He stood taller. "I need to take care of this, Captain. My leaving for a few minutes isn't going to harm the integrity of the case. I hope you can see that."
She arched a brow. "Are you sure it's worth losing the promotion?"
Freya's beautiful, tear-stained face popped into his mind. "Yes."
Gardner took another step closer to Nico. "You'd better make sure you're sure about this."
Nico gritted his teeth. "Someone I love needs me. Of course I'm sure."
"It's your funeral."
He clenched his fists. It took every ounce of his self-control not to hit her or something else.
"We need someone committed to the job."
"And you know I am." He moved around her and stormed out of his office. Hopefully she wouldn't take it a step further and demote him. Nico ignored everyone else and then poked his head into the conference room. "I'll be back soon."
"Gardner's letting you leave?" Reese asked.
He nodded. Not that he was leaving the captain any choice. "See you soon."
Nico rushed to the elevator, not wanting to give Gardner any chance to join him. The last thing he needed was to be her captive audience, even for just one minute.
The door opened and he went inside. Gardner stood outside his office and made eye contact with him. She shook her head.
She might think he was making a mistake, but he knew he was making the right choice. If he had any hope of a lasting relationship with Freya, he needed to be able to put his foot down when it came to his work hours at some point, anyway.
When he got into his car, he put the address into the GPS and hurried over to the condo. He texted Freya to let her know he was there. She opened the door before Nico knocked.
"Thank you so much for coming." She threw her arms around him.
He held her for a moment. "Where is he?"
Freya led him inside the sparsely decorated condo. A stack of boxes halfway to the ceiling sat next to a flat screen that had to be at least fifty-five inches. Shale wasn't anywhere in sight.
"This way." Freya took his hand and led him into the bedroom. Shale lay on the bed, moaning.
Nico turned on the light and went over to the side of the bed.
"Turn it off." Shale closed his eyes, but not before Nico noticed how red they were. Shale covered his eyes. "That's better."
Nico sniffed the air. "Been smoking weed?"
"It's legal. One of the benefits of moving to Oregon."
"Shale," Freya exclaimed.
"I'm not hurting anyone. I can be both drunk and high, and as long as no one's in danger, I'm still within the law."
"Hopefully you won't get called into work."
"Nope. Just training this week. Some day shifts—that's how they roll around here."
Freya turned to Nico, pleading with her eyes.
"He's right."
"Can you at least look at his cuts?" Freya's shoulders slumped.
Nico leaned over and checked Shale's mouth. His lower lip was split, but he'd seen a lot worse—and even then, the paramedics hadn't ever required stitches. Nico moved Shale's arm out of the way. His eyebrow was the same, a decent cut, but nothing to worry about. He himself had had much worse.
"It looks worse than it is," Nico assured Freya. "The head tends to bleed a lot more than the rest of the body. You could take him to the ER, but if I had those injuries, I wouldn't bother for myself."
Freya let out a sigh of relief.
"You got any food?" Shale asked. "I could really go for some chips and dip. Or everything in my fridge. I don't care."
"Munchies, already?" Freya asked. "Where do you have the pot?"
"Why? So you can throw it away?"
"Exactly."
Shale groaned. "Just grab me some food, sis."
Freya gave Nico a questioning look.
"You need to get rid of it, otherwise you're enabling him. If he's getting high and drunk alone, he has a problem."
"Did you hear that, Shale?"
"Just get me some chips."
Freya grabbed his arm and yanked it away from his face. "Only if you tell me where you've stashed it."
He glared at her. "Fine. It's in the bathroom."
"I'll get the chips." She turned to Nico. "Can you find the weed?"
Nico shook his head. "I'm not returning to the station smelling like marijuana. Sorry."
She nodded. "I understand. Can you find him something to eat?"
"Hurry," Shale urged.
"Yeah, I will." He stared into Freya's eyes. "If you care about him, you need to get him help. Get your family involved. He may need to go to a rehab facility."
Shale's eyes widened. He scurried out of bed. Unfortunately, his feet got tangled in the sheets and he crashed onto the floor. He untwisted himself and jumped to standing. "No. I'm not going to one of those places. Freya, you can't do this to me. Don't listen to him."
Nico went into the kitchen to find some snacks and also to give them some privacy. He went back in with a couple bags of chips and handed them to Shale, who tore into one without a thanks.
"Did you call your family yet?" Nico asked Freya.
She frowned.
"You have to. It's the best thing for him."
"Don't listen to him, Frey." Shale stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth.
Nico pulled out his phone and brought up Logan's number.
Freya glanced back and forth between the phone and Shale.
"I really have to get back to work." Nico kissed her forehead. "But either you call or I do." He glared at Shale. "I don't mind being the bad guy. I gave you a glowing recommendation, and you hid this from me."
"I don't have a problem! It's under control."
"That's obvious." Nico turned to Freya. "What's it going to be?"
She sighed and turned to her twin. "I'm sorry."
Twenty-Five
Freya pulled Shale out of the passenger side of his truck. "Come on. It looks like everyone's already here."
All the Hunter siblings' cars were parked in front of their parents' house.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me." Shale glared at her.
"You'll thank me later." She sounded a lot more certain than she felt. It was the first time she was going against what her twin wanted, and she hated it. Her stomach twisted in tight knots.
"Whatever. Now you're choosing your boyfriend over me."
"It's not like that," she snapped. "He's right. I should've insisted you tell them everything after Chase's funeral. Then you wouldn't have sunk so low."
"Whatever you have to tell yourself, Freya."
"You've got that backwards. You're the one who's in denial."
Shale's brows came together. "Things are never going to be the same between us again. I hope you realize that."
Freya's mouth gaped. "You don't mean that."
"Of course I do. You promised to keep everything to yourself. I can't trust you anymore."
She took a deep breath and reminded herself it was either the alcohol or the weed talking. "It'll all work out. You'll see."
He ran his hands through his hair. "Let's get this over with."
"Yes, let's." She pulled out some breath mints. "And have some of these. Or all of them."
Shale scowled. "I see how it is."
"We're here because we love you. If no one cared, no one would show."
"Right." He put some mints in his mouth and handed Freya the box.
While they were still walking up the steps, the front door opened. Their mom stepped outside and her mouth dropped. "Shale, honey, what happened?" She glanced over at Freya.
"Why don't we all get comfortable? Then Shale and I can explain everything."
"Yippee," Shale muttered.
Freya elbowed him in the side.
"Ow." He glared at her.
"Why do I feel like we're twelve again?" she asked.
Shale pretended to think about it. "Wait! I know—because that was the last time you ratted me out
."
"Are you really still holding that over me?"
Their mom shook her head. "Now I feel like you guys are twelve again."
Shale glared at her again.
Freya bit back an annoyed comment. "Remember, we're here because we care."
"I could handle a lot less of your concern."
"Isn't that why you moved back? To be closer to family? So you can work through your issues?"
They entered the living room. Dakota jumped up from the couch and wrapped her arms around Shale. "I don't know what's going on, but I have your back, little brother."
Freya chuckled. Shale, the tallest of the siblings, towered over Dakota by at least six inches.
"We all do." Sullivan came in from the kitchen and patted Shale on the back.
Logan came in and gave Shale a hug. "Why didn't you give me a call?"
Freya glanced at Shale. Tears shone in his eyes and he avoided the gaze of everyone else. She tugged on his wrist and sat on the couch with him. "Do you want me to start?"
"Sure." His voice was husky and he kept his gaze on his hands.
Everyone else sat around the room.
"What's going on, son?" asked their dad.
Freya squeezed his hand and glanced around the room, making contact with them all. "Shale's been having a harder time dealing with Mia's loss than any of us realized."
Shale shook next to her.
A lump formed in Freya's throat. Nothing could break her heart more than seeing her twin in pain. She'd even gone as far as clocking the first girl who'd broken his heart.
"What do you mean?" their mom asked.
Freya glanced at Shale. "Do you want me to tell them?"
He nodded, still not looking up.
"Mia wasn't the only one he lost that night." Freya twisted a strand of hair around her finger.
The looks of confusion around the room urged her to continue.
"They were just about to announce her pregnancy." Tears blurred Freya's vision.
Gasps and exclamations sounded around the room.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Dakota exclaimed.
Shale finally spoke up, his voice cracking. "I thought it'd be easier that way. It wasn't."
"Oh, honey." Mom jumped up from her recliner and wrapped her arms around Shale. "I'm so sorry. We had no idea."
"I know." Shale wiped tears from his eyes. "I could hardly deal with it myself, and I thought talking about it would make it worse. Like, if I didn't tell anyone, then it would be like it never happened. That I'd only lost her. But now that I say it out loud, I see how stupid it sounds."
"How'd you get the cuts and bruises?" Logan asked.
Shale took a deep breath. "Today at work, we went to a kitchen fire. There was a woman there who reminded me of Mia." His voice cracked again. "And she had a baby. I think about the age… the age ours would have been." He put his face in his hands and shook.
Freya put an arm around him and rubbed his back. More tears formed and fell on her face. "Shale, why didn't you call me?"
He shrugged. "Thought I could handle it myself."
"It's too much for you," Sullivan said. "For anyone. Let us in—we want to be there for you."
Shale nodded. "I appreciate that." He took a deep breath.
"But how does that explain your cuts?" Mom asked.
"This is the fun part," Shale muttered. He raised his head and looked back and forth between their parents. "I was upset about seeing the baby, so I went overboard with the alcohol when I got home. And it's been going on for a long time."
"Shale, why?" Mom hugged him.
"It takes away some of the pain, but never for long enough."
"Do you need help?" Logan asked.
Shale's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by 'help,' Logan?"
"I don't know yet. Do you?"
Shale's mouth formed a straight line. "I don't need to go a rehab facility, if that's what you're asking."
"What about meetings?" asked Dad.
Shale didn't respond.
"There's no shame in it," Dad said. "Truth be told, I went to some years ago. It helped."
"What?" Shale's head snapped up.
"I'll even go with you. Might be a chance to bond."
Shale's mouth dropped. "When did you have a drinking problem?"
He put his hand on Shale's shoulder. "It wasn't like I was a raging alcoholic, son. I used it as a crutch instead of dealing with some issues in my life that I wanted to ignore."
Freya tilted her head. "I never knew that."
Dad shrugged and glanced around the room, not making eye contact with any of his kids. "It's not something I'm proud of, but if it'll help Shale, I'll gladly share everything. Would you like to go to some meetings together?"
Shale swallowed and took a deep breath. "I suppose I have to now."
"You're an adult, we can't force you."
Logan stepped forward. "But we can encourage you. I've seen those meetings help a lot of people."
"I'm sure you have," Shale muttered only loud enough for Freya to hear. He nodded and looked up at Logan. "Thanks, man."
Dakota gave him a hug. "Do you want to talk about it now?"
"I thought I just did."
She put an arm around Shale and scooted next to him. Freya moved over to give him some room. Dakota patted his back. "You know what I mean. Talk about what happened. Tell us about finding out about the baby—what you guys had planned. Did you have a room decorated? A name picked out?"
Shale fidgeted. Freya could feel his nervousness as if it were her own. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. "It might help you to talk about it. And who better to tell than your family?"
He raked his free hand through his hair and cleared his throat. Then he squirmed in his seat.
Freya squeezed his hand again. "We're here for you if you want to talk."
"Or," Dakota said, "we can give you some space and you tell us each individually if this is too much."
Shale's eyes widened. "No. You guys are right, it'll probably be good to tell you—to get it all off my chest."
Mom put her hand on his arm. "And we can carry the burden along with you."
He glanced up at her and smiled.
Dad headed toward the fireplace. "I'll throw some logs in and give you a few minutes to collect your thoughts."
Sullivan shook his head. "I'll do that, Dad. Sit down."
"You trying to say I'm an old man?"
"You said it, not me."
"I'll say it," Logan teased.
Dad laughed. "You would."
The corners of Shale's mouth twitched. Freya smiled. Why hadn't she insisted on Shale talking to everyone in the first place?
Shale turned to her and gave her a weak smile. "Thanks for ratting me out. I'd forgotten how supportive everyone is."
Freya opened her mouth to speak, but Dakota leaned over and kissed Shale on the cheek. "How could you forget how much we love you, baby brother? It's our job to take care of you, no matter how old you get."
Logan and Sullivan returned to the room, each carrying an armload of chopped wood. Less than two minutes later, a fire crackled.
"Remember all the times we'd come in from playing with the snow?" Freya asked. "We'd all fight to sit closest to the fireplace."
Shale smiled. "Until Mom brought in hot cocoa for everyone. Then no one cared."
Everyone laughed and spoke at once, sharing their favorite memories of sitting in front of the fire in this very room. Freya laughed and tried to follow everyone's stories.
Next to her, Shale relaxed even more. He leaned back and watched everyone, seeming to enjoy himself. She hadn't seen that look in his eyes in a long time. Not that he was quite back himself fully, but he was on his way.
Dakota got up. "Who wants hot chocolate? Suddenly, I have to have some."
"I'll help you make it." Mom smiled, and then two of them headed for the kitchen.
Sullivan turned to Shale. "Do you remember that one year it snowed l
ike two feet?"
"You mean the year a ton of snow slid off the roof—right onto your head?"
"How could I forget? That was right before a huge date."
Shale laughed. "That's right! You were so mad."
"It didn't end up being that great of a date, anyway. But I was going to bring up the time Logan and I turned you into a snowman."
"You would." Shale shook his head.
"It was all his idea," Logan said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure every time I got in trouble, you were behind it."
Sullivan shrugged. "What can I say? I know how to have a good time. Can't help it that someone usually ended up grounded."
"I had double the chores for a month!"
"Yeah, but it was supposed to be two," Sullivan said. "We should have known you'd be a lawyer back then."
Logan chuckled. "I didn't hear you complaining when I got you out of being grounded so you could go to the Winter Tolo Dance."
Sullivan paused. "True. But it was so worth it. Shale made the perfect human snowman."
Shale laughed. "You guys had your punishments coming. I was just a kid."
"Do we still have pictures?" Sullivan asked.
"No." Shale's eyes widened. "Don't."
Sullivan's eyes widened. "Yeah. They're in one of Mom's scrapbooks."
"I think it's the red one," Logan offered.
"Pretty close to the middle." Sullivan ran out of the room.
Shale closed his eyes and shook his head.
Freya leaned over and whispered to him. "In that same book is that picture of Sullivan with underwear on his head."
He laughed. "That's right."
Mom and Dakota came in, carrying trays of hot cocoa.
Sullivan hurried in, open scrapbook in hand. "Here it is." He shoved it in Shale's lap. "Our little snow-brother."
Freya glanced over and saw the picture of the snowman with a very young Shale's face sticking out with a huge pout. "Aw, you were so cute."
Shale narrowed his eyes, but couldn't keep a straight face. He smiled and shook his head. "Not helping."
"This will." Freya grabbed the book and flipped to the page with Sullivan wearing a pair of tighty-whities on his head. She held it out for everyone to see.
"That was on a dare. Logan double-dog dared me—I couldn't say no to that."
Everyone burst out laughing.
It was good to be back home.
Bayside Wishes Page 17
