Page 37 of Home Fires
“Of course you are. You’ll be helpful to me. Especially with the routine cases. The paperwork. That sort of thing.”
Well, they could squabble about that some other time. “Why? What makes this a good idea?”
Wade smiled at him with warmth and affection Jericho wished he could bottle. “Because we’re both getting restless. We’re both likely going to end up doing something that makes people want to shoot at us, sooner or later. And it’s important to me that when people are shooting at you, I be there to shoot back. So, this seems like a reasonable solution. It’s not completely outside the law, so you don’t have to get all prissy and uptight about that. It’s not completely inside the law—or it won’t be the way I do it. So I’ll be free to let my instincts take over and keep us safe. And it could be fun.”
“Fun?”
“It’ll have all the things you like about being a cop—helping people, getting shot, whatever—and none of the bad things—like hanging out with cops, following cop rules, being a cop. None of that. Sound good?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Are you worried about having to write the test? It’s cool, I can help you study. I can probably get some fake ID and take the test for you, if you want.”
“You are so annoying when you’re in a good mood.”
Wade grinned at him. “We should do it in Montana. Not in Mosely, because I don’t think there’d be enough business, but somewhere close by so we could keep an eye on the kids.”
“From a distance.”
“For you, that’s likely best. I might sneak in a little closer now and then.”
“And will you check on Nikki’s business while you’re there?” Jericho tried to keep his tone light, but Wade wasn’t fooled.
“Not on purpose,” he said, keeping his gaze locked with Jericho’s. Wade didn’t lie, not like this. “And if something came up, I’d talk to you about it. Just like Kay might ask you for a favor sometime and you might think about doing it, but you’d talk to me first.”
Jericho let himself relax. “A PI, huh? And you’d take care of all the hard cases?” The idea was starting to grow in his mind, starting to make a place for itself in his imagination. He’d still be helping people, but he’d have more flexibility, fewer rules to follow—no bosses, no feds. No brown-on-beige polyester. “Okay, yeah. Let me read up on the requirements. Let me think about it.”
Wade leaned back, satisfied.
And Jericho could have left it there, but instead he added, “You understand that I’m interested in the ‘helping people’ side of things, not the ‘getting shot’ part, right? I don’t get shot on purpose.”
“Of course not,” Wade agreed. “You’re not just hungry for attention all the time. That’s not what it is.”
Jericho raised an eyebrow, and then he pounced. Wade was fast, and he’d never be taken in by Jericho’s attempt at trickery, so he clearly wasn’t trying too hard to avoid being caught. Caught, wrestled, and pinned, Jericho sitting on Wade’s chest, careful that his knees didn’t push down on Wade’s biceps hard enough to hurt. “I’m only looking for your attention. Nobody else’s.”
“Well, you’ve got it.” Wade heaved his body a little, experimentally. They both waited a moment, then Wade shrugged his surrender, and Jericho slid down his body until they were lying together. “You’ve always had it,” Wade said gently. “And you always will.”
“Damn right,” Jericho said, and they lay there together as the sun went down over the ocean.
