Page 62 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
Robbie stepped back when the cat settled at her feet like a little feline sentinel.Likeyoucould shoot bad guys.God, he was being bitchy, he realized. Was it because his body was still processing all the lust stirred up by his date? He thought about the abrupt end of his evening with Summer. Up until Tara had arrived, he’d been having one of the best nights of his life. Now it would all have to come to an end.
Probably.
They’d talked about continuing to see each other, but for the foreseeable future, his entire focus had to be on Tara and the girls, especially when things with the Kellys were escalating. He needed to talk to his partner. Stat.
“Tara, sweetheart, why don’t you go into the kitchen with Tim?” Robbie suggested, trying to send her a smile. “I bet you didn’t drink much today either.”
She stroked her throat. “I am thirsty, now that you mention it.”
Robbie kissed her temple and urged her in Tim’s direction. “Totally normal. Go follow Tim. We’ll be there in a sec, sweetheart.”
Billie nudged him in the side after she had gone, Miss Purrfect giving him a final once-over before following. “I can see the smoke already,” his brother said quietly. “I’m glad you’re already working things out. But what can I do? I can’t make a fucking omelet, and right now, I’m feeling a little out of sorts about Clarice and really pissed at these Kelly assholes. Robbie, I want to break them into little pieces.”
Robbie took another deep breath, falling into that quiet place he went to after being called to a crime scene. “You can help me to check to make sure there’s no one watching the house.”
“You think someone could have followed her?” Billie asked sharply.
“I don’t think so, or they would have picked her up already,” he answered. “But I want to be sure. I’m going to check the back. Can you take the front? Pick a good place in the window with the best view of the street and give it about two minutes. Usually that’s long enough to spot someone shifting position if they’re surveilling from a car.”
Surveilling from a beach would be different, and as he let himself out of the house, he positioned himself against the end of the house at the patio’s edge. He kept his eyes scanning right to left on the beachfront, but nothing was visible other than the inky black sky and the white of the breaking tide. He noted the lights were still on next door and wondered if Summer and Clarice were still keyed up after the abrupt end of their night. He hated the thought, but there was nothing for it.
Satisfied they were still safe from the Kellys’ guys, he went back inside and locked the door behind him, pulling the curtains. Tara was picking at the omelet Tim had made for her, a half-drunk glass of water beside her. She looked ready to fall headfirst into the plate. Miss Purrfect was on her lap, purring softly. Tim’s quick glance over had a flash of worry before he bravely smiled. Robbie made the corners of his mouth lift in response.
Billie inclined his chin when he joined them in the kitchen a moment later, and Robbie heard the message loud and clear. They were good. “Tara, I’m going upstairs to check the messages on my computer, okay? I’ll be right back.”
She glanced up, her dark brown eyes unnaturally wet with tears. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. All of you guys upending your lives to protect me and the girls. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
His throat thickened. “You don’t owe anybody anything. We’re family. This is what we do.”
Her eyes gleamed again, slaying him. Billie’s jaw audibly popped.
“Personally, I think Billie could use a serious pedicure on those giant feet of his,” Tim said, pinching his nose for effect. “God knows we’d appreciate some treatment to cure his stinky feet. Tara, girl, help us out.”
She gave a weak smile. “Pedicures on the house for life.”
Billie’s mouth lifted to the left as he gave a feral attempt at a smile. “Baby bro, I think you’re talking about Robbie’s feet. They smell worse than bad ass.”
Everyone chuckled rather pathetically, but it was a start. He shot Tim an approving look, to which his brother nodded. As he surveyed their group, he reflected that he’d brought the perfect people along with him, not just for the girls but for Tara. Maybe even himself. “I’ll be right back.”
He was quiet on the stairs as he took them two at a time. When he logged into his account on the encrypted messaging services, he had a flurry of messages. From both his partner and Roland in Internal Affairs, the only two people with access to the message board besides himself.
There was an initial report on the fire at the nail salon, followed by a later one describing the initial fire inspector’s conclusion that it had been arson. No special signature. No fingerprints. Roland noted there had been no chatter about an arson on the streets either before or afterward from any of their CIs. Then again, the Kellys ran a tight organization.
His partner reported that there still was no trace of Tara’s ex or his new side piece from the nail salon despite the time he’d put in off-hours checking highway and other police cameras around the city. But now they had a crime that the Southie PD could legitimately go after.
Except there were rumblings by the officer in charge about Tara being on vacation and not being accessible by phone. Him too, for that matter. Johnny O’Malley had strolled into Mickey’s office before his shift had ended to inquire whether Robbie might be at the same vacation spot with his cousin, something Mickey had been able to truthfully deny.
Everyone in the department was stirred up now, thinking Robbie’s family issue, leading to his very rare vacation, had something to do with his cousin. With the arson involved, no one in the department would be thinking their sudden vacations were solely about her marriage ending. His boss was going to want to talk to him, and so would the rest of his police brothers. Usually they looked out for each other, but he’d gone off alone. There were questions flying. Especially ones surrounding whether the Kellys had dirty cops on the payroll, which was why Robbie had gone AWOL to protect family.
Mickey and Roland’s final message to him was pretty much the same. Has Tara contacted you yet? And what do you want to do now?
Robbie sat against the headboard and tipped his head back.What was the best move?He could bring Tara back to Boston alone and leave Billie and Tim here to watch over the girls. But his protective side started to itch when he considered it. Sure, Billie could handle himself, but he didn’t want to leave him in charge like that. He wasn’t trained, for one.
He needed another professional, but that was going to be tricky. He’d slipped out of Boston before anyone had time to watch him, but the situation had changed. He couldn’t just ask Mickey to come down. Someone would be tracking his every movement, especially now.
“I told Tara to look in on the girls tonight so she could assure herself they were okay, but to let them get some rest and see them in the morning.”
Robbie looked over. Tim had cracked his bedroom door open. He waved him inside. His brother entered and shut the door quietly behind him, his face fully grave, showing his every emotion.
