Grim & Bear It: A Grimlock Family Short

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Yes, well, I’m not sure that’s completely true,” Grinder hedged, taking me by surprise when he took up my cause. “To be fair, I didn’t see any of your children – or the spare they had with them – do anything that was against the law. They might’ve done a few stupid things, but compared to everyone else there they were absolute angels.”

  “I’m always an angel,” Aisling offered, batting her eyes as she slid closer to Dad. “You really shouldn’t be angry with us. This was beyond our control.”

  “How was it beyond your control?” Dad snapped, frustration practically oozing out of his pores. “You were supposed to stay in the house and … do whatever it is you do to entertain yourselves when we’re not around. Instead you took off, went to a rave and got arrested in the process. Did someone break into the house and force you to do those things?”

  “No.”

  “Then how was it out of your control?”

  “Because it was.” Aisling’s answer was simple. “Redmond was in charge, but he got a call from work and realized that leaving us alone was a bad idea. You know how we get when we don’t have proper supervision.”

  Dad’s expression was withering. “Yes. I know.”

  “You got a call from work?” Mom asked, narrowing her eyes. “I mean … an actual call?”

  I was uncomfortable answering the question in front of an audience, but understood I had no choice. Still, I had to be careful. “I did. I was told it was an emergency.”

  “Oh.” Mom held Dad’s gaze for a beat. “Why didn’t you call us? We could have handled the … emergency.”

  “Because you guys never get to go out just the two of you, and I didn’t want to ruin your night,” I answered. “Besides, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. The way it was described to me … well, it wasn’t like what we found.”

  “Uh-huh.” Mom relaxed a bit as she slid into her chair. The look she shot Dad was hopeful. “Well, that sounds like an honest mistake.”

  Dad was flabbergasted. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Not at all.” Mom didn’t back down. Given the circumstances – and Dad’s very obvious anger – that was fairly impressive. “Sometimes things happen and you can’t always get the outcome you were expecting. I don’t think this is the end of the world.”

  “Really?” Dad’s eyebrows flew up his forehead, causing my stomach to flip. The last thing I wanted was for my parents to start screaming at each other in the middle of the police station. “This nice officer just told us that our children were hanging around with druggies and dealers, and you think that’s perfectly fine?”

  “I think they’re all in one piece,” Mom clarified. “Is it fine? No, but it’s not the end of the world.”

  “I can’t even … .” Dad threw his hands in the air. “Let’s throw them a party, shall we? They should clearly be rewarded for this behavior.”

  “I didn’t say that.” Mom remained calm. “I simply think we owe our children the benefit of the doubt.”

  “I agree,” Aisling enthused, nudging Dad’s elbow off the armrest so she could sit. She didn’t look worried about his reaction, which was pretty ballsy from where I stood. “Besides, it wasn’t just druggies and drug dealers. I had some guy lock me in a room with a bunch of his girlfriends – who were really prostitutes – and he said he wanted to add me to his harem. I didn’t know what a harem was then, but Cillian told me on the drive over.”

  “What?” Dad’s voice was a roar as he grabbed Aisling’s arm and turned her so he could get a better look. “Are you hurt? Did anyone put their hands on you?”

  “I’m fine.” Aisling waved off the questions. “Redmond saved me.”

  Grinder cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest.

  “That guy saved me, too.” Aisling inclined her dark head in Grinder’s direction. “But Redmond did the hard work. That guy just stood there and flexed his muscles. If Redmond had muscles like that, I’m sure he could’ve done the same thing.”

  “Hey.” Now it was my turn to be offended. “I have muscles.”

  “You have boy band muscles,” Aisling countered. “He has action movie muscles. They’re totally different muscles.”

  “She has a point,” Mom said pragmatically.

  “I don’t care about muscles,” Dad complained as he flipped Aisling’s arm over to stare at the pale skin underneath. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I am,” Aisling confirmed. “Redmond is okay, too. I know you’re worried about that.”

  Dad’s eyes were dark as they lanced through me. “I’m not as worried about that as you might think.”

  “Oh, don’t be a poop.” Aisling lightly slapped Dad’s arm, causing Grinder to choke on a laugh as Sarah tapped her fingers on her desk and tried to hide a smile. “You know you’re happy he’s okay. Besides, none of this was his fault. I wasn’t making it up when I said that.”

  “Sweetheart, as much as I love it when you stick up for your brothers rather than tattle on them, I don’t think now is the time.” Dad’s voice was almost sweet as he regarded my sister. “Your brother was supposed to be watching you, keeping you out of trouble. Instead he dragged you to a rave, where you were almost … well, I don’t want to tell you what almost happened because it will give you nightmares.”

  “Yeah, I’m not stupid,” Aisling supplied. “I know what almost happened. I was never worried that it would actually happen, though. Do you want to know why?”

  “Because you knew I would come running to your rescue?”

  “That and I knew Redmond would come running to my rescue,” Aisling replied without hesitation. “Even after he found me and yelled that we should run he made sure that I was in front of him so he wouldn’t lose me a second time.”

  “That’s hardly something to commend him for,” Dad said, his tone softening, although only marginally. “You wouldn’t have been in danger if he didn’t drag you there for work. He should’ve left you home while he took care of the emergency.”

  “Actually, he should’ve called us so we could handle the emergency,” Mom corrected. “I understand why he didn’t, though. Everyone makes mistakes.”

  Dad muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out. While he was happy to dote on Aisling – something he always did – he was clearly in no mood to make nice with me. I expected that.

  “Just out of curiosity,” Sarah broke in, “what exactly do you do for a living, Mr. Grimlock? Everything I found while conducting a search seems rather vague.”

  Dad remained calm despite the conversational shift, shrugging as he wrapped an arm around Aisling’s back to keep her close. “I’m in the procurement business.”

  “I’m not sure what that means.”

  “I procure antiques and sometimes even some older antiquities for wealthy clients,” Dad replied, unruffled. “It’s a sprawling business and entails some rather odd calls at all hours of the night.”

  “Oh.” Sarah furrowed her brow. “Is that why your son had this in his possession?” She reached into her top drawer and came out with the scepter that was confiscated upon my arrest.

  Dad showed no reaction to the item. “Yes.”

  “And … what is this?”

  “It’s part of a staff,” Dad answered, rubbing his hand over Aisling’s back as she leaned into him and rested her head against his chest. She was such a daddy’s girl it made my stomach twist. Of course, I had a feeling she was doing it for me this time, so I decided to let it slide without comment. “See the hole at the end there? It fits over a cane.”

  “Oh.” Sarah flipped the scepter so she could examine it further. “Is this worth a lot of money?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t see the paperwork come in on that one. I would need to take a closer look.”

  “Of course.” Sarah dutifully handed it over.

  Dad spent several minutes studying the scepter, pretending it was the first time he’d seen something of that craftsmanship. When he was d
one, he smiled and handed it back. “It’s quite valuable. I would need my books to double check some figures, but I would estimate its worth at about fifty thousand dollars.”

  “Fifty thousand?” Grinder choked on his coffee. “For that thing?”

  “Antiques are quite lucrative.”

  “Yes, but … what I don’t understand is why your son would be called to a rave to collect this item,” Sarah pressed. “When I first ran into him on the first floor … .”

  “You mean when you were dressed like a strung-out skank and trying to flirt with him, right?” Aisling challenged.

  Sarah’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Aisling leaned forward. “You were trying to entrap my brother, and we both know it.”

  “Aisling, knock it off,” Dad warned.

  “No. She tried to play with Redmond’s emotions. You know he’s a horny pervert because he’s a teenage boy. You told me all about teenage boys. She preyed on him. It’s disgusting.”

  “I didn’t prey on him,” Sarah shot back.

  “Oh, now, we both know you’re disgusting enough to do that,” Grinder teased. “What? Don’t look at me that way. The kid has been nothing but polite and nice. He’s scared out of his wits. Besides, I was impressed with the way he went after his sister. I offered to go with him, but he refused. Said she was his responsibility and he wasn’t leaving without her. That’s dedication.”

  “That still doesn’t explain what he was doing at a rave,” Sarah pressed. “Why would a client be at that sort of party?”

  “We don’t judge our clients,” Dad explained. “Redmond is new to the job, though, and had I known this emergency call was coming in I would’ve handled it myself. While I’m not thrilled with his decision-making skills, it seems to me that you don’t have a reason to hold my son. You’ve already explained that you’re not holding the rest of them.”

  “Your son was at a drug house. That’s a crime.”

  “Yes, but my son is from a very insulated environment,” Dad argued, his eyes gleaming. “He didn’t even understand what was happening at the warehouse. How could he? That’s not the type of world he lives in.”

  “Are you trying to say that your son was so naïve he didn’t grasp the reality of what was happening?” Sarah was clearly dubious. “Is that the argument you’re trying to make?”

  “Yes.” Dad nodded. “My son is a good boy with shockingly bad babysitting skills. He didn’t do anything wrong other than exercise poor judgment. He should have called me. He didn’t. End of story.”

  “That’s hardly the end of the story. We’re considering charging him.”

  “With what?” Grinder challenged, taking me by surprise. “I already told you I had multiple interactions with the kid and he seems like a straight arrow. That one, however, is a different story.” He pointed at Aisling and grinned. “She’s probably going to be the cause of some major anxiety for her pops before all is said and done. Don’t you think we should let them all slide on this one?”

  “I … no.” Sarah grew flustered. “I think we should charge him.”

  “Why?” Grinder refused to back down. “They weren’t causing trouble. They weren’t doing drugs. They weren’t drinking or smoking. He was there to do a job and get out.”

  “Yes, and he was there when Peter Langstrom died. I talked to him on the main floor. He was looking for Peter Langstrom.”

  “So what? I was there when Peter Langstrom died, too. This kid didn’t touch him even though Langstrom was holding his sister. If the situations were reversed I would’ve killed Langstrom if he’d touched my sister. That guy was filth.”

  “But … .”

  “No.” Grinder shook his head, firm. “I’m going to testify on his behalf if you take this further. You’re wasting your time.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Dad gave Grinder a curt nod as he held Aisling’s hand and pressed her to his side. “Thank you for your assistance. I deeply appreciate it.”

  “I didn’t say you could leave,” Sarah said.

  “No, but if you have further questions I demand you charge my son,” Dad shot back. “Then I will call my lawyer and have this whole thing thrown out by morning. That would almost be preferable to listening to another minute of this.”

  “You can’t threaten me,” Sarah sputtered.

  “It’s not a threat, merely a promise.”

  “But … no.” Sarah looked to Grinder for help and found nothing. “I can’t believe we’re just going to let them all walk out of here without a single charge being filed.”

  “Well, believe it.” Dad clapped his hand to my shoulder and pushed me toward the interrogation room door. “As for punishment, I don’t think you have to worry about that. Just because Redmond isn’t being charged doesn’t mean he won’t be punished.”

  Uh-oh. I knew this was coming. “Are you going to kick me out of the house?”

  “What?” Dad seemed genuinely surprised by the question. “No. I’m going to put Aisling in charge as the group babysitter from now on. If that’s not punishment, I don’t know what is.”

  “Yay!” Aisling did a little hip-wiggling dance as she clapped her hands. “I think that’s a great idea.”

  I glowered at her. “Of course you think that. It’s going to be hell for the rest of us.”

  “I’m fine with that.” Aisling looked at Dad and grinned. “I’m really hungry. Can we get ice cream on the way home?”

  I sucked in a breath, waiting for Dad to explode.

  “I really need the ice cream after almost being turned into a prostitute,” Aisling added. “Ice cream will mean I don’t have nightmares.”

  Dad gave in immediately. “I’ll stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home.”

  Grinder shook his head and met my gaze. “She’s good.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “She’s also terrifying.”

  “Oh, definitely.”

  Grinder broke out in a wide grin. “I had so much fun with you guys tonight. Your little brother and sister are awesome.”

  “I’m glad you think so. I’m going to be forced to do the little tyrant’s bidding for the foreseeable future.”

  “There are worse things.”

  I wasn’t sure that was true.

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  About the Author

  I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.

  If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.

  Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  For more information:

  author@amandamlee.net

  Books by Amanda M. Lee

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  How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas

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  Make A Witch

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  Grim Discovery

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  Grim Expectations

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