In the Eye of the Storm (3 page)

Sighing, he noticed his Glock on the nightstand and reached over and shoved it into the top drawer. He wasn’t ready to talk to Trey about his unruly fan yet. He kept hoping Detective Mumford was going to call him with news of the lunatic’s capture. Of course, it would help if they even had an ID on the guy.

Sitting up, Beau rubbed his eyes. He could hear voices coming from the front of the house. Trey was likely ho abruptly.

dime. It was time to face his big brother. The truth was, A

“It’s about freaking time you woke up.” Trey stood in the doorway, a cup of coffee in his hand. He walked in and offered the cup to Beau, who took it happily, before standing up and shaking his brother’s hand. Trey gave him a quick hug, which basically consisted of a hearty slap on the back. “Where the hell have you been?”

Beau took a long sip of coffee, enjoying the heat of it as it slid down his throat. “Here and there,” he finally said. “Look at you, all ready for combat.”

“I just got back,” Trey said absently, oblivious to the police issue SWAT uniform he had on. “Sting situation across town. So how long are you staying?”

“I don’t know yet. For a while. I’m anxious to hear how married life is treating my big brother.”

“It’s treating me good. You should try it.”

Beau couldn’t stop the horrified look from crossing his features. “Not a chance.”

“Come and eat. Kylie made us breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, the works.” Trey headed out into the living room and went to work removing his layers of clothing. Kylie stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a spatula in her hand. She smiled when she saw Beau.

“I told you he’d be excited to see you.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Trey asked, tossing his boots on the floor and standing up.

“I figured you were pissed about the wedding thing,” Beau said, watching his brother’s eyes for signs of anger. There was a flicker of emotion, but not much. Trey only shrugged his shoulders.

“I assume you had your reasons for not being there. You’ll tell me about them sooner or later.”

Beau remained silent. He knew Trey could read his mind. He would be patient for now. Sooner or later, he would want answers. Beau would cross that bridge when he came to it.

They all sat down to a breakfast fit for a king.

“I was going to get up and cook for you guys. I lazed out and didn’t make it up soon enough.” Beau loaded his plate full of eggs and grabbed a couple of pancakes.

“I’m usually up by seven,” Kylie said. “Habit. I can’t even sleep in on weekends.”

“I’m not much of a late sleeper either. That is unless I have a call like I did last night.” Trey took a large swallow of orange juice. “My shifts vary though. I work a lot of nights.”

“You actually have police work to keep you busy around here?”

Trey grinned in mid-chew. “Believe it or not, yes. There are people who sell drugs in Montana.”

“Place looks dead to me.”

“You haven’t been here long enough. Every city has its pond scum.”

He supposed that was true enough.

“So did you tell him?” Trey asked, glancing casually at his wife, who shook her head, then looked at Beau and smiled.

“You’re going to be an uncle again.”

He swallowed his food before he looked from her to Trey and then back again. “W abruptly.

diow! You guys? That’s great!” He stood and walked over to Kylie, leaning over to give her a hug. “When did you find out?”

“A couple of months ago. We wanted to get through the first few months before we told anyone. We just told Dusty and Faye last night.”

Beau slapped his brother on the back again. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Trey said, just as excited as Kylie. He set his napkin down and met Beau’s gaze. “You haven’t even seen Lucas yet, have you?”

Beau sat back down. “Not yet.” He avoided eye contact with either of them and went back to his breakfast.

“He’s a cute little guy. He looks a lot like Dusty. I have pictures if you want to see them later,” Kylie offered.

“I’d like that,” was all he said.

“So what are you two going to do today?” Kylie looked from Beau to Trey.

“I need a nap,” Trey admitted, rubbing his stubbly cheeks wearily. “But then maybe we can grab a few beers and do some catching up. I have the day off today.”

“Sounds good. I have some calls to make this morning anyway.” He would also have to take a look at his bumper now that it was daylight. It was likely that there were more than a few scratches on it after the incident the night before.

“Well Kate’s on her way over so I’m going to go shower.” Kylie got up and turned toward the hallway. Trey’s hand snaked out and snatched her, pulling her over and into his lap for a quick kiss. “You’re not going to try and push the Richard thing again, are you, baby?”

Kylie looked at her husband crossly. “I don’t get your thing about Richard?”

“Are you talking about the gay guy next door?” Beau asked, setting down his fork. “Now there’s a busybody if ever I’ve seen one.”

Trey just grinned and Kylie slugged him and got up off his lap.

When she was gone, Beau looked at his brother sheepishly. “What did I say?”

“She doesn’t think Richard is gay. She keeps trying to set him up with Kate.” Trey took another gulp of coffee, still amused.

“He’s definitely gay,” Beau agreed. “Who’s Kate?”

“She’s Kylie’s friend from school. She’s a teacher too. She’s a firecracker, but you’ll get used to her. So how’d you manage to meet Richard already?”

“He was outside last night looking for his cat.”

Trey grinned again. “Ah, you met Mittens too then.”

Beau scowled. “No, Mittens met the hood of my truck and yowled like a fucking banshee. I’m going to be buffing scratches from the hood for hours.”

“Yeah, Mittens is a bastard cat. He doesn’t get out very often but when he does I usually get my gun out.”

Beau grinned at that idea. “I’ll remember that.”

Hearing a knock on the front door, Trey got up and went to open it.

“Don’t start with me,” a female voice said, from the other side of the screen door. “I’m very emotional this mor a breakfking. i just ning and I might say something I’ll regret later.”

Beau heard Trey chuckle. “You mean like you did yesterday and the day before that—and the day before that....” His voice trailed off.

“Oh get out of the way and let me in. It’s cold outside.”

Beau’s eyes narrowed. There was something familiar about that voice, though he couldn’t put his finger on what.

When Trey stepped aside and the woman came into the house, Beau realized that his day was not going to get off to a good start. Ms.
Reckless Driver
herself stood in the foyer, pulling off a pair of leather gloves and breathing erratically, her cheeks red from the cold outside. When her gaze landed on Beau, her expression was blank—at first. Then she frowned and let out a vial curse. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Beau said at the same time. He stood up abruptly.

“I don’t believe this,” she snapped. The woman had a mutinous glare on her face now. He almost found it amusing. This couldn’t be Kylie’s friend. Could it?

“You guys want to tell me what’s going on?” Trey asked, clearly confused.

“He hit my damned car last night.”

“She rambasted my truck last night.”

They both spoke at the same time again.

Trey didn’t say anything for a moment, then suddenly his face broke into a grin. “You’re shitting me.”

“No, I am not the type who
shits
people, Officer Callahan. Arrest this man.” Kate glared at Trey and then Beau, completely serious.

Beau almost laughed at that. She was clearly insane.

Trey continued to grin. “On what grounds?”

“Reckless driving, of course. Endangering others. Hell, for being stupid, I don’t care!” Kate exploded before their eyes.

“You’re the one who backed into the telephone pole,” Beau reminded her. “You’re the one endangering others.” Beau looked at his brother seriously. “You should probably consider charging her with damaging city property.”

Obviously enjoying this, Trey continued to watch them both.

“This is not funny!” Kate snapped. “Is this how you serve the citizens of this county?”

“I’m in narcotics, Kate. Find some drugs on him and I’ll arrest him,” Trey said, struggling to keep a straight face.

“I don’t believe this.” Kate glared up at Beau. “Just what are you doing here anyway?”

“He’s my brother.” Trey sobered and met her gaze. “Beau Callahan, Kate Nyland.”

“You are
not
Beau Callahan,” Kate said.

The hand Beau had been about to offer her stayed at his side. This woman was certifiable.

“I’ve seen Beau Callahan on television,” she went on. “And he looks nothing like you.”

Beau’s frown grew more pronounced. He looked at his brother. “Is she for real?”

Trey, still amused, nodded since that first night on her front porch. She he was his head. “Oh yeah, she’s the real thing.”

“I’m calling the police myself if you won’t do anything,” Kate said, heading for the telephone.

Beau made no move to stop her because he knew Trey would. He was right. His brother reached over and grabbed her wrist before she could pick up the phone. “If you were going to call the police, you should have done it last night. Nobody’s going to come over here and determine fault now. Get a grip.”

She glared at him, but didn’t go for the phone again.

“Why don’t we take a look at the damage on your rig and go from there?” Trey offered. “Maybe I can fix it.”

“Not unless you’re a miracle worker,” Beau warned, following them both outside. Kylie was on their heels now, clearly confused.

“What’s going on? What are we doing?”

“It seems Kate and Beau were involved in a little fender bender last night.” Trey grinned at his wife. “We’re having a minor disagreement as to whose fault it was.”

“
You
are the one who hit her car?” Kylie asked, looking up at Beau.

“No.
She
hit
my
truck.”

“Stop saying that!” Kate snapped. “I didn’t hit his truck. He backed into mine.”

Beau just rolled his eyes.

When they reached Kate’s SUV, they all peered at the front bumper. There was barely a tiny scratch on it.

“Um, Kate, there’s really nothing here,” Kylie said, getting down on her knees to take a look. Trey did the same thing. Beau didn’t bother. He’d seen it the night before.

“The real damage is on the back,” Beau warned them a moment later.

“I thought you said she hit you going forward,” Trey said, standing up straight.

“She did.”

Trey narrowed his eyes. “I don’t get it.”

“He caused me to back into a telephone pole,” Kate said, her voice lowering somewhat. “It was all his fault.”

Trey walked around to the back of the SUV, Kylie at his heels. When he saw the caved in back door, he cursed. “What the hell, Kate? How’d you manage that?”

“With a lot of grace,” Beau said, smiling the first honest smile he’d smiled since Kate’s arrival.

Trey grinned again and Kylie elbowed him. He wiped the smile off his face and looked at the damage closely. “I don’t know if I can do anything about this. You should turn it in to your insurance.”

“I suppose I will,” she finally said, clearly still annoyed.

“Why do you think it was his fault?” Kylie asked. This time it was Trey who nudged her. Clearly he didn’t think it was a good idea to get Beau and Kate going again. Beau didn’t think so either. But it was too late. Kate Nyland was stiffening up, her eyes on fire as she looked up at him.

“Because he backed up without looking.”

“She wasn’t looking either.” Beau let out a sigh, tired of the conversation at this point. a breakfast fit for a king. i just “Look, I offered her some money for the scratch I may or may not have caused on her vehicle. She turned me down. That’s that.”

“Why didn’t you take the money?” Trey wanted to know. “That was dumb.”

“It was dark, Officer Callahan. I didn’t know him from
Adam.
I wasn’t about to stand there and take money from him on a street corner in front of the Jiffy Mart.”

“He’s Beau Callahan,” Trey said, incredulously. “What did you think he was going to do to you?”

“I didn’t know he was Beau Callahan! How would I?”

“Everyone knows Beau Callahan,” a new voice said, adding its two-bits to the conversation.

Richard Melzo sauntered up and slapped Beau on the back as though they were old friends.

“Shut up, Richard,” Kate said, taking the words right out of Beau’s mouth.

“I came over to apologize about last night. After getting Mittens inside, I googled you and realized you are who you say you are.”

“I’m so relieved,” Beau said, giving his brother a
what the hell
look. Trey only grinned back, most likely used to these two clowns that appeared to adore his wife.

“So what happened? What’d you hit this time?” Richard asked, looking at Kate. He made a whistling sound when he saw the back of her rig. “This is even worse than last time. Do you need glasses?”

Beau found himself smiling. Maybe Richard wasn’t so bad after all. “That’s what I asked her,” he added.

“Can we stop arguing for the moment?” Kylie asked. “I’m sure the boys here can find a way to fix your door so you can at least open it. Can’t you, boys?” She looked up at her husband, pointedly.

“I don’t know, baby. That thing’s completely caved in. It’s not going to operate properly.”

“I can fix the damned thing,” Beau finally snapped. “But I’m not admitting any guilt here. And I won’t do a freaking thing until she admits this was all her fault.”

Kate’s face turned red and she glowered at him.

“Kate,” Kylie said gently. “I really think you should take him up on the offer. Beau knows a lot about cars. He worked as a part time mechanic in high school and did a lot of body work too. And to be honest with you, I really don’t see how he could have hit both the front and back ends of your car at the same time—or how
he
caused
you
to hit the telephone pole, which you have admitted you did.” Kylie gave her a knowing look. “You’re being a little irrational.”