Flustered, Miki hobbled toward the door, stopping to look at the plywood covering the broken window. “Thanks for doing that for me. You’ll have to let me know how much I owe you.”
“We’ve played baseball in my parents’ backyard for years.” Connor said, helping Miki into the warehouse. “You think this is the first time these sheets have been used to board up a window?”
The floor was spotless, without a speck of broken glass or gore. Dude was snoring peacefully on the couch, his back legs twitching in the air. From the looks of his puffed-out belly, Connor had gone with bribery to curry the dog’s favor. Miki whistled once to get the dog’s attention, but Dude’s eyes remained shut, giving Miki a couple of thumps of his tail on the couch to welcome him home.
“Yeah, vicious attack dog,” Kane said, shaking his head.
“I was expecting Cerberus or something from how the guys at the station were talking.” Connor led Miki to the couch and eased him into the pillows. “I brought a couple of In-N-Out burgers to soften him up. No onions, though. Didn’t want him to get sick.”
“Onions are bad for dogs?” Miki tilted his head quizzically. “I thought it was just chocolate.”
“First time he’s had a dog,” Kane answered Connor’s frown. “He needs a manual or something.”
“Or something,” Connor agreed. “I’m going to head out. I had company when you called. Going to see if she’s still up.”
“Oh, dude, you should have said something,” Kane said, walking his brother to the door.
“What? Like Quinn was going to come over here and do this?” The older Morgan snorted. “You’d be lucky if he didn’t nail the door shut.”
“Thanks.” Kane laughed, slapping Connor on the shoulder. “I owe you.”
“Not a problem, K.” Connor gave his brother a quick one-armed hug and tossed a wave off in Miki’s direction. “Get some rest. If you have any problems and Kane’s not around, give me a call. Get my number from K, all right?”
“Here, I’ll walk you out,” Kane said, and followed Connor outside.
They left the door open, and their laughter carried into the warehouse. Miki closed his eyes and pulled a pillow up against his chest. Listening to the brothers talk was too intimate, nearly as intimate as unexpectedly overhearing lovers having sex. Someplace deep and dark inside of Miki’s chest began to hurt, pounding with an envy he’d thought long dead.
An envy that died when he found himself in front of three men he loved as brothers and then resurrected when their laughter and bonds unraveled under a twist of metal and pain.
“Yeah, it’s not fair, but fuck that, we had good times.” He only had the band for a few years, scarcely long enough to wash away the stains Shing and Carl left in him, but they’d been damned good years. Miki cradled the pillow as tight as he could and waited for his cop to come back inside.
“YOU doing all right, K?” Connor unlocked his Suburban, leaning on the hood to talk to his brother.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Kane murmured. They left the living room door open, so Kane had a clear view of the couch where Miki was curled up into a ball. “He’s had a real rough day. There’s a lot of ghosts he’s got to deal with.”
“Been a long time since I’ve seen you this… invested.” His older brother clapped a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “He comes with a lot of problems….”
“Yeah, so everyone keeps telling me,” Kane replied wryly. He turned to smile at Connor, punching his brother lightly on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
“Do you remember when we were kids and you found that hawk or falcon… whatever the fuck it was… when we were out at the Presidio?”
“Yeah, it had a broken wing.” Kane chuckled. “Man, it was pissed off.”
“You picked it up. You didn’t want to wait for someone who knew what the hell they were doing to come. No, you had to wrap it with your shirt and take care of it.” Connor sobered. “It tore the shit out of you, K, but you still wouldn’t let it go. Not until the Wildlife Rescue people came.”
“Why does everyone bring that up whenever they think I’m jousting windmills?” Kane leaned against the fender and crossed his arms. “It was out in the sun, cooking. The ranger said it would have died if I hadn’t dragged it into the shade and given it water. Why doesn’t anyone remember that part of it?”
“Because we had to take you to the hospital to get stitches down your arms, and Mom wanted to beat the shit out of me for letting you pick it up,” Connor reminded him.
“Dad understood,” he replied.
“Dad’s known for jousting windmills too, you know.” Connor’s laugh echoed against the warehouse’s brick exterior. “I’m just saying be careful.”
“You’re just saying that ’cause you listen to country music,” Kane said. “If he was a shitkicker, you’d be pushing me at him and planning a shotgun wedding.”