Beckett (Robinson Destruction #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,40

could get it taken care of without much in the way of issues. It was nearing two in the morning when they went up to bed.

Beck was sure the moment his head hit the pillow, he was going to be out. It had been both an exciting and stressful day, and he was just too tired to get up in arms about it. Ending his day by looking in on the children made him smile. Falling into bed, he didn’t even have time to pull the covers up and over himself.

Chapter 7

“Allie? Wake up.” She sat up, her neck pinching her a little when she did. Looking at Tru, she told her she was sorry. “No need to be. You and I both know why none of us got any sleep. By the way, you have what looks like an M-16 on your forehead and a Glock on your cheek. Did you make these?”

“Yes. Once I got to read over the manual, I figured out that if I could shrink down the size of the guns to match the scale I’m going to use, they won’t seem so out of place when I put them to the board. The specs on the weapons were easy enough to find. I just had to get them the size I wanted them to be.” She handed the rifle to Tru. “The printer is awesome for doing this. I started out by using it to make things I could attach to the other things we got, but then I realized that nothing was to scale. I think having it look like you want it is going to be important. The blocks are easy enough to shave off, thanks to Thatch fixing them for me.”

Each of the blocks were now marked with their sizes. The scale she was using was one-twelfth the size of actual crime scenes. Arriving at that had been harder than she thought it should have been.

“So these blocks, you have them fixed up with windows as well as doors. Is that necessary?” Allie laughed and took the one that Tru had picked up. “They’re nice. But I think a little over the top.”

“Thatch did that. He and Conor were working together on them, and Holly wanted to help. She was the one that did the windows on things for me. She told me that having them look just like blocks would be boring.” Tru smiled back at her. “They’re fitting in well, I think. I miss seeing them sometimes.”

The kids had been with them for just over a week. Every night she’d get up several times just to check on them, to make sure they were actually still hers and Beck’s. Then last night, Rogen had called them in for a hit. It was all she’d been able to do today to keep her eyes open.

“What are you working on next?” Allie told her she was just making things so she’d have them at this point. “This is amazing work, Allie. I know I keep telling you that, but it’s wonderful to have you take a crime scene or whatever we need and make it work for us. I’ve never been so happy to get specs on something so that I can see what you make of it.”

“Getting it organized has been the most difficult part. But once I got the shelving I needed and the bins, it was easy to get things in the right places to use. Thatch has been great coming by and working on the little things with me.” Tru told her how he loved working with her. “He’s funny. Most of the time, he just works away without talking much. Then he’ll get on a story and talk for hours. I don’t know which one I like better, the quiet or the noise.”

“I can’t believe you get him to be quiet. The man can talk your arm off. He seems to be having fun with all the grandbabies too. I put your kids in there with them. Conor and Holly were lucky in having you there when they needed it.”

“I’m the one that considers myself lucky. We still have to work with Holly. She doesn’t like being alone. I don’t blame her, but Dawson suggested we let her see a therapist. Perhaps talking to someone will help. Conor gets mouthy at times—not as much as he did those first couple of days. I think that instead of fighting, he lashes out with words. It’s all