Page 4 of Higher Notes

“About as uneventful as it can be, cleaning up after adults. Did the kids give you a fit going to bed?”

“Nah, they were too excited to curl up with the new stuffies I got them. When I last checked they were out.” Thankfully. I wasn’t sure how much of Gabriel’s smart mouth and bad attitude I could deal with. We didn’t hit in this house but the boy was on the verge of a stern talking to.

She plopped down on the loveseat and propped her feet up on the coffee table. “Jase, I’ve relied on you too much. You’ve been a son, babysitter, and at times the only father these kids have ever known. You’re twenty-seven and should be out enjoying your rockstar status. It’s selfish of me to expect you to stay with us forever.”

“No, it’s not, Mom. Don’t talk like that. We’re a family and families take care of their own.” Or they should. I’d heard way too many horror stories from others such as Josh who had shittastic family lives. Made me appreciate what we had even more.

“How is it that your own child can be your best friend at the same time?”

“Mom, you were barely sixteen when you had me. We grew up together, got through shit as a unit, but it’s getting better. That much I can promise you.”

“Not sure anyone can promise that.”

I took her hands in mine. I hated it when she got down on herself. “I can. I’ll never forget where I came from or all the sacrifices you made for us. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more loving mother. Sure, we made some mistakes along theway.” She laughed as tears rolled down her face. “I love you, Mom, and I promise it will get better.” It took all the restraint I had not to tell her about buying a house, but I had to remind myself in the end it would be the best surprise of her life.

“I trust you, Jase. You’re the only person in the world I can say those words to.”

“I’ll never take them for granted nor do anything to make you feel otherwise.”

“All right, my sweet boy. Enough of this mushy stuff,” she winked. “It’s time for this old ass lady to get to bed.”

“Sleep in tomorrow, Mom, I’ll get the kids ready and off to school.” You’d think she’d be out of tears by now, though twice as many fell as before. With a nod, she headed down the hallway to her room.

Chapter Two

Sikes

“Fizzbo,” I answered as I put the phone on speaker. “What can we do for you?” Snipe and I both knew what was coming, Deuce was thrilled when we offered to give him a break and said he was calling the man in charge as soon as we hung up.

“Sikes. I take it Snipe is there as well?” Fizzbo knew we were a two for one.

“Here, sir.”

“Just hung up with Deuce. He’d like to go on vacation and mentioned you’d both be willing to head to Seattle and oversee the Chaotic Abyss principals during that time.”

“Yes, sir,” we answered in unison as we normally did. We’d been together so long the merge of brains was inevitable.

“Embrace don’t have anything on the schedule outside of Jeremiah and Seltzer but they’re with Easton and Diamond in Seattle, so they’re covered. I’ve been toying with the ideaof adding another guard to the Vegas principals due to their elevated status. All right, I’ll book you on the next flight out and keep me in the loop. Debrief with Deuce before he heads out.”Click.

Fizzbo wasn’t one for small talk and neither were we.

“Are we ready for this?” I asked my life partner and best friend. If he had any issues this pursuance of Jason would end now.

“Second thoughts?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nope. Let’s do it.”

Snipe and I had been together for two decades and worked well as a team while in the military to the point that our commander kept us together. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell kept us in the camouflaged closet during our service and while we didn’t flaunt our couple status, we didn’t hide it once we left. We retired several years ago and as soon as we did we had an interview with Fizzbo thanks to our good friend Max who ended up marrying his principal Ryder Hampton, lead guitarist for Maiden Voyage.

“If this goes well, I wonder how the boss will handle our request for a change in principals?”

“Thinking that far ahead, Snipe?” I side-eyed him. He was way ahead of the game. We had zero clues how this would pan out with Jason. We may be too much for him to handle, especially once our PTSD reared its ugly head, which was inevitable.

“We’re a lot and I hate the idea of your heart getting crushed. Take it down a notch and play it cool.”

Cool. I could say the word, though inside I was anything but. I was just as excited as Snipe was to see Jason again but due to Snipe’s overeagerness, I’d have to be the one to maintain composure and keep us both on track. Losing what we already had wasn’t an option and I’d back us way the fuck out if I saw that coming.

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