Page 38 of Vallaverse: Noir
“Damn,” Pierce says. “I don't know much, but I didn't think he'd be the type to abduct Omegas.”
That makes two of us. The mayor didn't get elected under the typicalGet this city clean!Slogan. He was put into office for having common sense and because he had the beginning of a decent plan. I thought things were going well in that arena, but I guess you can't know everything.
“We can pay him a visit tomorrow.” I lean into Beckett just a little more.
“Not tonight?” Pierce asks. “I thought you'd want to go get her as soon as possible.”
That's the thing about being a detective that people don't understand. I am here to dig up the information and present it. I am not an authority figure. I don't have the power to barge intothe mayor's office or house and drag anybody out, no matter how much money her daddy throws at me. All I can do, and all I'm willing to do, is find the information and give it to him. Nothing more.
I used to do more, though. I used to storm castles and burn bridges and anything else I needed to do to solve the problem and save the day. But after being burned one too many times, I got tired of cleaning up ashes. I'm not a phoenix. I have limits, and I exhausted them a long time ago.
“No,” Beckett answers for me, and I look at him. He puts his arm around my shoulder. “We can go visit the mayor tomorrow. If it's alright with you, I'd like to go home. I'm exhausted. And hungry. Do we have a plan for dinner? It's late. Should we pick something up?”
“Pizza,” I suggest. “We should get pizza. No plates or silverware to clean up. Just a box and napkins.”
“Pizza it is,” Pierce agrees.
He pulls out his phone and puts in the order for one supreme pizza, hold the mushrooms, and one pepperoni pizza with light sauce. We swing by the shop to pick it up on our way out of the city and eat it on the way back to Pierce's place. I don't think I'll be able to call it home for a while, but I'll get there eventually.
Once we get back, Beckett picks me up as soon as I get out of the car.
“Don't sass me,” he says when I raise my brows at him. “I'm carrying you straight to the tub.”
“I'm perfectly capable of – ”
“You're perfectly capable of being quiet and letting me carry you inside and up all those stairs to the master bath. And then you'll be perfectly capable of soaking in really hot water for at least half an hour. Then you can be perfectly capable of taking some medicine and letting me tuck you into bed for the night.”
“Beckett.”
“Dana.”
“What is happening right now?” Pierce demands. “What happened?”
“It's nothing,” I tell him.
“She's a liar,” Beckett deadpans. “She was leaning on me when we were walking down the sidewalk. She was limping. And then she leaned against me again while we were in the pharmacy.”
“You were hurt when you attacked that piece of garbage at the center, weren't you? Pierce asks, and opens the door for Beckett to carry me inside.
“No,” I start, but rush to amend. “Not exactly. I just expected too much from my leg and I put too much pressure on my hip. I don't care. It was completely worth it.”
Pierce nods. “I understand.”
Well, that's something. At least he isn't a raging lunatic because I'm in pain.
“But it's still unacceptable.”
Never mind.
“You have to communicate your needs, Dana. How am I to attend to them if I don't know what they are?”
“I'll tell you,” Beckett offers, turning us sideways so that we fit through the doorway. “Every time. I'll tell you.”
He won't have to. If Pierce is going to mark me the way I marked Beckett, nobody will have to tell him anything. He'll be able to feel when I'm in pain or stressed. Whether it's through intuition or instinct, he'll know.
Pierce doesn't take me from Beckett, but he does follow us upstairs. He fills the tub while Beckett helps me undress.
“Are you getting in with me?” I ask him in an attempt to lighten the mood.
