“Take care, Benny.” Neil watched Benny and one of the most savage dogs he’d ever seen in action walk away. “Great kid. What the hell ever got into Nick to suddenly adopt a child of the abyss? That place you all hit to get Benny and those thugs was a hell-hole.”
Jean shrugged. “Same as Dad adopting Sammy the Werewolf. His hunches are scary good.”
Neil chuckled. “Sammy the Werewolf, huh? It fits him. I knew Nick would miss Deke’s passing too much not to adopt a replacement. Benny and Sammy are like they’re joined at the hip.”
“More true than you think,” Quinn agreed. “If we ever wanted to discipline Benny, we’d have to shoot Sammy with a tranquilizer dart.”
“You’re right about Deke’s passing. It hit Dad harder than Mom and me. Deke was his beer buddy for over a decade. You saw the contraption Dad made for Deke when his hind legs gave out to arthritis. Dad would still carry Deke upstairs to our ocean viewing room he writes in.”
“Yep. The damn dogs thread into our lives so tightly we can’t think of them as anything else but a family member. Call me if you need anything on this new venture. I will call Nick if I hear anything related to the latest menace created by idiot politicians.”
“Will do, Uncle Neil.” Jean hugged Neil. He shook hands with Sonny and Quinn. “Tell Bently no hard feelings, okay?”
“Sure thing. I think she wants to have Quinn’s baby, so it may all work out anyway.” Neil walked away chortling over his Quinn zinger.
“What were you doing over there with Officer Bently, young man?” Jean posed in her Rachel imitation with hands on hips.
Quinn watched Chief Dickerson walk away with a contemplative look on his face. After Jean bopped him in the back of the head, he returned his attention to his sister. He held a torn paper in his hand. “She gave me her phone number. Neil must have noticed, although I thought we were alone when she did it. Uncle Neil hangs out with Dad too much.”
“Maybe Harding’s daughter Al is coming with them to visit,” Jean said. “She’s still single. You’ve always had a crush on her.”
“Yeah… when I was five,” Quinn replied. “Al’s engaged. You’ve seen the pictures. If she comes it will be to hang out with you and Sonny. After all the adventures you three had, she has a great time showing you her knife skills, or spotting and sniping, that improve from each succeeding visit. After she got her law degree and became an FBI agent, Al likes to rag us with the fact we were issued our credentials.”
“Let’s go hit the beach,” Sonny said. “I doubt Al will want to be around any talk of a black op, kill mission. Enough about Al. Who shadows Benny from here? He’s out of sight.”
“I’ll do it,” Quinn volunteered. “I haven’t jogged yet today. I’ll pace him down to the beach. With Sammy, I’m not sure tailing him is even necessary, but if something happened to him after an op like this, Dad and Mom would beat us like monk penitents.”
“Okay, but you keep your earwig in too, Kong,” Jean ordered.
Quinn smiled. “I will. Do you think I should call Suz, Sis?”
“We could use a police contact. One that’s banging my brother would do.”
“Nicely put, Hon,” Sonny said as Quinn laughed and jogged off. “I bet you’re anxious to see Lynn again. She’s going to be a Grandma soon when Clint Jr. and Mia have their son this month. I bet you’re wondering if it will mellow her out or not.”
Jean snorted in derision. “Grandma Cruella mellowing out? That’ll be the day. She’ll have the kid doing knife tricks before he’s two. Lynn and Mom have been friends ever since the ‘Starlight’ op. Clint Jr.’s Godfather Lucas nearly came unglued when Clint Jr. joined the Corps. He’s in the reserves now same as Quinn. That was a shock when Clint Jr. and Mia fell in love. They married right after high school when Jr joined the Corps. When he asked Jafar and Samira’s daughter Mia to marry him, it turned out to be the ‘Monster’ event of the year when they got hitched. What a party. Mia’s like John Harding’s wife Lora, she wants no part of the ‘Monster’ squad work.”
Jean and Sonny walked over to their vehicle, hand in hand. “Have you been taking much heat from Rachel about grandkids?”
Jean shrugged. Nearing thirty, Jean’s biological clock only recently kicked in a little. “Is the sky blue? Is water wet? I give Mom purpose in life. I’m not ready. I know Lynn did it in her mid-thirties, and killed people the night Clint Jr. was born. She’s a legend. I don’t know if I’m ready for legendary status. Are you getting antsy?”
Sonny made Jean stop, launching into a kiss beyond passion, love, and petty problems about other people’s perspective on their lives. When he pulled away gently, Sonny saw everything in Jean’s eyes making all life matters a small thing. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. I don’t get anything, including antsy, when I’m around you, you scarred up little turd.”
Jean giggled at her Mom’s familiar taunt. “I’ll keep it in mind. I wonder how many Irish Dad will have before we get to the beach.”