Double Full (Nice Guys 1)

***

The parking lot was packed as Jace drove to his reserved parking at the front doors of the gym. Tonight was open gym, which generally meant hit and miss on how full the classes were. But school cheerleading tryouts were beginning, and everyone who wanted to tryout was at the gym sharpening their skills, hoping to increase their chances of making the team. Jace barely got the driver’s side door open before several young girls came running over to his car.

“Hi, Jace,” they said in unison. That was the thing about young girls. They weren’t shy, but they also didn’t come with talking points, which required that he continue the conversation.

“Are y’all coming or going?” Jace asked, working his way through the five or six of them, while keeping his target on the front door.

“Going,” one said.

“Are your parents here?” Jace paused, looking down at their upturned faces.

“Yep, bye, Jace!” The crew took off to one of the cars waiting in the circular car lane, and Jace took the second to scan the parking lot, looking for anything out of the ordinary. That was damn hard to spot when hundreds of cars were everywhere. Hell, he couldn’t even identify his own detail. Should he send some sort of note home with the kids?

“Hey, you, welcome back. You’re looking suntanned!” Haley greeted him at the front door.

“Did you find anyone?” Jace asked, bypassing her, heading straight to his office. He nodded several times as his name was called, but he didn’t engage in conversation with anyone.

“Hellllooo…” she said, and pivoted around, following him. His office was locked, and he fumbled with the key before he was allowed inside. He waited for Haley to bounce in, and he shut the door behind him. Thank God the blinds were drawn.

“We’re going to have a stronger security presence around here. Two or three armed security guards both day and night. I think I need to draft a letter to the parents. I’ll work on that tonight and send it to legal. We probably need to send it out as soon as possible,” Jace said, nothing but business in his tone. He dropped his keys and phone on the desk and pushed his sunglasses back on his head as he booted up his desktop computer.

“Whoa, mister! What’s going on? You look super tired, not like a man who just got back from a two week, restful vacay,” Haley said and plopped down in the chair across from Jace’s desk. “Except, wait! You do look like a man that got nice and laid. Good job,” Haley said and extended a hand for a high five across the desk. He reached across, slapped her hand, and looked at her inquisitively. How much did he tell her? What would she say? Deciding his right hand man, or in this case, woman, might need to be on the lookout for possible problems, Jace gave in and decided to give her small details.

“Laid and married.” Jace winced at his brazen response, a little surprised how he just dropped it out there.

“What?” Haley was up out of the seat, rounding the desk, hugging his neck tight as he sat there. “Congratulations! It’s a good thing, right?”

“I think so, we’ll see,” he said, sitting back in his seat.

“Was he why you were so messed up before you left?” Haley stood in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest, smiling from ear to ear as she leaned back against his desk.

“In a roundabout way, I guess, but I need to meet with legal. You should probably go with me. There’s a lot going on, and we need to stay ahead of it,” Jace said, pivoting back around to the desktop, ignoring her standing there gawking at him.

“Okay, no problem. So why the security?” she asked, staying close to him.

“There’s been some hate crimes. I’m guessing they’re all pretty violent, and I want to protect the gym with all the press we’ve gotten lately,” Jace said, typing an email.

“Sounds reasonable. I’ll let the coaches know to be on the lookout. So who is he?” Haley asked, half-sitting on, half-leaning back against Jace’s desk. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, the big grin still right there.

“I gotta get going tonight. I’ll fill you all in tomorrow. You might meet him soon. I don’t know. I’m gonna need you to keep things moving around here for a while, pull some extra shifts to cover for me. Is that a problem?” Jace asked.

“No, not at all. I’m happy to do whatever you need,” Haley said. She watched him closely, clearly confused, but she kept that to herself. He liked that about her.

“Did you get someone to cut my hair?” Jace asked.

“Yeah, but I like your hair long,” she said.

“It’s in the way right now. I can grow it back out,” he said, not really paying attention to her. He finished typing a quick message to his legal advisors asking for time as a knock sounded at the door.

“That’s her, but I still think you need to leave it long,” Haley said, rounding the desk to let her in.

“It’s just hair, let her in.” Jace hit send and pulled his T-shirt over his head. It was killing him not being at the hospital. The sooner he got this done, the quicker he’d be there.

***

Jace worked his way through the secured hospital entrance that led directly to Colt’s room. He showed his identification, used all the correct names, and by ten-fifteen, he pushed open the hospital room door. Colt was sleeping, with the television blaring on ESPN. Jace entered slowly, placing his bag, pillow, and blanket on the sofa. He quietly walked to the bed and peered down at a sleeping Colt. Thick dark lashes fluttered against bruised cheeks. He didn’t wake.

Jace hooked up his laptop, made his bed, and sat at the small desk in the room. It wasn’t until he started typing away at the computer, answering some of the hundreds of emails he had missed while away.