Miles Away (Carrion #1)(56)

She must be exhausted, Miles thought as he climbed from the bed. Pulling on his jeans from yesterday, Miles quietly walked from the room to check on G. Cutting across the dark room, his bare feet hitting against the soft carpet, Miles turned on the lamp next to G’s crib. Upon doing so, the loudest of belly laughs emitted from the child, followed by a high-pitched squeal.

“ILES!”

“Yeah it’s me, kid. Early bird, huh? It’s only five thirty.”

“Haha yeah…” G replied, clearly finding the situation amusing.

“All right, lil’ man, come on. I might as well get up, too. Not like I’m getting any sleep,” Miles said as he lifted the little man from his crib. Lying him down on the changing table, Miles quickly changed the kid’s diaper, and tossed the old diaper into the pail that sat next to the door. Carrying G out of the room, Miles walked down the hallway and descended the staircase in search of something to eat.




At around quarter to ten in the morning, Letty stirred in her bed. Reaching across the sheets for Miles, she was immediately panicked that he wasn’t lying next to her. Rising up in bed with a start, Letty looked around the room sleepily.

“Jesus…” Letty said as the daylight blinded her sight. “What the hell time is it?”

Looking over at her alarm clock, her eyes bugged when she read the 9:46 A.M.

“What? Oh for f*ck’s sake!” Letty snapped as she jumped out of bed. “What day is it? Holy shit, I’m losing it. It’s Saturday.”

G typically woke Letty up well before dawn and that was fine by her, because she had errands to run before heading to the Capadonno compound to take care of Michael at noon each day. But on the weekends, she just needed to stop by to manage his medication and make sure his vitals were okay. There was a stand-by nurse that filled in for Letty on the weekends, but Michael didn’t like her much, and generally sent her home when any company arrived at the compound. The fact of the matter was, Michael trusted Letty, and that put enormous pressure on her shoulders to make sure that his medical care was handled appropriately seven days a week, twenty four hours a day.

Rising from bed, Letty quickly pulled on her bathrobe. As she went to open her bedroom door, she found a note that was attached to the door with scotch tape. Pulling the note off the surface of the door, Letty unfolded the note immediately recognizing the handwriting as Miles’s.

Letty,

Little man got up at the ass crack of dawn. We ran out for a bit so I could get clothes. Knowing you, we’ll be back before you wake up. Maybe when you wake up we can go get some breakfast.

Love,

Miles

P.S. Your ceiling fan is noisy as hell.

Letty’s heart sped as she read the note, but immediately calmed when she saw that Miles had just gone out for a little while. If there was anyone that she trusted enough to handle her son, Gabriel, it was Miles. Calming down a little, Letty put the note on her dresser and opened her bedroom door. Miles was right. They were back before Letty had even opened her eyelids. The obnoxious sounds of The Wiggles belted from the TV in the living room, as the quartet of brightly dressed men sang G’s favorite tune “Hot Potato.” G was sitting in the middle of the living room in his wooden rocking chair, laughing loudly at his television program. Miles, who was sitting next to him on the rug, stared at the TV with a bewildered look on his face.

“Kid’s shows have gotten much, much worse since the eighties… Holy shit,” Miles griped as he peered up to Letty as she walked down the stairs, one by one.

“That’s his favorite,” Letty said with a laugh. “It could be worse. At least he grew out of his Barney the Dinosaur phase.”

Miles remembered the purple singing dinosaur well. His brother, Landon, was more than a little obsessed with Barney.

“Thank God,” Miles said with a laugh. “Did you sleep all right?” he asked Letty, his eyes looking bright despite the two hours of sleep he managed to capture.

“Very well. You did not, though,” Letty said with a raised set of eyebrows.

Miles shrugged. “I take what I can get.”

“So you got new threads, huh?” Letty said as she admired Miles’s new jeans, boots and black Henley.

“Yeah… Got some stuff for the kid, too.”

Letty tried to think of what it was that G could possibly need, but when nothing came to mind, Letty asked.

“What did you get him?”

“Go ahead, G. Show Mommy your new kicks.”

With a happy smile on his face, G rose from his rocking chair and toddled over to his mother at the foot of the stairs.

“Look! Boots!”

Letty laughed at her son as she admired the tiny biker boots that adorned his feet. They were almost identical to the ones that Miles was wearing.

“Ha! They’re adorable!” Letty said with a broad grin on her face. Then looking up at Miles she said sheepishly, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. Me and G, we’re buddies. Right kid?”

“Right, dude!”

“See?” Miles said with a smirk. “Now go get dressed. We’re starving.”

“Okay, let me just get a quick shower.”

“Hungry ma!”

“Okay, okay! I’m hurrying!” Letty said as she ran back up the stairs. A moment later the bathroom door slammed shut as Letty began to get ready.