He didn’t want to feel that every time Nick got a call and had to leave him behind.
He nodded, his entire body heavy with the decision. He’d talked Nick out of quitting before because he knew Nick loved his job, and he’d been curious to see if it would work, if they would work, with their lives continuing on the way they had been. They’d tried it, and it didn’t work. It was the right decision this time, and Kelly could rest easy knowing Nick had chosen him over his former life and would have no regrets.
Nick kissed him. “Come with me.”
Kelly grinned. “I’m going to be hearing that a lot in the next fifty years, aren’t I?”
“I can guarantee it.”
Nick took the wheel for their trip to the hospital. He trusted Kelly with his life in most situations, but driving in Boston was apparently not one of those situations because he would sooner f**k a rhinoceros than do that again. Even drugged up, he would get them to the hospital safer than Kelly would.
“So, I have an idea,” Kelly announced on the way there.
“Are you in an Abbott Idea kind of mood?”
“Well, I am drugged, so yeah, shoot.”
Kelly chuckled. “Emma.”
“Emma . . . Grady? Ty’s cousin, Emma?”
“Yeah.” Kelly was nodding. “She offered us both a job with her team, and as far as I know the offer still stands.”
“You’re talking about Emma Grady,” Nick said again.
“And the adventuring, treasure-hunting, monster-seeking, myth-believing crew of crazy people?”
“Yes.”
“Okay?”
“They need a medic, a historian, and team leader. And if I’m not mistaken, we are a medic and a team leader. Plus, you’re quite the f**king historian if I do say so myself. And I do.”“Kels, I’m not so sure about that shit,” Nick said.
“I mean . . .” He glanced at Kelly, who was sitting in the passenger seat watching him. Smiling. He was always smiling.
Nick came to a stop at a red light and stared at Kelly, thinking about that smile.
“We said before that we didn’t know what to do. Colorado or Boston? Cabin or boat?” Kelly said. He shrugged. “Why choose, though? If you’re quitting, I can too.”
“Kels, you love that camp. Those kids,” Nick argued. Kelly had been orphaned at twelve, and while his experience in the foster system had been a good one, he had still devoted his post-military life to helping troubled kids—often orphaned or abandoned street kids who’d chosen the camp over juvenile hal —adjust and learn life skills. It had given Kelly purpose at a time when every member of Sidewinder had been drifting and listless.
“I could still volunteer here and there. We’ll have down time, time to . . . Nicko, we can settle down when we’re dead, babe,” Kelly finally said. “I had fun this week. For the first time in years, this was really f**king fun. I want to do things like this with you, I want—”
“Okay,” Nick whispered.
“What?”
“Okay,” Nick said, his voice stronger. “We’ll call her when we get home.”
“Really?”
Nick smirked.
Kelly’s smile burgeoned into a ful -force beaming grin. He reached across the console and grabbed Nick’s hand, kissing his palm. “Thank you.”
Nick tried to repress an indulgent sigh, but he couldn’t.
He was so screwed. He’d give Kelly anything and everything.
They were both still grinning like idiots when they reached the hospital. Nick had to school his features into a more professional mask as they inquired into JD’s room number and rode the elevator up.
When they found the room, Hagan was there, and so was Alex. She was sitting beside JD’s bed, filling him in on the details he was still missing. They both looked up when Nick and Kelly entered.
“Hey,” JD said with a tentative smile.
“How you feeling?” Nick asked him. He moved closer, giving Alex a nod in greeting.
“I’m okay,” JD scooted up a little in the bed, wincing and holding to his side. “Alex says this isn’t the first time I’ve been shot, so . . . hey, no big deal, right?”
Nick smiled and patted JD’s arm, unable to quell the urge to continue trying to comfort the man. He noticed a stack of books on the table beside JD’s bed. They were all his adventures, told by him.
“His story all checks out, O,” Hagan offered. “He was taken from his hotel room in New York by a group that had been contracted by a company called Sanco Pharmaceuticals.
Apparently it’s not uncommon for these big companies to take unusual routes for miracle cures. First time one of them’s ended in kidnapping and murder, though.”
“Pharmaceutical companies after medieval scrolls,” Kelly mused. “Sure, why not.”
“I’m sorry I kicked you in your transplant scar,” JD offered, looking at Nick with what could only be described as hope.
Nick cocked his head, frowning. “How’d you know it was there?”
“Saw it the night I was talking to your friend on the phone.”
“Great. Thanks,” Nick grunted. But he couldn’t help but smile. JD—or Casey Hunt, he supposed he was going to have to start thinking of him as—was an interesting man. He was smart, quick-witted, capable, and observant. He’d handled the trauma he’d been subjected to better than most. Despite everything that had happened, Nick liked the guy.
“So, are you out of a job now?” Kelly asked.
“No, apparently I work out of a museum as a wandering acquisitions specialist,” JD said with a laugh. “Alex was telling me about some of my seedier adventures. It seems I’m kind of a big deal. You should read my books. I know I’m going to have to.”
Nick and Kelly both chuckled. Kelly waved a hand at Alex. “What about you? Are you a seedy adventurer too?”
“No,” she said with a melancholy smile. “Not anymore, at least. I am out of a job. I worked ful -time for Alco, hunting down new avenues of research. After all this, they don’t want the scrutiny for why they have an archaeologist on staff.”
“I’m sorry,” Kelly offered.
Nick was scowling at Alex, though. She’d shown her true colors during the standoff at the Jason Russell house, shielding the museum guide with her body as she got the woman to safety. She’d shown Nick something, something he liked. He patted Kelly on the arm, and when Kelly turned, Nick jerked his head at Alex. It seemed to dawn on Kelly as well. His oddly colored eyes sparkled, and he grinned at Alex.