Chapter 20
Devyn
We hadn’t made it more than a couple steps out of the parking lot before a booming voice split the air.
“Norman!”
My eyebrows shot up and I froze where I was standing because whoever was yelling sounded pissed. I looked over at Bolo. He’d stopped beside me and looked amused. “A biker named Norman?”
He chuckled at that then jerked his chin, indicating that I looked in that direction.
A huge Rottweiler came slinking around the side of one of the buildings, carrying a tan, military style, boot in his mouth. He paused when he noticed us.
“You better keep moving, Norm,” Bolo told him with a grin. “He catches you out here with his boot and you’re never going to hear the end of it. You know his rants can go on for hours.”
I swear the dog grinned at us around the prize inside his mouth right before he trotted off.
There wasn’t even enough time for me to ask before a man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes stalked around the corner.
He was…very neat looking. Not a hair out of place on his head, his clothes completely free of any dust or dirt.
I glanced over at Bolo’s boots, which had a layer of grime on them, then at the stranger’s pristine black boots.
Despite his immaculate attire, the man looked stressed to the max.
He was handsome enough, but I was sure my blood pressure shot up another ten points just by looking at how tense he was.
“Have you seen Norman?” he asked Bolo. He gave me a small nod of acknowledgment, but then focused fully on the man standing next to me.
“Nope.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not fucking around, Bolo. The damn dog stole my boot.”
“How do you know it was him?” Bolo asked. “For all you know it coulda been Code.”
That just annoyed the man further. “Because he’s been stealing my damn socks ever since Rue brought him home.”
Bolo made a face, as though he was considering the options. “No, see, that could still be Code.”
He rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh. “As weird as that kid is, he’s not stealing only my left socks.”
“…do socks come in left and right?” I whispered to Bolo. I gave Flir an innocent smile when he scowled at me.
“He labels them.”
My gaze swung over to Bolo in surprise. “Excuse me?” I didn’t even try to pretend like I wasn’t talking about Flir in front of him any longer.
“We had to label everything in the military for a multitude of reasons. We always labeled all our shit with our last names. He never stopped doing it.”
“But…they made you label socks as left and right?” I asked, looking between the men.
“No,” Flir said. “But it just makes sense to designate them.”
Bolo shook his head at me, indicating that ‘no, it didn’t just make sense to anyone but Flir’.
I bit the insides of my lips to keep the laugh building inside me contained. It was hard when remembering the dog’s grinning face as he ran off with the boot, seeing Flir’s frustration, and Bolo’s obvious amusement.
“Now he’s graduated to my boots. But only the left fucking…” He stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he blew it out. “I don’t know where the hell he keeps hiding them. One of these days I’m going to find his stash and his game will be over.”
“He’ll probably just find a new hiding spot,” I pointed out, then bit my lips again at the horrified look the biker threw me.
He raked a hand through his hair. “Twenty-one socks. He’s ruined twenty-one of them. I keep having to buy more to replace them.”
Bolo’s lips twitched. “Seems to me like you’re blaming Norman when you don’t have proof yet. By the way, Dev, this is my brother Flir. Flir, my girl, Dev.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, holding my hand out.
Flir’s eyes dropped to my offered hand and there was a brief moment of hesitation before he took it and we shook.
I pulled my hand back, wondering what that had been about. Quickly, I glanced down at my own palm to see if there was any dirt or smudges on it. Nothing.
“Nice to meet you. I need to go track down a mutt.” With that he stalked off.
“Umm…”
“Don’t take offense,” Bolo told me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Flir is a germaphobe. Shaking hands is hard for him.”
“Oh…okay.”
“Let’s get you upstairs before everyone realizes you’re here and bombards us. I want you to get that nap sooner rather than later.”
He led me to a large building and we stepped onto an elevator inside. There were three floors. The elevator stopped at the top and he led me down the hall and then opened the door for me. He was carrying my bag over his shoulder and the grocery bag in one arm. He waited for me to enter first.
I clutched my purse to my chest and looked around, eyes wide. “This is so nice.” It was far nicer than my shoe box apartment, that was for sure.
“Thanks. We just finished getting them built not long ago.”
“This is…where your clubhouse is?”
He went over to the window and pointed at another building close by. “Clubhouse is over there. This is for our families. It has a gym and a pool. I’ll give you a tour later.”
I shook my head, impressed. I followed him into the master bedroom and stopped. “I’m not taking your room.”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “I was hoping you’d stay in here with me.” I just gave him a flat look and he grinned. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
He turned and I followed him into the next room.
It was nearly as big as his was. He set my bag on the bed, then started unloading the bag of medications and blood pressure cuffs—he’d bought four different brands, two wrist cuffs and two that went around the bicep—into the bathroom.
The BP monitors he brought into the bedroom and set on the nightstand.
“Shower’s in there. There’s towels and…stuff…already in there.”
“Thank you.”
“Want me to tuck you in?” He gave me a charming, slightly hopeful smile.
“No,” I said with a laugh, “but thanks.”
“Get some rest. We’ll have dinner with the rest of the club sometime this week. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind. I just don’t want anyone to go to the trouble-”
“It’s no trouble, Dev. They’re excited to meet you.” His eyes roved over me, then he turned to the door. “I’ll be in the living room. Just holler if you need anything.”
“Okay.” I sat down on the bed as he left.
My mind was spinning. I’d already taken some of the meds to help with my fever on the drive over, but I was exhausted from the trip to the doctor and the shopping after.
He’d offered to let me stay in the vehicle, but I’d needed to pick up my prescription anyway.
My eyes were heavy now that I was sitting inside a cool dim room.
I wanted to change and take a shower, but I was just too worn out.
Kicking my shoes off, I slipped between the cool sheets and laid down on my side. My phone was on the bed next to me and it buzzed. Picking it up, I frowned when I saw that Shay had sent me a video from her favorite social media app. I clicked on it.
I couldn’t help the small laugh as I watched Audrey use her key to get into my apartment.
She was talking to her followers. “I have a lunch date in about forty-five minutes and nothing I own is enough to wow this guy. So, I’m breaking into my sister’s apartment because her clothes are way better than mine. ”
This wasn’t unusual behavior from her, or any of my sisters, so I was completely unbothered by it. Sophie usually ended up feeding us at least once a week, Mom and Dad often did too, and Vivian had the best shoe collection. It was share and share alike between us. Or at least steal and steal alike.
My eyelids drooped as I watched her paw through my closet and select the clothes she wanted to wear. The outfit she chose looked ridiculously cute on her. I set the phone aside and let my eyes close.
I wasn’t sure how long I slept but the buzzing from my phone woke me up. I picked it up and pressed a button. “Hello?”
There was a slight pause. “Inspector Bell?”
“This is she,” I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
“This is Detective Bowers. …Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, it’s okay.” I tried to shake off the grogginess.
He clearly knew he’d woken me, but that didn’t matter.
I’d been waiting for this call. He’d told me he’d keep me updated on the case.
How was he supposed to know I called in sick today when I gave him my personal number to bypass having to call the station?
“I just wanted to let you know that your findings have helped move this case along a lot quicker than expected.”
“Thank you. Just doing my job.”
“Yeah, well, you’re good at it. The fact that the guy used Acetone rather than the usual gas or diesel was very helpful. We’re tracking down where that might’ve been purchased.”
I let out a low whistle. “That’s going to take some time. Especially here in Phoenix.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I mean, Acetone is used heavily in auto body shops, construction, and other industries, not to mention every teenage girl in the city is probably buying it in bulk to take off their nail polish. And could it be possible that it was one of the chemicals left behind when that warehouse was abandoned?”
There was heavy silence on the other end of the line.
“I’m kidding, Bowers. Well, at least about the teenage girls.” I grimaced, realizing this guy didn’t seem to have a sense of humor. “But seriously, tracking down that lead is going to…take some time.”
“Hmmm. Yeah, it seems so. Still, I wanted to thank you for sending over your reports.”
“Have you found out anything else?” I asked, hopeful that maybe there’d been some other kind of break in the case.
“Not yet. Still waiting on those DNA results. Shouldn’t be too much longer on those.”
“Okay.”
“Well…thanks again.”
“Anytime.” We said goodbye and hung up. I frowned down at my phone. I wasn’t sure exactly why Bowers had just called me since there really hadn’t been much to report, but before I could speculate on it, the door to my room opened.
“Thought I heard you.”
I smiled at Bolo. “Phone call.”
He came over and sat on the bed while his big hand went immediately to my forehead. I had to fight against the urge to stretch into his touch like a content feline. “You feel cooler. We can just hang out here tonight with some chicken noodle soup.”
My eyebrows lifted. “You make soup?”
“Yeah.” He arched a brow. “I can heat up a can of soup, Dev.”
I gave him an exaggerated smile and patted his chest. “I’m sure you can,” I teased. I’d already seen him cook but I liked flirting with him.
His eyes narrowed, but then my phone started buzzing again. “Want me to chuck that out the window?”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “It’s my mom. No one’s heard from me all afternoon, so she’s probably two minutes away from sending out the search party.”
“The search party being…”
“It starts with my sisters. But once she hears that Audrey was already at my apartment earlier and I wasn’t there, then it moves on to my dad. If he doesn’t have any luck she’ll be calling in the National Guard and every search and rescue team in the state.”
He laughed. “Then I better let you get that.” But he didn’t get up from where he was sitting next to me on the bed. And he was watching me in a way that made my stomach flutter. His large capable fingers slid down until he was cupping the back of my neck.
My breath caught in my throat because he was looking at me like he wanted to devour me.
I was pretty sure I wouldn’t mind. I was the one demanding we take this slow, but sometimes I also wished he’d just blow past that boundary.
Which was stupid of me to want. Because then I’d just get upset with him for pushing me faster than I wanted to go, you know, after I enjoyed the hot sexy love making.
Bolo was doing exactly as I asked and I really did appreciate that. Enough that it made me want him even more. Not to mention my newly whacked out hormones were making me horny all the damn time. If I wasn’t sick, I was amped up. Probably because I had this hot biker hanging around all the time.
“I’ll leave you to it.” I watched him walk out of the room with longing. Running after him and tossing myself into his strong arms wasn’t an option right now. But at some point I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself.
I answered the phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“Oh there you are, Sweetie.”
I smiled as I settled back against the pillows and listened to my mother speak.
My eyes drifted to the closed door again.
Today was a very good indicator that Bolo was going to treat me incredibly well.
He’d come to find me when I wasn’t answering him.
Took me to the doctor. Got me meds. Got me all settled into bed for a nap.
And not once had he looked irritated or put out that I was probably ruining whatever plans he had for the day.
Mom had told all of us, when we were younger and she was having one of her ‘talks’ with us, that who you chose to be your partner in this life was the most important decision we could make.
Because living with another person could be difficult.
And you wanted to marry a good man who was a partner to you in all ways.
He’d be not only your husband, but the father of your children.
That was a huge responsibility that not all men took seriously.
I smiled. Bolo was taking it seriously. He was showing up and proving that he was going to put me and this baby first. And I wasn’t sure how much more he could do to prove what a good man he was, but I knew he was going to keep exceeding my expectations.
At least, that was what I was hoping and he hadn’t given any indications to anything different.