Page 95 of Tango

“Really?”

“No,” I smirked, “but if I can do some damage from inside Shadows, then that’s what my third act will be.”

“I was thinking, we pretty much took out most of the guys who knew you, so maybe every so often you could join us.” I heard the leather chair flex as he turned to look at Cole. “What do you think, Logan?”

“I’d say in time it could be an option.”

“In time, yeah.” I was unsure but pleased it was even being considered.

“Though Ray is looking to retire from Camp Green, Paul.” Cole closed his laptop. “If you’re interested in that, I’d gladly give you the position.”

“Really?” I nodded a few times. “I’ll give it some thought. I had pretty well decided I was done with this life, but I’m rethinking things a bit.” I was surprised at how nice Cole’s offer sounded. “Give me some time, and I might just take you up on that.”

“Shit,” Cole drew my attention back to him, “Liv found the doll I was working on to get the girls back.” He turned his phone around and showed us a picture of Olivia holding the doll and the recorder from its back with Savi holding a sign saying “nice try.”

“I hate to admit it,” Keith chuckled, “but she’s good.”

“This isn’t over.” Cole tossed his phone with a proud smirk. Whether he’d admit it or not, he loved that it was his daughter who figured out what he was up to. One thing I knew for sure, this prank war was far from over.

I looked back out at the sky; it held a mere sliver of light. Life might not have turned out how I imagined it would, but maybe there was something still there for me after all.

Ty

I stirred and yawned and reached out a hand to find her. As I slid my hand over the mattress, it bumped against something cold and hard and furry.

“Rise and shine, sexy!” a horrible little mechanical voice chirped at me. I jerked back with a shout.

What the hell?

I pulled out the note that was under it and glared at Ivy’s handwriting.

“Found this in your drawer, thought I better play dirty. – xox can’t get rid of me now!”

I laughed out loud and tossed the note on my nightstand. Then I tried to record me whistling but I couldn’t crack the passcode. The wives were good! Instead, I placed the little robot monster inside her panty drawer and hoped she would at least jump at the sight of it. As I closed the drawer, something caught my eye and found my nose.

It was time to make things right, and not just with her.

I showered and dressed then, with my boots balanced under my arm, I awkwardly opened the bedroom door only to get nailed by three Nerf bullets. A wicked laugh from Liam rang out as he ran for his life.

“Friggin’ little shit,” I muttered. I fastened my watch as I made my way down the hall and cursed again as I stepped on a piece of Lego with my sock foot. “Seriously!” I picked it up and hopped to the wall to pull on my boots. As I stood, I found Reagan standing there with a nervous smile.

“That’s mine, Uncle T.” She gripped her stuffy and held out her little hand for the piece of bright pink Lego.

“I figured.” I handed it to her and gave her a pat on the head and ruffled her hair to let her know I wasn’t mad at her. “Next time, it’s mine.” I winked, and she giggled. I headed for the kitchen to find the one I was looking for. He sat at the counter with a bowl of Cheerios.

“I thought we left the war,” I grunted at Moore. He scooped up a mouthful of cereal then pulled a bit of Silly String from his hair.

“I say we take ’em out,” Moore agreed. “Just play them real dirty and scare the crap out of them once and for all. Dibs on putting Liam on the roof.”

“No, that little shit’s all mine.” We both looked toward the door at the sound of running feet.

“Boys!” Mia called out from the other room. “Are you behaving?”

“Yes, Mom!” they called in unison as something crashed.

“Have kids, they said.” Mia snickered at us as she walked in. “It’ll be great, they said.”

“It’s all lies.” Sloane grabbed a coffee as she whisked by. “You’d be best to remember that, Ivy. John and I live through all of them.”

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