motel outside Huntington, but he wasn’t about to start anything in a back alley in this part of town. “We can check in with Charlie pretty quick and head out.”
Brian grinned and slid his hand up under the shirt to rub his wide chest, deliberately teasing. “Quick, huh?”
“Shut up.” Nick unlocked the back door and ushered Brian in.
The sound of babbling led them to the office. Charlie sat at the desk working on his laptop, and in a playpen in the corner, Joshie had a pile of stuffed animals he was patting and talking to in burbled sounds. Luger lay stretched out between the playpen and the door. The big dog turned to watch them come in and his tail thumped a greeting on the floor, but he didn’t get up.
Joshie spotted them a moment later and stretched his arms toward them with a demanding “Ah-bah!” Nick moved quickly to lift the little boy before Brian could. Brian still had a tendency to fall into a weird trance if he focused on Josh or looked in his eyes.
Nick swooped the baby in the air, making him giggle, before settling him in a secure hold. “You’re getting so heavy, kiddo. Your daddy’s feeding you too much.”
“Bah!” Josh bopped him on the chest and wriggled, reaching toward Charlie.
“Charles. Take your demon infant.” Nick passed the baby over and dropped into one of the visitor chairs in front of the desk, sliding the other out for Brian. “Tell me we have a new case.”
“Yep. Of sorts.” Charlie bounced Joshie on his knee as he typed one-handed. “Elderly woman’s home was broken into and she lost her mother’s jewelry. Not very valuable stuff, but some gold and silver. The cops have no leads, and they told her not to expect to get it back even if they catch the perps. She wants us to try to find the jewelry.”
Brian jolted and looked away from Josh. “I can’t Find things, just people.”
“We wouldn’t waste your talent on it anyway,” Charlie said. “I figure Nick can make the rounds of some pawn shops, and I’ll check online. See if we can locate them. These douchebags sound like amateurs. They’ll have dumped the stuff for pennies on the dollar.”
“You warned her it was a long shot?”
Charlie nodded. “Sure. She said she heard we were real good, though. Sentimental value was worth the retainer.”
Nick couldn’t suppress a satisfied smile. It wasn’t just Brian’s help that had their word-of-mouth growing. They’d documented an abusive husband for a divorce case, proved an insurance fraud, tracked down a con man— even found a missing horse, which, given the fuck-all he knew about horses, had been a fluke. But “heard we were real good” sounded sweet.
“I can do the pawn shops.” He had a local list, ranked from most likely to fence to least. “Tomorrow, though. Brian and I are taking the rest of the day off.”
“Lucky guys. Wish I could take a day off after a successful case.”
“You can,” Nick pointed out. “We’re our own bosses.”
“With rent to pay.” Charlie clicked to a new screen. “Got another case we might end up with. Dude wanted proof his neighbor is breaking his fences and letting his cattle out. He balked at the fee, but he was steaming mad. If it happens again, I’m betting he’ll be back.”
“Surveillance on cows. My favorite.”
“Cows are our friends,” Brian said, deadpan.
Nick recognized the glint of humor in his eyes. “We’ll pay you to sit out in the cow shit with a camera then.”
There was a buzz from the front door button. Charlie said, “Not expecting anyone. You?”
Nick bounced to his feet and went to check, finding a courier waiting with a large envelope and a touchpad. “Sign for this.”
Nick did, waiting for the man to leave before bringing the envelope on back.
“What’s that?” Charlie held out his hand.
“Don’t know. Return address is Florida, don’t recognize the name.” Florida didn’t evoke good memories. Nick pulled the tab across the top and peered carefully inside. “Just papers.”
Charlie slid his laptop to the side to clear space and shifted Joshie over to his other knee. “Dump them out.”
Nick shook the envelope gently side to side to ease the pages onto the desk without touching them. Brian stood close, crowding him. As the writing on the top page came into view, Brian said, “Damon!”
Nick would’ve denied it in a court of law, but a huge rush of relief went through him. They hadn’t heard from Damon in months, not since