Epilogue
Bailey
Three Months Later
“Hey, sir! You there, on the ladder!”
I turned to see a pickup truck parked in front of our place. A man and a little boy stood in the front yard staring at me as I hung Christmas lights.
“Yeah? Gimme a second.” I screwed the last hook to the fascia board on the front of the house and looped the colorful twinkle light strand over it before I climbed down.
I dropped the drill into the toolbox on the ground and walked over to the curb where they were waiting. “Can I help you?”
“I hope you can. I’m looking for Jagger Hansen. This was the return address on the package he sent to my son for Christmas. I’m his younger brother, Kaleb.”
God, he looked so much like Jagger it wasn’t funny. The little boy standing in front of me, holding an Iron Man figure, confirmed it for me. I was with Jagger when we bought Christmas gifts for his nieces and nephew. I’d dropped them at the post office myself.
Jagger told me he didn’t expect to receive a thank-you from any of them. I’d hoped he was wrong when he said it. I hoped his brother was there to prove it.
“Hi. I’m Bailey, his—” What the hell should I call myself? His lover? His boyfriend? His partner? I knew Jagger had never told his family that he was gay, and I hadn’t questioned him. I loved the man, and I would stand beside him come hell or high water.
“I’m his roommate. He’s at work right now, but come on in. You drove down from Reno?” Would a roommate know where Jagger’s brother lived? Fuck, I needed to send Jagger a text.
“This is my son, Jay. Is Jag still a badass bounty hunter?”
His comment made me smile. “Yeah. He had a bail run to the county jail. I’ll call him and ask if he can run home when he’s done.”
I opened the door to let them inside. It was chilly outside, and the little boy, Jay, was only wearing a sweatshirt. It would be incredibly rude to leave them outside until I talked to Jagger.
“I have Jay until after the holidays, and he wanted to meet his cool uncle who sent him the Marvel Universe, so we got up this morning and headed down. I planned to find a hotel nearby because I wasn’t sure how Jag would take me just showing up.
We, uh, we haven’t seen each other in a few years, and I don’t want us to continue not being in touch.
I’m a little nervous just coming without telling him.
” His voice was a little shaky, and I could see his hands clenching and unclenching as he stood there.
“Naw. He’ll be happy to see you. Make yourselves at home. The remote to the television is on the coffee table. I’ll be right back.”
Kaleb nodded, so I went down the hallway to our bedroom and closed the door so I could call Jagger. It rang three times.
“Hey, honey. What’s up? Tell me you didn’t get blown off the ladder. It’s really windy out there for you to be hanging Christmas lights. Wait until—”
“Babe, stop talking.”
“Who’s in a mood now?” Jagger chuckled.
“Listen. Kaleb is here with Jay.”
“Kaleb? My brother Kaleb and my nephew Jay are at the house?”
He sounded shocked, which didn’t surprise me at all.
Jagger hadn’t heard from his parents or brothers since he left the State Patrol and moved to Vegas from Reno.
His parents had thought he was making a big mistake, as had his older brother Rob.
Jagger said Kaleb hadn’t cared one way or the other.
He was dealing with his own mountain of shit.
“Yeah, baby. Can you come home, or do you want me to ask him to come back? What do you want me to do?”
My insides were in knots. This was likely a huge shock to Jagger. I wished he’d been home when they arrived, but it couldn’t be helped. “Baby? You there?”
I heard a sniffle. “I’m in the truck. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Don’t let them leave, please.” The line went dead.
I wasn’t a praying man, but I prayed that he made it home okay. It was around two in the afternoon, and I hoped traffic wouldn’t be too heavy because he’d get frustrated due to his desire to get home faster. I didn’t want him to have an accident in the process.
I shoved my phone in the pocket of my jeans, took off my coat, and tossed it on the bed. I left the bedroom and walked down the hallway to the living room, where Jay was sitting on the floor watching a superhero cartoon. Kaleb was scrolling on his phone, and they both appeared fine.
“He’s on his way home. It’ll probably take twenty minutes or so from downtown. Can I get you guys something to drink? We have orange juice, cranberry juice, water, soda, beer— Well, not for Jay.” Why was I so fucking nervous?
“I’ll, uh, I’ll help you,” Kaleb said as he stood from the couch and walked over to Jay. “I’ll be through there with Mr. Bailey. I’ll get you some juice, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.” The little guy’s eyes never left the television screen.
We walked into the kitchen, and I opened the fridge, holding up cranberry and orange juice. “I don’t have a cup with a lid, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, uh, I have one in the truck. I’ll be right back.”
Kaleb was out of the house like a shot, and Jay didn’t even notice. The kid was funny. I was guessing he was around four years old as he sat on his feet with Iron Man in his right hand.
His father came back in with a cup with a lid and a straw. His face flushed as though he were embarrassed, which was odd.
“Great. Which one?” I asked.
“Orange is fine. Thanks. I wouldn’t mind a beer,” Kaleb said when I put the cranberry juice back in the fridge.
I grabbed two of the IPAs Jagger and I liked, handing one to Kaleb. “Have a seat— I mean, unless you need to be in the living room with Jay.”
Kaleb grinned. “He’s fine as long as he can hear my voice. So, uh, how do you know Jag?”
“He used to work for my brother on his protection team when Jagger was still a State Patrol officer. We ran into each other when he bailed me out of jail.”
Kaleb’s jaw dropped, and I laughed. “I was a private investigator back then, and I was working a case. It was a misunderstanding.”
That was more or less the truth. Thanks to the help Jagger and I gave him, Spitzer was able to make a case against the Víbora Cartel and the Viper Kings Motorcycle Club, so the charges against me for anything I did regarding Boyd Newton when I posed as the scary clown and chased him up the street were never filed. I was calling it a win.
“Ah, okay. Are you still a private investigator?” Kaleb asked.
I chuckled. “I still have my PI license, but after the first of the year, I’ll be taking classes to be a bail recovery agent and work with Jagger.
I’m taking some time off right now to do some stuff around the house.
We bought the house next door, and after Christmas, we’re going to start construction to make it into a single-family home.
“I see. That’ll be nice. So, are you and my brother a couple? I ask because I noticed some pictures of the two of you, and Jag looks really happy like you...” He trailed off and stared at me.
“I think it’s best if you wait for Jagger to get home. It’s something the two of you should discuss.” Sounded like the right thing to say.
“So, that’s a yes. How long have you been together?”
I wanted to repeat my previous answer but fuck it. “Yes, Jagger and I are partners. We’ve been together since September, but we met when he worked for my brother, Governor Gregory.”
“That’s really cool. Two of my neighbors are lesbians. They moved in together after dating for about a month. They’ll be getting married next June, and I’m playing guitar at the ceremony.”
Jagger had never told me much about his family, other than that he didn’t get along with them. He never said why.
“Why has it been so long since you spoke to Jagger? Did you two have a fight or something?” Hey, if he could ask questions, so could I.
Kaleb picked up his beer and took a swig before answering.
“Not at all. He actually talked me out of proposing to Jay’s mother.
She was cheating on me, and Jag happened to pull over her and the other boyfriend on the highway outside of Reno one Sunday afternoon.
She’d told me she was going to see her parents, and she was, but she took the other guy with her instead of me.
“Jag didn’t say one word to me about seeing her with someone else. Sarah came over to my apartment that night, accused Jag of stalking her, and said she was going to report him to his superior.
“She ended up spilling the bullshit to me later that night as she continued bitching about Jag stopping them. I broke up with her and sent her away from my place. Two weeks later, she called me to say she was pregnant. When I talked to Jag about it, he suggested I ask her for a paternity test.”
I nodded. “So, is that when you stopped talking to your brother? Because you were embarrassed that he knew about your girlfriend cheating and didn’t tell you?”
His mouth opened and closed a few times.
“I can see why you’d think that, but no.
I guess it just happened naturally, as those things do.
I was busy being a single parent and feeling sorry for myself.
I quit going over to Mom and Dad’s because I got tired of hearing them tell me I should marry Sarah, even though she cheated on me.
Jag never even hinted at anything like that.
“Of course Robby never got along with Jag because Robby’s an arrogant prick.
He went to law school and thinks he’s better than both of us, and our parents only feed his fucking ego.
No, Jagger and I never had a falling out.
I just got lazy about our relationship, and I really miss him.
I need someone in my family to talk to when shit happens, and I want to hear about shit that goes on in Jag’s life.
I truly miss my brother. I’m here to try to fix it. ”