Page 8 of SEAL Mates

Alec

Bob, my deputy, had an emergency at home. He had four kids of their own and then they adopted another two. They had a big place, so they could afford to house them all, but I’d often told him that I had no idea how to deal with one kid, let alone so many.

I was just about to leave the station when I had a phone call and decided apart from Tim being paranoid and thinking that at least the same time every month someone was trying to break into his bar. This wasn’t the first time he’d called, asking for the sheriff’s office to take him seriously. The first month, I did. I took it too seriously, the second somewhat. Now, it felt like something to do to fill the afternoon. Tim was the kind that loved to run a bar and play with the ladies. Bob and I had already concluded one of them was fucking with his head, and playing gams.

“Rick!”

I said as I picked up the phone. We were in the same unit and I hadn’t spoken to him for a while.

“Yeah. Sorry, I shouldn’t be calling you this time of day. It’s just that I want to pick your brain about something.”

“Shoot!” I said as I sat back down, thinking I told Tim I would be there in twenty minutes, but another ten won’t hurt. By the tone of his voice, I could tell that this was going to be a short call.

“Cool. It’s just that I have two kids down and another two in school. So, I need to grab some time whenever I can to get some work done.”

“Oh? I thought you sold the club after the third one was born and you weren’t looking to work and decided to just spend time with the family.”

He hesitated before replying, which meant he was probably looking for somewhere to talk and as his voice changed from being a soft tone, and I heard a door shut quietly, he’d confirmed what I’d already suspected.

“Yeah, but Pete’s doing really well with construction and Stan’s even getting a promotion on the force. I don’t even feel like a man anymore. Even Katie’s helping abused women at the shelter part-time and even running a site on it.”

“Oh?”

He exhaled and it sounded as if he pulled out a chair.

“Yeah, her ex was a shit before she met us. And she was kinda messed up as a result of it. We weren’t better, either but having someone like Katie, well it just changes you man. She said having us change her, but sometimes I’m not sure if it was a good or bad thing?”

I chuckled, as he said it. Everyone thinks of women as being so insecure, they didn’t realize that men could be too. When we were in the unit, I saw under his tough exterior that he was a man putting up a front, not wanting anyone to get close to him. To know underneath it all was a man scared of being hurt.

“Don’t sell yourself short. Katie’s a great woman and she loves you all very much.”

“You should come visit soon. She was talking about you the other day. Going on about how we should come and visit you, or the other way around. I pointed out that if we visited you, we would need a mini bus. Or rather a big bus.”

We both laughed in unison. I thought about Rick and his brothers, then there would be Maite and her men, then I heard she has another one on the way. Yeah, he was right, it wouldn’t be a little bus. It would be a big one.

“I’ve forgotten what I wanted to touch base with you about. It’s just that I’ve bought this run down restaurant. A business I know nothing about, why I did it. Dunno. The place struck me and I decided I wanted to do something new.”

That was another part I liked about Rick. He had changed so much from the man I knew. NO more was he just stuck in his ways, but then I suppose it started from the moment he entered into a harem. He never used to be so open- minded.

“It’s an existing business, the owner is retiring and I’m looking at some of the guys criminal files, and only one of them is not public. Like it’s hidden or something. I shouldn’t ask you, but it’s bugging me. Why is his name hidden?”

I shrugged, thinking sure I was a sheriff but I didn’t have the answers to every single question on the law.

“Give me his name and I’ll look into it for you. I’ll see what I can find out about him.”

“No!” He blurted as if he’d crossed the line and I misunderstood the context of the conversation.

“I don’t want you to do something you shouldn’t do. I just wanted your thoughts on the topic.”

“My thoughts are that you should give me his name and stop being so sensitive.”

He laughed out loud, he nearly startled me. As I took the phone away from my ear.

“What did I say?”

“Nothing. Just that Katie said since we had Dean that I’ve been all sensitive. It’s called pregnancy empathy. I don’t remember the name. Anyway, she said that she’s not pregnant so she doesn’t get why I still have it.”

“Maybe, it’s because Maite’s pregnant. Congratulations to her from me.”

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