Page 20 of Night Hawk
Clay followed her with their letters. “Work on them tomorrow only.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted and tucked them in another locker.
“Do you know if the FBI called Kelsey to recover the remains?” he asked.
“If they did, she hasn’t told me.” Sierra deposited the items in a locker and closed it. “Wouldn’t be great if she got called out tonight though. She needs her sleep even more than I do.”
Clay looked at Toni. “Kelsey is expecting too. Not sure when.”
“She’s only said she’s due in April a million times.” Sierra wrinkled her nose at her brother. “But just like a guy not to remember the details.”
“She’s having a girl,” he said and raised his chin. “See, I remember details.”
Sierra swatted a hand at him, and he circled an arm around her back then gently knuckled her head. She looked up at him with a fond smile and they started for the exit. This was exactly the way Toni had imagined having a sibling would be like, and seeing them together left her feeling sad that she was an only child.
In the hallway, they boarded the elevator and took it to the sixth floor. Clay kept his arm around his sister. She rested against him and yawned, covering her mouth.
“See,” he said. “You really are tired.”
“Never said I wasn’t, but I know how important this investigation is to you both.”
“We’ve waited a year to find Hibbard,” Toni said. “One more night shouldn’t make a difference.”
“But I—”
“But nothing,” Clay protested. “Your health comes first.”
Sierra looked at Toni. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
She shook her head. “But I always wanted a sibling.”
Sierra fixed her focus on Clay. “Where I often wished I was an only child.”
“Hey.” He removed his arm and mocked upset.
Sierra chuckled. “Seriously, these guys can be a real pain at times, and then they do something like this to show they care, and it’s all forgotten. I’m really blessed.”
Clay’s feigned bad mood disappeared, and he grinned at his sister. “I’m only looking out for the future flock of Byrds.”
Sierra groaned. “And then there’s the lame humor.”
“Saddle me with a name like Byrd, and I got teased enough as a kid that I figure I can use the lame jokes as an adult.” He met Toni’s gaze and laughed.
His laughter was contagious, and she joined in. She loved this insight into his family life. His tender care of his sister endeared him to her, and she could imagine he would be even more protective and tender with his wife. Especially so if she was pregnant with his child.
The doors slid open. A good thing as she was starting to imagine what his child might look like. Whattheirchild might look like.
He held out his hand, gesturing toward the end of the hallway. “We have to cross the skybridge to get to the condo towers.”
“The view of the city from there is amazing.” Sierra took off down the hallway, but her feet were dragging. At the skybridge she paused. “See what I mean?”
Toni looked through the floor-to-ceiling glass toward the city skyline, lights twinkling in the clear night. The moon shone on the glass above, and a soft glow brightened the area.
“It’s beautiful.” Toni glanced at Sierra then looked at Clay, who was intently watching her. His focus had been on Sierra, and Toni had honestly missed having his sincere concern focused her way.
“You two could stay here and look at the view,” Sierra suggested.
“I think we’re better off getting a good night’s sleep.” Clay gave his sister a pointed look.
