long day. He started the vehicle and began to drive her home and her mind frantically calculated where they'd all sleep. If Josh was there already, he was either sleeping in her mom's room or Aidyn's, which was kind of funny to think of because Aidyn's bed was far too small for him. So, likely he was in her mom's room, which left her, and Axel and Axel wouldn't fit in Aidyn's bed either. She could though. She'd do that, plus his pillow still smelled like him and she missed him terribly.
As Axel turned to merge onto the highway, she looked over at him. The scar ran along his cheek, just the tip of it showed, but she could see the end of it where his hair split further down his cheek.
"You didn't have that when we were together. What happened?"
"Knife fight."
She gasped. "My God."
"Five years ago, Wyatt and I got into a fight with a high knife-wielding guy. He was deranged and lashing at us. He was using his knife on Wyatt and I tried bringing him down. I got him off Wyatt. It ended up that he got both of us. Wyatt’s scar is on the other cheek and goes down his neck. I guess I was lucky."
She watched him swallow, then unconsciously move his hair so it covered it.
"Does it make you uncomfortable?"
His eyes left the road to lock on hers a moment, then back to the road. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and she already knew the answer and her heart hurt for him.
"Yes."
It was barely audible, but she heard it.
"Were you on duty?"
"Yes."
His jaw clenched and his teeth ground slightly, that soft little sound you can hear when someone grinds their teeth. Aidyn did it in his sleep sometimes. Like his father.
Axel turned into her driveway and relief flooded her body at the thought of a shower and sleep.
28
They walked up to the front door, but Axel touched her shoulder.
"Hang on. We don't want to get shot. Let me text Josh."
His fingers typed as fast as he could. He struggled sometimes with his fingers hitting the wrong keys, but he typed carefully and was rather proud about how he managed his message.
"We're here now and entering the house."
"I heard you and looked out the window."
Turning his phone, he showed Bridget that they were safe to go in and she smiled and opened the front door. She sighed when they entered the living room and he almost did, too. It was nearing 4:00 a.m. and he'd had little sleep last night.
"I'm going to take a shower then I'll sleep in Aidyn's room, I don't think you'll fit. If you need to use the bathroom first go ahead."
"Thanks, I can wait till you're finished."
"Okay. Make yourself at home. I won't be long."
He watched her disappear down the hall and wanted to see if there was a beer in the fridge and relax, but it was likely not safe until they got out of here so that would wait until tomorrow. Flopping down on the sofa instead, he glanced over and saw his go bag laying on the floor next to it.
"I brought it in for you." Josh stood against the wall, arms crossed, his dark hair messed from sleep. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, just in case.
Axel smiled at him. "Thanks. All quiet here?"
"Yeah."
"Any word on the Ukrainians?"
"Nothing yet. The dead one is being identified. He has a strange tattoo on his back right shoulder of a sickle, hammer and a fist twisted together. Ford is running it through the database looking for affiliation logos. Gaige and Sophie had a baby boy."
Axel chuckled. "I wondered where Gaige had gone off to. Everyone doing okay?"
"Yeah. I guess they named him Tate."
Axel sat back into the sofa and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "That seems fitting and a great tribute to Tate Turner." Tate Turner was Sophie's brother and Gaige's best friend for years. He'd died while on duty in the Army and both of them missed him terribly.
"Yeah. Place is filling up with kids, man. I'm going back to bed for a bit. Plane will be here at 8:00 a.m."
"Night." Axel looked at his phone and saw that it was ten minutes after 4 a.m. They weren't going to get a ton of sleep, but maybe he'd just set his alarm and take his shower before they left the house.
Pushing himself off the sofa with a slight groan, he made his way back to