Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) (3 page)

Sebastian frowned. "I killed
someone," he said roughly.

"You had to. You had to do it to
make sure they couldn't go near the kids," his mother insisted.

Sebastian nodded. He knew he had to do
it, and he'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was nice to hear someone else say
it though. His mother took his hand and pulled him into the house. His parent’s
house was a three-bedroom rancher. It wasn't the house he grew up in though.
That house had been much bigger, but once he and his brothers had moved out,
his parents downsized.

"Can I get you anything, sweetheart?
Something to drink? We have beer," his mother said, running her hand up
and down his arm.

It was weird. If this had happened before
the fall out with his mother, all her attention and questions would have grated
on his nerves. But, now...he welcomed it. He didn't feel smothered like he used
to. She was genuinely concerned, and wanted to make sure that he was okay. It
felt really good. Maybe he should give her a chance.

"A beer would be great, mom. Thanks,"
he said quietly.

She gave him a gentle smile then hurried
into the kitchen. His father wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and gave him
a squeeze and a kiss on the temple. He was in pajama pants and a t-shirt, his
white hair sticking out in all directions. Obviously, they had been asleep when
Henry had called them. Speaking of Henry...he appeared from the hallway that led
to the bathroom and bedrooms. He had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, and
had put his glasses on.

"Hey," Sebastian said wearily.
Shit, he was tired.

"Hey," Henry said, giving him a
hug.

His mom returned with two open bottles of
beer. She handed one to each of them. "Why don't you two sit for a minute
and relax?" she suggested.

Henry and Sebastian did as she recommended
and sat on the couch together. They both took long swigs of their beer.

"How are the kids?" Sebastian
asked.

"Fine. They fell asleep in the
car," Henry replied, laying his head back on the couch.

"And Claire?"

"She's shaken, but she's okay. She's
sleeping, too," Henry said, sending him a reassuring smile.

Sebastian sighed heavily and took another
sip of his beer. His parents were sitting on the love seat together, his
father's arm wrapped around his mother's shoulders.

"You did well tonight Sebastian. I'm
glad you were there. I don't think anyone else could have done what you did, as
well as you did,” Henry said, giving Sebastian's thigh a squeeze.

Sebastian smiled slightly at the praise.
"Thank you, Henry. I'm glad I was there, too."

"You look like shit though."
Henry smirked.

I'm exhausted." Sebastian sighed
heavily, shaking his head. "Adrenaline let down is harsh."

"Finish your beer then go to bed. I
set up the bed in the third bedroom for you," Anne said.

Sebastian sent her a grateful look.
"Thanks, mom."

His mother gave him a watery smile and a
nod. Sebastian knew it meant a lot to her that he had come here tonight. He
knew she was trying to better herself for them, so he was going to try to
incorporate her back into his life. He loved her. She was still his mother.

After finishing his beer, Sebastian went
to the bathroom and then to the bedroom he would be staying in. He stripped off
his t-shirt and put on the pajama pants his dad gave him. He hated sleeping in
jeans, and he didn't wear underwear. He also didn't want to sleep naked because
he was in his parent’s house, so he borrowed a pair of pajama pants from his
dad. He got in bed and almost immediately fell into a fitful sleep.

~~~~~

No comment," Raelynn said, as she
pushed past reporters on her way out of the Beck's house. One of the neighbors
probably called them.

They were swarming all over outside the
front of the house.
Fucking reporters
. She hated reporters. Raelynn climbed into her car and
slowly made her way down the driveway, as other officers pushed people out of
the way. She understood the appeal of the story: An uncle protecting his nephews
from burglars. She got it; it tugged at the heartstrings. But couldn't they at
least wait until morning? Thank God Sebastian had left when he did. Another ten
minutes and he would have been caught up in the media frenzy.

  Raelynn had been shocked when she
walked into the house and recognized the man standing there with two little
kids. Not like she would ever forget that handsome face of his. The man was
just gorgeous. From his blonde hair to his tattoos, he had bright green eyes
and a full wide mouth, which was made for kissing the crap out of a woman. She
hated that she found him so attractive, especially that night at the bar. She
had been so frustrated with a case that she was working on, that when this
stunning man walked up and asked to buy her a drink, it had pissed her off for
some reason. Then he went and tried to touch her badge. Instinct had her
bending his finger back. She smiled and shook her head at the memory. He had
probably hoped he would never see her again. Especially after the wary look he
gave her hand when she held it out for him to shake.

  She could tell that he was shaken
by what had happened. He tried really hard to hide it, but Raelynn was trained
to see any form of weakness in people. She had caught the subtle twitch in his
left eye, and the tick in the muscle of his jaw, while he rehashed the story
for her. It bothered him that he had shot and killed someone. She knew he
didn't regret it, and would do it again in a heartbeat to protect those kids,
but it still irked him that he had done it.

  He was a great shot too. After
hearing his name, she remembered seeing him a few years back in one of the
state's shooting competitions she had attended with her dad. He had taken home
first prize. He was an amazing shot; also, he was a gunsmith and worked in a
gun shop that had a shooting range, he probably got tons of practice. Way more
than she got - most definitely. She had been stunned and awed when she found
out he blew the guy's head off in the dark.

  Raelynn pulled into her driveway
about twenty minutes later. There was nothing else to do tonight. They had
people working the phones, hoping for tips to come in about the other guy who
had been shot but ran away. They checked all the hospitals in the area, but
none had anyone who walked in off the street with gunshot wounds. There were
still investigators at the scene bagging up clues and dusting for prints. She
wasn't needed anymore.

  She walked into her house, turned
off the alarm, shut her door, locked it, and reset the alarm. Raelynn then
tossed her keys into the bowl on the table beside the door. She moved farther
into her house as she took off her gun and badge. She carried them upstairs and
into the bathroom, where she turned on the water and stripped out of her
clothes. She undid her hair then got into the hot shower. After her shower,
Raelynn got right into bed. She had to be up in a few hours to go back to work.

  The next morning, Raelynn woke up,
got dressed, and headed to the office. Stopping at Dunkin Donuts on the way to
grab breakfast and a coffee had made her five minutes late for work. She had
just sat down at her desk when the phone rang. Raelynn didn't recognize the
number, but picked it up anyway.

"Detective Reynolds speaking,"
she answered.

A deep male voice drawled, "Hey,
Detective, it's Sebastian Beck."

Raelynn's heart gave a traitorous
flutter. "Sebastian...good morning. What can I do for you?" she
asked, trying to sound as professional as possible.

Sebastian sighed. "I forgot to ask
you last night...how long will it take before I can get my gun back?"

He sounded tired. She wondered if he had
gotten any sleep last night. "It's going to take a while. It's evidence,
and you probably won't get it back until the case is closed."

"And who knows when that will
be," he added rhetorically.

"Right."

"So I'm better off just buying a new
gun," he stated, rather than asked.

"Probably," Raelynn agreed.

Sebastian growled. "Dammit."

"Sorry," she said, not knowing
exactly why she was apologizing.

"It's not your fault," he said
quietly.

"Did you sleep at all last night
Sebastian?" Raelynn found herself asking, wishing immediately that she
could take it back. That was a bit of a personal question that she had no right
asking.

Sebastian snorted. "Yeah
right."

"Listen...a friend of mine is a
really great therapist. I can give you his name," Raelynn said softly, praying
and hoping that he said okay.

"It's a guy?" He asked
curiously.

"Yes, and he's young. He's in his
early forties, he's really easy to talk to, and I think you would benefit from
going to see him," she said.

Sebastian's silence made her gut clench.
Her hope plummeted. He wasn't going to...

"Okay. Give me his name and
number."

Oh, thank God!
"His name is Jared Walsh,"
she said, then gave Sebastian his number. Raelynn left out the fact that Jared
was her brother-in-law. Sebastian didn't need to know that. "He deals with
a lot of law enforcement and military."

"Okay. Thanks a lot, Detective. I'll
give him a call in a little bit."

"You're welcome. I'll be talking to
ya," Raelynn replied.

  They said goodbye then hung up.
Raelynn immediately called Jared and explained the situation to him. He was
more than willing to take Sebastian on as a patient. Raelynn sighed in relief;
she was actually worried about the guy, and about his mental state. It's
traumatic when an officer shoots and kills someone, but a civilian who was
protecting kids? That was a whole other level. He needed help getting through
this, and Jared would be able to help him with that.

  Sebastian's face popped into her
head. The distress in his eyes when she first walked in last night hurt her
heart. He was swaying back and forth with an infant in one arm and a four-year-old
attached to his leg. How terrified he must have been when he first realized
what was going on. The fierce need to protect etched all over his handsome
features. She had first thought that they were his kids, and her heart sank
just a little. Not that she thought there was a chance for her to be with him,
but it did kill her fantasy.

  Raelynn had thought about him on
and off since that night in the bar. She had wondered if she was ever going to
cross paths with him again. To say that this was not the way she had pictured
them meeting again, was an understatement. Raelynn shook Sebastian free of her
mind; she had work to do, and she couldn't be thinking about him.

~~~~~

  Sebastian walked out of his first
therapy session feeling pretty good. He called Jared Walsh about an hour after
Detective Reynolds gave Sebastian his number, and was surprised when Jared had wanted
him to come in immediately. Jared was awesome; he was funny, kind, and listened
to everything Sebastian had to say. Then he provided his opinion and insight.
He was very knowledgeable and intelligent, which Sebastian liked. He was going
to have to thank Detective Reynolds for recommending Jared.

  Sebastian headed to the shop. He
had called his boss, Bill, and let him know that he was going to be in a little
later today - which was fine. Bill was the greatest boss ever. As long as you
got your work done, he didn't really give a shit what time you came in or left.

  The bell rang as Sebastian entered
the shop. There were a couple of customers milling around. Bill was helping one
guy at the counter. He looked up when he heard the bell chime. His eyes flashed
with concern as he looked at Sebastian, nodded at him, and then turned back to
his customer. Sebastian gave him a reassuring smile as he walked through the
showroom to get to the shop.