Back in Black (McGinnis Investigations #1) - Rhys Ford Page 0,27
hear your bike.”
“Ichi dropped me off,” he rumbled, picking Honey up when she danced over to his feet. “How’s my baby girl?”
I peered down the walk toward the front of the Craftsman, not seeing my brother’s car or his Harley. “My brother can’t come in now? He just drops you off and leaves?”
“He does when he’s driving the crazy old cat lady to LAX. Not only did he agree to take her to the airport, I’m stuck with her cats for two weeks while she’s out of town.” Honey slobbered all over his face, not happy unless she covered every inch of his skin with spit. Her tongue made scraping noises against his unshaven chin, and she wiggled happily in his hands. “Yeah, I was planning on going with you on whatever you were doing today. Considering you’ve been shot at two days in a row, it probably isn’t a bad idea for you to have backup. You might want to reconsider carrying while you work this case. You might need it.”
I was very much aware of Jae still standing in the doorway. I felt the weight of his anxiety when his expression flickered with concern before he buried it beneath a placid mask. I was still licensed to carry a concealed weapon and routinely went down to the range with Mike and Bobby to keep my marksmanship up, but it had been a long time since I actually carried a gun with me. A darkness had consumed me when a madman hunted through my family, nearly killing Mike and injuring practically everybody else. Jae had that man’s blood on his hands, and I had the burden of that guilt on my conscience. It was probably foolish not to take a weapon with me. It was certainly naïve for me to have faith I wouldn’t be shot at because I didn’t have a gun on me, but… the pain and worry in Jae’s eyes kept me from opening up the gun safe in the hall closet and taking out my Glock.
“Let’s see where this takes us first,” I replied. Then I leaned over to kiss Jae goodbye. “Saranghae-yo. I’ll call you later. Text me if you want me to bring food home for dinner.”
“I love you,” he murmured back, twisting his fingers into the fabric of my T-shirt, refusing to let me go. “Maybe Bobby is right. Maybe—”
“I’m just going to talk to an old man in the hospital,” I reassured him, tucking some of his hair behind his ear, mostly to trail my fingers along the soft skin at the nape of his neck. “I’ve got a lot of questions for him, and he hasn’t even really hired me. If things start to look dangerous, I’ll consider it, but for right now, the gun can stay where it is. And you better let me go. My husband picked the shirt, and if you wrinkle it, he might get mad.”
“Yeah, I hear he’s a real asshole sometimes,” he teased back, giving me a silly smile.
“I think you’re talking about Bobby,” I corrected haughtily, sniffing with mock indignance. Bobby barked a short laugh, and Honey joined in, trotting back into the living room with a few yips. “My husband is a delight. I worship the ground he walks on.”
“Can we get going before I throw my stomach up like a starfish? The two of you are making me sick,” Bobby groused loudly, scraping the heels of his boots against the cement stoop.
“Good thing you’re going to the hospital, then,” Jae snarled back playfully. “Just take care of my hyung. We’ve got an anniversary coming up. Anything happens to him, I’m taking Ichi with me to Catalina, and the two of you can sit here and rot.”
Seven
“YOU GOING to be okay going in there?” Bobby asked, glancing at the shards of glass and concrete poking up into the Los Angeles sky.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I gave him a quick glance, but past anguishes were building the pressure inside of my chest. As a best friend, Bobby was both fantastic and maddening. He knew me well enough to know when to push and when to back off, but me and Bobby usually chose to do the exact opposite. Stupidly enough, that’s exactly what I needed in a best friend, but in this case, I told myself I was going to be okay. “Hell, I haven’t been here in so long they’re starting to send me Please Get Shot postcards in the mail because