“Okay. What?”
“I need some time off. “
An opportunity to needle Sawyer should never be wasted, Kai decided. “An irate husband? Cops on your trail? A pregnancy scare?”
Kai winced at the searing look Sawyer sent him. Sawyer was obviously in no mood to joke around. “Nothing like that. Doug’s landed his ass in jail again and I need to go and bail him out.”
Sawyer’s brother had been in and out of jail since his late teens and every year or two he’d do something stupid that would land him a short stint behind bars. “Where is he this time?”
“In Cincinnati. On the plus side, at least he isn’t shitting in my backyard this time,” Sawyer replied.
“What was it this time? Possession? Petty theft?”
Sawyer rubbed his hand over his face and when he dropped his hands his eyes were bleak. “Rape.”
No way. Doug’s brain was scrambled from prolonged abuse of weed and coke but the guy was a more laidback version of Sawyer, if that was possible. Women loved the Lawson brothers—a lot. Like Sawyer, Doug just needed to crook his finger and they hopped into his bed.
“Doug and rape? Impossible.”
“I spoke to some snotty detective who reminded me rape is about power, not sex,” Sawyer stood up and walked over to his window. “He admits to knowing her, apparently he can’t remember whether they fucked or not. There’s evidence that he did.”
“DNA?”
Sawyer nodded. “They did a rape kit. He also has two long scratches on his face where she scratched him. It doesn’t look good. How the hell do I tell my mom?”
Kai knew that Sawyer and Doug’s mom was bipolar, and that the stresses of day-to-day life were frequently more than she could handle. Hearing that her favorite son was in jail facing serious felony charges would put her right over the edge. His dad would deal with the situation by taking his bottle of Jack to his woodshed and drinking himself into a coma.
At times like these Kai thought it a blessing to be an orphan with no family ties.
“I thought he was getting his shit together, that he was sober,” Sawyer said.“He’s been going to meetings, trying to stay clean but he said that he was high that night and doesn't remember a damn thing.” He rolled his shoulders. “So, I need to take care of this.”
That was a given. “Of course. Go. Oz will hold down the fort while you’re gone.”
Oz, an ex-Marine, was Sawyer’s right-hand man in Mercy.
A small flicker of amusement lightened Sawyer’s eyes. “Except that he can’t. He’s leaving this afternoon for his annual vacation. He’s doing an eighteen-day tour of the great houses of Europe.”
Kai’s mind boggled at the thought of one of their most experienced trainers, a man tougher than Chuck Norris, six foot tall and nearly as wide, tiptoeing his way past fragile furniture and priceless objets d’art. He hoped he had insurance to cover any accidents.
“We’re booked solid for the next month with corporate events and PSD training. With Oz gone, I was going to do the corporate training. You’re going to have to step up to the plate.”
The noose was invisible but Kai still felt the knot tightening around his neck. “I’m due in Aberdeen by Monday. I’m boarding an oil exploration ship. I'm doing anti-hijacking training and drills because the ship is heading for the Indian Ocean, north of Sudan. Pirates.”
“Mark will do your training,” Sawyer replied and sighed at Kai’s frown. “Kai, he’s been your assistant trainer for more than two years, he’s ex-SAS, for God’s sake! He can do the anti-hijacking training with his eyes closed. Besides, he’s already in London and you’re here.”
“Yeah, but...civilians. I am not good with civilians.”
“I know that, but you’re just going to have to suck it up and do it,” Sawyer said. “Just don’t hurt or kill them, okay? It’s bad for business.”
“When are you leaving and will you be back?” Kai asked, shocked that his voice held more than a tinge of panic. This meant staying in Mercy a lot longer than he’d intended. Like at least another week or two...he didn’t know if he could make it.
It’s a town, not a war zone, moron!
“Day after tomorrow, and I'll be gone for two weeks, at the most. I just need to get him bailed out, get him into rehab, and check in with my folks,” Sawyer said, sounding exhausted already. “Hire him a lawyer. Beat him senseless.”
Kai could do this. If it meant helping Sawyer, then he would walk through the fires of hell. Although that hike sounded a great deal more fun than slowly going crazy in Mercy.
Sawyer sent him a wry smile. “You’d like Mercy if you gave it half a chance. And if you didn’t constantly have one foot out the door.”