyond,” Abe said.
“Both of you love it?” Royce asked.
“More than sports,” Abe replied. “Hearing these queens talk about the bigotry they’ve faced and how hard they’ve struggled to find acceptance really gets to you.”
Mendoza nodded before adding, “But then you get stories of unconditional love, and you realize that humanity still exists.”
“Sounds like those tear-jerking backstories they tell before every Super Bowl,” Royce said.
“It’s exactly like that,” Abe replied. “Except you get at least one or two backstories every episode while they’re getting ready for their main stage presentations. I think that’s my favorite part of the show.”
“Same,” Mendoza agreed. “One minute, you’re grumbling about a shady-ass queen, and the next, you’re cheering for them to win the crown and the cash.”
Royce looked from one husband to the other. Was he dreaming this conversation?
“Now, give me that baby, and no one will get hurt,” Mendoza said. He set Dolly on the couch, sanitized his hands, and held out his arms for Darla. The exchange was peaceful, and no one lost a limb.
“You sound like my mom when someone holds Darla too long,” Sawyer said as he rejoined them. “About that murder board…”
Mendoza waved him away with his free hand. “No explanations needed. I trust you.”
Royce expected to hear harpsichord music and see a beam of angelic benevolence shine upon his husband’s head.
“Thank you,” Sawyer said, then turned to Abe. “I promise I’m not interfering in your investigation. I jot down thoughts to keep my brain from turning them over on an endless loop.”
“I understand. Charlie told me he’s kept you updated, and I don’t have a problem with it. I’d want the same thing if our situations were reversed.”
“Thank you.” Sawyer noticed the paused television screen and asked if they’d watched English Teacher.
Abe and Mendoza told him they hadn’t yet, then launched into another impassioned endorsement of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“Alec loves that show,” Sawyer said. “He swears I’ll love it too, but I’m more of a documentary man.”
“Give it a shot,” Abe said. “And don’t judge the entire franchise on the weird camera filter they use in season one.”
They chatted for a while longer until Darla woke up from her nap, looking for her next bottle. She nuzzled against Mendoza’s chest, and he laughed.
“Can’t help you, kid,” he said, offering her back to Royce.
“I’ll warm up her bottle,” Sawyer said.
“We should get going.” Abe stood and hauled Mendoza by his hand.
“We need to tackle laundry and groceries and all the boring things I did not miss during vacation,” Mendoza said. “Enjoy these precious months at home with Darla. They’ll go by so fast.” He cocked his head to the side. “Before you know it—”
“Nope,” Royce said, cutting him off. He didn’t want to think about how quickly time would pass. “I just have this moment right here, and I’ll never get it back.”
Abe clapped him on the back. “There you go.” He gestured to the kitchen, where Sawyer was readying Darla’s bottle. “Don’t let him lose sight of that. I want you guys to enjoy being first-time fathers and let my department worry about the Ned Owens investigation.”
“Yes, sir.”
Royce, Darla, and Dolly saw them to the door before returning to the couch, where Sawyer waited for them with a warm bottle.
He had a Boppy pillow on his lap and a soft spit-up towel draped over one shoulder.
Sawyer’s brown eyes were warm, free of fear, and full of hope.
“You’ve never looked more beautiful to me than you do right now. ”
“You’re being silly,” Sawyer said.
“No, I’m not. Fatherhood looks so damn good on you.”
“Not as good as it looks on you,” Sawyer said.
And they grinned at each other like fools until Darla kicked up a fuss.
Royce handed her to Sawyer and smiled as he positioned her the way she liked.
They were so perfect together. It would be so easy to imagine what their life could look like in one year, five years, or even ten.
But he wouldn’t allow it. Royce had this one breathtaking moment, and it was all he needed.