When they reached the street, Charlie slipped his hand free. “Thanks,” he mumbled.
“Sure,” Jeremy said, raking his hands through his unruly dark hair as he turned back toward the building, his gaze scanning over the ruined fa?ade one more time.
As bad as Charlie felt for Jeremy, he was glad to know someone understood just how profoundly his life had been turned upside down. Which was another reason Charlie shouldn’t have attempted that kiss. He’d never made a friend as easily nor interacted as comfortably as he did with Jeremy. That kind of friendship was rare. No way should he do anything to jeopardize it.
“Okay,” Jeremy said to himself. He turned back to Charlie, then did a double take.
The orange cat sat at the top of the brick pile.
Jeremy held out his hands as if the cat understood gestures. “Well, you coming with us, or what?”
The cat pawed at the top brick as if testing it for stability. But he stopped about halfway down and eyed them suspiciously.
“Maybe if we walk, he’ll follow,” Charlie said. Maybe the cat wanted to be close to them, but didn’t know how to let himself trust them to actually get close. Gee, that sounded familiar.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said, coming up beside Charlie. They walked around the rubble to the sidewalk that ran along the street side of the L--shaped warehouse. When they turned the corner along the undamaged side, Jeremy looked over his shoulder. “You’re a genius. We’re being stalked.” He winked.
Charlie peered over his shoulder. Sure enough, the cat padded after them, occasionally pausing to assess his surroundings. At the other end of the building, they waved to a camera and waited for the electric fence to let them in and then turned left into the gravel driveway. A few moments later, the cat peeked around the corner.
Jeremy chuckled. One of Charlie’s all--time favorite sounds. This man found joy in so much of life’s littlest things, and Charlie couldn’t help but admire that.
They turned the corner to the back entrance to Hard Ink, the tattoo shop Jeremy ran, and Jeremy punched in a key code that unlocked the door. “Come in, quick,” Jeremy said, and then he bent and wedged a stop under the door that held it open a few inches. He gestured for Charlie to follow him up the metal--and--concrete steps.
Once again, the cat followed them in and to the bottom of the steps.
This time, Charlie grinned. “What do you think Eileen’s gonna do?” Eileen was a three--legged German shepherd puppy that Becca had rescued off the streets. And the dog was awesome.
“Dunno,” Jeremy said, mischievousness filling his green eyes. “But it should be fun to watch.” He waggled his brows.
Two doors stood on the second--floor landing. They took the one to the cavernous warehouse space that had been a gym, but now served as the team’s war room and everyone’s dining room, too. Jeremy unlocked the door and propped it open.
They ducked behind a big shelving unit full of gym equipment. Moments later, the cat stuck his head in.
Beckett Murda came up beside them. “What’s going on?” he asked in a deep, no--nonsense voice. The guy was linebacker big and always serious. If Beckett hadn’t been involved in his rescue, Charlie would’ve been even more intimidated by him.
“Sshh,” Jeremy said, so not intimidated that he didn’t think twice about shushing the guy. “You’ll see. Watch.”
The cat came in, eyeballed them with its one big yellow eye, and bolted around them and behind another shelving unit.
“Seriously?” Beckett said.
Jeremy grinned and nodded. “Dude. It’s a one--eyed cat. He fits right in.”
The scars around Beckett’s right eye became more pronounced as his gaze narrowed, but the gym door pushed open again, cutting off whatever he’d been about to say.
“Hey. Why are the doors propped?” Kat asked, kicking the doorstop away. “The outside door downstairs was, too. I closed it.” Jeremy’s younger sister had arrived three days before and Charlie had nothing but respect for her, especially after she’d hightailed it up on top of the building yesterday to help defend them during the attack.
“Because we found a cat,” Jeremy said excitedly. Charlie looked away for a moment, because he was sure they’d all be able to read just how frickin’ cute he found Jeremy when he was all worked up about something. The guy radiated a positive energy that just made Charlie feel . . . alive.
Brow arched, Kat frowned at Beckett. “You found a cat, Trigger?” she asked, the nickname resulting from the fact that Beckett had apparently pulled his gun on Kat the first time they met.
Beckett glared, shook his head, and walked away.
Kat chuckled. “He’s so easy.”
“The cat was in the other half of the building,” Jeremy said. “He only has one eye.”
“From the explosion?” Kat asked. She was way shorter than Jeremy, but otherwise the family resemblance was clear. Chocolate brown hair, green eyes, an expertise in sarcasm.