The quasi-Ducati was still there, parked where she had left it. The beater Nick drove around town was gone, though, and now that he was thinking a bit more clearly, that made sense. Given Nick’s condition it would have been stupid to trust him on her bike.
Sean took a deep breath and forced himself to calm. Nicki had control of the situation. She’d obviously been through this kind of thing before. Hopefully, she’d left for no other reason than to get her sorry-assed brother home and sobered up.
Compulsion made Sean cruise the CVS parking lot anyway, then the Rite Aid, then the Walgreens. He was relieved when he saw no sign of Nicki anywhere. He finally spotted the car parked in front of Nick’s apartment building. From the next block Sean briefly caught sight of Nicki helping her brother up the steps to his apartment.
He pulled over and sighed. What the hell did he do now?
He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to follow them into that apartment and do whatever he could to help his woman. But something warned him that she might not be too keen on that, given this morning’s events. Maybe it was better for him to give her a little space, let her do what she needed to do. She’d already proven she could take care of herself.
Sean thought again of the lightning quick lunge and sequence of moves he’d seen her execute, and even then, he had the distinct impression she’d been holding back. She was poetry in motion, graceful, efficient, potentially deadly. Definitely not something you would expect from your standard Vegas showgirl or gifted grease monkey.
Given the shape Nick was in, he’d keep her busy for a good part of the afternoon, more than enough time for Sean to do a little digging on his own. He’d be back later with an offer of food and support and whatever else Nicki needed. And if she had any more ideas about going somewhere without him, he’d set her straight on that. His patience was at an end.
Chapter Twelve
“Hey, Sean,” Lexi said with a big smile when he appeared at the Pub a short while later. Judging by the empathy in her eyes, Taryn had already filled her in.
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Lex. Sorry about this morning.”
“Don’t sweat it, sweetie,” she said, handing Sean a cup of coffee. “He’s in there working on it now.”
“You really are a goddess, Lex,” he said affectionately.
She laughed, blushing. Lexi was the master chef at the Celtic Goddess restaurant, named for her unique menu of Celtic and Greek cuisine based on her mixed heritage. She made no secret of the fact that she was not comfortable with the name, so as their “sister”, they all teased her about it.
“Come on. He’s expecting you.”
Lexi led Sean into Ian’s “office”, then quietly closed the door behind her as she left. The cursory glance Ian spared him when he entered the room did not bode well. Neither did the sobriety in Ian’s expression or the distinct downturn of his mouth.
“What have you got?”
Ian’s fingers moved like lightning over the keyboard as his eyes processed screen after screen, moving through them so fast it was hard to believe he could absorb any of it. “It’s fucked up, Sean. Really fucked up. What did you get yourself into?”
Sean sank down heavily beside him, mentally preparing himself. “Give it to me.”
“Let’s start with the mother, Charlene Milligan. Died two days ago right here in Pine Ridge after being brought in to the hospital after a massive drug overdose several weeks ago. Bad shit, too. We’re not talking the usual recreational pharmaceuticals.” Sean nodded. He already knew about that part.
“History of indigence, drug use, prostitution, theft, domestic violence. Had two children – twins – Nicolette and Nicholas at age sixteen. Father unknown. The kids were taken away and put into the foster system when they were around five.”
Nicolette. Her name was Nicolette. “That young?”
“The first time. Apparently they didn’t fare much better in the system; they kept running away from their foster parents and returning home to Charlene. Each time it took months before the law could take them away again. No one wants to take kids away from a biological parent, even when the mom’s a real piece of work. Doesn’t look like the foster homes were much better, actually. Anyway, you get the basic idea. I’ve got all the details here for you to peruse later, but I can tell you, it’s not pretty.”
Sean nodded. He would go through all of it later, but he needed the highlights now. “Tell me about Nick.” He wanted to hear about Nicki last, sensing that whatever Ian had to say about her wouldn’t allow him to absorb much else.
“Classic troubled kid. Scored really high in aptitude tests, genius level or above, especially in science and math, but never applied himself. Had a couple of run-ins with the law – petty theft, mostly. There are a lot of hints that the kid was a user, maybe even a dealer, but he was never officially busted. If I had to guess, I’d say the kid had some friends in high places.”
“And Nicki?”