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“Movement a few floors above,” Asher said. He was touching his earpiece with one hand and holding the binoculars in the other. “Fifth floor. Third balcony from the left.”
“Should I extricate Apple Pie?”
Asher hesitated a few seconds. “Negative. It appears to be someone smoking a cigarette. They’re in a bathrobe. No weapon sighted.”
“Copy. Apple Pie has retrieved a drink and is heading back inside.” I could hear the relief in Cooper’s voice.
The guys were right: stakeouts were boring. That false-alarm was the only excitement we had during Asher’s shift. At five minutes to ten, I woke Brady up from the suite bedroom. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe.
“Want me to order more? So that it’s hot?” I asked.
“Nah. I want it cold.” Brady chugged it down, then poured another.
Asher stretched. “I’ll head home. You coming with, or you want to stick around?”
I was tempted to leave, but Brady gave me a hopeful look. “I’ll stay and keep Brady company,” I said. “Otherwise he’ll just fall asleep.” I grinned at the man.
Brady snorted. “You think you’re joking, but I’m tired as shit. I might need that second pot of coffee after all.”
Asher said goodbye and then the two of us were alone. I caught him up to speed on everything that had happened in the first shift.
“Sounds about right,” Brady muttered while peering through the binoculars. “That’s how most of these go. A whole lot of nothing. And even when somethingdoeshappen, there’s a whole lot of nothing leading up to it. It’s probably not too late to catch up to Asher and catch a ride home…”
“I’ll stay,” I said. “I meant what I said about keeping you company. Besides, I’m enjoying spying on all these famous actors. I feel like the paparazzi.”
Brady added five packs of sugar to his cup of coffee, then took a sip. He smacked his lips with satisfaction.
“Do you want some coffee with your sugar?” I teased.
“Hey. I don’t judge how you drink your coffee.” He sipped again and said, “Speaking of sugar, I still can’t believe Cora was bribing the boys with candy.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy.”
“Serves Asher right for always gloating about her,” he went on. “I’mnevergonna let him live this down.”
“He’s actually really broken up about it,” I said. “I can tell he’s taking it hard.”
“Good! Serves him right for being a smug asshole about it.”
“I’m being serious,” I said more forcefully. “You need to go easy on him. The three of you are a team. A weird parenting team for sure, but you’re still a team. You need to present a united front with regards to the children. If you make it a competition, or treat some kids differently than others out of spite, it will end up poorly. Kids are perceptive. They understand what’s going on even if you think you’re being careful. I’ve seen it a million times with kids whose parents are always arguing.”
To Brady’s credit, he cast his eyes downward and looked ashamed. It wasexactlyhow Dustin looked when he had been caught taking candy from Cora.
“Well, fuck,” he said. “I didn’t mean for it to go like that. I just meant it in a buddy-buddy sort of way. We always gave each other a lot of shit when we were in the SEALs.”
“You’re not SEALs anymore,” I emphasized. “You’re fathers together. The kids see how you act and emulate it.”
“Yeah, all right,” he said.
He returned to scanning the Warwick Hotel across the courtyard. I could tell I had gotten through to him. Maybe even too much, based on how quiet and embarrassed he seemed.
“Shit, Brady,” I said after a while. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“I’m all right,” he said quietly.
“Normally you’re talkative and fun. It feels like I kicked a puppy.”
“I kinda feel like I got kicked,” he said. “But I deserved it. Raising kids shouldn’t be a competition. You’re right.”
