Drained (Edgars Family #6) - Suzanne Ferrell Page 0,107
closing the door behind her. “Castello used nice houses like this to stash witnesses in WitSec or waiting to go to trial for big cases. Said he didn’t want people jumping ship because they were in some cheap motel. Figured they’d stay put if they felt safe and comfortable.”
“He said all that, did he?” Matt asked with one brow arched and a half-grin at his wife.
She grinned back and shrugged. “More or less.”
The couple, along with Kirk F, Aaron and Brianna, and even Carson laughed, leaving Jaylon confused.
“What’s the joke?”
“Castello uses as few words as possible to communicate,” Matt said.
“He’s not that bad,” Katie defended him.
Kirk F nearly choked on his food before staring at her. “No? He’s got that one look, you know the one that when he gives it to you, you’re not sure if he just wants you to shut up or he’s planning to shoot you for talking.”
“Sounds like a real nice guy,” Jaylon said.
“Kept my wife safe in WitSec for ten years, then helped save her from a hitman. Wouldn’t want anyone else on my six,” Matt said and everyone else, including Brianna who’d gotten to know the former Deputy U.S. Marshal when she was awaiting the trial three years ago, nodded their agreement.
The bedroom door opened, and Stanley scampered across the house to jump into Paula’s arms as she emerged. “Hello, boy,” she said, coming to the table.
“Paula, this is my partner, Jaylon Halloway,” Aaron said as she slipped into an empty chair next to Kirk F. “Jaylon, this is Miss Paula Nowak, our second witness.”
Jaylon reached across the table and shook her hand. “Glad to meet you, Ms. Nowak.”
She smiled shyly. “Just Paula, please.”
“Sure thing, just Paula,” he said, with a wink and a grin, which made the young woman laugh.
Katie hurried over to get some silverware for her. “You’re just in time for some cabbage rolls and,” she paused to look at Kirk F. “What are these again?”
“Pierogies,” he and Paula answered at the same time.
Kirk F held up one of the stuffed dumplings for Paula to see. “We got potato-cheese ones and some cooked apple ones, too.”
“I thought I smelled something good.” She took a seat and Brianna set a meal box in front of her. “I love pierogies. Best part of living in Cleveland.”
That lead to a dinner time discussion about the things they all loved and hated about their city. The mild summers versus the freezing cold and damp winters. The diversity of people, cultures and food options. When they finally landed on sports, the opinions were mixed. All of them, including Matt and Katie were die-hard Browns fans, even though there hadn’t been a winning season for the team in years, while Carson was the lone holdout for the Cowboys. The Cavaliers basketball team had mixed reviews, as the women really didn’t like the sport, but the two younger men really thought the team might do better this next season. And finally, they landed on Brianna’s favorite sport, baseball.
“Most boring sport ever,” Kirk F said, trying hard to hide his grin. Having lived with her for a year, the kid knew how she felt about her baseball team.
“That’s because you think everything has to be in motion constantly,” she said, pointing her fork his direction. “I told you before, it’s a thinking person’s game. The math is incredible, and you have to take into consideration the strategy of the other team, the pitching matchups, and physical skills of each player.”
“How do you think they’ll do this year?” Matt asked.
“It depends on their hitting. They statistically have the best pitching rotation in baseball.”
Kirk F shook his head. “Now she’s gonna start quoting numbers.”
“Well, they do,” Brianna said, warming up to the subject. “Last year they had an earned run average of three point seven-six, best in the majors. A WHIP, that’s walks and hits per innings pitched, of one point two-two-three, again the lowest in the majors. Strike outs per nine innings of nine point four-four.”
“The best in the majors,” Kirk F said with a mocking eye roll
“And, one thousand five hundred eight strike outs,” she said refraining from slugging her friend and looked at Matt. “They have a possible six-man rotation. Almost unheard of in the modern era of baseball. If they can get some good hitters on a roll and minimal injuries in one hundred sixty-two games, they’ll make the playoffs again.”
She stopped talking and realized everyone was staring at her.
“She likes numbers,” Aaron said matter-of-factly and