Rock Chick Reckoning (Rock Chick #6)(138)

After he’d lifted his head, he said softly, “We got nothin’.” I closed my eyes and opened them when Vance’s arm went tighter around my waist.

“I gotta shower and get to the office. We’re havin’ a briefing and we’re al goin’ back out.”

I nodded and asked, “Do you know what this means?” He shook his head. “Sid’s usual y communicative, let’s people know what he wants or what he’s done and why. No word.”

“Do you think Tex is al right?”

His face went tight and I had my answer before he said,

“Sid doesn’t mess around. It’s not lookin’ good, Jules.” I bit my lip and tried not to cry.

“Hank says Roxie’s a mess,” Vance told me. “Can you take some time today, get to her?”

I swal owed back my tears and nodded.

Tex was Roxie’s uncle. He’d been estranged from his family for decades but through letters, since she was a kid, they’d been close. Eight months ago, she’d done for Tex what Stel a had done for Mace last night. She’d brought him back into the family fold.

Vance kept talking. “I’m gonna be busy, Princess, so you need to cal the real estate agent. Put in an offer on that house.”

“It can wait,” I said.

His arm got tight again and his hand came to the side of my face. “It’s the only place we’ve seen we both like. It’s right. You’l stil be close to Nick and I’l be close to the office. I don’t want to lose it, make the offer.”

“I can’t think of anything but Tex right now. There’l be another house –”

“Let us worry about Tex. You take care of our family.”

“Crowe –”

His body shifted back a few inches and his hand went to my bel y. He liked to put his hand there, these days he slept with his hand there.

It should probably be said I liked it when he put his hand there. Maybe even more than he liked to have it there.

“I want to be settled before he comes, Princess,” Vance said quietly. “Make the offer.”

My eyes narrowed at what he’d slipped in, thinking he could get away with it.

We’d been having an ongoing argument about the baby’s sex since I hit my second trimester. Neither of us wanted to know (for certain) so we hadn’t asked the doctor.

For some reason (probably hormones), this argument honestly annoyed me. Vance (and now Nick was in on the act) thought it was hilarious. In fact, they both brought it up regularly and it had advanced. Now we were fighting about names.

“It’s not a he. It’s a she. And her name is going to be Rebecca Ann, for Auntie Reba.”

His lips formed a smal smile, his hand left my bel y, he got close again and both his arms went tight around me.

“As much as I’d like you to have a girl to name after your aunt, it’s gonna be a boy. And we’re namin’ him Max,” Vance returned.

See what I mean?

“It’s a girl but if it should be a boy, we’re naming him Harry,” I shot back.

“I’m not namin’ a kid Harry.”

“Yes you are. Harry’s a good name.”

“Harry’s a name for someone else’s kid not my kid.”

“Crowe –”

His face came close. “You know I enjoy fightin’ about this with you, Jules but I got shit to do.”

My body got stil and I nodded. His mouth came to mine and he gave me a brief kiss. Then he walked away, hands at his belt.

“You want toast?” I yel ed to his departing back.

“I’l make it,” he yel ed back, disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.

“I’m thinking that’s a good choice,” I told Boo who was sitting on the kitchen floor, his big, black, bushy tail sweeping widely, giving me a kitty pouty face, not at al pleased that Vance had come in and given me al the attention.

“Meow,” Boo agreed.

* * * * *

I hit King’s Shelter, getting there by police escort, something which, hormones or not, I found annoying, since, in my day (as in, a few months ago), I could kick some serious ass and I no sooner got through the door when May was bearing down. May was a volunteer at the Shelter and even though she was thirty years older than me, she was my closest friend.

She had a tough hide, a soft center (literal y and figuratively) and a heart of gold.

“We got a problem,” she announced.

I opened my mouth to ask but I saw what the problem was immediately.

Roam was in the room.

“I’l take care of this,” I told May and stalked to Roam.

The minute I made it to him, I demanded, “What are you doing here? You should be in school.”

Roam was with Clarice who was a runaway too but now she spent a lot time with the tutors, a lot of time with Daisy and, even though she was just seventeen, was more like a volunteer than one of the kids. She kept the kids in line, helped to get them off the streets, quietly fed info to the social workers and sometimes talked the kids into sessions with the tutors.

Roam and Clarice were talking with a couple of other kids, both of whom were new around the Shelter so I didn’t know them very wel .

Roam’s eyes came to me and he got up from where he was sitting on the back of the couch.