The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor(50)

“You’ll forgive me if I hope he doesn’t show.”

“I want to be wrong, Jake. But that kid is going to try to cover his tracks. It’s what I would have done in his place.” They’d left one desk lamp on in the outer office, but Luke could hear the dull hum of the sleeping computers.

“If Simon’s this devious and capable at eight, I shudder to think what puberty’s going to bring for my daughter.” Jake’s resigned tone had Luke smiling. “Makes me wish there was someone for her to rely on.”

Luke embraced the darkness as a way to avoid responding. Jake had been dropping hints like this all day, and while Luke appreciated and was even humbled that Jake thought him worthy of Holly’s romantic attention, Luke wasn’t going to let it go to his head. Or his heart. Holly had already done that.

The best thing Luke could ever do for Holly—and her son—was to remain available as someone for either of them to count on, but as far as anything serious or permanent? Or romantic?

That was something Luke had given up hopes of years ago. Family, home, people to care about—people to care about him? It wasn’t in the cards for him. Not with the baggage he carried. Not with the risks he brought. Surely even Jake at his most optimistic had to see that.

Men like Luke didn’t get happily-ever-after. They got empty homes, empty bottles and empty reminders they were—and always would be—on their own.

He’d done enough damage to Holly’s family. The least he could do was help scare her son straight.

“It’s kind of nice,” Luke said to Jake. “Being Simon’s enemy number one. Feels like an odd badge of honor.”

“Keep thinking that. But you might be losing your status soon. Wonder who he’ll move on to next.”

Luke didn’t have to wonder. “Kyle Winters. He thinks he’s a bully.”

“Simon doesn’t like bullies,” Jake agreed. “Another reason to track that kid down and set things straight. He doesn’t need to add Simon the avenger to his list of problems.”

At least they were looking for some humor in the Kyle Winters situation. The kid had vanished. No one Luke had talked to in the past few days had seen him. But maybe looking for him wasn’t the solution. Maybe they needed to wait until Kyle came to them.

“Is that thing even working?” Jake leaned closer as Luke tapped on his tablet.

Ozzy had done a miraculous job of getting the new surveillance cameras up and running, feeding live footage into a website Luke or any of his deputies could pull up on any electronic device. Heck, Luke had even found an app for it for his phone.

He tapped open the page on his tablet and saw the shadowy, backlit image of Luke’s office reflected at them. They’d placed one of the spherical cameras over the door, but Luke could control the angle of the lens by using the remote toggle on the screen. It was currently aimed at Luke’s desk and computer.

The silence stretched, and Luke popped open another soda.

“You hear that?” Jake whispered.

Luke listened to the rustling outside. “Could be an animal,” he said. But the low grunt he heard, followed by a thud and scraping along the wall, wasn’t any animal he could think of.

Outside it went silent again.

“Maybe he changed his mind,” Jake whispered.

The light in the outer office flicked off as the power went out. The computers stopped humming. Even the dim blue light of the new coffeemaker blinked off. Luke’s computer, however, continued to hum thanks to the battery backup they’d installed earlier today. Luke couldn’t very well catch the kid noodling with his system if Simon couldn’t turn it on.

Luke kept his eyes pinned on the shadow at the window. They’d purposely not repaired the lock yet, but it was on Luke’s list of things to do as soon as they put whatever this was behind them.

The window squeaked open and a small head poked into the narrow opening. Another couple of months and Simon wouldn’t be able to pull this off. Luke almost chuckled as he watched the kid struggle to wedge himself through.

More grunting erupted before Simon dropped through the small opening and rolled into the room. The boy clicked on a small flashlight and headed to Luke’s desk, pulling the chair under him. He squiggled the mouse around to activate the computer.

The tap tap tap of keys told him Simon was a faster typist then he was, which was a bit of a knock to his ego. When it was obvious Simon was engrossed in what he was doing on the computer, Jake gave him a quick kick in the leg. Luke sat back as Jake pushed to his feet, walked to the office door and raised his industrial-strength flashlight. The older man shone the beam right in Simon’s shocked face.