Chapter Twenty

"So you're finally taking the plunge?" Nolan asked.

He and Nolan had spent five straight hours watching videos and taking notes. Harper's eyes burned, and he'd thought he was ready for a break, but now he wasn't so sure, if discussing his personal life was how they'd spend it. They closed the computer and removed the flash drive. Harper put it into the evidence file, and they returned to their desks.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Colson is coming over on Saturday to meet David. That's all. You make it sound like we're getting married."

"Yeah, but for you, having someone to the house to meet your brother? That's huge, man. Come on," Nolan said, sounding genuinely happy. "It took you close to a year before you allowed me to come over." Nolan blotted his face. The air conditioning in the room wasn't the best, and Harper pressed the cold can of soda against his forehead.

"Yeah, well…I guess we'll see." He was trying not to get too worked up about it. He'd only told David he was bringing home a friend, and David had shown little reaction.

"What's there to see? Colson seems like a good dude, and now he knows the score about your home life and isn't running."

"It's one thing to be told, another to see it. I'm being cautious, is all."

"Okay, I get it," Nolan agreed. "Still, at least he's willing to try. You have to learn not to be so negative."

Not exactly an easy thing to do when you hadn't had much positivity in your life. The phone on Nolan's desk rang, and he picked it up. Harper finished his drink and entered his notes on the case.

"Let's go." Nolan sprang out of his chair. "We got another one. Same MO. Two riding on a scooter. The lady was with her two little kids, holding her phone, and the jack-offs sped past and grabbed it out of her hand. Two unis on the scene now. Corner of Henry and Remsen."

They took off and made it to the scene in less than fifteen minutes. A woman in her midthirties was talking to two officers. Two little kids waited by her side, and the younger one was crying.

"What do we have?" He flashed his badge, earning wide-eyed stares from the children. "Detective Rose and my partner, Detective Martinez."

"I was telling the officers that I was standing on the corner, waiting for the light to change, talking to my children, when this motorbike turned the corner and almost knocked me down. One of them grabbed my phone right from my hand." Her brown eyes flashed with anger. "And scared my son."

"I wasn't scared, Mommy," the older boy piped up, and Harper grinned to himself.

"You weren't?" he asked. "Do you know what these bad men looked like?" Sometimes kids were better witnesses than their parents.

"Yeah. One wore a black shirt with a smiley face on the back of it and white sneakers with a gold swoop on them. He had long braids." The little boy scrunched up his face. "Oh, yeah. The guy driving had a tattoo, not like Uncle Colson with birds, but, um…a face…with like horns and stuff out of its head. It was ugly."

Harper pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of the devil tattoo one of the other victims had identified on their assailant. "Like this?"

"Yeah, that's it," the boy said excitedly.

Not to be left out, the younger one had recovered and nodded. "Uh-huh, like that."

"You didn't see it, Mikey. You were too scared."

"Did so."

The two little boys continued to argue, and Harper was curious about the Uncle Colson remark. He approached the mother, who was busy giving a statement to Nolan.

"Your sons gave a great description of the people who stole your phone. Better than many adults."

Her expression was one of wry amusement. "I was afraid they'd be too scared, but I guess they're braver than me."

"It is scary," Harper rushed to reassure her. "But we have enough of a description to know they're part of a gang running around this area. Your boys don't seem to be suffering any ill effects." He glanced over at the two children, who were still trying to one-up each other about who saw what, complete with hand gestures and very loud voices.

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "You see that? They're going to argue all night now about who saw more and brag to my husband." She made a face. "Oh God, I don't even have a way of telling him what happened. And I have credit card info stored on the phone."

"We can call him for you, if you'd like."

"Would you mind? His name is Hogan Carmichael, and he works at Pomerantz and Co."

Harper chuckled. "This is the second time I'm calling your husband. The first time was when we suspected Colson Delacourt of planning a murder. We were wrong, of course, but when your son mentioned an Uncle Colson and his tattoos, I figured it had to be him."

Her jaw dropped, and she let out a hearty laugh. "That was you? Oh, I heard all about it. Too funny because Colson is the sweetest, most gentle man. The boys adore him."

He made the call and gave her his phone to speak to her husband. When she finished and handed it to him, her smile was one of pure satisfaction. "Thank you, Detective Rose."

"We'll be in touch, Mrs. Carmichael. Here's my card if you need to reach me."

She tucked it away in her purse. "Thanks. Or I guess I could just ask Colson?" Knowing eyes met his, and not for the first time he cursed how small the neighborhood was. Whoever said New York City was anonymous didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

"We're friends, yes." And he intended to get even friendlier that weekend if everything worked out well.

"Tell him I said hi. I think you'll probably be seeing him before I will." She couldn't conceal her grin, but he remained stoic, his answer bland.

"We'll be in touch, Mrs. Carmichael."

He and Nolan questioned several people on the street but didn't gather any more crucial information. At the precinct, they wrote up and filed their reports. He pocketed his keys and wallet.

"I'll see you Monday." He saluted Nolan, who called out after him, "I expect a recap."

Harper didn't bother to answer. He was too busy texting Colson.

I met your friend's wife and their children today. She was mugged.

As expected, Colson called him immediately. He stopped at the corner and leaned on a building. Walking and holding a conversation was never a good idea. Too much distraction.

"What the hell are you talking about? Bea? She's okay? And the kids? What happened?" He was tripping over his tongue in an effort to get the words out, and Harper waited for him to run out of air.

"Slow down. She was the victim of one of those scooter robberies that're plaguing the area. They were waiting on the corner, and she had her phone out. The perps zipped by and grabbed it right out of her hand. She was shaken up, but the kids were incredibly detail-oriented in their descriptions." His lips twitched. "I could use witnesses like them more often."

"They didn't get hurt, did they?" Apparently Colson didn't appreciate his attempt to lighten the situation, as his joke was ignored. "She's okay? Does Hogan know?"

"Yes. I gave her my phone to call him." He hesitated. "Seems she knew we're…friendly?"

"I told Hogan we've gotten close and that I'm going to meet your brother. Is that a problem? Were you planning on keeping it a secret?"

Colson's annoyance came through loud and clear, and Harper rushed to cut it off.

"No, of course not. I just figured…maybe we should wait and see how it works out first. You know…" God, he hated having to say it, but there was no guarantee Colson would stay after spending the day. Like ripping off a bandage, the pain of potential failure was obvious. At least to him. He knew Colson's nature was—as Bea claimed—sweet and gentle, something Harper had seen firsthand with Millie Johnson. But Harper also knew the reality of his daily life was demanding. As hurt as Harper had been when Ronnie walked away, he almost couldn't blame him.

Perhaps with Colson, he'd been holding his breath, anticipating failure.

Life had punched him down, again and again, and he'd learned to take it on the chin and accept the blows.

"No," Colson said, "I don't know. Are you expecting me to walk away?" he demanded. "Is that what you're thinking?"

"I have no expectations." What he wished for and reality were almost always two very different things. Harper had learned to live with the pain of disappointment.

"Then I guess you don't know me very well. I don't give up when I want something badly enough."

"I like it when you get demanding," Harper murmured.

But Colson wasn't having it. "I'm serious, Harper. Just because someone else wasn't willing to be a decent human being doesn't mean I'm the same. I think we have the potential for something good here, but you can't start out thinking we're going to fail."

"I'm trying not to. I'm heading home now, and I'll see you tomorrow. After breakfast is good?"

"Yeah. I'll be there, and I hope you won't be so negative."

"I'll try." It was the best he could do.

***

Over David's favorite meal of pancakes, Harper explained again that a friend of his was visiting and wanted to meet him. David appeared to listen and didn't respond negatively. Harper leaned in to give him a kiss, and he returned it.

Luis had wandered in during the last half of the conversation for some coffee and to give his opinion.

"Hallelujah. Colson is a great guy. Really sweet and gentle with David." Luis met David's eyes. "Remember the man who helped you with the ice cream?"

David's fingers twitched, his eyes widened, and he grunted.

Harper took that as a positive. "Yes, buddy. That's who's coming. He and I are good friends. Maybe we can take a walk in the park today. Would you like that?" To his relief, David smiled.

Across the kitchen, Luis's grin threatened to overtake his face, and Harper rolled his eyes. "Don't you have something to do on your day off except spy on me?"

Snickering, Luis poured another cup of coffee. "Nope. I'm going to hang out here and say hi to Colson." He removed a plate from the cabinet and took some pancakes. "I got invited to a barbecue, but that's not until the afternoon."

"That's an idea. We could do one here. Some hamburgers and hot dogs. I wouldn't mind. How about you, David?" His brother licked his lips, and Harper wondered, as he often did, if the doctor's diagnosis as to the severity of David's brain injury was correct. There were many times Harper believed David understood his conversations. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

This time David didn't respond and gazed at the wall across from them, and Harper sighed with frustration and shook his head. He took his plate and David's to the dishwasher. Luis drank more of his coffee, a sympathetic wrinkle in his brow.

"Sometimes I wonder myself, but I think David does understand more than I think we know. Just keep talking to him. It's like the physical therapy. You might not think he's capable, but one day he'll surprise us all."

"I will. I'm going to clean him up and take a shower." He checked the clock on the stove. "Colson will be here in an hour."

"I'll take care of David while you make yourself beautiful."

Harper glowered. "Very funny. But thanks. I'll take you up on the help."

Leaving Luis chuckling, he ran upstairs, showered and dressed, debated for a bit, and put fresh sheets on the bed. He'd never had a man in his room—Ronnie had refused to have sex in his house in case David interrupted them, so they'd always gone to his apartment.

But Colson was different. Harper wanted long nights of slow, delicious lovemaking. He wanted to live in Colson's body and feast on his kisses. Have the nights last forever. Not say good-bye when the sun came up. Harper wanted to know how it would feel to wake up with Colson in his bed and have breakfast with him.

The bell rang, and his heart picked up a beat. He laughed at himself. "Stop being an asshole."

He opened the door to see Colson standing there, wearing a simple black T-shirt and a pair of jeans that molded to his muscled thighs. Those gorgeous tats teased the eyes and disappeared up his biceps. A small gold hoop had replaced the little diamond. Desire swept through him, rendering him breathless.

God, he was so fucking sexy.

"Can I come in, or are you going to ogle me all day?" Colson quipped, and Harper felt his face grow hot. He stepped aside, but Colson stopped to place a brief kiss on his lips. "If you weren't going to do it, I was."

Harper curved a hand around Colson's nape and held him close, running his lips across Colson's cheek before taking his mouth in a possessive kiss. "I was, trust me. There's no way we can spend the day together without me touching you."

Colson gave in to the pressure of his tongue but demanded payback, and they battled, sucking and tease-tagging. "How about the night?" he whispered in Harper's ear. "I brought my toothbrush just in case."

God, he wanted that more than anything. "Let's see how it goes." He gave Colson another kiss. "But I hope so too."

They stood in the hallway, lost in each other until Harper heard a cough behind him and turned. Luis was there with a big fucking grin on his face. Freshly shaven, David was dressed in his favorite superhero shirt and light jogging pants.

Harper reached out, and Colson grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. "David? Do you remember meeting Colson in the park? I think you had ice cream together."

David focused on Colson, opened his mouth, and made noises. His hands twitched. Fear jumped in Harper's chest, and afraid of David's reaction, he took a step forward, but Colson cut him off and crossed the room to crouch beside David's chair. The bag on his shoulder slipped to the floor.

"Hi, David. We had fun that day, didn't we? We're going to have an even better day today."

David made kissing sounds, and to Harper's shock, Colson offered his cheek to David for a kiss, then kissed him in return. No one but Luis or him had ever kissed David, not since their parents died. Tears sprang to Harper's eyes. He grew light-headed and yet had never been so grounded. At that moment, he knew he could never let Colson go.

"Hey. How about we put your stuff in my room?"

Colson's eyes glowed. "Yeah. Why don't you show me the way?"