Page 71 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
The Next Morning—Jackson
Practically our whole clubhouse barn could fit into the monstrosity Sprout grinned like a lunatic over.Kate and Zoe hesitated behind me, but they’d exited the SUV and were now targets.I motioned them to follow Sprout inside.
He hung in the foyer by the door, waiting for Bear and me to get our asses in gear.
“This ain’t small, Sprout,” I scanned the double-wide arched brick of the foyer.
“Funny.That’s exactly what my wife said last night,” Sprout joked.
Hilarious.
Kate and Zoe were in the great room by the fireplace.
“There’s too much glass.”I pointed to the windows lining the space.Two facing the street and a whole bank of them in the back so you could see the covered patio.It was a criminal’s wet dream.The place screamed, “rob me!”Double doors in the front and back.No reinforced beams between them, either.
My head shook from side to side as the girls went from one room to the next.They oooed over the marble countertops, the wood floors, the vaultedceilings, and each artisan pendant lamp that I was certain held non-tempered glass that would shatter everywhere if someone started shooting up the place.
“It’s a fishbowl, right Bear?”
He grunted.“You’ve seen Sprout’s house, haven’t you?”
True, but wrong.I pointed at the backyard, which I could see plain as day.“Sprout doesn’t have to look at his neighbor’s upstairs bedroom over the fence.”
“You haven’t seen the best part.”Sprout motioned for us to follow him.
That side-to-side motion of my head kept going.There was a window right next to the tub.I pointed it out to Kate.“Better not stand up; the neighbors will get a show.”
She blushed.
“I kind of hate tubs.Especially ones in exposed areas…likekitchens.”She sent me a crooked grin.
Oh, yeah.I remembered.A chuckle escaped, which caught Bear’s attention.He wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to him.
“Let me show you the closet.”Sprout led us through the bathroom, past the fancy tub with the huge ass window next to it, and tapped on the closet door.
His finger thunked mutely.“Reinforced.The entire walk-in locks down as a safe room.There’s a gun safe in the back.”He flipped open a hidden panel, revealing a full-sized steel cabinet with biometric locks.
Now we were talking.
“Does the other closet have one?”This beast had two walk-in closets in the owner’s suite.
He shook his head and squeezed past me and Bear to lead us through the maze of rooms and back through the main area to the other wing of the house.
“Office, full bath, two bedrooms with walk-in closets.”He pointed out each detail.Zoe parked her ass in the bedroom on the right and bounced on the bed.
“This is my room.”
I eyed the street through the window behind her.“The hell it is.”I pointed through the window.“Bear?What’s the range of a nine-mil with hollow points?”
He tipped his head and scanned the sightline from the curb to Zoe’s closet.An un-reinforced one.“At least double.Half-aimed with spray, she’s done, boss.”
“Let’s look at the back bedroom.”
“Dad!”
“No, Zoe.Do I have to park Bear on the street and have him point his 50-cal at us to prove why?Jesus.”
Kate blanched.
