Nutter Nero [Brac Pack 12] by Lynn Hagen Read Free Book Online Page B

in. Well, maybe Ricky. He seemed to like Nero.
    Not good, not good at all. Nero veered off toward the steps, but he was too late at his attempts to escape. The man with the blonde curls, along with the Asian man, grabbed his arms, touching him.
    “Come on, Nero, we need another player for pretzel poker.” Johnny pulled at his arm, trying to direct Nero to the den.
    “Need you.” Keata pushed from the other side, and Nero could feel his skin crawl. He needed his sanitizer.
    “I can’t. Need to work. Don’t want to, no. No, really don’t.”
    “Just for a little while, please,” Johnny pleaded.

    48
    Lynn Hagen
    Nero sat at the table, staring at the pile of pretzels in front of him.
    Another man named Mark was sitting with them, a toothpick between his lips. He had a bunch of things drawn all over his skin and looked out of place sitting with them. He was too big for that seat. Nero stared at the black leather bands around the man’s wrists. If he let people draw on him, then he had lots of germs. Lots and lots.
    “Okay, now, you have to get three of a kind or numbers in a row in the same suit,” Johnny explained to him. This wasn’t poker. It was beginning to sound like gin rummy.
    Nero began to nibble at the pretzels in front of him. They tasted really good. Although he was terrified of germs, he was starving.
    “Hey, you can’t eat them. You have to bet with them.” Johnny reached down into a bag next to his chair, tossing a few more of the salty treats onto the table in front of Nero. “Now, don’t eat those.”
    “Leave him alone, Johnny. Let Nero eat them if he’s hungry,” Mark said as he took his turn.
    Nero became lost in the bizarre rules they were trying to explain to him. He finally gave up, excusing himself and grabbing a handful of pretzels to eat as he clutched his clipboard and headed back to his office. Maybe Murdock would be gone by now. He should have filled out the forms.
    Dousing his arms in sanitizer, Nero sat behind the desk Ricky had given him.
    “What’s this I hear about you having control of security?” Nero mentally rolled his eyes. It seemed today was a day of complaints. Now Birdie was standing in the door, his hands on his hips and glaring at him. He could never remember the guys name, so when in doubt, use word association.
    “You need cameras, fences, and dogs. This place isn’t safe.”
    “We’ve done just fine,” Birdie snapped at him.
    Nero looked around, needing Gunny to help him. This man was huge and intimidating. He didn’t like feeling trapped. Looking frantically around his office, he realized only the bathroom would Nutter Nero
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    provide a safe haven for him now. Nero stepped back while Birdie glared at him. Spinning on his heels, he ran across the room and slammed the bathroom door, locking it.
    “Everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be aligned.
    Nothing out of place. Everything in its place.” Nero began to chant again. “You’ll get it right or you’ll get it.” A soft knock sounded on the door. Nero whimpered and continued to chant.
    “Nero, I’m sorry. Come out. We can talk about it,” Birdie called through the door.
    Nero shook his head. It was a trick. Birdie would get the switch out and make him pay for stepping over the invisible boundary. He slammed his hands over his ears as he chanted louder, his mind playing scenes of years past when he didn’t get it right.

    * * * *
    Gunnar was surprised to find his Commander at Nero’s bathroom door, lightly knocking and pleading. Other than with Johnny, his Commander never used that tone. Walking a few more steps into the room, Gunnar paid attention to the words Hawk was saying.
    “Nero, I didn’t mean to scare you. Come out. We can work out a security program that will suit us both.”
    “Commander?”
    Hawk looked over his shoulder at Gunnar, apology written all over his face. “I didn’t mean to, Gunnar. I didn’t know he would become afraid of me.”
    Gunnar nodded.