Night Shift (Nightshade Book 2)

by Carey Decevito

  “Where were you?” I heard the little girl ask me when I walked into my little cottage.

  I’d decided to work on invoices, and tagging product I hadn’t yet packaged for the day, and hadn’t touched the production side. It just so happened, I had left a few boxes that were to be delivered tomorrow in my little craft den, when I stumbled upon the little girl.

  I jumped, clutching at my chest. “Rosie, you scared me half to death!”

  She had the contrite look down pat, pout included. “I’m sorry, but I was so excited that you said we’d make some lip gloss together that I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  This had me smiling, despite my heart breaking. I felt for the little girl, having lost her mother, and never really having a relationship with her. She looked up to me. She genuinely enjoyed my company—and I did hers—so I really didn’t mind her regular interruptions. They broke up my day and served as a reminder that there was more to life than just work.

  “You’re right.” I bit my lip. “Tell you what…How about we get together tomorrow? I never got around to picking up my supplies today, so I don’t have some of the ingredients to make our lip glosses just yet.” The disappointment in her eyes cut me to the quick. “But tomorrow, I’ll have so much more that I’ll even show you how to make your very own lotion. How does that sound?”

  I swear she beamed from head to toe. “Really? My very own lotion?”

  I nodded, unable to keep my smile at bay. She reminded me so much of myself at her age, when my grandmother had done the same thing. “Really. You’ll have to come up with a name for it too, because I’ve never made lotions for little girls before.”

  “Can it be cotton candy like the gloss?”

  I crouched down to where she was sitting and cupped her cheek. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Maybe you can help me figure out other things little girls like and we can create an entire line.”

  “For real?”

  As soon as I nodded, she jumped up on a squeal and into my arms. The scent of her strawberry shampoo filled my nostrils, and I curled into her a bit more. She was such a precious character.

  Pulling back, I noticed her school bag right next to where she’d been sitting. “Lana Rose,” Her nose scrunched up, it was comical. I remained serious however. “Why is your book bag with you?”

  “Because I came here right after school,” she mumbled to her shoes.

  “Does anyone know you’re here?”

  She hesitated before shaking her head to indicate the negative. “Nuh-uh.”

  “Rosie!” I scolded. “You can’t do that, honey. Your grams and daddy are going to be worried.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

  “Tell you what…” I grabbed her bag, throwing it over my shoulder, then grabbed her hand. “I’ll talk to your grams and smooth things over. I’m sure she’ll understand that you were excited.” Pulling her toward the cottage’s door, taking the time to lock it too, I led us toward her home.

  It wasn’t Grams that opened, however, it was Shane.

  A very pissed off Shane.

  “Daddy!” Rosie seemed to completely miss the fact that her father was staring at me with daggers.

  “Go inside, Princess. I need to have a talk with Emberlyn,” he ground out.

  Uh oh!

  “But, Daddy–”

  “Not now.”

  “It’s my fault,” she confessed. “I went to Ember’s so we could make lip gloss, but she doesn’t have the stuff, so I’ll go back tomorrow, and–”

  “Slow down, baby girl.” He crouched down to her level. “Haven’t we talked about this? You’re supposed to come straight home from school, young lady.”

  “But–”

  “We’ll talk later, Rosie. Now go inside and help Grams.”

  “Yes, Daddy.” She pouted. Looking back at me, she smiled guiltily. “I’m sorry I got us in trouble, Ember.”

  “No harm done, honey.” I smiled for reassurance. “Thanks for visiting.”

  When the little girl disappeared, Shane stepped out onto the front porch, his intimidating stance making me take a step back, and closed the door behind him.

  “Listen–”

  He lifted his hand to cut me off. “Thank you for bringing her back, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that she’s been with you for well on two hours.” He was furious, as he should be. I didn’t know the first thing about being a parent, but I suspect that worry can sometimes bring out the worst in us. It seemed to be doing that to Shane.

  “I-I didn’t know she was there,” I told him.

  His eyes rounded in surprise. “What?” he hollered. “How does a grown-assed woman not know when a kid is around? Are you that self-absorbed that all you care about is your business?”

  That got my back up in a hurry. So I made my advance. “Now wait a fucking minute, you jerk!” I poked him in the chest. “I work from home, and my business is based in that cottage out back, but it doesn’t mean I spend my days there every day. I was working from the house today; invoicing, if you must know,” I huffed. The gall of the man! “Why the hell am I telling you this anyway?”

  “Ember–”

  “She went straight to the cottage and waited there for me,” I told him. “I figured out that she’d come to see me, instead of going home first, because I noticed her book bag. If I hadn’t needed those boxes, she’d still be sitting there.”

  “I–”

  Emphasising my point with another poke, I added, “It’s because of me that she’s here right now, and that you’re not out there worried sick and still searching for her. So fuck you for insinuating that I had concocted some elaborate plan to kidnap or hold your daughter captive. I promise, next time she stops by, I’ll send her right back. You have my word on that.”

  Without waiting for his reply, I turned on my heel and stormed off, crossed the street, and headed up my front steps. After unlocking the front door, I entered my home, slammed the fucking thing, and turned the deadbolt.

  Fuck him! Fuck men! Fuck them all!

  Chapter 6

  Shane

  I watched Emberlyn’s hips swing from side to side as she sauntered-stomped back to her house, thinking that not even Eva would have stood up to me like that. It brought a smile to my face; the first one of the day, as a matter of fact.

  The reality that I would have to reiterate the house rules, and discipline my daughter, had me quickly filling with dread. Being a parent sucked ass when it came down to making sure your kid toed the line. I’d much have rather had a playdate at the park.

  Turning to enter the house, I found Rosie curled up on Mom’s lap, sobbing into her chest. Mom gave me a sympathetic look, her eyes pleading me to go easy on her.

  “Lana Rose, come here,” I demanded softly.

  She shook her head, burrowing further into my mother. “Please don’t take her away. I don’t want to lose Ember. She’s my friend. She’s fun. Don’t make her go away, Daddy.”

  My heart broke that she thought that of me. “Why would you think that, honey?” Crouching down to her level, I lifted a hand to push back the strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail.

  “You’re the police,” she said simply, turning to look me in the eye with an incredulous expression. “You make the bad people go away. Ember wasn’t bad. I was. She doesn’t deserve it if you make her go away.”

  I gave her a sad smile. “Baby girl, I’m not going to make Ember go away.” I paused to weigh my next words carefully. “But we are going to talk about the rules again, okay?” She nodded, settling her head on my mother’s shoulder. “What’s the first thing we do when we leave school?”

  “Go straight home,” she said. “But, Daddy, I was just so–”

  “I know you were excited, Rosie. I understand that, but I need you to understand that you have people who will worry that something bad happened, if you don’t do as you promised,” I explained.

  She bit her bottom lip, stopping it from its quive
ring. “I promise I won’t do it again, Daddy.”

  Leaning forward, kissing the side of her forehead, I whispered, “That’s good enough for me. Don’t scare me and your grams like that again, please.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Good.” I smiled, gifted with one in return from my girl. “Now go get cleaned up for dinner.”

  “Okay.” She jumped off Mom’s lap and made her getaway. Pausing at the hallway entrance, she turned to me. “Daddy?”

  “Hmm?”

  She seemed to think about what to say, as if she wasn’t sure she should say it at all.

  “What is it, Rosie? You can tell me anything.”

  “You should maybe say you’re sorry to Ember.” With that, she was out of the room and out of earshot.

  Mom spoke next. “She’s right. You were a little harsh on her, dear.”

  I had been.

  I guess I’ll have to rectify that and soon.

  Once Rosie was in bed, and Mom was engrossed in one of her favorite programs, I snuck out of the house.

  Brycen had sent me all the information he could gather on Emberlyn.

  I’d spent the better part of the evening digesting what I’d read, wondering, what with her past, how she’d managed to stand up to me as she had. It didn’t take a genius to know that I was an imposing man, but with what she’d been through, I sure as hell wouldn’t have expected her to hold her own.

  Suffice to say, I felt like a total asshole.

  My knuckle met the wood of her front door, rapping on it three times.

  I attempted it twice more before she opened.

  “Listen, when someone doesn’t open after your first knock, and they’re home, it usually means that they don’t want to see you,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to leave.”

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I overreacted, said a bunch of shit I didn’t mean. You didn’t deserve that.”

  “I didn’t deserve a lot of things.” She huffed. “But it doesn’t mean I didn’t end up with it either. Apology accepted. Now get lost.”

  She went to slam the door in my face, but I stuck a booted foot out to block its progress.

  “Come to dinner tomorrow night.”

  That got me a wide-eyed look. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “Let me make it up to you,” I told her. “I know one little girl who’d love to know she hasn’t lost a friend because her dad reached a new level of jackassery.” She seemed to ponder my words, so I pushed further. “Please?”

  “On one condition,” she said.

  “Uh...” I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Rosie gets to come over tomorrow. I promised her we’d make her lip gloss today, but I never went to pick up some of the ingredients I needed for it, so I said we’d get together tomorrow,” she explained.

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “I have no problem with that.” Her lips stayed in a firm line at my words, but her eyes shined with pure joy. Fuck, I liked that look on her. Probably more than I should.

  Looking down at my foot, I clued in that she was silently asking me to pull it back.

  “What time’s dinner?” she asked, the defensiveness gone from her voice.

  “Is six okay, or am I taking you and Rosie away from your project?” I smirked.

  She smiled. “No, six should be fine.”

  “See you then,” I replied.

  “Goodnight, Shane.” Without waiting for my response, she shut me out, the sound of a lock engaging lending to our conversation’s finality.

  Sass.

  The woman had plenty.

  And I was a fan.

  “Goodnight,” I said to her door, chuckling as I turned to head back home.

  Chapter 7

  Emberlyn

  Closing the door on Shane, I leaned back onto the surface and slumped down to the floor.

  Dinner with Shane and his family?

  I wasn’t quite sure why I agreed. The man’s preconceived notions about my character had been mean and unwarranted. If it hadn’t been for the way he apologized, I would have dismissed him entirely. I wasn’t a doormat. I wasn’t weak, and I never would be again.

  You should have told him about those deliveries.

  It hadn’t occurred to me, until everything had been said and done with Rosie, and then Shane’s judgment, that the little girl shouldn’t have been able to get inside my cottage.

  With everything I’d been through thus far in my life, I lock everything. Everything! I was overly obsessive about it, to be honest. My house, my cottage, my car. Hell, I have double locks for the first two. It didn’t matter that I was going to the curb to fetch my mail. I locked my doors and windows. It didn’t matter if I was still inside my car. The doors were locked then too.

  So how was it that Rosie was able to get in?

  The answer was simple.

  Someone had been in there before her. It had to be it.

  I shivered at the thought that my home—my sanctuary and workplace—had now been invaded. The fact that an innocent child could have been harmed, by showing up like she had, brought a whole slew of goosebumps. I felt violated.

  Picking myself up off the floor, I made sure to check the door’s locks, as well as all the windows and additional doors, before making my way to my bedroom, locking that door too.

  Morning came too soon for me.

  Last night, I’d slept with my bedside lamp turned on, and my Glock 26 under my pillow.

  Every noise had me jumping, no matter how familiar the sound was.

  I’d lost count at how many times I reached for my gun whenever a twig snapped or a vehicle came barreling down the street. A car door slamming had me bracing.

  By three a.m., I’d resolved to talk to Shane about that security system I had debated—and dismissed all too easily—yesterday.

  By lunchtime, I was coming out of my skin.

  I felt like I was being watched, and it was proving a big distraction, if my nearly avoiding being run over by a black Chevy Avalanche was anything to go by.

  Opting to stay where people were, I walked into Fairfax—a place I’d only heard of and hadn’t been to before now—and ordered myself a burger with everything and their signature seasoned fries with a zesty cheese dip. It wasn’t one of my healthiest options, but it was what I needed.

  I was digging into my meal when a shadow darkened my space.

  “Is everything okay, ma’am?”

  Looking, up and up and up, I was greeted by a handsome man with jet-black hair and a pair of dimples that set my motor running. His smile was congenial, his eyes friendly. I instantly found myself wanting to ask him to sit with me because he made me feel safer.

  One glance at his wedding ring, however, had me reevaluating my intention to follow through with my thoughts.

  “Dalton,” he introduced himself by sticking out his big mitt of a hand, which I took.

  “Emberlyn.” My smile was forced and I could tell he knew this, his assessing gaze going into overdrive.

  “Hey, babe?”

  The man turned, his megawatt smile shining through toward a beautiful, short pregnant lady heading in our direction.

  “I thought you said you’d wait in the car,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, not having much choice but to wrap hers around his back and cuddle into his side.

  Looking up at Dalton, she wore a sheepish expression. “Had to use the facilities,” she explained, then looked my way and smiled. “You’d think I’d be annoyed, but I never thought I’d be pregnant so I’m nursing all these little annoyances for all they’re worth. I’m Devolin, by the way. Was my husband harassing you?”

  “Not at all.” This time, my smile came easier, feeling more genuine. “Emberlyn.” I presented my hand once more. Looking around, I realized I couldn’t have picked a busier place—even if I tried. “Are you waiting for food?”

  “Yea
h.”

  “You can sit with me, if you’d like,” I told them.

  Devolin jumped right on in. “So, Emberlyn, what do you do?”

  I bit my lip, debating on what to tell these people. “Ever heard of Lavender Sky?”

  Devolin’s eyes widened. “I love their products! They’re small from what I know.”

  I nodded, grinning. It looks like I had a fan. “I make them,” I announced.

  “Seriously?” Dalton looked impressed.

  “Mhmm.” I snuck a bite of one of my fries, washed it down with a large gulp of Pepsi, and asked. “And how about you two?”

  “Dalton owns his own security company,” Devolin said, “and I work for him.”

  My eyes flickered between the two. What were the odds? “What kind of security?”

  “Investigations, and sometimes, some search and recovery,” Dalton said. “Devolin is my lead expert when it comes to following someone’s electronic footprint.”

  My mouth formed an ‘o’ in understanding. “So you’re a hacker?”

  “Po-tay-to…po-tah-to,” she murmured with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

  The conversation at hand gave me a segue into my recent dilemma.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know of any decent companies that install security alarms, do you?” I blurted, immediately feeling bad that I was willing to talk about this with mere strangers before mentioning it to the neighbor, whom I already had a rapport with, and incidentally was also a cop. In my defense, if I couldn’t mention it to Shane, who better than a security expert?

  Dalton’s eyes narrowed. “Emberlyn, are you in trouble?”

  “I-I just can’t be too careful, you know?” Cue the forced smile. “With my business growing, and me living alone, I want to make sure my assets are safe.”

  Something in the way Dalton looked at me told me he didn’t quite believe my words. To evade his scrutiny, I chose to look over at his wife. She wore a very similar expression to her husband’s.

  “Dalton knows of a few people that do systems. I’m sure we can help, right, babe?” She looked toward her husband.