ached from clenching his teeth. Each time Brian did a spot check, he looked a bit paler and more washed out. This is not as simple as he claimed it’d be.
At first, Brian tried to do some of his new reading homework on his phone between Finds, but the combo of reading and Finding clearly didn’t work. They switched to playing movie trivia for sex favors. Brian had an amazing memory for dialog, but not much at all for actors and directors. It evened out, except that Nick could almost feel Brian’s headache building. Nick blew an easy answer on purpose and got a disgusted look.
“Don’t go easy on me.”
“I’m not,” he lied. “I got distracted thinking of the two blow jobs you already owe me.”
“Right. Well, one, now.” Brian leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “He’s not doing anything.”
“We don’t know what he’s doing down there. Or planning.”
Brian’s voice was thin. “You think we can make sure he doesn’t… hurt Sam?”
“Most likely he’ll try more threats or blackmail. He might’ve called him to chew him out.” Though honestly, he was hoping for something more. Brian might not like it, but he was itching for some definite action. “Charlie will protect Sam too.” In case McNaught called someone else for the dirty work.
“Right. Charlie’s a good man. Steady.”
Nick shouldn’t have felt a flicker of jealousy over that, but he’d never been called steady. Once upon a time, back before, he’d worked hard to look trustworthy to his superiors. He wondered if he could have that again.
As if he’d heard the thoughts rattling in Nick’s head, Brian laid a hand on his leg. “You’re not exactly steady, but I’d trust you over anyone. You know that.”
“Right,” he muttered. He knew that.
By one a.m., he let himself say, “McNaught seems settled for the night.” He closed his mouth just short of telling Brian what to do. They’d had that argument yesterday. After a breath, he rephrased to, “You can probably reduce spot checking, you think?”
Brian rubbed his forehead mechanically. “I don’t know.”
Nick bent down to dig out an energy bar from the bag at Brian’s feet, making a longer business of it than need be, until he could get his worry under control. Brian said he could keep doing this a long time, and you have to trust him to know his limits. That would’ve been easier if he hadn’t already seen Brian crashing past his limits more than once.
“Mm.” Brian took the bar and chewed at it listlessly.
Nick shook his head. “Fuck this anyway. Let me call Charlie. I bet he’s getting crippled up in that car seat worse than me.”
On the other end of the line, Charlie sounded as beat and bored as they were. “Sam hasn’t gone out, not even to buy a bottle. I wonder if McNaught put the fear of himself into our Samuel again.”
“What do you think? Is tonight a bust?”
“I think…” Charlie paused. “McNaught’s a planner. Whatever he does, it’s not going to be hasty. He’s ex-military. Don’t they like to run their ops at three a.m.?”
“Doc might know.”
“You got any hunches, Nicko?”
Charlie had always said Nick’s instincts were worth listening to, so he closed his eyes and considered the options. Am I really afraid he’s going to commit assault or murder tonight? The answer seemed to be no. Too much, too soon, too uncontrolled. Tomorrow? “I don’t know what McNaught will do, but if he doesn’t move tonight… I think we need to be sharp tomorrow.” He could picture the seething anger of the big cop, looking down at a messy burn on his driveway, a demand or a threat from a worm like Sam. He was sure McNaught would do something soon.
“Right. I’ll keep watching. Jesus, I’d forgotten how boring stakeouts are. You know where to find me. Same bat time, same bat channel.” Charlie rang off.
Nick opened the car door and got out, groaning at the stiffness in his back. He went into the dark bushes to pee, hoping he wasn’t standing in poison ivy. Maybe they should’ve tried harder to turn this over to the sheriff… who hadn’t returned his call… with her understaffed and run-by-McNaught department. No.
Brian tipped his head back on the seat and closed his eyes.
Nick stuck his head in the car to murmur, “I’m going to take a look down by the house.”
“What if he spots you?”
“Are you doubting my skills, young Jedi?”
Brian wrinkled his nose, unamused. “Just be safe, right, Nick?”
“I won’t stay long. Just