Page 16 of Paternal Instincts
“Christ. What?” The surly tone on the other end of the line was all for show. “Aren’t you on leave? Why the truck are you calling me? It’s after six on a Friday night. I’m at home with my kids. I’m done for the weekend. If your girl Bryn is not in labor, I’m kicking your… hiney.” His tone shifted to veiled excitement. “Is she in labor? Is it time?”
“You know I wouldn’t harass you if it wasn’t important.”
“Oh my god, it’s the baby. Heck yeah. Quaid said he’d call me when she went into labor. Why are you phoning? Is everything okay? Where are you? Should I come?”
I laughed. “Good lord, you’d think you were the father.”
“Shut your piehole.”
“No baby yet. As far as I know, Bryn is still as pregnant as ever, and we hope she holds off for a couple more days.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“Your boy friend took a case ten seconds before we walked out the door on our last shift, and he needs our help.”
“Doyle, for the love of god, stop calling him my boyfriend.”
“What? He’s your best friend, and he’s a boy. Hence, he’s your boy friend. Two words. I didn’t combine them. If you did, that’s on you. I know it doesn’t translate well in speech, but I separated them. There was a distinct pause. Gives it an entirely different meaning.”
“Jesus trucking Christ. I should have moved to Calgary. They offered me a full-time contract six years ago, and I turned them down. Tia didn’t want to relocate, but I should have taken it. I could have saved myself a world of suffering.”
“You’re so hard done by. What’s with the non-swearing?”
“Kids in the room.”
“Ah, I see. You should educate Torin.”
“Educate him yourself. You better learn to maneuver the creative lingo, too. Kids pick up on language like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Noted.”
“What has Quaid gotten himself into?”
“Missing kid. Eerie ransom note and everything.” I held it up, examining it through the bag. “I don’t have all the information, but he gave me two names and wants me to look into them.”
“So look into them. You aren’t incapable of doing a background check. It’s detective work 101.”
“Yeah, but I’m not nearly as good as you.”
“Don’t you dare fluff my feathers, Doyle. It will not end well.”
“Aww, classic Ruiz threats. They don’t affect me like you think. Come on, give a brother a hand?”
Ruiz groaned. “Talk him out of it. Why is he even doing this? Frawley’s capable.”
“She is, but her temp partner doesn’t start until Monday, and—”
“Get her a temp for her temp. Make phone calls. Call in favors.”
“I am calling in favors. From you. Costa—”
“Noooo. Don’t first name me. That means you’re serious. If you’re serious, I have to put pants on and come back to the office instead of watching Disney princess movies with my girls.”
“I’m concerned you aren’t wearing pants in front of your girls.”
“I have shorts on, you moron. It’s fucking summer.” A muffled sound in the background made him grumble. “Yes, Daddy knows it’s a bad word. I’m sorry. Don’t tell Mommy.” Quieter, he hissed, “You’re getting me in trouble.”
“You’re getting yourself in trouble.”
