Mr. Grin (The Braddock & Gray Case Files Book 9) by H.P. Bayne

Author:H.P. Bayne [Bayne, H.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bayne Independent Publishing
Published: 2022-04-29T16:00:00+00:00

17

By the time Sully arrived back at his own vehicle parked outside Dez and Eva’s house, he’d had plenty of time to think. And as sometimes happened, too much thinking brought with it too many dark thoughts.

Dez was about to climb out when he paused, passenger-side door partially open. “You okay?”

This time, it was clear he wasn’t asking after the state of Sully’s physical health.

“Yeah,” Sully said. He’d never been good at lying to Dez, and this proved no exception.

“Sull—”

“I’ll be okay.”

Dez closed his door, the movement a precursor to further conversation Sully wasn’t sure he was up to participating in. “Why don’t you go to Sarah’s this evening?” Dez suggested. “I think you should talk to her.”

Sully was way ahead of Dez on this one. “Because I know what she’ll say. She’ll tell me I’m being paranoid. But you know I’m not. Hell, after what just happened, you know damn well I’m not.”

Dez frowned, positioning himself so he was more fully facing Sully. “You remember a few years back, when we first started getting heavy into investigating the ghost-related stuff? Remember what I was like—how overprotective I was of you?”

Sully chuckled dryly. “You say that like you’re not now.”

“Come on. I’m nowhere near as bad.”

“Okay, yeah. You’ve gotten better. What’s your point?”

Dez crossed his arms—as well as a man with tree trunks for arms could cross them in a confined space. “Point is, I realized you were a grown man capable of taking care of himself. And I came to that realization because I forced myself to take a step back and let you out from under me. It wasn’t easy. Hell, still isn’t sometimes. My instinct is always going to be to protect the people I love. But you’ve also got to have some faith in those people, Sully. I mean, you worry about me. I know you do. But you don’t shut me out of stuff because of it. Not now, anyway. Why?”

There were moments when Dez—largely a big, warm, emotional, protective goofball—truly impressed Sully with his brand of unexpected wisdom.

“You sound like Dad,” Sully told him.

Dez raised a brow. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Sully smiled. “You should.”

Dez beamed back at him before returning to his earlier point. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I know. You asked why I don’t shut you out when things get dangerous. It’s because I trust you. More than that, I rely on you.”

“Essentially what every solid partnership is based on. I worry about Eva all the time—admittedly less so now that she’s not working patrol anymore, but still, you get my point. Thing is, I know she’s a strong, independent, intelligent woman who’s fully capable of taking care of herself. Hell, she’s probably better at looking after herself than I am.”

Sully smirked. “And she could kick your ass.”

Dez mirrored Sully’s expression. “And she could kick my ass. Listen, I know the risks you’re talking about are different from the sort of stuff most people are exposed to, but my point remains the same.

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