“What?”
“The cop…wants to play,” Noah said, snickering as well.
“Or at least he’s going to let us play,” Rowe corrected. He looked over at Noah and waggled his eyebrows. “You up for a little hide and sneak?”
“Winner of most creative use of duct tape gets the shower first,” Noah immediately countered.
“Like you could ever beat me,” Rowe said on a gasp.
“Whoa!” Hollis snapped, giving Noah a shove. “You’re not going in without me.”
“Or me,” Ian added. “There’s only two of you against—how many? A dozen?”
“We’re a really good two,” Rowe said.
“Better than most.”
“And four is better than two when up against a dozen,” Hollis said.
Rowe stopped, the laughter draining from his face as he scratched the close beard that was covering his chin. “You know this is crossing a line. There’s a good chance you’re going to lose your job over this. They’re gonna say you should have waited. That you should have called it in and waited.”
Hollis snorted. “They’re also going to say that I should never have left town in the first place and that I should have accepted protective custody.” He scratched his head, leaving his hair standing up in different directions. “I don’t give a shit. I want this done and I want these kids safe, tonight.”
Rowe rubbed his hands together and cackled. “Welcome to the dark side.”
“Where’s my cookie? I was promised cookies.”
Rowe rolled his eyes and huffed. “I left them back at the Death Star.”
Ian covered his mouth to hide his grin. Rowe really was ridiculous, but Ian would rather see him in this mood than when he was worried about Noah’s safety. Hollis winked at him, but Ian could still see the lines of tension around Hollis’s mouth. He was making jokes, but Ian couldn’t imagine this was an easy decision for him. There was no doubt that Hollis allowed them to slide on a few things over the past year, but he was a good cop at his core. He believed in protecting people, and Ian hated to think of him walking away from that.
“So…what’s the next step?”
“Sleep,” Noah announced. He put a hand on Rowe’s shoulder and pushed back to his feet so he could begin unrolling his sleeping bag.
“But—”
“Noah’s right,” Rowe said, standing as well. “We can’t do anything until full dark.”
“I’ll take first watch. I’ll wake you in a few hours,” Hollis offered.
Ian reached over and put his hand on Hollis’s knee. “I’ll join you.”
Hollis smiled but shook his head. “Sleep, please. You’re going to need it.”
Ian looked over at where Noah and Rowe had already wrapped up in their sleeping bags right next to each other. Rowe threw his arm over Noah, pulling him in as close as he could despite their layers of clothes and the thick material of the sleeping bags. They’d both probably be out within a minute. Ian bit his lower lip against a chuckle. He’d always marveled at Rowe’s ability to instantly drop asleep and it looked like Noah had the same skill. Must be a Ranger thing.
Grabbing his sleeping bag, he brought it over and unrolled it next to Hollis, who simply nodded. He wasn’t sure he could sleep, not without Hollis holding him tight to keep him safe. When he was settled down in his sleeping bag, he felt Hollis threading his fingers through his hair in a soothing caress. The fatigue that had pulled at him all afternoon was returning and he could feel the weight tugging at his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Ian whispered, letting his eyes drift closed.
“I can’t even guess at what you’re apologizing for,” Hollis murmured. “Worried that my soul has at last fallen into Rowe’s hands?”
A soft laugh slipped from Ian and his eyes flicked open for a moment as he looked up at Hollis. The man’s eyes were continuously scanning the woods, searching for any sign that someone had spotted them, but his hand still moved through Ian’s dirty, sweaty hair as if just the motion calmed him.
“Rowe isn’t that evil.”
“I’ll give you that Rowe isn’t the source of all evil. He’s more like Darth Vader or maybe Grand Moff Tarkin. I’m pretty sure Lucas is the Emperor.” Hollis’s hand stopped moving through Ian’s hair and Ian looked up to find Hollis staring down at him. “You have watched Star Wars, right? I’m not saying that we can’t make it work if you’re not a Star Wars fan, but you do like it…right?”
“Is that the one with Spock and Captain Kirk?” Ian asked, turning back on his side so Hollis couldn’t see the grin he was still fighting.
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Hollis replied in a painfully serious voice.
Ian’s entire body started shaking as he tried to hold in his laughter, giving himself away. Hollis swore above him and resumed running his fingers through his hair.
“Does this mean that you’re a closet geek?” Ian teased, letting his eyes fall shut again as he soaked up the attention from Hollis.