Page 79

CONAN

A s I pull onto the gravel, Georgia’s head flicks up, and there’s fear in her eyes.

I’m absolutely livid, but I have to keep my cool. The last thing I need is Lily against me.

But I’m still pissed off. The one thing in the world Hallie needs right now is Bertie. And she lost him.

I slam the car door and approach her calmly.

“Hi,” I greet her.

She runs her fingers through her purple hair.

“Hi. Umm. You’re Conan?”

I give her a curt nod.

“Can you take me back to the exact place you last saw him? Do you know if Hallie ever takes him here?”

I glance down at her shaking fingers.

“Georgia. I’m not angry,” I lie.

“We just need to find him before it gets dark. Okay?”

She nods.

“I can’t believe he just ran.”

I close my eyes and take a breath.

“That is what dogs do.”

I can’t help myself.

“I know, but most of the time he’s so lazy. Just sleeping.”

I shake my head.

“Come on. Let’s just get in and start looking.”

I stride toward the gate and yank it open.

“Right, show me.”

I gesture for her to lead the way. We head off down a rough stone hill, water trickling beside me.

I scan the area. There are plenty of little animals he might have chased after.

Once we get to the flat ground, we weave through the trees until we end up next to a small pond.

“Here?” I ask.

“I was sitting here.” She points to the rock.

“Which way did he run?”

She points west.

“Okay. You stay here. He might track his scent back to here, or yours even. I’ll head that direction and see.”

I can feel the fear coming from her.

“If you need me, scream.”

Before she can reply, I set off in a jog through the tree line.

There’s still six hours of daylight.

I keep tracking for paw prints, descending deeper into the trail. She’s right—he does run fast.

The sun streams through a gap in the trees and I inhale the fresh forest scent. This is what I love most.

Being outdoors, turning off my brain, and just hunting.

I’m almost an hour in, following fresh prints, when the sound of water falling catches my attention to my left.

It’s worth checking. Bertie is probably thirsty on his little adventure.

The water cascades down the rock face, landing in a small lake.

And there he is. On the right, just lying down on the leaves and relaxing.

My foot crunches on a twig and his head snaps up. He barks in warning.

“Bertie. Come on, boy. It’s me.” I make my voice excitable for him.

“Come on. Let me take you home to Mom.” I tap my knees, and he jumps up.

Relief fills me when his tail wags and he bounds toward me.

“Hey, boy.” I ruffle his head.

He keeps nudging my hand to carry on. I take that opportunity to loop the rope I brought from my car into his collar.

Crouching back down, a wave of emotion washes over me. His tail wags like crazy.

“You can’t leave your momma, Bertie. She really needs you.”

He lets out a little bark. I think he knows I’m talking about Hallie.

“You miss her too?” I whisper and tickle under his jaw.

As I sit on the ground, Bertie joins me and rests his head on my lap.

“At least you still like me, bud,” I sigh.

I just let nature calm me.

Peace.

I’ve found Bertie, which means Hallie will be happy. That’s all that matters.

“Right. Let’s get you back. You’ve got a few nights with me,” I tell him, jumping to my feet.

“I’ve seen you bed some dogs before, but this is fuckin’ new,” Finn teases.

I sit up and rub my eyes, finding him standing in my bedroom doorway.

“Do you ever knock?”

“No. We got shit to do. Which means you need to get your ass out of bed and come with me.”

I groan, and Bertie rests his head on my chest.

“I can’t. Bertie needs me.”

Finn pins me with a glare.

“What if I told you it involves murder?” he says with a sadistic grin.

“I’d say you have my attention.”

I carefully move Bertie off me and tuck him into bed like a human.

He’s so cute. I’m going to miss him when he goes back to Hallie tomorrow.

“I’d love our enemies to see you tucking a dog into your bed. It’s really a look, Con,” Finn teases.

“I am not ashamed of my soft side, Finn.”

“Are the twins coming?” I ask, shoving on a T-shirt.

“Of course.”

It’s always more fun when they join our adventures.

“When are we going to London?” I ask, giving Bertie one last head scratch.

“I’m working on it, Con. We just gotta keep focusing on making it safe here while we wait.”

“Be a good boy. All your water and food is downstairs. I won’t be long,” I tell Bertie.

“Are you fucking talking to a dog like he’s a person?” Finn asks.

I glare at him. Doesn’t everyone do that?

“I did. And he basically is. He’s Hallie’s world, so now he’s mine too.”

Finn shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Keep this up, I’m sending you for psychiatric testing.”

I chuckle and clasp his shoulder.

“I’ll go if you go. And we both know you’ll be the one ending up in a padded room and a straightjacket, you fucking psycho.”

His jaw twitches and I wait for his reaction.

Nothing.

“A true psychopath can bullshit their way out of diagnosis, Conan. No one would lock me up anywhere. And if they tried, I’d slit their throats first.”

Jesus Christ. I step back.

“What happened to you?” I ask.

He chuckles.

“You don’t want to know. Now, let’s go kill some men and have a beer after.”

I sigh. I know something happened to him when we were kids.

He was always the smart and quiet one compared to me and Declan.

But I remember a day—I must have been about ten—when I heard my dad throwing glass in his office, ranting about something happening to Finn.

But I was confused. Finn was just sitting in his room, doing a Rubik’s cube over and over, staring at a wall. There wasn’t an injury on him.

But he was never the same after that. Like something snapped inside him. He just turned off.

I love him the way he is. But I’ll always wonder. And I don’t dare ask again.

I sigh.

“Okay. Let’s go.”