Chapter 3
The screen door was fixed by noon the next day.
Pax stood back and tested it three times, watching the new hinge hold the door flush against the frame the way it was supposed to.
There was something deeply satisfying about fixing something that had been broken, and he let himself appreciate it for a few minutes before his mother appeared behind him.
“The ice maker,” she said, reminding him of more tasks she’d come up with to keep him busy.
“I know, Mom.”
“And the kitchen faucet has a slow drip that your father keeps meaning to—”
“I’ll look at the faucet.” He turned and found her watching him with the expression she’d been wearing since he’d come home. It was a combination of relief and worry that only mothers managed to sustain simultaneously for weeks on end.
Estelle Rojas was a compact, formidable woman with silver-streaked dark hair and eyes that missed nothing. She’d raised her children and lived almost two centuries, and she still cried when her boys came home hurt.
He didn’t love that he’d made her cry. He was working on not doing it again.
“Briana called this morning,” his mother said, in the tone of someone introducing a topic they intended to pursue.
“To check on me?”
“To make sure I knew you’d eaten properly yesterday.” His mother paused. “I’ve always liked that girl.”
“Woman,” Pax corrected her gently, not sure why he bothered.
His mother looked at him with an expression that suggested she found this distinction interesting. “Yes,” she said. “She is.” Then she went back inside, and he stood on the porch with the repaired screen door and had the distinct feeling he’d just walked into a trap.
Sighing, he went to look at the ice maker.
Ari called again a couple of days later. It was a real call this time rather than the brief tactical check-ins they’d been managing. Pax was on the porch when his phone buzzed, and he answered before the second ring.
“Hey.” Ari’s voice was low and unhurried.
“Hey. Where are you?”
“Still in the Cove. I’m flying out of Sea-Tac Sunday morning, landing in Phoenix around ten.” A pause. “I’ve got Danny settled. The guys in the Cove took him in without any drama. Big community up here, lots of bears. He’ll be fine.”
“Good.” Pax let out a breath. “That’s good.”
“I also opened a line of communication between them and our old boss. They’re burning up the international conference call lines comparing notes about their operations. Looks like a match made in heaven.” Ari chuckled, as did his twin.
He could just picture the Jackal settling into his new role as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage, along with his powerful mate and the incredible location she’d inherited. Pax was happy for his old friend and former commander.
“That’s good news, too. You’re making me look bad, bro, getting shit done. Good work,” Pax told his twin sincerely.
“You know, a lot of these guys are former Special Forces. Some of them are legends. I had a chance to discuss our last mission and how it went FUBAR with a few of them, and there’s a distinct possibility that the attack on us was an attempt to stop the alliances we’ve been sent to broker.
If we’d been killed, nobody would have known what really happened.
Even now, with the way things turned out, it’s reasonable to assume we were betrayed by someone in the chain of information, which would lead to distrust and probably would have ended any talks between the parties before they really began,” Ari said, not naming names since the communications weren’t guaranteed to be secure.
“Our enemies from the Order, trying to prevent us from making friends?” Pax conjectured, also being cautious not to use any trigger words that might flag their conversation.
If he’d said “Venifucus,” that might’ve drawn too much attention, but by calling the ancient group simply the “Order,” it was less likely to be noticed in the sea of communications.
“Yeah, that’s what they think,” Ari agreed.
“We need to organize some kind of call between all interested parties to figure out what happened and clear the air,” Pax suggested.
“I agree. You want to get started on that since you’re just sitting around on your ass?” Ari’s tone was teasing and Pax appreciated it.
“Dude. I was hurt,” Pax replied in an overly whiny tone, playing along. A beat of silence followed rather than the laughter he’d expected. Finally his twin spoke.
“You want to tell me how bad it actually was?”
He’d known this was coming. “Bad enough that I didn’t want you turning around.”
“Pax.”
“I needed you to finish the job, Ari. If you’d come back for me, Danny would’ve been exposed the whole way and we’d both have been in even greater danger. It was the right call.”
Silence on the other end. Not angry silence. Thoughtful silence. Pax knew all of Ari’s silences.
“It might have been the right call, but I still didn’t like it,” Ari finally replied.
“I know.”
“How’s the leg now?”
“Better. I’m moving around without too much trouble. Another day or two and I should be pretty much back to normal.” He paused. “It’s weird being here without you, bro. I can’t wait for you to get home.”
“I’m on my way, brother.” Another pause, and then Ari’s voice shifted. “So, Mom says you went to the hardware store.”
Pax saw no use denying it. “Yep.”
“Hmm.” He could hear Ari not-smiling. “She also mentioned that Briana Leeland is mostly running the place now and that you stayed there most of the day.”
“Are you going to be insufferable about this?”
“Probably not insufferable,” Ari said. “Maybe mildly annoying. I’ll dial it back to about a four in deference to your injury. Plus, I’m tired.”
“I appreciate your restraint,” Pax replied wryly.
“Don’t. I’m banking it for later.” He heard his twin laugh, and it brought a smile to his own face. “I’ll see you Sunday. Tell Mom I want tamales.”
“Tell her yourself.”
“The tamales are better when she makes them out of guilt. You saying you’re fine when you weren’t is perfect guilt material. Don’t waste it.”
Pax was still shaking his head when he hung up. His jaguar felt more settled now that he’d reconnected with his twin. The shared frequency that had been missing from the air was coming back online. He let himself feel the relief of that.
Then he thought about whether Bree was busy at the store and whether it would be reasonable to go by and see her.
His mother appeared in the doorway as if summoned.
She had her phone in her hand and was texting with the focused energy of a woman who had discovered smartphones in her late second century and had no intention of using them moderately.
“Your father needs rope from the hardware store,” she said without preamble.
“What for?” Pax gazed at her suspiciously.
She tucked the phone away and went back to the kitchen without answering his question. “Don’t forget to say hello to Briana.”
He just stood there, blinking. His mother might believe herself to be a master manipulator, but he could read this situation easily enough.
“You called ahead,” he accused gently.
“The need for rope is genuine,” his mother said from inside. “The rest is just efficiency.”
Bree was behind the counter when Pax came in through the back. She was moving stock from a delivery box onto a shelf. She heard him and looked over her shoulder.
“Your mother called,” she said.
“I know.” He came around the end of the shelving unit and leaned against the end cap. His leg was significantly better today. He was walking without the limp, mostly, if he paid attention. “She’s pretty transparent.”
“She’s delightful.” Bree set a box of wire nuts on the shelf and turned to face him, dusting her hands on her jeans.
She was wearing a dark blue Leeland Hardware T-shirt that was a little worn at the collar, and her hair was in a braid over one shoulder.
She looked absolutely beautiful to his eyes. “Ari comes home on Sunday?”
“Ten o’clock flight into Phoenix.” He crossed his arms. “He’ll be insufferable.”
“I don’t think I’d recognize him if he wasn’t.” She chuckled and picked up another handful of the small parts she was restocking. “Have you thought more about the workshop idea? Dad’s been talking about it non-stop. I haven’t seen him so energized about an idea in a long time.”
He had thought about it, actually. He’d been thinking about it more than he’d intended to.
“I think it’s a good idea. Your dad’s knowledge is—” He searched for the right word.
“Irreplaceable. And the Clan has young men who are smart and capable, but who didn’t have the opportunity to learn this stuff properly.
Too many of the older generation are gone and there aren’t enough left to teach them everything. ”
She knew something of that history. Pax and Ari had told her pieces of it over the years, relating what they knew about the drug wars in South America and Mexico, and the losses that had hollowed out whole swaths of their Clan and left the young and the old holding on desperately to what remained.
“Then we’ll do it,” she said. “I’ll talk to him tonight. Do you think Saturday mornings would work?”
“That’s a good time.” He watched her work for a moment. “Your bottom line has been improving. Tomás said my extended family’s been coming in more.”
“They’ve been wonderful.” She said it simply and meant it.
“They were careful at first, like they were checking out whether it was safe. And then a few started coming in regularly and now I’ve got half a dozen families who are regulars.
” She glanced at him sideways. “Your cousin Marisol spent forty minutes last week talking to my dad about the difference between wood screws and drywall screws and he was in heaven.”
“Marisol is going to build her own house someday,” Pax said. “She’s been saying it since she was twelve.”
“She might. Your dad said the same thing about you.”
He looked up. “My dad talks to you?”