Page 63 of A Simple Mistake
Jack stopped in the middle of the skyway.“What emergency?”
“Give me a chance, will you?”Raf nodded his thanks to the two officers, then turned his attention to Jack.“Come on.I’ll explain while we walk.I’m sure you’ll want to get home.”
Jack didn’t argue.Whatever had happened, getting home was his top priority.
“Mitrovic’s brother and one of his goons broke into your house this afternoon when only the boys were home,” Gallant said as they walked.“Nico and Daniel heard the alarm, barricaded themselves in their bedroom as you taught them to, then went up on the roof.Gareth got home in time to detain the attackers.”
“Any damage?”
“Your backdoor, I think.And Pavel Mitrovic has a broken nose.”
“I’d prefer if he had a broken neck.”
“I think your other half would prefer that, too, but… you know how it goes.”
Jack did.“Daniel and Nico?”
“Physically undamaged, as far as I know.Not sure about the rest.Gareth is with them.”
They reached baggage claim and found the carousel where his flight’s luggage was arriving.He picked his second bag from the conveyor and turned to Raf.“Let’s roll.”
Raf stared in consternation at the fleet of cars lining the road.“Shall I just dump you here?I’d meant to come in, but you’re already overrun.”
“What the fuck is all of this?”
“Crime scene and forensics, by the looks of it.Need the evidence if we want a conviction.”
“Oh, we want a conviction, never fear.”Jack climbed out of the car and retrieved his bag and carry-on from the boot.They might have Mitrovic’s brother and his companion in a police cell, but that didn’t mean they could be sure about securing a conviction.Jack remembered holding Nico as he threw up his breakfast after identifying brothel customers for Lisa’s team.He didn’t want to put the boys through it again.“Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Couldn’t let you have a meltdown over nothing.”He waved at the string of cars.“I mean… not nothing, but… you know what I mean.”
“I do.I’ll give you a shout when they’re gone.We’ll get the grill going.”
“Sounds good.”
Raf hopped back into his car and took off, leaving Jack at the top of the drive with his bags.This wasn’t the homecoming he’d expected, but it was on par with the crazy he’d left behind in Japan.
Jack slalomed around the cars to the front door, only to find his way blocked by two uniformed constables.He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.“Care to let me in?I happen to live here.”
The older of the two constables glared hard enough to determine what Jack had had for breakfast, but then he did step aside.“I understand your family’s in the kitchen.”
“Thank you.”Jack gave the front door a once-over as he passed and couldn’t see any damage.Seems Raf had been right about Mitrovic having come in by the back way.Not for the first time he contemplated electric fencing, however illegal it might be.
He was about to call out when Nico came flying around the corner.Jack had just enough time to set his bags down before he had an armful of clingy teen.Nico held on as if his life depended on it, and Jack didn’t stop him.He stood in the middle of the hallway, his arms around Nico, and breathed.
“Are you okay?”he asked after a while.
Nico nodded.“We couldn’t reach your phone,” he mumbled into Jack’s collar.“We texted like mad.And called.”
“It takes a while for phones to connect once you’ve landed,” Jack said.“Raf sent two police officers to get me off the plane before that happened, and then he told me not to look at my phone.”
“We didn’t want you to get upset.”
“I appreciate that,” Jack said.It had been a waste of time.Being escorted off a flight by uniforms was no less upsetting, especially given where he used to work, but he didn’t need to burden Nico with that.“Are yousureyou and Daniel are okay?”
Nico squeezed his middle one more time and then stepped back.“We’re okay.We went up on the roof to hide.Gareth and Aidan were there first, and then the police came.We only saw them on the monitor, and they didn’t see us.”
Jack didn’t prod.He wrapped an arm around Nico’s shoulder and turned him towards the kitchen.“I need a bathroom,” he declared.“And then coffee.”
