Page 33 of Justice for Aleta

“Just trying to force you to be the hospitable host Mama raised you to be. Run along and get it.”

“Dear god,” Jack muttered as he headed to the liquor cabinet. “Just let me know if you don’t understand something and I’ll tell you some lie to completely throw you off.”

“Ah, there’s the cooperative young man I know you are.” Amos went back to the screen and completely ignored the two of them.

“Um, nice meeting you,” Aleta called out and turned toward the bedroom, but Amos never said a word.

As soon as he’d delivered an on-the-rocks glass with two fingers of bourbon in it to the coffee table, Jack headed straight for the bedroom. “I’m sorry he was such an ass,” he said, watching Aleta as she found places for her things.

“What does this mean? Are they getting involved?”

Jack sat down hard on the edge of the bed and sighed. “Nah. He wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t want to get me in trouble. He just wants to bust my chops and know what’s going on in my life. He cares about me.”

Aleta huffed a breath out. “Wow. If that’s how he shows you he cares about you, what does he do when he’s mad at you?”

“You don’t wanna know.” Watching her was becoming one of his favorite pastimes. She was graceful, her movements fluid and soft. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

There it was?that giggle. “No. But I’m hoping you tell me.”

“Well, you are. I wish you had some idea how happy I am that you’re here. Finding space for everything?”

She nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Plenty. It’s like you left space for me, even though you didn’t know I’d be coming.”

Jack thought about that statement. He’d wanted to get involved with somebody, but Heather’s death had hurt too much. What had he done? He’d gotten involved with a woman somebody was sure to want to kill. The difference? He couldn’t protect Heather from leukemia. But he could protect Aleta from these guys, or at least die trying. “I didn’t know you were coming, but I was hoping you would. I mean, come along someday.”

“And here I am.” It was happening again. She was smiling and happy. Jack thought there was nothing more gorgeous than that smile.

“All done,” a voice called from the front of the house.

“Thank god. Maybe I can get rid of him now. I’ll be back.” Jack wandered up the hallway and back into the living room. “Done, huh?”

“Yeah. You’ve got a mess here. So what’s the plan?”

“There isn’t one. We’re waiting. When the Menendez cartel figures out that she’s alive?”

“I get the picture. She can ID the hit man. I don’t envy you your position here, little brother.”

Jack didn’t know what to say. He and Amos had worked together over the years, but this time, he didn’t want anybody to know anything more than they needed to. “I want to remind you, I let you look at the info as my brother,notas a KDCI agent. Do you understand?”

Amos threw up his hands and stood. “Yeah. I get it. And in this particular instance, I think your instinct to let no more people than necessary know what’s going on is probably spot-on.”

“Good. Thanks. Your opinion means a lot to me.”

“And yours to me. If you don’t want anybody else to know, you have a good reason. So are you guarding her, or are you… guarding her?”

“I think that beating-around-the-bush question is asking if we’re together. The answer is yes.”

Amos smiled. “It’s about time. I’ve watched you mope around here and I have to say, you need somebody. I know you miss Heather. We all do. She was a part of our family too. But it’s time you found happiness. And for the love of god,” Amos said, pointing above the fireplace, “take that thing down. It gives me the creeps every time I come over here.”

Jack had to laugh. “Yeah, I apologized to Aleta for it. It’s coming down.”

“Good. I’m leaving. Let me out, wouldja?”

“Sure.” When they reached the door, Amos did something very uncharacteristic of him. Turning, he opened his arms and hugged Jack. It startled the younger Fletcher so badly that at first he didn’t return the hug. But when he came to himself, he hugged Amos back. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. If you need me, you know where to find me. And I come with a posse,” Amos said, a twinkle in his eye. “Just say the word.”

“Will do. See ya.” He turned off the alarm system and let Amos out, then stood in the doorway and watched as his older brother climbed into his truck and rolled away. With the door closed, Jack punched in the code and set the alarm.

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