Frey (37 page)

Abbi picked up her purse and worn out
briefcase before returning to the kitchen. She told her brother,
“Matt, try to behave. I’ll see you tonight.” She kissed him on the
cheek and turned to Frey. “Ready.”

“
Matt, I’ll get your
homework and bring it when we come home. Jas, Rafael and a couple
of the guys might come by later to lay out a project I asked him to
work on. Other than that, it should be quiet.”

“
Ten-four, Kemosabe,” Matt
said, stuffing the last piece of bacon in his mouth.

Jasper shook his head, grinning. “Have a
good day, Brother.”

Frey laughed and shook his head at the teen.
He placed his hand on Abbi’s back, directing her to the door. When
they got outside, rain was sprinkling down. “Stay inside and I’ll
get the truck.” He never thought about needing a covered walkway
until now. When he had Rafael build his house, he forewent the
attached garage knowing he’d need something much bigger for the
helicopters. The way the house was situated, he could add a garage
on the west side, but that’s where Abbi’s studio was going. His
best option was a covered walkway leading from the side door to the
garage he already had. He’d call Rafe and have him add that to his
project list.

Frey pulled as close to the house as
possible, and leaned over and opened the passenger door. Abbi
didn’t hurry. Obviously the light rain didn’t bother her. “You
didn’t have to do that, I’m used to getting wet.”

“
But I saw a garage at
your house. Is it full of junk or something?”

“
No, it’s full of Troy’s
truck. I have an umbrella in my car.” Abbi settled in and buckled
up. Frey wanted to hit something, namely Troy fucking Quinn. How
could the bastard be so callous as to have his wife park outside?
He calmed himself and reached for her hand. They had done well at
breakfast, not letting on that anything was going on between them.
Frey knew Jasper could give two shits about it. If truth be told,
he probably heard them in the gym the night before. Matthew wanted
his sister happy, so he would probably jump for joy. When they got
to the end of the driveway, Frey put the truck in park.

“
I can’t wait any longer.
I need to kiss you.” He didn’t pull her to him. If he did, they’d
end up naked within seconds. When Abbi nodded, he leaned over and
pressed their lips together. He kept it short and sweet. “Thank
you. I knew I couldn’t do that when I drop you off, but I also knew
I couldn’t go all day without it either.” He put the truck in gear
and pulled out onto the road. Frey immediately checked his rearview
mirror for signs of Troy. They arrived at the school without
incident.

Frey parked under the overhang where the
parents let the kids out. “Have a good day, Sweetheart. If you need
anything, you call me.”

“
I will. See you later.”
She smiled and grabbed her stuff. Frey didn’t move until she was
safely inside the school. He parked at the end of the parking lot
and got comfortable.

Dane pulled into the precinct parking lot
directly behind Kaya. Now that she was pregnant, Rafael was even
more protective of his Queen. Like Rafael even had to worry about
her with Dane around. He and Kaya had been working together a long
time, and he loved his Chief, now Queen, in a sisterly kind of way.
He wished Jasper could be there, but Dante was right; they had to
investigate Craig’s murder by the books.

Today could go down one of two ways: one,
with Troy Quinn not showing up for work because he was hiding and
felt as though he was going to be arrested for assault; or two,
with him showing up thinking the kid didn’t rat him out then
totally losing his shit when served divorce papers. Dane wasn’t
sure which one he was hoping for. If Troy didn’t show up, they
would have a harder time finding him and keeping Abbi and Matt
safe. If he did show up, they could follow him, but he would be
even more hell bent on getting to Abbi. It really was a no-win
situation.

They walked inside together, Kaya greeting
everyone as she normally did. “Good morning, Kim. We are going to
have our brief a little early. If you can, hold all calls until
we’re finished.”

“
What’s going on? Is
everything okay?” the dispatcher asked, partially out of concern
but mostly out of pure nosiness.

“
I’ll fill you in after
the brief.” Kaya didn’t give the younger woman time for any more
questions.

As they walked through the department, Dane
told everyone to meet in the conference room immediately. He and
Kaya both poured a cup of coffee before continuing on. Kaya may be
pregnant, but she still had to have her morning java.

Normally Kaya went to the podium alone, but
today she had asked that Dane stand with her. He was, after all,
going to take over as soon as she had her belongings packed. When
everyone was in the room, Kaya began. “Good morning. I wanted to
meet with you first thing because I have an announcement. Effective
today, I will be retiring.” There was a lot of chatter and
questions being thrown at her all at once. She held up her hand to
quieten them. “When I made the decision to leave the force, I
didn’t have to think hard on who I wanted as my replacement. Dane
Abbott has been by my side and had my back for many years now. He
knows the department, all of you, as well as the procedures,
probably better than I do. I nominated Dane, and the City Council
has approved my recommendation. As of the end of today, Dane is
your new Chief of Police.” There was more murmuring, but mostly
congratulations being tossed Dane’s way.

“
Since we are going to be
short a detective, we will be promoting one of you. If you are
interested in the position, you will need to write a short essay on
why you feel you would make a good detective, and tell what you
would want to accomplish. Dane and I will go over all the
candidates and choose one by the end of the week.”

“
Don’t you mean you need
two detectives? If the fairy’s in jail, we’ll be short another
one,” Grady spoke up from the back of the room.

Dane was ready to throttle him. “For those
of you who haven’t heard, Detective Jenkins is on administrative
leave pending the investigation into the death of an acquaintance
of his. We have the utmost respect for Jasper. The evidence is
circumstantial at best, and I’m going to find the real killer.”

“
Acquaintance my ass. It
was his fag lover,” Grady muttered. Dane’s shifter hearing allowed
him to understand it with no problem.

“
Let me make one thing
clear,” Dane paused, making sure he had Grady’s attention. “I
cannot tell you how to think, but I can tell you how I expect you
to act. You may have bigoted views regarding race, religion, and
sexual orientation, but I expect you to keep those views to
yourself. While you are wearing the badge that is pinned to your
uniform, you will be respectful of the people you work with, as
well as any civilians you come in contact with. If you cannot or
will not do that, remove your badge and bring it to me. Now.” Dane
continued staring at Grady. Eventually everyone in the room had
turned his way, curious as to whom Dane was so intent on. The man
crossed his arms over his chest and leered at Dane, but he didn’t
bring his badge to the front of the room.

Kaya brought everyone’s attention back to
her. “I will be here today cleaning out my office. If you have any
questions, come see me. I don’t want to take any more of the city’s
time by standing up here chatting, but I do want to say this: it
was always my dream to be on the force. Ever since my father was
taken out in the line of duty when I was little, I knew I wanted to
serve. I never dreamed I would be promoted to Chief, but when that
day came, I was never more proud. I thank each and every one of you
for the job you do, that you will continue to do for Dane. He has
your assignments, so let’s get to work.”

Normally Kaya would proceed to her office,
but Rafael had made it clear she was not to be alone. She would
wait until Dane had passed out the day’s work before leaving the
conference room. The only place she was allowed alone was the
restroom, and even then, Dane was to accompany her and wait outside
the door. Kaya felt he was being overprotective. Maybe he was, but
Dane could see where he was coming from.

Dane called the teams up, leaving Grady and
his partner until last. The foul mouthed asshole had been partnered
with a rookie a couple of months ago. Dane was going to speak with
Kaya about putting the kid with someone less abrasive. Someone who
would teach him the right way to be a cop. “Grady, I want you and
Chris manning the phones today.”

Chris smiled at Dane, “You got it, Chief.
Congratulations, by the way.” The kid shook Dane’s hand, genuine in
his sentiment. Grady didn’t say a word. He turned on his heel and
stalked from the room. “He’s not very nice,” Chris said to Grady’s
back.

“
No, I’m afraid he isn’t.”
Dane patted the young man on his shoulder. As soon as the room was
empty, Dane asked Kaya, “How do you feel about Chris getting a new
partner?”

“
I think that’s an
excellent idea. The kid has the right attitude and was top in his
class. I’d hate to have his enthusiasm tarnished by that
dickhead.”

Dane laughed, “I like when you resort to
Chief mode.”

Kaya sighed, “Yeah, well, I guess those days
are over. I think being Queen is going to be a lot tougher.”

Chapter
Thirty-Four

Trevor was miserable. Even though he was
enjoying spending time with his brother, he was no closer to an
answer than he’d been when he left New Atlanta. Dante had texted,
asking him to call. He hated not responding to his boss. What if
something had happened and he needed Trevor back at the morgue?
Surely if Dante really needed him, he’d just say so.

Travis had been really good about giving
Trevor his space, but it was evident in the way he continuously
peered at him that he was worried. Trevor had always been the goofy
one, the one who cut up and made jokes, keeping the seriousness out
of life. But Travis was the only one who knew it was Trevor’s
defense mechanism. Travis knew him better than anyone, and he still
didn’t know the true depth of his brother’s insecurities. It had
only been a day since Trevor left home, but he still hadn’t told
Travis why he’d run.

Travis had wanted to take off work to spend
the day with Trevor, but he convinced his brother it wasn’t
necessary. He wanted the time alone to think, to try and figure out
what was going on. Jasper had been honest from the beginning about
Craig, about having a relationship with the firefighter, and how
Craig had broken things off abruptly. Jasper also told him he held
no feelings for his ex. Then why were they together and why was
Jasper in his arms? Who knew Trevor and Jasper had spent time
together? Craig had been looking in the window at the gym. Had he
seen them talking to one another? If so, that’s all they were
doing, talking.

Whoever it was had obviously followed
Trevor, because they knew where he lived, and they had his cell
phone number. Whoever it was that sent the text wanted Trevor to
see Jasper and Craig together. Was it Craig? Did he want Trevor to
know he was in town and there was no way he had a shot at Jasper?
Too many fucking questions, and not enough answers. Dante told him
he could explain some things. Maybe he would call Dante, but not
yet.

Travis’ dog, Molly, whined at Trevor’s feet.
“Hey, girl, do you want to go out?” Molly wagged her butt and
yipped at him. Trevor always wanted a dog, but with the long hours
he put in at the morgue, he didn’t feel it would be fair to an
animal. Travis’ house was in a small rural neighborhood that was
walking distance to the park. He would take Molly for a walk and
use the time to try and clear his head. He hooked the leash to her
collar and headed outside.

Trevor and Molly walked down the path that
bordered the park. Trevor had run in this same park on more than
one occasion when he visited Travis. The path was used by runners,
bicyclists, people walking their dogs, and couples strolling hand
in hand. Trevor always found himself a bit envious of those
couples. Even though gay couples had full rights in the eyes of the
law, there were still those bigoted people in the world that
thought only their kind of love was right. Trevor didn’t understand
how love could be wrong. He had never been a religious person, but
if the god those people worshiped said love was wrong, Trevor
didn’t want that kind of god in his life.

The park was a beautiful place, lush with
green everywhere you looked in the summer. It had enough evergreens
that it wasn’t completely barren in the colder months. Molly
stopped to smell everywhere other dogs had been, scratching and
peeing on top of other pee to mark her spot. Trevor didn’t mind,
though. He enjoyed his time with the black fur ball. They had just
stepped back onto the path when Molly started growling. The hair on
her back bristled, and she leaned into Trevor’s leg. He looked
around to find the object of her attention. There were no other
dogs in the area, only people. He pulled gently on her leash, “Come
on, girl,” but she wasn’t having it. She began barking and
growling, her head now pointing toward the trees off to the side of
the park. Trevor turned that way to see a large man staring at him.
Molly tugged on her leash, but Trevor kept a tight rein on her.
“Molly, hush.” When Trevor glanced back up the man was gone.