Despite the fact he and Seth had reaffirmed their bond with Heavenly and managed spine-bending satisfaction all around, sleep proved to be an elusive bitch. Though having her between them again felt right and finally gave Beck some optimism, his brain refused to let him rest. He’d spent hours dissecting everything Seth had confessed about Autumn and Tristan, the way they’d died, and his subsequent revenge. Beck had come to one inescapable conclusion.
There were holes in Seth’s story.
Oh, the PI had been thorough—even self-castigating—up through their murders. After that, the explanation had turned murky. Why had Seth gotten obsessed with that particular cold case? What about it had made him unable to let go? Unable to care about other cases? Newer cases? And once he’d gone down the dark road with that case, whose palms had he had to grease? Who in the seedy underworld had he asked questions of? And what sort of favors had he done for them in exchange for the name of his wife’s and son’s killer? Nothing legal, that was for fucking sure.
Beck didn’t blame Seth for wasting the asshole who had killed his family, but why had the murderer done it? Simply to cover up his cold-case killing? Or was there something deeper at work that would motivate a stranger to off a homicide detective’s wife and infant boy? If there wasn’t, why wouldn’t the killer simply end the detective hunting him down?
Other things didn’t add up, too. Once upon a time, Seth had knocked Pike out cold with one punch. The police academy hadn’t taught him that shit. Who had? Beck didn’t like the possible answers.
And the biggest question of all? Why would Seth have bared so much pain about the loss of his family, then given them double-speak to explain everything else?
Pieces of this story weren’t fitting together, and he’d get to the bottom of it. But right now, Beck had to deal with the situation in front of him. He had to talk to Zach.
He’d rehearsed ways to explain to his brother that, after inviting him to stay at the house, Beck was now asking him to leave. No, he wasn’t casting Zach onto the streets. His brother would have a place to stay. But if he wasn’t here, how was Beck supposed to help guide him through this new existence? On the other hand, if Seth couldn’t handle being around Zach, what choice did he have?
None. He fucking hated this. Guilt weighed heavily on Beck’s heart and shoulders.
Plucking his cell phone from the nightstand, he checked the time. Just after four a.m.—an hour earlier than he wanted to be out of bed. But trying to drift off now was pointless. He had rounds to make. Might as well get to them. If he finished early, maybe he could approach Zach about moving out this afternoon and get him settled at the new place before Seth returned from work.
Carefully easing away from Heavenly’s warm body, he tossed back the covers and crept to the bathroom. After a quick shower and shave, he dressed, then headed to the kitchen for a much-needed caffeine infusion. But when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found Zach sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of his own.
“Hey,” Beck greeted in a low murmur.
“Morning.”
“If you’re hungry, I can make you some breakfast. Or Heavenly saved you a steak and some salad from dinner last night. They’re in the fridge.”
“Thank you. I’m not hungry now, but I’ll probably have that for lunch.”
“Sounds good. I’ll leave you directions for reheating it,” Beck said, filling his mug with coffee. “Heavenly would help, but she’s studying for finals.” Besides, she wouldn’t be around to cook for Zach in the future. His brother needed to learn kitchen skills so he could eventually take care of himself.
“I’ll figure it out,” Zach snapped, then he sighed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.”
He didn’t, but something was clearly bothering him.
Like losing a wife and daughter?
“It’s all good,” Beck assured as he eased onto the chair across from his brother. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
Bullshit. But Beck was trying to figure out how to broach the topic that had kept him up half the night when Zach broke into his thoughts.
“What are you doing up so early?”
“Couldn’t sleep, so I decided I’d get up and start my rounds. Did you sleep okay?”
“I did, until…” He glanced upstairs, then Beck’s way with a pointed stare.
Zach had heard him and Seth making love to Heavenly? Beck grimaced. “Ahh. Sorry, man. We…forgot we weren’t alone.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s your house, and I’m not complaining. I’m grateful you offered me a place to stay.”
Unwittingly, Zach had given Beck the perfect opening. He wished he didn’t have to take it.
“About that… You don’t know Seth well, but eight years ago, while he was living in New York, he lost a wife and child, too. They were murdered.”
“Like mine.” Zach scrubbed a hand down his face.