Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(31)

tone, but then again, he didn’t care. He wanted to shout this feeling to the world.

“On your way where?” The voice wasn’t Burnett’s. Immediately it felt as if someone had stuck a pin in his happy balloon. Even the buoyancy

in his steps changed.

“To see my girl, like I told you,” he said. “I thought you were her.”

“Where are you?” his father asked, and Perry listened to see if he heard suspicion in his old man’s voice, but didn’t get it.

“I told you. In Houston.”

“Where about in Houston?” he asked.

“Why?” Perry asked, hearing suspicion in his own voice. All these years of being a shape-shifter, he should be an expert at putting up

fronts, but for some reason with his dad it was hard.

“Because your mom and I are in Houston. I thought we might drop by and meet your girl.”

Shit! “Not happening,” he said.

“Why?”

You mean besides the fact that I’m not there? “Not happening,” he repeated.

“You ashamed of your parents?”

Yeah. He was. And the fact that his dad had to ask that was almost funny. “We’re just starting. It’s not time to meet the parents.” And it

would never be that time.

“Okay. But when you’re done tapping some girl’s ass, meet us at the bar, 2323 Handle Street. We got a room not too far away, but your mom

wants to get a buzz on and she hears they serve the best wines in town.”

So not happening! He could almost tolerate his dad’s presence, but his mom when sober was difficult, when drunk, impossible. “Why don’t I

just get back to Dallas in the morning?”

“Because we’re not working in Dallas anymore.”

“Why aren’t we working in Dallas?”

“Jax called. He’s sending us somewhere else.”

“What for?”

“A job.”

“So we’re going to be in Houston?”

“He hasn’t said where. Just that he needs a face-to-face. He really wants to meet you. I told you he was getting tired of Caleb’s screwups.

”

“So Caleb’s out?” Perry asked.

“Not completely. But he will be after I chat with Jax.”

“Who is this Jax guy anyway?” Perry asked.

“You’ll learn soon enough, son. Just do what your daddy says and I’m gonna make you a rich man and you’ll be able to snag you a fine woman

like your mom.”

Oh, yeah, that’s what Perry wanted. To find a woman who would abandon her own son and push her husband into a life of crime so she could drink

expensive wine and dress like she was twenty. What was sad was his dad honestly loved the woman. “It will be late,” he said.

“Then come to our room. You can crash here. We got two beds. It’s the Marriott Hotel right off Main and Fifth in downtown.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.” He started to hang up.

“Fine,” his father snapped. “But be here early. We’re supposed to be at Jax’s place by nine.”

Interesting. “So Jax lives in Houston?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“Just be here by eight. And stop asking questions. It makes you sound like you have ulterior motives.”

I do. “What kind of motives could I have? I just don’t like being told what to do.”

“I’m your father. I can tell you what to do and I deserve respect.”

“Not really.” Perry flinched when he realized he’d said that aloud. He’d been around his father for a month and had managed to keep his

mouth shut. Why was it getting harder?

“Just get your ass here by eight! Prove to me that my son is worth a damn.” His dad hung up.

Perry kicked at a discarded beer can. It clanked against the Dumpster and rang out in the night. A night that until just a few minutes ago had

held promise.

He stood there, the smell of garbage thickening the air. He blew out a cloud of frustration, angry he’d allowed his dad to chase away his joy

at seeing Miranda. Angry that with one conversation he felt it again. The emptiness. He needed something. Something he couldn’t even name.

Maybe it was all in his head.

Hadn’t he felt complete when he’d been with Miranda? Wasn’t that enough?

The temptation to tell Burnett everything he knew and just back off swelled in his chest. Burnett was probably going to insist on it.

His dad’s words echoed in his head. Prove to me that my son is worth a damn.

The muscles in Perry’s shoulders tightened.

He couldn’t.

He wouldn’t back off.

He didn’t care what Burnett said.

His dad was right. He needed to prove his something. Maybe his worth. But not to his father.

Not to Burnett.

Not even to Miranda.

But to himself.

Was it that easy? Perry wondered. Was that all he needed? His gut said no. There was something more. Until he had it, he wasn’t walking away.





Chapter Nine

Shawn stared through the two-way mirror watching Lily Chambers fidget in the adjacent interrogation room. Occasionally, she’d get up and pace