Page 57 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

TRACE

I woke to warmth and the scent of Ellie. Smoky heat wrapped around me as I held her to me and buried my face in her hair. The scent was stronger there. It must’ve been something in her shampoo.

Whatever it was, it held me captive as echoes of the night before played in my mind. Finally telling Ellie everything. Having her love me all the same.

It was the sort of gift you could never put a price on, but one I’d always hold sacred. I pulled Ellie closer as if she might disappear if I didn’t have that grasp.

A growl sounded from above me, making me realize there was another source of heat and pressure there.

Ellie shifted, rolling as she blinked a few times. Then she blinked again as her gaze lifted. “Why is Grem on your head?”

I reached above me and, sure enough, the damn dog was perched there. The second my hand grazed Gremlin’s back, his gummy mouth did its best to bite the crap out of me. “Ow,” I clipped, yanking my hand back .

Ellie giggled. “Please, he’s got one snaggletooth and it’s already loose.”

I scowled at her. “Your dog just bit me. Shouldn’t you be tending my wounds?”

One corner of Ellie’s mouth kicked up as she reached for my hand. “You poor thing. Are you bleeding? Do you think we need to amputate?”

“You’re the worst.”

“I’m the best.” Ellie leaned in, her lips hovering over mine.

But then Grem leapt from my head to right between us, yipping and twirling.

“Seriously?” I groused.

Ellie laughed and snuggled Gremlin to her. “He was feeling left out.”

“Now I know why Linc’s always complaining about Brutus being a cockblock,” I muttered.

“Brutus is the bestest boy in all the land. He would never,” Ellie said of my sister’s dog. Grem nipped her chin as if to argue the point. “Don’t worry, Grem, you’re the bestest boy, too.”

My phone rang from my nightstand, and I let out a groan. “I hate everyone today.”

My plans to keep Ellie in this bed for a few more hours slipped away as I picked up the device and saw Gabriel’s name. A weight settled in my gut, spreading into my muscles like molten metal. “Hello?”

“Hey, man. How you holding up?”

I pushed up on the pillows but brought Ellie and Grem with me, even though the dog snarled slightly. There was no more cutting her out. No more holding things in. “I’m better. You find something?”

“I’m glad. Interesting development in one arena.”

“Putting you on speaker. Ellie’s here.” I moved to tap the screen as Ellie looked up at me.

Gabriel didn’t speak for a second. “Pretty early for a visitor,” he hedged.

Ellie’s mouth curved. “Now, Gabriel, are you looking for gossip?”

He chuckled. “Always. ”

“You two can have teatime later. Tell us what you know,” I pressed.

“Got a call from one of Anson’s contacts at the federal level. He got some new intel on Bradley.”

Ellie tensed next to me, and I wove my fingers through hers, reminding her that I was there and always would be.

“We found out he was arrested for possession in the South of France a few days ago,” Gabriel went on.

“He’s still in lockup, at least according to this guy’s source.

And what’s more interesting is that it turns out he traveled there three weeks ago.

It didn’t flag right away because he hopped a jet a friend owned. ”

I frowned. It still should’ve been in the US Customs system, but who knew what sort of lags happened in the private sector. Or simple errors. Still, something ate at me. Maybe it was this, or maybe it was the fact that we still had no idea where my father was.

Ellie squeezed my hand. “Breathe, Chief. This is good. One threat off the board.”

“She’s right,” Gabriel agreed. “They don’t mess around with Americans bringing drugs in. He’ll likely do some time.”

I took that in. Ellie would get time and distance from Bradley. She’d be safe from him—as long as he wasn’t paying someone to do his dirty work. “Do you think we can get a search warrant for his phone records? See if anything pings for someone he could’ve hired?”

“I can try,” Gabriel said. “If we hit a brick wall, there’s always Dex.”

I grunted at that. The problem was, whatever Dex found wouldn’t exactly be admissible in court. “Any leads on Jasper?” I asked.

Gabriel sighed. “Nothing yet. But everyone’s looking.”

I took everything in. The good. The bad. The hard. The beautiful.

“Come over for brunch. Around ten-thirty,” I said.

“Are you having a stroke?” Gabriel asked. “Talk about a one-eighty.”

“I’m not having a stroke. Everything’s been hard lately. We need to remember the good that’s mixed in. So, come over for brunch,” I said .

Ellie looked up at me and mouthed, I love you . She understood why I needed this. That I wasn’t going to let my father or anything else make me lose sight of what was important.

“I’ll be there,” Gabriel said quietly. “Pleased as hell for you that you’ve found someone who makes you see the world a little more clearly.”

I leaned into Ellie and brushed my lips over her forehead. “Me, too, brother. Me, too.”

The sounds of pure chaos reigned in my house.

Laughter, oldies music, the din of conversation.

The entire Colson crew was here, along with Gabriel, Walter, and even Leah.

Ellie had asked if we could invite her, too.

And for the first time in a long while, I could see us taking steps toward becoming a truly blended family.

As I moved through the living room, I saw Arden coloring something fantastical with Keely and Luca. Linc hovered close by. Nora and Lolli were in the throes of some card game with Sutton and Thea. I caught sight of more people outside, including Gabriel, who said something to make Leah blush.

That had me shaking my head and moving toward the kitchen, where I found Ellie shaking her hips as she sliced strawberries for our waffle station. “Please note the epic slices. This is chef quality over here.”

I chuckled and leaned over to examine her work. “I am very impressed.”

She beamed up at me. “I think I deserve a reward later, don’t you?”

My dick twitched at her sultry tone. “For the love of God, my entire family is here. Please, do not give me a hard-on.”

Ellie just laughed, the full-bodied one that said she didn’t have a care in the world. And then she leaned in and kissed me. She tasted like strawberries, tea, and her . I could’ve drowned in the combination and been a happy man.

A hoot sounded that had the two of us pulling apart. “There’s some nookie happening in the kitchen,” Lolli hollered.

“Jesus,” I muttered.

Ellie only grinned wider. “I didn’t have you pegged as a narc, Lolli.”

My grandma straightened her shoulders and let out a huff of air. “I would never.”

“I don’t know. It sounds like you were throwing them under the bus to me,” Kye called as he walked into the kitchen, looking a little worse for wear. Dark circles ringed bloodshot eyes, and I was fairly certain he was wearing clothes from the day before.

That had me frowning. Ellie told me Kye had opened up to her about some of our shared history, and I couldn’t help but worry that doing so had reopened a wound for him.

Lolli made a pshh noise as she gave him a once-over. “You need a little hair of the dog. You’re looking a little rough over there.”

Kye moved to the coffee pot and refilled his mug. “I’m not hungover. Got caught up in some sketches and didn’t get a lot of sleep. I just need about a dozen cups of the good stuff, and I’ll be fine.”

The fact that Kye wasn’t hungover almost made me more worried. It wasn’t out of the norm for Kye to disappear for a night or even a couple of days, but the fact that darkness still clung to him set me on edge.

Before I could press him about anything, an excited Keely and Luca raced into the kitchen. “Daddy, can we go to the fall carnival? It starts today, and Luca said there’s rides and cotton candy?—”

“And corn dogs,” Luca said, as if corn dogs were the most important thing on Earth. I didn’t blame him.

Ellie rolled onto the balls of her feet like a little kid. “I love carnival rides.”

I looked back and forth between the two of them. “I don’t know if today is the best day?— ”

“Pleeeeeease, Daddy,” Keely begged. “Benny, Gracie, and Isabella are going, too. Luca said. Please.”

I glanced at Ellie, uncertainty digging in. The idea of bringing her somewhere out in the open given everything that had been happening set me on edge. But I also understood that her being cooped up in my house or hers wasn’t ideal either.

“I can stay here with Linc and whatever deputy you want. You and Keely can go,” Ellie offered instantly.

Of course, she had. Always looking out for my girl.

“No!” Keely protested, instantly running for Ellie and taking her hand. “I need my bestie there.”

Luca frowned. “I thought I was your bestie.”

Keely shrugged, her fishtail braids swinging with the movement. “I can have lots of besties.”

Luca’s little face pinched at that, and I fought a laugh.

“We can all go,” Kye offered. “And we’ll stay together.”

Before I could answer, my doorbell rang. I frowned. Everyone who might casually stop by my house was already here. I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and started for the door. “I’ve got it.”

I took a second to look through the peephole, and my frown only deepened at the unfamiliar man on my front porch. Opening the door, I took him in. He looked to be somewhere in his early thirties, and everything about him was a study in opposites.

Tall and broad like he could’ve been a linebacker in college but wearing wire-framed glasses.

Light brown hair in a haphazard disarray, and a few days’ worth of stubble on his jaw, not to mention tattoos bleeding out onto his hands.

But the messenger bag hanging at his shoulder had more of a business bent to it.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Hey, Trace.” The man spoke the words like we knew each other. My frown deepened.

“Do I know you?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair and then extended it to me. “I’m Dex.”

My eyes widened a fraction. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting of the hacker who had the occasional vigilante bent, but this wasn’t it. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Anson’s actually inside.”

A grin spread across Dex’s face as he glanced over my shoulder. “Shit, I probably should’ve called. I can get single-minded when I’m on a project. Are you having a party or something?”

“Just an impromptu brunch, and you’re welcome anytime. Come on in.”

Dex patted his stomach. “I think it’s been a while since I consumed anything other than a Redline.”

“What the hell is a Redline?” I asked.

He sent me a sheepish smile. “Energy drink. Fuel of computer geeks everywhere.”

My steps slowed. “Wait, how did you know where I lived?”

Dex winced. “Hacker, remember?”

“Jesus,” I muttered.

“Dex,” Anson said with a massive grin as we headed into the living room. “What are you doing here?”

Dex froze. “He’s smiling. Why is he smiling? It’s freaking me out.”

“He smiles now. Don’t worry, he’s not a pod person or anything,” I assured him.

Anson pulled Dex into a back-slapping hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, uh, too,” Dex said, clearly still uncertain what to do with this updated version of Anson.

As Anson let him go, Dex’s expression shifted, making me realize something I should’ve noticed earlier. “You have something.”