Page 33 of A Simple Mistake
“I was planning on, but then I had a better idea.”Jack straightened, suddenly wide awake and twice as focussed.“Skylar was looking into the death of a woman.Found at home in her bed, with no sign of a disturbance anywhere.Then the woman’s niece came to Aidan, convinced her aunt had been murdered, because a ring she never took off wasn’t on the body when they found it.You’re with me so far?”
“I can keep up.”
“Good.So… Skylar snooped a bit, and he agrees with the niece.Not that it was murder, necessarily, but that something’s not as it should be.”
“Why?”
“Because a woman who keeps twenty-seven bottles of designer nail varnish in her bathroom wouldn’t bite all her nails to the quick.Or go to bed without taking off her face first.”
“Unless she felt ill, maybe?”
“Quite.I agreed to carry on where Payne left off.But now I’m thinking… what if we give this one to Nico as his first job?I told you he wanted me to teach him to hunt.”
“And you’d do it even if you don’t feel comfortable with it.We’ve been over this, Jack.”
“I wasn’t rehashing it.Not sniping at your reluctance, either.”Jack leaned across the centre console to dot a quick kiss on Gareth’s cheek.“I’ll use this case to teach him.Show him how to dig into the dead lady’s past, snoop on the family, maybe hack a camera or two.Nico sees that we’re taking him seriously.And he learns the skills he needs without running into memories that trigger him.On top of that, we help Aidan.Everyone wins.”
“That’s…” Gareth wanted to pull over and kiss Jack silly there and then.“That’s an excellent idea.I like it.Do you think Nico will go for it?”
Jack relaxed back into his seat.“I can sell it to him.”
“Then please do.”A knot unravelled in Gareth’s stomach.He hadn’t looked forward to having Nico flinch at loud noises or scream himself awake at night.Maybe this way he wouldn’t have to.
He held out his hand.Jack took it and laced their fingers together.They were a team, and on the same page.It felt good.
A Bit Grown Up
“Sendingmyboysoffto their first ball.That’s not an experience I ever thought I’d have.”Gareth stretched out on the sofa and sampled the peat- and smoke-laced burn of his current favourite whisky.
“You never thought you’d have children?”Jack was too edgy to relax.He was even too edgy to drink just in case he needed to go rescue people or knock heads together.Having the boys alone at a ball bothered him more than sending them to school or to one of their afternoon jobs—as if balls were a wilderness brimming with unspecified dangers.“I’m sorry I was so utterly useless getting them ready,” he grumbled, voice rough and cheeks hot with feelings of inadequacy.“Balls and romance are not in my wheelhouse.”
“You’re doing just fine for someone whose mum didn’t drag him to balls and teach him old-fashioned manners,” Gareth told him.
“Your mum didn’t do that!”
“She did.It wasn’t fun, I can tell you that much.”
Jack didn’t believe it.While he’d researched ball etiquette, Gareth had taken Daniel shopping for suits that matched their partners’ dresses and had told the boys to find small gifts for Jess and Carol.He’d even coached Nico on what to say when he picked Carol up from her home.Gareth loved the whole romantic hullaballoo and had ensured their evening felt special, even when none of the teenagers looked forward to the ball.
“My mum’s started having words with people,” Gareth said, proving once again that he was turning into a mind reader.
“Baxter told me the same.He put the video into the system and flagged it to the right people.There should be extra eyes on Manville soon.”The problem with these things, of course, was how long they took if one went the legal route.It would be so much faster—not to mention more satisfying—to drag Manville into an alley and teach him a lesson.Not that it would end the matter.In Jack’s extensive experience, leopards didn’t change their spots.Not even after a beating.
“Hey.Do you need a distraction?”
Gareth’s palm moulded to Jack’s cheek and his thumb brushed Jack’s lower lip, the light movement suggestive and distracting.His lover wasn’t offeringthatkind of distraction, though.Gareth’s smooth, unbothered expression hid the same worries that kept Jack from relaxing.A roll in the sheets might pass the time.It wouldn’t soothe either one of them until they had Nico and Daniel home and safe.
Jack settled his hand over Gareth’s and dredged up a smile.“I like the way you think.How about you cook, and I watch, and we save your distraction for dessert?”
Feeding Jack had helped Gareth keep his own worries under wraps.They’d settled on horseradish mash and beef stew—comfort food for Jack.While that had been easy to come by thanks to his well-stocked freezer, he’d also made a quick apple tart and a jug of thick vanilla custard.Appreciative, Jack had worked hard to put himself in a food coma, and Gareth’s anxiety had dropped another notch.Jack had a nose for trouble, and so far, it hadn’t even twitched.
They were reading—Gareth in his favourite armchair, Jack stretched out on the couch—when the crunch of tyres on gravel had them both sitting upright.
“It’s not even midnight yet,” Jack said as Daniel and Nico came tumbling into the living room.
“Thank goodness that’s over,” Nico yawned and fell backwards into an armchair.
“Truth.”Daniel settled on the couch.
