Page 5 of Wanted: Forever (Murdock Brothers #3)

Cash

“What were you thinking?”

I winced. “C’mon, Sully. It was just a joke.”

“You’re not eighteen years old anymore, Cash. And we’re running a company. How are people supposed to trust us if you steal?”

“I wasn’t stealing Daisy. I was just going to deposit her on the bank’s front steps for a day or two. Right in front of the door.”

Sully’s jaw dropped, then he just shook his head and stalked away from me to the back of the warehouse.

I followed him. “Look, I didn’t mean any harm.”

“Yeah, but it’s not just you who pays the consequences. Is this on your record?”

I sighed. “No. Just a fine and community service.” I hurried to help him pull down a sheet of MDF.

I was working on a living room remodel with Sully and Cam today.

Kai had taken the tiny bathroom install across town.

We also had a handful of day laborers helping out on a frame out for a new build.

Sully was overseeing three different properties and we didn’t have nearly enough hands at the moment.

I was exhausted as hell, but there was no way I was asking to go home and get some sleep.

I was just going to have to push through.

Sully pulled down another sheet stacking it with the rest. “Well, that’s good. Anything in particular?”

“I’ll be donating my services on the renovations at the police station. Evidently, they need the main station rewired. It wasn’t in the budget, but now that they have a screw up who just happens to be an electrician they’re golden.”

“And takes you away from me? Great.”

“Nope. I’ll work overnight.”

“Really?” Sully tugged off his gloves, tucking them into his back pocket. “Sure, you can handle that?”

“Do you really care?”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Mistakes happen when you’re tired. I don’t want you to get hurt, asshat.”

“Aww.” I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him.

Sully groaned. “Get off me.”

I laughed and stepped back. “I really am sorry, Sully. I didn’t think about it. I was going to put it in front of the bank as a little payback for Jacobson turning you down for the loan when you needed it.”

His arms fell to his sides. “That’s an asinine reason.” His lips twitched.

“Yeah, but now it’s way better.”

“No.” He pointed at me, flattening his features. “No, I mean it. I appreciate the sentiment, but that’s not what the Murdocks are about anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah. Being an upstanding citizen is boring.”

He shook his head. “Do you hear yourself?”

I shrugged. “It’s true, but I’ll stay in line. The new Chief was a surprise. When did Pope retire?”

“A few months ago. He and Hilda bought an RV and are traveling all over the country.”

“Huh. No shit.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I can’t say the new Chief is hard on the eyes.”

“Don’t.”

“What? Just a fact.”

“She’s Nora’s best friend. Don’t mess with her.”

“What if she messes with me?”

“Doubt it, buddy.”

“It could happen.”

“In your dreams.” Sully put on his gloves and grabbed two of the boards. I quickly caught the other side. “We’re burning daylight.”

“Right, sorry.” I helped Sully load up the truck and begged for a stop at the gas station. At least I could get a few energy drinks to get me through the day.

While it seemed as if my older brother had forgiven me in theory, he worked my ass off for the rest of the morning. July in upstate New York was brutal with humidity and a heat index that made the whole crew miserable.

Luckily the leak in the apartment living room just needed some sheet rocking and Cam’s expertise in fabrication for a few cupboards—which was where the MDF came in.

The apartments in this building were older and the cabinets had been discontinued years ago.

Cam was a master carpenter and could duplicate just about anything.

While we left him to do that, I grabbed us a few sandwiches from Bite Me. Sully gave me the rundown for the jobs we had for the rest of the week as we sweated our asses off on the tailgate.

Cam came out, chugging a bottle of water. “Tell me you got me a Roast Beast.”

“Yep, double meat, extra Russian.”

“Thank God.” He took the white wrapped sandwich and plopped down beside Sully. “I’m heading to the beach tonight if you guys want to go on the boat.”

I shook my head as I finished chewing. “I’m dead. All I want is my bed.”

“Aww, didn’t enjoy the drunk tank last night?’

“Evidently it was a wild night last night. I ended up cuffed to Chief Olsen’s chair.” I waggled my eyebrows.

“Is that code for something?” Cam grinned.

“I wish. Oh, and thanks for deserting me last night, asshole.”

Sully squinted at Cam.

He just shrugged. “Doesn’t count if you don’t get caught.” He tore through the rye bread and roast beef, smiling as he chewed.

“You’re all killing me. Anyone else gets arrested and I’m making you work on the Jennings place. Alone.”

“Oh, hell no.” I tugged out a fat heirloom tomato from my sub and popped it in my mouth. “That job is going to be brutal. I thought we agreed to wait until fall for that one.”

“We did. But the mayor wants it done as soon as possible.”

The Jennings place was a hoarding situation and the rooms were beyond out of control.

I was pretty sure the town would have just bulldozed it if the house wasn’t part of the heritage foundation.

Dealing with that in the brutal summer wasn’t my idea of fun.

It wasn’t going to be any better in the fall either, but at least the noxious fumes wouldn’t knock us out.

“Understood.”

“Good.” Sully’s satisfied smile made me throw a chip at him. He just plucked it off his T-shirt and popped it in his mouth. “Finish up, we still have another job this afternoon.”

With an inward sigh, I finished off my sub and knocked back another Monster energy drink. If I had another one, I was prettysure my heart would explode out of my chest.

Sully shoved a water at me and we all went back inside to finish up.

Working for my brother meant a day’s work could be five hours or twelve. Today was closer to ten and I was dragging by the time I stumbled into my small house. I took a three-minute shower to get the grit of the day off me and fell face first into my mattress.

My bladder and my empty stomach woke me around two in the morning. I padded into my kitchen. I’d remodeled it last year during the slow season. I opened my fridge and grabbed the carton of milk. After a quick sniff test, I glugged half of it down as I reached for my leftover pizza on the top shelf.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed lights on at the two-story house across the street from me. It was a Friday night, and the old woman who lived there was definitely not a night owl.

Curiosity drove me out the back door for a better look.

Hot, muggy air slapped me in the face. I was about to close the door when I noticed a woman dragging a large black trash bag to the side of the house.

She was wearing short shorts that showed off amazing legs and an ass that. ..was far too familiar.

I’d enjoyed watching it the night before.

Chief Parker Olsen.

Damn, when did that happen?

I was pretty aware of my neighbors, but we had been working our asses off for the last few months. Which was why my fridge only had leftover pizza, milk, and twelve pack of Heineken in it.

She stood in the middle of the yard, then bent at the waist and hugged her knees and nearly brought me to mine. My God, it should be illegal to have legs that long.

She straightened and suddenly turned around.

I stepped back. I hadn’t turned on any lights, but she might notice the open door and I didn’t want her to think I was perving on her. It didn’t help that I hadn’t bothered with clothes after my shower.

I didn’t need another arrest.

I slipped back inside and went back to the kitchen window. She’d disappeared and the bright light went out. A minute later, one came on in the upstairs just before the curtains were pulled.

I guess I didn’t have to wait to see my favorite cop after all.

I snagged a bottle of beer and another slice of pizza on my way back to my bedroom.

I needed to get some more sleep since it was my week to work a Saturday shift.

We all got Sundays off for a day of recuperating.

My parents were taking full advantage of all of us being home to reinstate Sunday dinners.

I was tempted to flick on the television, but knew I’d stay up. Instead, I stared at the overhead fan turning lazily.

How the hell was I supposed to relax knowing Parker was right across the street?

And why the hell did I have to get wound up about her?

But the summer just got a lot more interesting.