Page 96 of Beware of Dog

She sighed—Raven gave her a sympathetic look—and turned.

“I’ll be just outside,” Raven said, and the storm door creaked open, and then shut again.

Jamie was breathing hard as she reached Cass. She was a tall girl, taller than Cass, but she seemed smaller now, with her bent posture and her baggy sweater. She’d lost weight, ashocking amount of it, collarbones and wrists standing out stark beneath her paper-white skin.

As quickly as it had formed, Cass’s anger died. Her life had always been an odd tangle of civilian and outlaw, each misstep counterbalanced by the assurance that, if necessary, her powerful, frightening family would step in and right all the wrongs. Jamie had no such safety net; to her, the club was just another boogeyman in a world turned upside down by an act of violence from the sort of person she, and her parents, had likely always thought superior and trustworthy.

“I’m sorry,” Jamie said. She swiped her hair back, gaze trained on Cass’s shoulder, rather than her face. “I know Sig’s a piece of shit, Iknowhe is, but I just…” She bit her lip.

“It’s okay,” Cass said, and meant it. “Anyone in your position would want to drop the charges.”

Jamie finally met her gaze, mouth twitching to the side. “Anyone exceptyou, you mean.”

“No.” Cass shook her head. “I’m not brave. I just have anextremelyscary family.”

Jamie snorted. “Yeah.” She leaned to the side to peer around Cass and out the door. “That’s him, isn’t it? Your…boyfriend.” She struggled with the word.

“Yeah.” Cass turned to peer through the glass, and saw that Shep was shifting his weight, jaw tight, getting impatient. She smiled. “That’s him.”

“Is he, like…” When Cass turned back, she saw Jamie squinting against the sunlight, frowning, clearly searching for the right words. “Okay. No offense. He’s alotolder than you.”

Cass grinned. “Only physically.”

Jamie didn’t know what to make of that. She blinked. “How much older?”

Cass thought about sparing her, but only for a moment. This was her reality, now, her choice. She wasn’t going to cushion it for the benefit of others. “He’s forty-six.”

Jamie’s eyes bugged. “Holy shit.”

“We have loads in common,” she said. “And he pretends he’s not, but he’s actually very sweet. He’s a good person, and he’s good to me.”

Jamie’s gaze flicked from Cass to the door, back and forth, back and forth. “That’s…good. Good for you.”

“That’s all that really matters, isn’t it?” Cass said. “That someone loves you and treats you well?”

Jamie returned her attention wholly to Cass. Considered. And though she didn’t look as though sheunderstood, per se, her expression softened. Her tone turned wistful. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.”

~*~

Raven had to go to the office. Melissa and Rob were going to stay, canvass a little more, then hit up Organized Crime to see if any gangs were pulling numbers in Jamie’s neighborhood. Topino took first shift watching the house.

Which meant Pongo tagged along to Steinbaum’s Diner with Shep and Cass.

He sat across from them in the booth, drowning his waffles in syrup and peering at them curiously. “So you guys are just…”

“Yep,” Shep said, and shoveled home fries into his mouth.

“And Raven didn’t blow a gasket?”

“No,” Cass said. It was brunch time, technically, but she’d ordered a burger. Bacon, extra cheese, the shoestring fries so hot they singed her fingertips.

Pongo looked between them, freckled nose scrunched up. “I just…”

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Shep suggested. “You might pull something.”

Pongo made a face, and turned his attention to Cass. “What about your brothers? Your dad? Dotheyknow?”

“What the fuck business of it is yours?” Shep asked, conversationally, and lifted a hand to signal the waitress for a coffee refill.

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