" You look like shit though," Henry smirked.
" I'm exhausted," Sebastian sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Adrenaline let down is harsh."
" Finish your beer then go to bed. I set up the bed in the third bedroom for you," Anne said.
Sebastian sent her a grateful look. " Thanks mom."
His mother gave him a watery smile and a nod. Sebastian knew it meant a lot to her that he had come here tonight. He knew she was trying to better herself for them. So he was going to try and incorporate her back into his life. He loved her. She was still his mother.
After finishing up his beer, Sebastian went to the bathroom and then to the bedroom he would be staying in. He stripped off his t-shirt and put on the pajama pants his dad gave him. He hated sleeping in jeans and he didn't wear underwear. He didn't want to sleep naked because he was in his parents house. So he borrowed a pair of pajama pants from his dad. He got in bed and almost immediately fell into a fitful sleep.
" No comment," Raelynn said as she pushed past reporters on her way out of the Beck's house. One of the neighbors had probably called them.
They were swarming all over outside the front of the house. Fucking reporters. She hated reporters. Raelynn climbed in her car and slowly made her way down the driveway as other officers pushed people out of the way. She understood the appeal of the story. An uncle protecting his nephews from burglars. She got it. It tugged at the heartstrings. But couldn't they at least wait until morning? Thank God Sebastian had left when he did. Another ten minutes and he would have been caught up in the media frenzy.
Raelynn had been shocked when she walked into the house and recognized the man standing there with two little kids. Not like she would ever forget that handsome face of his. The man was just gorgeous. From his blonde hair to his tattoos. He had bright green eyes and a full wide mouth that was just made for kissing the crap out of a woman. She hated that she found him so attractive. Especially that night at the bar. She had been so frustrated with a case she was working on that when this stunning man walked up and asked to buy her a drink, it had pissed her off for some reason. And then he went and tried to touch her badge. Instinct had her bending his finger back. She smiled and shook her head at the memory. He had probably hoped he'd never see her again. Especially after the wary look he gave her hand when she held it out for him to shake.
She could tell that he was shook up about what happened. He tried really hard to hide it but Raelynn was trained to see any form of weakness in people. She had caught the subtle twitch in his left eye and the tick in the muscle of his jaw while he rehashed the story for her. It bothered him that he had shot and killed someone. She knew he didn't regret it and would do it again in a heartbeat to protect those kids, but it still irked him that he had done it.
He was a great shot too. After hearing his name, she remembered seeing him a few years back in one of the state's shooting competitions she had attended with her dad. He had taken home first prize. He was an amazing shot. Plus he was a gunsmith and worked in a gun shop that had a shooting range. He probably got tons of practice. Way more then she got - most definitely. She had been stunned and awed when she found out he blew the guy's head off in the dark.
Raelynn pulled into her driveway about twenty minutes later. There was nothing else to do tonight. They had people working the phones, hoping for tips to come in about the other guy who had been shot but ran away. They checked all the hospitals in the area but none had anyone who walked in off the street with gunshot wounds. There were still investigators at the scene bagging up clues and dusting for prints. She wasn't needed anymore.
She walked into her house, turned off the alarm, shut her door, locked it and reset the alarm. Raelynn then tossed her keys into the bowl on the table beside the door. She moved further into her house as she took off her gun and badge. She carried them upstairs and into the bathroom, where she turned on the water and stripped out of her clothes. She undid her hair then got in the hot shower. After her shower, Raelynn got right into bed. She had to be up in a few hours to go back to work.