Page 10 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

Another topic her father had a loud opinion about since he hated them and wasn’t afraid to let them know what he thought about them to their face.

“Sure they are. They are definitely all my family.” Whether she wanted them to be or not.

“You have a big family,” he surmised.

“I’d say. My parents married when they were teenagers after ending up pregnant with me. Not long after, they had my brother Malcolm. Then their relationship went to hell. No surprise since they were too young for life commitments, be it a marriage or children. About fifteen years ago, my father remarried, and he ended up having two more children with my stepmother. Her family is extremely large, too.” And not just with blood family. “My brother also has two kids. That means holidays tend to be busy and noisy.” She smiled. “Truthfully, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Though, after any big gathering, she was glad to go home to peace and quiet. She also ended up hitting a bottle. Of aspirin.

“So now that I’ve shared more about me, what about you? Can you at least give me your name? You don’t have to give me anything else.” When he didn’t answer, she asked, “Youarecoming back next week, right, Allen?”

His head twitched.

“It would be nice to at least have a way to address you, Bob. If not, I’m going to go down the alphabet and call you every name I can think of until I get to the letter Z. Then I’ll start all over again, Calvin.”

His chest visibly expanded when he inhaled deeply. Was he battening down his armor or loosening it up?

Time would tell.

“Just so you know, Deepak, I’m a lot like my father. I’ll warn you now that I don’t give up easily. My advice is to save yourself by telling me your name before I drive you to the brink with my persistence.”

“I could just ride away.”

“You could, but you haven’t yet, Edgar.”

“I’m tempted to fucking stand here until you get to Z.”

Even though his stony expression didn’t change, could he possibly have a sense of humor buried deep inside him?

“I’ve got all night, Fabio.” She really didn’t. She needed to get home to her kids and before she did that, she wanted to go back inside the community center and help Bonnie shut things down.

“Lennox,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Lennox,” he repeated more clearly.

“Is that your first or last name?” Most likely his last since law enforcement usually called each other by their last names.

“Bradley Lennox.”

Holy shit.She was actually making headway. Even if it was only a smidge. “Well, Bradley Lennox, nice to meet you.” She jutted out her hand.

His gaze dropped to it, but he kept both of his down by his sides. “Nobody calls me that,” he grumbled.

“I just did. Tell me, what do people call you?”

“Nox.”

“How did you get that nickname?” She knew full well it was short for Lennox, but she wanted to keep him talking.

“Got shortened in the Army.”

Having served in the military could sometimes be a sticky subject with people so closed off. She decided to ask something safer. “Do you live here in Shadow Valley, Nox?”

“Work for the PD. Live in Rockvale now.”

“Shadow Valley PD?” She knew a few people who worked for the local police department because they were tied to the Dirty Angels MC. And her father’s MC was tied to the Dirty Angels because they were close allies. However, that wasn’t her only connection to the DAMC… Her stepmother was another one.

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