Sworn to Protect by Jo Davis Read Free Book Online Page B

gesture and pulled him in for a bear hug. Jesus, he was so damned grateful for his family. His eyes stung as he stepped back and jerked a thumb toward the house.
    “Ya’ll want some coffee? I sure could use some.”
    That suggestion met with approval, and the couple followed him inside, waiting until they had mugs of fragrant brew and were seated in the living room before beginning the interrogation.
    “What happened?” Shea asked. “The news is saying some pretty wild crap about drugs.” Her hubby was nestled close beside her on the sofa, every bit as intent on the answer.
    Shane shifted in his chair, impotent anger clawing at his gut. “Yeah, well, it might not be mere speculation. The detective at the scene told me it looks like an overdose. They didn’t let me see what evidence they had, but they’ve got something solid, or he wouldn’t have said that much to me.”
    “Drugs?” Tommy frowned. “I met him only a couple of times, when he was here visiting you, but he didn’t strike me as the type to dabble in shit like that.”
    “He wasn’t,” Shane said. The idea made him sick with grief, frustration. “I can’t understand it. He never confided in me about a habit.”
    “Maybe it was a new thing,” Tommy offered. “Obviously he wouldn’t have been proud of it, so he wouldn’t have wanted you or anyone else to know.”
    The three of them chewed on that for a minute, sipping their coffee. Shane didn’t get any enjoyment from his brew this morning, but he could almost feel the much-needed caffeine flooding his veins.
    “The detective is going to give me a courtesy call when they get the ME’s report,” he told them. Then his voice cracked. “I can’t fucking believe I’m discussing Brad and an autopsy in the same sentence.”
    In an instant, his sister was perched on the arm of his chair, hugging him tight. “We’re here for you both. Anything you need.”
    “I know,” he rasped. “Thank you.”
    “What about the funeral arrangements?” Tommy ventured gently. “Need any help with those?”
    Shane shook his head with a sad laugh. “Brad was organized to the point of being anal. I teased him about it constantly. His lawyer has all the instructions, and all I have to do is make a few calls.”
    A few calls. A few days, and it would all be over. Except it wouldn’t—not really.
    “How’s Drew?” This from Shea, who gave him one more hug and moved back to her seat.
    “In shock.” He took a sip of coffee. “Time will tell how he’ll adjust. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and I don’t know how Brad raised a boy on his own.”
    “That’s simple—he didn’t.” Tommy snorted. “He had you and half a dozen other people to bail him out whenever he needed.”
    Shane winced. “That’s true.”
    “And you’ll have us, plus all your friends,” Shea said. “You’ll both be fine. At least he’s a teenager instead of a little one in diapers.”
    “I’m not sure that’s going to make things any easier in the long run.” In fact, he knew it wouldn’t. “This is going to be damned hard. His dad was—is—his hero. Larger than life, famous. I’m just a cop, a regular guy Drew enjoyed spending weekends with. And that will change fast enough when I have to lay down the law for the first time.”
    His sister didn’t agree. “I think you’re selling yourself short. That boy loves you, and you’ll both be fine eventually.”
    Shane glanced at his brother-in-law, but noted the man wasn’t quite as quick to gloss things with a rosy paintbrush as Shea. Tommy had been through issues with his own parents, and working through them to become a family again hadn’t been easy. Hell, they were
still
working on their relationship, though it was much improved. The man in front of him had grown up a lot in the last year.
    “You’re right. It won’t be easy,” Tommy said seriously. “It’ll get tough before it gets better, and when it does, we’re here. That’s what