Greyson (The K9 Files) - Dale Mayer Page 0,71

you just hold me? I think I’ve had enough of the darker side of life to last me a lifetime.”

“I hear you,” he whispered and held her close. They curled up on the bed, wrapped their arms around each other, and just lay like that for a long moment.

“I’m scared to jinx it,” she said, “but I’m really hoping this is the end of it.”

“I think it is,” Greyson said. “With Jensen and Frank captured, no reason for it not to be.” He got up and took a look out the front window over the garage. The ambulances were gone and so was the body on the ground. He opened the window and whistled, attracting the attention of the ranking cop on the ground.

He looked up and called out, “We’ll talk tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of reports to take care of. We may not get much intel out of Frank, but we’ve got him in custody this time and will interrogate him. I’m not sure his testimony matters at this point.”

“Good enough,” Greyson said. “We need some sleep.”

“Sounds good. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

And, with that, Greyson shut the window and headed back to Jessica, who sat up on the bed, looking at him.

“And?”

“He didn’t make it,” he said.

Quietly tears slid down her cheeks. “Do you realize that’s Danny’s entire family on that side—George and Jensen—are both dead?” she said.

“But what we do know is that now you are safe, and so is Danny.”

“Depending on Frank,” she said.

“Well, Frank has his own issues to deal with now. He’s the one who attacked the cops, who broke in your home, who stole your car, and who kidnapped Danny, so he’s not getting out of jail anytime soon. Once they start piling on all the charges, he’ll be singing like a bird, trying to see the light of day. His motivation was only money, so there’s nothing in it for him anymore.”

She nodded and smiled. “That’s right,” she said, “and that’s a good thing.”

“Yes,” he said. “So now you can just relax.”

She smiled and said, “I think maybe I’ll put Danny in his own bed then.” And, picking him up, she moved him into the other room and got him ready for bed.

“Poor little guy. We didn’t even have a chance to get him ready for bed, did we? Things got crazy fast, once we got home,” he said.

“No, we didn’t have time,” she said. “That’s okay. Luckily he’s pretty resilient.” She got him into a new diaper and pajamas, then tucked him in, where she stood, looking down at him for a long moment, only vaguely aware of Kona curling on the floor beside the bed. She shook her head. “You have no idea how much I owe you for looking after us.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” His tone was harsh.

She looked up at him, smiled, and said, “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just so damn grateful that we’ve been given this new opportunity at life.”

The lines on his face eased. “Now that I understand,” he said.

She walked over, slid her arms up around his neck, and whispered, “So, what do you think? Are your grandparents right about us?”

He pulled her tight against him, so they were snug from hip to chest. “Well, I know they believe they are,” he said with a gentle smile, as he gently rubbed his nose against hers.

“Isn’t that supposed to be how Eskimos kiss?” she murmured. “Or is that just a myth from my childhood?”

“I don’t know,” he said, his lips quirking up in grin. “I’ve never kissed one.”

She giggled at that.

“On a brighter note,” he said, “will I have to sleep on the couch tonight?”

She looked at the spare room, which was Danny’s room, and then at her master bedroom. “You know something? I’m pretty sure my bed is big enough for both of us.”

He smiled and said, “How about we go find out?”

Laughing, she raced ahead. He caught her at the doorway, swung her around, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. It was a kiss that knocked the socks off her feet and raised the hair on her neck. When he lifted his head, she just stared at him in shock. “Wow, what was that?”

“That was a taste of what’s to come.”

“Oh, boy,” she said. “It’ll be a long night, won’t it?”

“Not necessarily,” he said with a crooked grin. “We do have to worry about Danny waking up and interrupting us. So I cannot guarantee you a whole evening of