Standing in the Shadows (McClouds & Friends #2)(89)

Pile some brand new ones on top of them.



Erin was struck mute for the rest of the drive.

Connor pulled into the Jacey's Diner lot. He didn't take her hand as they walked toward the entrance. Her hand felt chilly and abandoned, swinging there on its own.

An astonishingly handsome young man with dark blond hair and a black leather jacket burst out of the diner. Erin took one look at his lean face and wide-set, tilted green eyes, the same glacial lake shade as Connor's, and knew he had to be Sean McCloud.

Sean's jaw sagged. "Holy shit. Look at you." A delighted grin spread over his face as he circled his brother. He poked Connor's chest, palpated his shoulder, slapped his butt. "Only two days, and look at you! You've gained weight, you've got color. You've even shaved." He lifted a lock of Connor's hair. "And your hair doesn't look like it was chewed off by mice anymore." He sniffed the lock of hair. "Jesus. You're even perfumed. With girly stuff. Will wonders never cease."

He turned around and gave Erin an appraising look, which she returned without flinching. She'd been in training for two days with Connor. She knew how to stand up to intense male scrutiny by now.

Sean nodded, as if satisfied. "So you're Erin. The princess in the enchanted tower."

"Sean," Connor growled. "Don't."

"Don't what?" Sean stuck out his hand to her. "You see that shirt he's wearing?" he asked her. "I got him that shirt."

She shook his hand. "You, uh, have excellent taste," she offered.

"Yes, I know," Sean replied. "Lucky for him, or he'd be wearing nothing but thrift-store rejects. I love him, but he's a fashion disaster."

A big, black Ford pickup pulled up in front of them. A man got out who could only be the third McCloud brother; he was just as tall, but bigger and broader, thickly muscled beneath his fleece sweatshirt and jeans. His hair was close-cropped, his face craggy and hard, but he had the same strange, penetrating eyes as his two brothers.

He didn't say a word, just stared at Connor for a long moment. A huge grin cracked his face. "Hey, Con. Lookin' good."

"Hi, Davy," Connor said. "I didn't know you were in on this party."

"Didn't want to miss the fun." Davy turned his penetrating stare onto Erin. "So you're her, then."

"I'm who?" she asked cautiously.

Davy smiled and held out his hand. "You're good for him," he said calmly. "I like this. This works. Stick around."

"She doesn't have any choice," Connor said. "She's stuck with me until Novak's back in custody."

"And that's just how you like it, ain't it?" Sean turned his grin back upon Erin. "You know what? I could tell you stories about this pigheaded son of a bitch that would make your hair stand on end."

"But you won't," Connor broke in. "Because we've got other things to talk about today. Like Cindy."

"There'll be other opportunities." Sean gave him an evil grin. "Now that you have a girlfriend, you're going to be so self-conscious. Baiting you will be ten times the fun."

She giggled, in spite of Connor's scowl. "I can hardly wait. I would love to hear stories about Connor."

"But not today, thank God," Connor said sourly. "You're more manic than usual today, Sean, and that's really saying something."

"Give me a break. I just pulled an all-nighter in the stews of Seattle," Sean said. "I'm flying on caffeine and nerves."

"Did you meet anybody who knows Billy Vega?" Davy demanded.

"Oh, I did better than that," Sean said. "I met Miles." He knocked on the passenger door of a mud-spattered silver Jeep Cherokee. "Yo, Miles," he called. "Stop being a dweeb. Get out here and be sociable."

The Jeep door opened. A long, lanky figure slithered out and unfolded itself. Even hunched over like a vulture he was impossibly tall, thin and pallid, with long, snarled black hair and round glasses perched on his hooked nose. He was dressed in a dusty black Goth frock coat.

He lifted his shoulders, let them drop back down. "Hey."

Sean winked at Erin. "Miles doesn't get out much. He's been hiding in the basement for a little too long, but he's a great guy. Miles, let me introduce you to my brother Davy, my brother Connor, and his girlfriend, Erin. Who also happens to be Cindy's big sister."

Miles's dark eyes lit up. "Really? Cool. You're, like, almost as hot as Cindy." He realized what he'd just said, and his eyes froze open behind the magnifying lenses of his glasses. "Uh, that is, I didn't mean—"

"Thank you, Miles," she said gently. She held out her hand. "How sweet of you to say so."

He blinked rapidly as he shook it, as if unused to the light of day. Erin looked up at the three brothers. Meaningful glances and telepathic messages whizzed over her head. She turned back to Miles, who looked at least as bewildered as she felt. "Would somebody please explain to me what you gentlemen have been up to?"

"Let's get a booth," Sean said. "I was just in there, doing recon. It's perfect. There's a pissed-off waitress with big hair, and a tray full of surreal jelly doughnuts. And the coffee is a sure thing. Instant ulcer."