by Stormy Glenn
"Yeah, okay." I rubbed my hand over my face before turning to look at Lyn.
Except Lyn wasn't there.
I sat up and glanced around.
Where was he?
"They finally got the investigation wrapped up. After presenting their evidence to Jordan and his buddies, they all took a plea deal. They all got ten years except Jordan, who got twenty-five to life. As a special present to Lyn, Burke has arranged for Jordan to serve out his sentence in ADX Florence."
"No shit?"
That place was epic. ADX Florence, commonly referred to as supermax, was the most secured prison in the entire United States. Prisoners spent twenty-three hours per day in single, sound-proof cells.
It was perfect.
"Thanks for letting me know. I'm sure Lyn will sleep better tonight knowing that."
Assuming I could find him to tell him.
"Also, Burke wanted me to tell you that the money we found in the briefcase has been anonymously donated to Father Gabriel's parish."
I smiled. "Lyn will like that."
"I thought he might."
In fact, I knew he would, but that brought another question to my mind. "Have you and Lany decided what you're going to do about Jude?"
"He's staying with Vinnie at the moment. I'm not sure he's ready for a houseful of kids, even if a couple of them are his age. He seems to trust Vinnie, and he certainly looks up to him."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing."
Former—alleged—mob boss or not, Vinnie was not a bad guy.
"Is anything going to happen to Franklin?"
The man's name still left a bad taste in my mind.
"I'm afraid not much. Him and his friends have been demoted, but that's about all they can do. They were following a lead given to them by a registered CI. Just because said CI was the guy behind this shit storm doesn't mean they knew they were being given bad intel."
"Franklin needs to be fired, Sal. No one who would try to break in to someone's house, then shoot it up when he couldn't, should have a badge."
"Oh, I agree with you. Even the commissioner agrees with you. There's just not a lot we can do about it. His jacket is on the commissioner's desk, and if he steps out of line just once, Jerry will fire him. Until that happens, it's out of our hands."
I didn't like it, but I could understand it. There were rules, both to protect the public and to protect cops. I couldn't change them just because I didn't like Detective Franklin and felt he had no business being a cop.
"Okay," Sal said, "I'm going to let you go and head to bed. I just stayed up so I could get Burke's call then call you. Now that I have done that, I am going to go curl up with Lany and try to get some sleep before work tomorrow."
I chuckled. "Sounds like a plan."
"See you both tomorrow…uh…today. See you both later today."
"Night, Commander."
I hung up then set my phone down on the nightstand and glanced around the bedroom I now shared with Lyn. It had only been a month, but I was already living with Lyn. I'd gotten the guys together to help me and moved in the day I got out of the hospital.
I wasn't taking any chances that Lyn would change his mind. I was going to ingrain myself so much in his life, he'd wonder what he ever did without me.
Right now, I was kind of wondering what I was doing without him. He should have been in bed with me.
I had a pretty good idea where he was.
I climbed out of bed and pulled my pajama bottoms on then walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the bedroom next door. I knew I was right before I even reached the doorway.
I could hear Lyn humming.
I leaned against the doorframe and took in the most beautiful sight in the world. Lyn was standing in the middle of the room, gently rocking back and forth as he hummed in a low tone. His entire attention was centered on the little black-haired baby in his arms.
I had been shocked by that. Christopher James—or CJ as we called him—had a full head of black hair, just like mine. His eyes were blue, just like Lyn's. It was as if he was the best of both of us.
I was good with that.
Becoming an instant father had been a bit shocking, but in the two weeks since CJ arrived, I learned the true meaning of controlling my emotions. I'd been spit up on, thrown up on, gotten peed on, smelled things that shouldn't exist outside an experimental biohazard lab, and walked more floors than I'd ever walked in my life. I'd lost years of sleep.
I also had fallen in love with someone besides Lyn Philips. A set of blinky blue eyes had stolen my heart just like his father had. Adored everything about the little tyke.
Well, almost everything. I could do without the sleepless nights.
And the stench.
How a little guy that weighed all of seven pounds could make a smell that bad was beyond me. If I ever needed to pull a prank on someone, I knew just how to do it. Hide one of CJ's diapers in their house. Maybe I'd try that on the bad guys. It would clear a house faster than a SWAT team.
"I thought you were sleeping," Lyn whispered.
I smiled and sauntered into the room. "The bed got cold without you." I pressed a kiss to Lyn's temple then stared down at the sleeping baby in his arms. "Did he wake up or did you wake him up?"
I gave a low chuckle when Lyn's cheeks flushed.
Guess that answered that.
"You've probably rocked him enough. Why don't you put him to bed and come with me? I'll see if I can rock you to sleep."
Lyn stared up at me for a moment before walking directly over to the crib. He gently laid CJ down next to Meep—who'd taken to sleeping wherever the baby was—and covered him up before walking toward doorway. He paused in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder.
"Better hurry up, Sergeant. I've waited for you long enough."
I chuckled as I followed after Lyn.
He wouldn't have to wait for me a moment longer.
I was his.
THE END
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