He helped her out of her coat, tossing it over the stairwell banister to their right. Nick and Jordan stood from the sofa, beers in hand.
“Glad you decided to join us, Josie,” Jordan said.
“What he said.” Nick nodded to Jordan.
She chuckled nervously, grasping her purse tight to her body. “I just saw you both, like, forty-five minutes ago.”
“Yeah, but Nick had twenty that you’d bail. Pay up.” Jordan held out his hand.
“Fucker.” Nick pulled out a bill and slapped it into Jordan’s hand.
“Nice,” Dean said, filtering out the name he was about to spew at his LEO brothers.
Jason’s mother walked into the room holding a tray of appetizers.
“Hello, Dean,” she said, veering off her coffee table destination to greet them.
Dean leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.” Beverly this is Josie. Josie, this is Beverly Campbell,” he said.
“It’s lovely to meet you, dear,” she said, waving them inside. “Come in, please.”
“Your home is lovely,” Josie said, awed, taking in the silver and red grandeur displayed.
Beverly laughed, the sound musical and light and filled with pure joy. “Oh, this isn’t my home. This is my son and daughter-in-law’s home.”
“Where is Jason and Hannah?” Dean asked, snagging a mini egg roll.
“Upstairs. Hannah hasn’t been feeling well today.”
“Is she all right?” Josie asked.
Beverly smiled warmly, her eyes glowing with the delight of a woman who would have a grandchild in the future. “She is. She’s pregnant and the smell of the pork and sauerkraut in the kitchen didn’t set well with her.”
“Oh,” Josie said.
Dean’s memory was jolted right back to Erin’s first trimester. She’d been beautifully pregnant, beaming from day one, never sick and never having any problems. From the day of conception, it was like Erin had been meant to carry his child.
Dean’s gaze swung down to Josie’s flat stomach, hidden beneath the green sweater she had changed into when he’d taken her home for a quick shower. He could vividly imagine her round with a baby. The vision from a few nights ago registered, again. A dream he hadn’t been able to shake. Because for the first time in five years, he hadn’t dreamed of his Erin. Another woman had starred in his subconscious state, the one standing next to him.
Hannah strolled down the stairs, her steps slow and her face ashen. Jason hovered behind her.
“I think I’ve got a handle on the awful smell of pork,” Hannah announced.
Jason grimaced. “I was really looking forward to having pork and sauerkraut tomorrow, too, but she insists it has to leave the house with everyone tonight.”
Beverly shook her head and wagged a finger. “Oh no. Everyone will be staying the night. There will be absolutely no drinking and driving. Nick and Jordan have already inhaled two beers before you arrived.”
“Everyone is welcome to stay,” Hannah said.
Nick and Jordan groaned but Dean noticed the small smiles playing on their lips. The two men had no one waiting for them this New Year’s Eve, so joining the group meant they didn’t have to be alone and sulk.
“Hannah and Jason, this is Josie. Josie, this is Jason and Hannah Campbell.” Roy and Jason’s dad meandered into the living room from the kitchen. “And this is Roy and Mr. Campbell.”
“Thank you for inviting me this evening.” Josie smiled, even though the day’s events had her looking worn. Of course, he’d never actually say that out loud. He’d been married once. He knew that a woman, no matter how tired she was, could take off his balls for what she deemed an insult.
Hannah’s shrewd gaze studied Josie, bouncing to Dean and back to Josie as they shook hands.
“Would you like something to drink?” Hannah asked. “Wine? Champagne? Beer? Vodka and cranberry?”
“A glass of red wine would be great. Thank you,” she said.
“Terrific. We have Ménage à Trois.” Hannah grinned deviously.
Jordan spit out the sip of beer he took. Nick snickered. Josie turned a bright shade of red.
Dean wrapped an arm around Josie’s waist, pulling into her him, shielding her from Hannah’s devilish mind and games. “Sounds good, Hannah. Seems that’s a favorite of yours, if I’m correct, right?”
She wanted to play, Dean was game.
Hannah narrowed her eyes as Jason stiffened, glaring. Dean raised a brow, daring Hannah to push further.
“I like Ménage à Trois,” Josie said boldly.
Dean gaped while Jordan and Nick lost their minds, laughing. Hannah’s big blue eyes sparkled with delight. “I like you.”
Dean caught Josie smirking and caught himself humored by her willingness to go toe-to-toe with Hannah’s testing wit.
“I’ll get you a glass.” Jason chuckled, kissing his wife on the top of the head. “I need a beer. Dean?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Please, sit,” Hannah said, gesturing to the sofa.
They drifted to the massive sectional, Nick and Jordan moving so Josie, Hannah, and Mrs. Campbell could sit. Jason returned with their drinks, handing Hannah a bottle of water.
“Drink this, baby. You need to hydrate,” Jason said.
“Thank you.” She turned to Josie. “Morning sickness. Why call it morning sickness when it can happen any time of the day? It sucks.”
Josie took a sip of her wine. “I’m sure. How far along are you?”
“About three months. My due date is June 30th. At least I won’t be pregnant for the summer,” Hannah said. She waved a hand dismissively. “But enough about me. I want to know more about you.”
Dean, Jason, Nick, Jordan, and Roy all moaned.
“What?” Hannah asked innocently.
“You already know about her…” Roy slipped.
Josie looked confused. “What?”
Hannah glared at Roy and pegged him. “You are not a good PI.”
“I’m not a PI,” Roy countered. “I never said I was. I only do online research.”
Hannah turned to Josie. “Jason and I are private investigators.”
“No, I am,” Jason corrected. “You aren’t licensed and are currently on maternity leave.”
Hannah shushed him off with a pat on his knee. “We’ve been asked to help out with your case because the department doesn’t have enough men to do a lot of the ground work.”
“Hannah,” Nick warned. “You’re giving her too much information.”
“And you’ve given her none,” Hannah snapped. “She has a right to know what’s going on with the investigation. She was the one attacked. If she doesn't know who Jason and I are, then what exactly have you informed her of?”
Josie’s head swung back and forth to whoever Hannah decided to counter. Her eyes kept bouncing back to Hannah, as if waiting to take a cue off the woman. Hannah’s presence was a force of nature. She walked into a room and all eyes were on her and she knew how to work it. She loved to be the one to be reckoned with. The one who could turn a room upside down and inside out in the matter of seconds. People were naturally drawn to her magnificent aura. Add in the fact she was stunningly beautiful, and no one was safe from her web-like lure.
“I don’t understand,” Josie said, focused on Hannah.
“We’ve been−”
“I have been. Me.” Jason spun to Josie. “I won’t allow my pregnant wife to get knee deep into investigating people who may have attacked you. Her safety is my main concern. Apparently I’m the only one, though, because my Hannah believes she is perfectly capable of handling any situation.”
Hannah’s head slowly turned to her husband, her eyes filled with fire. “You forget. I am perfectly capable.”
“She is,” Roy defended his best friend. “Pregnant or not. I’d always put my money on Hannah.”
“I think this discussion should end now. I’m not exactly sure where it’s going. But enough. It’s New Year’s Eve. We will not star
t off the new year arguing,” Mr. Campbell berated.
Yeah, Dean wasn’t too thrilled with the direction the convo was headed, either. And Jason had gone rigid with suppressed anger and wariness, eyes darting to his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell had no idea that their daughter-in-law used to be a very successful jewelry thief. Hannah’s skill set couldn’t be denied. Oh, she could kick some ass and steal your watch while doing it. But that didn’t mean that every woman Hannah befriended should take on her fight-the-man mindset. Especially Josie, who he wanted to keep safe.
“Are there suspects?” Josie asked Hannah, noticeably ignoring all the men in the room. “Because I have been under the impression that there are no leads.”
Nick sat up and slammed his beer down on the table. “Hannah, that’s enough. You’re messing around with our investigation. Do you want me to slap a pair of handcuffs on you right now for interfering with a criminal investigation?”
Hannah bristled while Mr. and Mrs. Campbell straightened.
“You will not arrest my wife for having a big mouth,” Jason warned.
“Hannah hasn’t said a word about the case that could be considered obstructive,” Mr. Campbell reminded. “You can’t arrest her for anything.”
“She needs to stop,” Dean said sharply. “Josie, we have people of interest. We’re investigating and checking alibis, trying to rule out persons of interest. But in all honesty, we don’t have an actual suspect.”
“But if you’ve hired Jason and Hannah. Who are they looking into?” she asked.
“We can’t answer that.” Dean switched to detective mode, shutting down. “At least not yet.”
Josie stared at him, as if internally processing his words. She slid a glance to Hannah who winked at her. Dean was going to kill Hannah. He knew the woman meant well. But not every woman was Hannah, able to throw down at the drop of a hat. For god’s sake, Hannah had taken on a group of mob debt collectors, breaking a few bones and creating her own damage before she’d taken a sound beating. And she still survived that unwelcomed visit. Hell, he wouldn’t have doubted that if it had been Hannah attacked with a knife, the man’s bloody body would have been lying on the living floor with Hannah having a cocktail above the cold corpse.
But his Josie wasn’t Hannah. And his best friend’s wife needed to watch herself. She was stepping over a line and stepping on toes.
Mrs. Campbell stood, her lips pursed. “New Year’s Eve is not the time to be discussing any case. This is the beginning of a new year with new possibilities. Starting off the year with this type of negative energy isn’t good for any of us. I’m going to go into the kitchen and pull out more appetizers. I expect all discussions of anything having to do with work, no matter if it’s about the precinct, the salon, or the PI business to be left until the day after tomorrow.”
She breezed out of the room, leaving all of them chastised.
“I feel like I just got yelled at by my mom,” Jordan said sulkily.
“I just did,” Jason grumbled.
Mr. Campbell pegged them. “All of you did get yelled at. And you jackasses managed to add me into the mix. You couldn’t have done this when I had been in the kitchen?”
He went after his wife.
Roy looked around nervously. “I’ll go calm her down. She likes me best.”
Jason stood upright. “Man, I’m her son. She likes me best.”
Roy ignored the comment as he followed Mr. Campbell.
“Honey,” Hannah said, taking his hand. “I’m sorry.” She turned to Dean and Josie. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything and I overstepped. Dean told you everything going on with the investigation.”
Josie looked down at her wringing hands, her knuckles white as she gripped her wine glass. “I just wish that whoever attacked me would be caught. I hate not being able to sleep at night. I wake at every little creak. On a windy night, I’m frightened out of my skin. I haven’t been sleeping well because of it, despite the fact that Dean stays with me.”
“What?” Jason, Nick, and Jordan said in unison, heads whipping back and forth from Dean to Josie.
Hannah grinned and gave him a thumbs up.
Dean internally groaned. He was going to catch hell.
“We’re working hard on catching the man, Josie.” Dean wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders.
“Apparently some of us are working deeper on the case than others,” Jordan murmured, smirking.
Dean flipped him off behind Josie’s back.
“We will catch the man, Josie,” Nick vowed. “Trust me, we always catch our criminal.”
Hannah cleared her throat.
“All right.” Jason clapped his hands, quickly changing the subject before the jewelry thief in the room bragged how she never got caught. “Mom’s right. This is too deep for New Year’s Eve. Hannah, you want to help me get the table set for dinner?”
“No way. Going near the kitchen makes my stomach roll.” She pointed to Nick. “Enroll him in your task.”
Jason scooped up his wife, smacking her ass. “We need to talk, wife.”
He carried her upstairs, Hannah laughing and screaming at him to put her down.
Jordan shook his head but watched the couple intently. He caught Dean staring at him.
“I had that once,” Jordan quietly noted. “It sucks ass when it’s gone.”
Jordan rose and shuffled to the kitchen.
“What does he mean?” Josie asked.
Dean shrugged. “I have no idea.”
A lie. He knew Jordan was referring to the ache of being a couple, having a good life with a good woman to come home to. Because Dean lived the emptiness every damn day. Dean didn’t know Jordan well. The man was new to their unit. Jordan never gave the impression he harbored pain similar to what Dean held. His comment was a surprise and a tiny glimpse into his personal world that Dean didn't know much about.
Dean took a swig from his beer, eyeing Josie, who seemed reluctant to let go of her case discussion that Hannah hijacked. She concentrated on the floor. What the hell was going on in her mind? It was visibly obvious that thoughts raced through her as she gnawed on her full bottom lip.
“Josie,” he said softly, brushing her ebony hair off her shoulder to get a better look at her profile. “There is nothing that we’re keeping from you. We would tell you if we had anything significant to go off of, for your own safety.”
She nodded, her eyes glistening. “It’s hard.”
“I know.” He kissed her forehead. “I know.”
22
Dean snorted, his beer almost coming up through his nose.
“I just don’t understand how two people can go at it all of the time,” Roy slurred.
Roy was drunk. And it was quite amusing, because all of his commentary was aimed at Hannah and Jason, specifically their bedroom activities. One glass of wine and the poor guy’s lips loosened.
“Roy,” Mrs. Campbell scolded, with a smile on her face. “That’s not very kind.”
“Yeah, Roy,” Hannah snarled.
They sat around the dining room table, allowing their late dinner to settle.
Dean stretched, his arm sprawled over the back of Josie’s chair. Mrs. Campbell had been in an enthusiastic discussion with Josie over her salon. Hannah had been intrigued as well, stating she needed a spa day. The women chatted and the men discussed the lineup of the college football games for the next day. Drinks had been flowing for a couple hours and everyone was laid back. The television was set to a live show counting down to midnight, the background drones of the host letting them know that twelve o’clock would be arriving soon.
A new year. A new start for most people. To Dean, it was just a reminder that time moved forward no matter how much a man fought.
Josie leaned into his body, sighing. She was exhausted. When she blinked, her lids closed just a bit longer than normal. But she struggled against her fatigue, for him.
He whispered into her ear, “Do you wa
nt to go home? I’ll take you.”
She shook her head. “No, I’d like to wait until midnight. Normally I never make it this late. It’s been years since I celebrated at twelve.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I haven’t had a date on New Year’s in a long time.”
Dean pulled her into his body and kissed the top of her head. The feel of her against him, using him as a brace warmed him, through his muscles to his bones. He stroked her arm and she let out a little purr, relaxing even further. The sound and display cutting him to his core. A telltale sign that she felt safe with him.
He looked up to find Mrs. Campbell smiling warmly at him, her eyes misty. He broke the glance to find Hannah staring at him, too, her mouth forming a small O.
Dean didn’t want to consider what they were thinking. If he delved too deeply, he’d freak himself out. He refused to allow his Erin to work her way into this moment. For the first time in years, he wasn’t drunk on New Year’s, drowning his sorrows and misery in a bottle of whiskey, bringing down his friends who would insist he join them. He knew their insistence was so they could keep an eye on him, to be sure he didn’t kill himself with alcohol poisoning. Tonight he had a gorgeous, tough woman in his arms and she counted on him to watch after her this evening. And every night since she’d decided to return to her home. He didn’t just relish the honor, he craved it from her.
She was still trying to regain her physical strength. He watched her nightly do her stomach exercises. And when her belly grew tired and tender, he got down on the floor with her and encouraged her to finish her workout.
Roy knocked over a glass, the sound clinking off the remaining dishes.
“I think Roy is shut off for the evening,” Mr. Campbell snickered.
The group laughed as Roy flushed. Mrs. Campbell patted his hand in a motherly fashion.
Jason pulled a bag of horns and noisemakers out of a hutch, tossing it onto the center of the table. “It’s almost midnight.”
They all slowly made their way into the living room, watching the final countdown of the year. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell passed around flutes of champagne, Hannah receiving sparkling cider.
This was the first year in a very long time that Dean could remember being in a joyful mood at the end of the year. He’d spent the past five years with Jason and Nick, as well as Chief with Tyler O'Neill joining them last year. The mood had always been somber.
Damage: The Men of Law (The Men of Law Series Book 2) Page 13