Protecting Dallas

The guys were staring back at me a little differently now. Much more relaxed. Austin raised his bottle in salute, and the others toasted.

“Next, I want to say thanks for putting me up in your place. I know this is probably a pain in the ass, having me here…”

“Not at all,” said Austin. “In fact—”

“Give me a few days,” I cut in, “and I promise I’ll be on your shit list. I’m sure to do something to piss you off; clog the shower drain with my hair, leave the toilet seat down all the time… fun stuff like that.”

They guys looked on, letting me do my thing. Giving me the floor, so to speak.

“I need you to make me a few promises though,” I said, “if I’m going to stay here. And I’ll need all three of you to agree.”

They looked intrigued now, or at least Maddox and Austin did. Kane just stared on impassively, twisting the cap from his fifth or sixth beer.

“First, I need complete transparency. Whatever you’re doing to find who’s after me, or who hurt Connor? I need in on that.”

Maddox squinted in confusion. “What do you mean by ‘in on it’?”

“I mean you share all your intel with me,” I said, intentionally using the military jargon. “You keep me in the loop. None of this ‘we didn’t tell you for your own safety’ crap. If you learn something — no matter how bad or scary — I need to know about it. And the door swings both ways.”

“The… door?” asked Austin

“Look, I’ve already decided that no matter what you say I’m helping out,” I replied. “I may not have your field skills or your physical training, but four heads are always better than three. You give me your info, your theories, your whatever you have, and together we’ll all try to piece together what’s going on.” I tipped my bottle back and finished it before clapping it to the table. “You might not know from watching me parade around my house in my underwear, but I’m pretty fucking surgical when it comes to the internet.”

All three of them blushed instantly, knowing what I’d said was true. After long shifts in a

stuffy casino uniform, stripping down to my underwear had always been my way to unwind. Surprisingly enough, it was Kane who turned the brightest shade of red.

I’ll have to remember that in the future…

“So are we all on the same page?” I asked.

Slowly they exchanged glances, each nodding some sort of eventual approval.

“Yeah,” Maddox said at last. “We’re up for that.” He paused for a moment, before giving me a bleary-eyed shrug. “Seems only fair.”

I nodded for a good several seconds, to drive the point home. “Good. Now onto the next thing…”

“You’re pretty demanding, you know that?” Austin quipped.

“I know.”

“No offense or anything.”

“None taken.” I leaned back in my chair. “Now, let’s talk about the house…”

It had taken several hours of soul-searching and staring at the ceiling to realize the guys were right; if I didn’t stay here laying low, chances were good I was an easy target. The admission hurt, but it was also one I had to swallow and move on from if I wanted to help find Connor’s killers.

And I definitely wanted to find Connor’s killers.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I started off, “but top to bottom this place needs some serious TLC.”

“TLC?” swore Austin, lookin indignant. “I’ll have you know—”

“Yeah yeah,” I cut him off. “I know it’s squeaky clean. It’s tip-top, as far as cleanliness goes, but not very… homey.”

They looked even more confused now, and it wasn’t just from the buzz they had going. Basically, they were guys. Military guys. As utilitarian as they were, they had no idea what I meant.

“Look around,” I sighed. “This place looks like a halfway house. There’s barely any furniture. Nothing on the walls. No lamps, no rugs, no anything to make it a home. It looks like you decorated with the Bachelor’s Starter Kit. Like you went out and bought a couch and a television and a few bags of pretzels, then you sat down and called it a day.”