Page 17 of Double Take

It’s kind of a long story. And one question mark will suffice.

So when are you going to tell me??????????

Never. And leave it to her to add extra question marks simply to aggravate him.

I’ll call you soon. Right now, I’m dealing with something that I can’t get away from.

Fine, but why does Lainie know you’re back?

Before he could answer, three dots appeared to show she was texting again.

Wait a minute. Lainie’s working today. Are you at the hospital??? Sorry, that requires more than one?

Yes, but I’m fine.

He refused to lie, as tempting as it was.

His phone rang and he tapped the green button to answer it.

“Fine?” Stephanie’s clipped voice came through the line, her agitation making him wince even before he placed the device against his ear.

“Yes, fine.” He was alive. That qualified as fine, didn’t it?

“What’s going on, James Lee Cross? Do Keegan and Dixon know you’re home?”

“No, they don’t.”

Silence. Then, “But ... why? I mean, I know you and Dad aren’t really speaking, but the rest of us are, so what’s—”

“I’m speaking. He’s the one who’s...” He smothered a sigh. “I don’t want to have this conversation on the phone.” He didn’t want to have it at all. “I’ll come over soon and we’ll talk.”

“Why don’t I come there?”

“Because I’ve got paperwork to fill out for a case and I need to get that done.” He really did. And he needed sleep. Somehow, some way, he needed to sleep without dreaming.

“The job always comes first, huh?”

“Steph—”

“Never mind. You’re going to do what you’re going to do, but one day you’ll realize you need to stop and smell the roses, dear brother.”

“I know.” One day. Not today. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay? I want them to hear it from me.”

“Sure. Now that you’re home, you’ll be coming this weekend, right?”

He stifled a groan. The family weekend at the lake. “That’s this weekend?”

“You know it is! You can’t not come. If Mom finds out you were home and didn’t come, she’d be shattered.”

He thought that might be a bit of an exaggeration. He also noticed she didn’t say anything about their father being upset at his absence. “Steph...”

“James...”

She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Okay, yeah. I’ll see what I can do about being there.” He hesitated, then blurted, “Has Dad forgiven me yet?” He grimaced. Why ask when he knew the answer?

Her sigh reached him. “I’m not sure if forgiven is the right word, but he may be in the acceptance phase.”

Okay, that kind of surprised him. He and his father had butted heads since James could talk, but when James joined the military police, his father cut him off. All because James’ uncle Dean had been killed by a police officer. No matter that it had been his uncle’s fault for pulling a gun on the man, now his father hated every cop on the planet—military, local, fed, whatever. After one particularly heated argument when he was twenty-two years old, James had walked out of the house, went straight to the recruiter’s office, and joined the Army.

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