Page 71 of Oddly Fine

“Fire exit!” he yelled as he ran down the hallway.

“I’ll take this one!” Beckett yelled back, ducking into the fire exit across from Franklin’s door.

Whoever had opened the front door hadn’t noticed that exit, or they’d have used it. Hayes wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but he tucked it away for future consideration.

Already several seconds behind the unknown intruder, Hayes shoved open the door to the fire exit stairwell, quickly scanning for movement below as he raced down the stairs. He caught a quick glimpse of someone several floors down, coming to an abrupt halt when he heard a door somewhere below him slam shut. He peered down, trying to spot any movement, but there was none and the stairwell was now silent. Whoever it was had escaped and was probably headed across the lobby to the front entrance. Hayes pushed himself to go faster.

He made it to the first floor, yanked the fire door open, and was unsurprised to see Beckett ahead of him, racing across the lobby.

“Did you see them?” Hayes asked, slightly winded as he ran after his partner.

Beckett didn’t stop to answer as he barreled through the lobby door, and then stopped to search the street for their runner. To Hayes’ absolute bewilderment, he was still clutching the goddamned dog to his chest.

“Fuck!” Beckett snarled, realizing he had lost sight of their quarry.

“Did you recognise the guy?” Hayes asked. A single shake of Beckett’s head quickly dashed his hopes.

“All I saw was the back of a hoodie,” he said, turning back to Hayes. He’d kept the lobby door slightly ajar with his foot so they wouldn’t have to lie their way back in again.

“You ran with the dog? Seriously?”

Beckett looked down and one eyebrow lifted in surprise, as if unaware of what he’d done.

“Didn’t think to put him down,” he answered with a shrug. “Think I can train him to attack? Like those German Shepherds in the K-9 units?”

Hayes rolled his eyes. Even if he did manage to teach that pile of fur anything, the dog’s bite would do about as much damage as that of a mosquito.

“We’re not keeping that thing,” Hayes muttered, annoyed.

“Ha! You think I’m giving up $100,000 for your pretty face?” Beckett asked with a quick laugh as he headed for the elevator.

Hayes glanced at the dog again, which was staring up at Beckett with what could only be called pure adoration. Hayes sneered, not at all happy that Beckett was planning to keep the dog. Which meant that life at home was about to get a lot more interesting. And not in a fun way.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. They stepped inside and Hayes tapped the button for the 3rd floor.

“Should we report what happened?” Hayes asked, as the elevator slowly ascended.

“And say what? That we broke into my brother’s place, and then saw—someone? Maybe? At the door?”

“There was definitely someone there,” Hayes said, because he’d seen the guy run away.

“Sure, but the cops will probably argue it was a friend or someone my brother was intimate with, and we spooked them when we literally charged towards them with our guns drawn,” he said, with a sigh.

“Is that what you believe?” Hayes asked, voice carefully neutral, as the elevator came to a jarring halt. When the doors slid open, they stepped out into the hallway. It gave him a feeling of déja vu since they’d come this way just a few minutes ago.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Beckett admitted with a frustrated sigh while idly petting Nickel. Strangely enough, he appeared to calm down as he continued stroking the dog’s head and ears. “I thought I knew my brother. But I guess none of us really knew him,” he concluded, nodding towards Nickel.

And yeah, Hayes supposed that was a fair assessment.

Hayes had wanted to argue that taking the dog with them was definitely not a good idea, but what else could they do? Dogs weren’t cats. They couldn’t simply be left alone with a bowl of food and water. So, they did the right thing and grabbed Nickel’s possessions, each of which was actually on a list that Franklin had placed behind the letter in the picture frame. After packing up everything, they walked out of Franklin’s condo with the newest member of the family tucked against Beckett’s chest. Hayes smiled grimly, wondering how well this was going to go over with Pantouffle. And if Beckett had plans to foist dog parenting duties onto his shoulders, he’d better be prepared to be severely disappointed.

Chapter 12

“I’d rather not,” Beckett said, talking in a hushed tone into his phone. He was talking to Chase, or at least Hayes thought he was. The call came in just as Hayes had headed for the shower and, based on Beckett’s frown, the conversation was going south.

“Listen, I understand you want to—support me.” Beckett paused to take a deep breath, obviously struggling to get his point across. “But I swear it’s unnecessary, and you’ve already missed enough work with the whole—CIA, come back from the dead, couch murder victim thing!” He waved his hand around in his usual drama queen style that Chase and the other guys always teased him about.

“No, Devin and Loic shouldn’t come either,” Beckett stated firmly, and sighed again.