The Partnership
Page 31
“What time is it?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be getting home too?”
Ignoring the second question entirely, Grimes raised his wrist and twisted it toward himself, pushing back the cuff of his uniform sleeve.
“Just after ten. You’ve been asleep about six hours now.”
Feeling his eyes open wide for a moment, Reed released his grip on Billie’s head, raising both hands to his face and rubbing briskly, the stubble on his cheeks brushing against his palms.
“Aw, hell.”
“What? You have someplace to be?”
“Yeah,” Reed replied, dropping his hands away, bright lights popping before him from the movement. “My parents are in town and have probably been up all night wondering where we’re at.”
Epilogue
The fuzzy socks Reed wore masked the sound of his footsteps against the floorboards of the farmhouse as he walked from the living room to the kitchen. Like a character in a favorite childhood cartoon, he was following a tantalizing aroma across his house, the scent almost lifting him from the floor, guiding him in.
On the screen in the living room was another college football game, the point in the year having arrived where Reed at least knew who the teams were that were playing, his interest level still several notches below his father parked in the recliner, Billie on the floor by his side.
“How you feeling?” his mother asked, turning from the stove as he entered the kitchen, the same apron from a few days before wrapped around her waist, her top half covered with a heavy woolen fleece she had picked up since arriving.
“Awful that you’re out here doing all this,” Reed replied, his focus on the spread of goodies lining his counter, easily the most food that had been present at any given moment since he moved in.
Extending his fingers before him, he perused the options before snatching up a pair of snicker doodles.
“Mhmm,” his mother replied, her lips pursed in bemusement, “I can tell it’s just killing you.”
“Killing me,” Reed agreed, pushing one into his mouth and turning his attention to the stovetop.
Three days removed from his stay at the hospital, Grimes had given him the remainder of his parents stay off, painting it as a Christmas gift and a bonus for his work on the case.
Reed also knew it was in direct response to not wanting the union down on his back, paid time off for an officer standard after they were sent to the hospital in the line of duty, though he didn’t press it, secure that the captain would have done so even if he wasn’t forced to.
With the exception of the afternoon he arrived home – which was filled with hours of detailed explanation and no small amount of fretting – he had pushed work as far from mind as possible, focusing on the joys of being around family.
For the first time ever he had even sided with his mother, unable to get and stay warm, keeping the house just south of a sauna, weathering the grumbling from his pop every step of the way.
In the few interims when he wasn’t adjusting the thermostat or in search of another blanket, he had made repeated trips to the kitchen, his mother operating under the delusion that they would be hosting and feeding an army in the very near future.
Further driving home that point was the pair of saucepans going on the rear burners, concoctions of differing colors and consistencies filling them.
“Do I even want to know?” Reed asked, motioning toward them with his chin.
A fiendish smile crossed his mother’s lips, just as fast fading as she snapped a dish towel in his direction.
“It’ll be good and you’ll like it, that’s all you need to know.”
Raising his eyebrows in defeat, Reed pushed home the second half of his cookie, the snack delicious, just one more item he didn’t need but couldn’t bring himself to turn down.
There was always the New Year just around the corner for undoing whatever damage was done in the meantime.
“And the menu for tomorrow?” Reed asked.
“It’ll be good, and that’s all you need to know,” she repeated, casting a sideways glance his way and winking, the corner of her mouth again turning up.
Raising his hands in defeat, Reed nodded, knowing she was exactly right, even while having no clue what delicacies she might be concocting.
“Okay, but just remember, we only have one other person coming, and I’m not sure she even weighs what Billie does.”
The decision to invite Tek-Yen was one that was made for him, his mother insisting once he got done relaying the events of the evening. She had also tried to pull the other girl along as well – her name turning out to be Chunhua – though in her state she wasn’t yet up for travel.
“I know,” she replied, letting her voice relay that she had things covered, having no intention of changing her style any time soon. “You know, when you first said you might be bringing a girl to dinner...what about that Jackie down at the precinct? She sounded so nice on the phone.”
Feeling his mouth drop open, his eyes doing the same, Reed stared her way.
“When did you...” he began, stopping just as fast, letting his voice fall away, not wanting to go any further. Using his hip as a lever, he instead pushed himself away from the counter, taking a few steps out into the kitchen so he could see through the doorway passing into the living room.
Fifteen feet away, Billie looked up at him from her perch on the floor, her ears perking slightly, her chin still pressed against the cool wooden boards.
Much like his father, Reed knew she must be suffering in the heat of the house, her thick coat much too warm for the place, though unlike him she had the decency to keep any objections to herself.
“Come on, Mama, how many times do I have to tell you, I have a girl.”
Wiping her hands on the same dish towel, his mother fell in beside him, her shoulder pressed against him, both staring out into the living room. Lowering her voice so as to not to be heard over the television, she said, “Yeah, I suppose you do.”
Allowing himself a smile, Reed remembered seeing her in the water a few nights before, would have loved nothing more than to have been watching as she went flying over the rail alongside him.
“And I will say this,” his mother added, “in all my years, I’ve never seen a dog take to your father the way this one has. Gives me hope I may get a critter at some point yet.”
At that, the smile fell away from Reed’s face, watching the pair sitting on the opposite side of the living room, both oblivious to the conversation going on nearby.
It was true that never had Reed seen an animal take to his father the way Billie had, the inverse certainly applying as well, so much so that the underlying reason had him concerned. More than once he had heard that animals could sense when something was amiss, even being said to be able to ferret out sickness long before the person in question knew anything was wrong.
Having worked alongside Billie for almost a year, having seen what she was capable of, he knew she was far more attuned than most any other animal, worry starting to grip him that her attachment to his father went much deeper than simple affinity.
For the time being though, he held the thought inside.
There would be plenty of time to discuss that soon enough.
After everything that had happened in the past year, ranging from Riley to his swim in the Olentangy three nights before, it was nice to simply have familiar faces in his home for the holiday.
“Merry Christmas, Mama,” he whispered, sliding a hand around her shoulder, using the other to shove the entire second cookie into his mouth.
“Merry Christmas.”
Thank You For Reading!
Just as I do every time, I would like to take a moment to address you directly, the reason for this being twofold. As I have stated before – and many others have stated to me both through emails and reviews – I know this is somewhat uncommon, but there really is no better alternative to fostering the dual goals that this letter serves.
First, ju
st as it always is, just as it always will be, I wish to express my thankfulness to you. With the advent of electronics and social media becoming what they have, the sources of entertainment are quite unlimited these days, and I cannot begin to tell you how much it means that you spend some of your hard earned time and money on my work.
Second, which is a direct extension of that, is that I take the responsibility that comes with that quite seriously. It is for that reason that I often ask readers if they would be so kind as to leave a review, but please know no expectation or possibility of ill will comes attached to it. Your reading this novel was more than I could have hoped for already.
As many of you well know, this was the fourth collaboration of Reed & Billie, and through time and luck, I hope to see them both again many times moving forward. Knowing that many of you are fellow dog lovers as well, I pray you share in this sentiment.
Again, as a token of appreciation for your reading and reviews, please enjoy a free download of my novel 21 Hours, available HERE.
Best,
Dustin Stevens
About the Author
Dustin Stevens is the author of more than 20 novels, 15 of them having become #1 Amazon bestsellers, including The Debt and the Hawk Tate and Zoo Crew series. The Boat Man, the first release in the best-selling Reed & Billie series, was recently named the 2016 Indie Award winner for E-Book fiction and the 3rd Grand Prize Winner for all books – hard cover, paperback and ebook.
He is an award-winning screenwriter in the prestigious Harvardwood and Emerging Screenwriters competitions, as well as the Nashville International Film Festival and the Honolulu Film Awards. In addition, he is the only multi-time finalist at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival.
A member of the Mystery Writers of America and Thriller Writers International, he resides in Honolulu, Hawaii.