Page 16 of One Cry Too Loud (Coastal Crime Unit #9)

C harlie barely looked at me as I walked into the room.

The area, a safehouse that we’d used a time or two before back when the CCU was backed by the government, had gone largely unused since the Unit had been axed.

Or, at least, that’s what I was told. The truth was that I still had an eighteen month chuck of my memory missing, and even if it hadn’t been, a dungeon really wasn’t the best place with which to keep up with that kind of thing.

We weren’t supposed to be here, not officially.

I knew that much. Still, Kat was Kat, and that meant she had connections in every direction she turned.

One of those connections gave her the new security codes to the safehouse as well as a guarantee that it wouldn’t be used for at least the next month.

That opened it up to us until almost fall, and if this was still going on in fall, it meant we had done something horribly wrong.

“No phones, no computers, and no credit cards. Only use cash for everything,” Charlie said, pushing some old furniture out of the way as he continued to try and make this area suitable for the people who would be staying here.

Kat and I were about to set off. Though Nefarious had made things a thousand times more difficult, Tag’s idea to multiply up in cyber space allowed us the freedom (at least, hopefully) to be able to investigate the disappearance of Holly’s daughter in a way we were both comfortable with and thought had the biggest chance of being effective.

That was a very good thing and could not have come a moment too soon.

Though I was hesitant to bring this up to Holly, missing persons cases, especially involving children, had a ticking clock.

The sooner the investigation could start in earnest, the greater the chances at a good outcome.

It had already been too long. That meant we had to move quickly.

“I know the rules. Holly went over them with me in excruciating detail,” I said, leaning against the wall and folding my arms over my chest. “She also gave me a map of pay phones. Apparently, they still exist in a few places if you can believe it.”

“I do believe it,” Charlie said. “Bus stations and bail bondsmen mostly; any place people who might be in trouble would likely go for either help or a quick escape.”

“I want to talk to you,” I said flatly.

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” He asked, finally looking over to me. The man’s eyebrows arched as he waited for a response to that question, as if he didn’t know exactly what I meant by my request.

“Not like this,” I said. “I want to talk to you about what happened on The Last Word, about the way you reacted to Holly’s news.”

Charlie sighed and went back to pushing a couch out of the way. “I really don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Well, I do think it’s necessary,” I said. “This is an important time, not to mention how dangerous everything is right now. One false move, one slip up, and-”

“And what? You think you’re going to tell me something I don’t know, Jack?” Charlie asked, his eyes planted on the couch. “You think I need a lecture from you about how to act in dangerous situations? You know my background.”

“I know more of your background than I did a few days ago. That’s for sure,” I said, remembering what Kat had said about the man being in the special forces. “I had no idea you were-”

“You have no idea about a lot of things about me,” Charlie cut me off. “That’s by design.”

“Why?” I asked. “It’s me, Charlie. Why would you feel like you-”

“It’s you?” He balked. “Is that really what you just said to me?” He shook his head. “Look, I know you and Kat and all of you guys want to act like this is a big family. I get it. We’re not, though. You know that, right? You know that we’re not family.”

“I do,” I said, honestly a little stunned. “Of course, I do.”

“Then why do you think you get to police my emotions?” He asked. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m doing my job, and I’m doing a damn fine job of doing my job too, if you ask me.”

“No one is saying you’re not doing a good job, Charlie, and I’m sorry if you feel like I’m trying to police your emotions. I’m definitely not,” I said.

“Aren’t you, though?” He asked. “You didn’t like the way I reacted to what Holly said.”

“I didn’t,” I said, honestly. “And I was surprised by it. I know you just reiterated that we’re not family, and I get that. Still, I thought you and Holly were close.”

“We are close,” he said, blinking hard. “That’s the problem. We’re-we’re too close.”

“Too close?” I asked. I had seen the connection between Charlie and Holly, and though neither had come out and said it to me, I figured there was at least a flirtation there, probably a crush. Still, I needed to ask to make sure. “What does that mean, Charlie? Are you guys-”

“No,” he answered quickly, shaking his head. “No. It’s nothing like that. We’re just close. That’s all.”

“And that’s a problem?” I asked.

“It is for this,” Charlie said. “But it’ll be alright. I’m working on it.”

“Working on what?” I asked. “Charlie, what is going on here?”

He sighed heavily and looked over at me. “You don’t get to know everything about everyone, Jack. You especially don’t get to know everything about me.” He looked down at the floor. “Not everybody is like you and Kat. Not everybody has the sort of happy, shiny existence that you do.”

“Is that what you think I have?” I balked.

“I won’t speak for Kat. She can do that for herself, even though she’s had more than her fair share of trauma.

As for me, though, I’m not quite sure which part of my life you think is so happy and shiny.

Is it when I watched my wife whither away and die before my eyes?

Is it being estranged from my daughter for years?

Is it burying my best friend, burying his wife, and holding my partner while he died in my arms? ”

“I-I’m sorry,” Charlie said.

“You should be,” I answered.

“What if this was about someone dying of cancer, Jack?” Charlie asked me with tears in his eyes. “What if someone you thought you knew, what if someone you loved as dearly as you love your wife, told you they had cancer and they’d had it for years? What if it was Kat?”

I shuddered. “What are you talking about?”

“Fourteen years ago, a man took advantage of my sister. He convinced her that he loved her, and all the while, he was married to someone else. He had an entire family,” Charlie said.

“Because of their relationship, she ended up pregnant.” He looked down.

“It didn’t-it didn’t end up as happy as it did for Holly.

There was no saving my sister. It was-it was awful. ”

“What happ-”

“It was awful,” he said, cutting me off in a way that let me know that he wasn’t up for answering any more questions. “She was my sister, and since-since everything that happened, the closest thing I’ve had to a sister has been-”

“Holly,” I said.

“We’re not family,” he said again, though this time, it sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “It just brought everything back up. I couldn’t deal with it, not right then. It’s not about Holly, not really. Still-”

“It is,” I said, nodding and finally understanding why he was acting the way he was.

“I won’t say anything to Holly about this.

Like you said, no one should know everything about you unless you want them to.

” I walked closer. “But maybe you should tell her, and not just because it would make her feel better. I think it would make you feel better too.”

“I doubt that,” he said, looking away from me.

“I don’t,” I said. “You know, just because we’re not family doesn’t mean we can’t act like family every once in a while.

” A knock came from outside. “That’ll be for me.

It’s time to get this show on the road.” I turned around, but looked back at the man.

“You’re not alone, Charlie. Not by a longshot.

You’ve saved my life more times than I can count.

That’s what you do, though, isn’t it? You save people.

” I shrugged. “Maybe it’s time you let somebody save you. ”

“Yeah,” he muttered, going back to the couch and his task at hand. “Maybe.”