Chapter 9 Ralph
Duncan
When Sloane told me two weeks ago she’d gotten the kids a puppy for their birthday, I was skeptical at first. Neither she nor I ever had a pet growing up, so what the hell did we know about taking care of an animal?
My skepticism turned to horror when she and I picked up the twins’ “puppy” yesterday afternoon.
This beast was not a puppy. In fact, I was pretty sure he ate our puppy.
I know for a fact he chewed a hole in my sock last night.
“Stop it, Duncan,” she scolded. “Mastiffs are gentle giants.”
The damn thing was cute, I’d give him that much.
He was light in color––almost a pale yellow––with black on his muzzle and around his eyes.
He also had the biggest fucking paws I’d ever seen, and he was only eleven weeks old.
The breeder told Sloane he could weigh upward of a hundred fifty pounds.
What the hell did you feed a dog that size?
On the bright side, we could charge for pony rides.
Rogan and Reagan had stayed the night with Finn and Waverly.
The party was being held at my house in a few hours.
Everyone from my team would be there, as well as a few of the kids' friends from school. For entertainment, we rented one of those gigantic bouncy houses, which took up a third of the side yard. I’d be manning the grill, cooking up burgers and hotdogs, while Henley and Jade took care of the rest of the food.
They’d insisted, saying it was good practice for later on down the road.
The only thing not up for negotiation was the cake. That was all Sloane.
“Come down here and play with him. You won’t have the chance once the kids get home.”
Home.
We’d been spending more and more time at my house, well, our house technically, since I’d already added her name to the deed.
The first time I brought her here, Sloane recognized the significance.
It was almost a perfect replica of her dream home, the one we’d talked about building way back when.
The only thing missing was my family, but that would change sooner rather than later. It had already begun.
Sloane was lying in the middle of my living room floor, letting the pup pounce all over her. It was the most carefree I’d seen her since the kidnapping. She needed more days like this, we all did. There hadn’t been any more movement in the investigation into the accident. Something had to give.
“Sunshine, don’t let him lick your face. He just licked his dick.”
“Oh my God, you’re ridiculous.” She burst out laughing.
Giving in, I sat in front of the sofa. Beast––as I called him since he didn’t have a name yet––lumbered over, nudging his big head under my hand. He was already an attention-whore.
“He’ll need training, otherwise walking him will be a joke.” I scratched under his chin, chuckling when his hind leg began to thump against the floor. “I found your spot, huh, buddy?”
“Admit it. You love him.”
The ringing of my cell saved me from admitting the truth. I’d fallen for the four-legged shit machine. Snagging the offending device from the coffee table, I slid my finger across the screen when I saw who was calling.
“Gabriel, hang on a sec, man.” I got to my feet, holding the phone against my chest. “I’ve gotta take this, Sunshine. It’s about the case. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time.”
“Okay, Gabe. Tell me what you found."
“You’ve got a mole, brother,” he started.
Gabe and his brothers had beefed up security at Sloane’s, but I’d also asked them to quietly look at the investigation into Erik Murray and Solace from back then.
They had resources even Nelson didn’t have, namely the youngest del Toro, Enrico.
Rico was one of the FBI’s greatest assets until he quit and joined his brothers to start Quattro Security.
He made the best hackers in the world look like kindergarteners playing with an Etch-A-Sketch.
If anyone could get the information I needed without tipping off the players, it was him.
Quattro also wasn't restricted by the same governmental red tape we were.
Stepping onto the front porch, I rounded the corner, looking out over the yard where the twins' party would take place in a few hours. A mass of balloons, in all different colors, were tied to each of the five folding tables we’d rented from the same place as the bouncy house.
The girl squad made an appearance last night to help put up the decorations for the superhero theme Reagan and Rogan wanted.
We’d even ordered red capes for the kids to wear.
I wanted everything to be perfect for the first birthday I got to spend with them.
Not even this phone call could dampen my mood.
“I figured as much. Who is it?”
“We don’t know, not yet.”
“Then what do you know?”
“Brace, brother.”
When Gabriel del Toro told you to brace, you fucking braced. Bending over, I put my forearms to the porch railing and my head in the hand not holding the phone. I sucked in a lungful of fresh mountain air, then gave him the go ahead.
“Hit me with it.”
“From what Rico found, he’s not able to tell whether or not your cover was blown, but Murray did know he was being investigated.”
“You’re positive?”
“Absolutely. I’ll forward you the file with the encrypted emails he found.”
“Fuck. So the IED…”
I left it hanging, unable to finish the sentence. Gabe didn’t have the same qualms.
“Could have been Erik Murray or someone else. We just don’t know.”
“Goddammit. Why does shit have to be so difficult?”
“Because if it was easy, we’d be out of a job.”
“Truth,” I huffed. “Let me know when you have a name.”
“Will do. And, Duncan?”
“Yeah?”
“Watch your back.”
“Could you maybe scowl for old times’ sake?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Shayne?”
“You’ve been smiling for the past hour straight. It’s freaking me out.”
The party was in full swing. Kids and adults were running around in every direction, squirting each other with the plastic water guns Koen brought.
My yard looked like the party store threw up all over it, yet I was the happiest I’d been in a long time, maybe ever.
And it was all thanks to the beautiful woman I couldn’t keep my eyes off of.
Sloane.
She was also the reason I’d burned the first package of hot dogs I put on the grill.
She’d come out of the house wearing jeans, which molded to her ass, a mint green V-neck sweater––with a little too much V and not enough sweater––and a pair of black cowboy boots on her feet.
My girl was dressed to kill and I was in her crosshairs.
“Can’t help it.” I shrugged.
“First Waverly, now you. Is hell freezing over next?”
“What’s wrong, Shayne? Jealous?”
It was a dick thing to say and I immediately had the urge to kick my own ass.
Not everyone knew her sob story, but one night over two too many shots of whiskey, she’d opened up to me and Way.
About fifteen years ago, Shayne was in love with a woman named Tessa.
They’d been in a relationship for a little over two years and Shayne was ready to take it to the next level.
She had this whole extravagant night planned, including renting out the restaurant where they'd had their first date. Everything was in place for her to propose, only Tessa didn’t show up.
Shayne tried calling but the number was disconnected.
She even went by her apartment, but the locks had been changed.
A week went by without a single clue as to where she'd disappeared to.
Then one day, Shayne walked past a newsstand and caught a glimpse of the picture on the front of the paper.
It was Tessa, wearing a white wedding dress, standing next to a man in a tux.
The headline read, “Local Woman Marries Billionaire Oil Tycoon after Yearlong Engagement.” Shayne was heartbroken, devastated, and betrayed. After that, she swore off love.
“Hey, D.” Waverly strolled over to the grill. “Sloane says it’s time for your present.”
“Perfect timing. I was just getting ready to check to make sure Beast hadn’t dug a hole to California.”
We’d put him in my basement, since it was the only soundproof room in the house.
He could bark all he wanted and the kids would be none the wiser.
It was the perfect solution, or so I thought until I opened the door to my pristine home gym and caught a whiff of the gifts he’d left for me. Gifts. Plural.
“Jesus fucking Christ, what did you do?”
The damn pup thought I was playing a game instead of scolding him, because right in the middle of two ginormous piles of shit, he stretched his front paws out in front of him, raised his ass in the air, and wiggled it back and forth.
Then, out of nowhere, he took off like a shot, racing around the room like his fool ass was on fire.
Sloane called it the zoomies, I called it destructive, since he didn’t fully have control over his body.
How he managed to avoid tromping through any of the land mines he’d strategically placed throughout my gym, I’ll never know.
I was just thankful I was able to corral him before he did.
Back upstairs, I quickly attached the fancy leather collar around his neck, along with the dark blue bow Sloane fitted him with last night. He looked ridiculous, in my opinion, but the kids would lose their minds for sure. That was the only thing that mattered.
Scooping him up in my arms, since he didn’t know how to walk properly on a leash yet, I carried him out the front door and around the side of the house.
Sloane gathered all ten kids onto a large patchwork blanket she’d spread out on the grass while the adults stood around them.
She lifted her head when she heard my approach and winked.
I moved in behind my kids, crouched down, and put their present on the ground.
“Mommy and I have one more gift for the two of you.”