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Garrison needed to sleep.
It was an hour or more before they were able to leave the cabin. They dragged themselves inside Sam's condo. She'd left a few minutes earlier than he had, so the beds were made and ready for them. He shooed Matty and Aiden to bed, then checked on them a few minutes later.
And there they were, two man-sized boys, sharing a queen-sized bed in her spare room. If they weren't so tired, they might've made a fuss about it. As it was, with the A/C pumping, the room was chilly, and the boys were curled up under a thick blanket. Garrison settled himself beside Matty, who was on the nearer side of the bed.
"When will my mom be here?" Matty's voice was small, and Garrison was reminded of the many times he'd tucked this boy in when he'd slept over at their house.
He patted his shoulder. "Another couple of hours. You may as well sleep."
"Are we going straight home?"
"I wish you could. I bet you're ready for your own bed. But the police want to talk to you tomorrow."
Aiden yawned hugely, and both Garrison and Matty did, too. Garrison chuckled and addressed Matty. "Did you sleep last night?"
"Some. In the car with—" His words cut off.
Garrison squeezed his shoulder again. He wished he was better at this comfort thing. "Right. We were up most of the night, too. Let's try to sleep."
"But when Mom gets here—"
"I'll take care of it, Matty. Trust me, okay?"
He nodded, yawned again.
"Right now, you're safe, and you're warm, and you're in a comfortable bed surrounded by people who love you."
Matty's eyes filled.
Aiden said, "Sheesh, Dad. Be a little more sappy, would you?"
Garrison leaned across the bed and punched his son lightly in the arm. "You know you love it. You need a big wet sloppy kiss?"
"Go away." But Aiden was smiling. "We'll never get any sleep with you here."
"I'll be downstairs if you need me." He stood, but Matty grabbed his arm.
"I wanted to say...I mean, I know it won't ever make up for what I did, but, about the drugs..."
Garrison was tempted to cut the boy off. Instead, he kept his mouth shut. Matty needed to say it.
"I'm sorry," He turned to Aiden. "I shouldn't have...I knew you were using too much."
"You told me to quit, like, a thousand times."
"When you wanted them, I sold them to you." He turned back to Garrison and dropped his grip. "Saying I'm sorry is sort of useless. I don't know what else to do."
Garrison nodded, glanced at Aiden, whose smile had disappeared entirely. He reached across the bed to pat his son on the shoulder, then patted Matty's. "Are you going to quit dealing?"
"Definitely. I'm done breaking the law. I saw where that leads tonight."
"Good. That's not who you are," Garrison said.
"I know. I mean, I think. The thing is, it is who my dad was. I guess I don't know who I am."
"You're a good kid. You're a smart kid. After today, you're a wiser kid. You'll figure out the rest as you go along. And you'll always have a place in our family."
The boy's eyes filled again. Garrison squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks for the apology. We're good."
Matty turned to Aiden, who said, "It's not your fault I'm an addict."
Garrison stepped to the door and grabbed the handle. "Good night." He closed it behind him and went back downstairs.
Sam was curled up on the end of the sofa. "Your bed is all ready for you."
"If it's okay with you, I'll sleep on the couch. Then if Matty's mother wants to stay, she can take the sofa bed."
"I thought you got her a hotel room."
"I did, but I'd rather she stay here. Matty needs to sleep."
"So do you," Sam said.
"I'll sleep." He nodded to the sofa and the pile of blankets and pillows the boys had carried inside. "I'll sleep fine right there. You, young lady, need to go collapse in your bed." He held out his hand, and she stood. He pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. "You were a rock star tonight. If you ever put yourself in danger like that again... I'm still mad at you."
"I was trying—"
"I know. I know. And we're all safe." He choked up thinking of what could have happened if Sam hadn't done what she did. Would Aiden be safe upstairs? Or in a body bag. "I can never thank you—"
"You don't have to."
He hugged her tight. "You were so brave."
"I was terrified."
"We were all terrified."
He broke the embrace, resisted the urge to kiss her lips. Instead, he gave her a safe peck on the forehead. "Go to bed, my brave, beautiful woman."
"If Matty's mother wants to stay—"
"I'm perfectly capable of showing her to the office. I've known Allison for years. We're not friends, exactly, but we're close enough. I can handle it."
She seemed to vacillate, and then she yawned. "Okay." She stepped out of his embrace and reached for the blankets Aiden and Matty had dumped on the end of the sofa.
"I can handle it, Sam. Go to bed."
She walked out, came back thirty seconds later with a sheet. "At least let me..."
Five minutes later, Garrison collapsed onto the couch, thankful for the cool sheet beneath him. He pushed away all the images from the day and fell asleep.
It seemed no time had passed when he heard a faint knock on the door.
He opened it to see the sun was already turning the dark skies gray. Allison O'Brien was standing on the doorstep in jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had no makeup on. He'd known Allison for years, and he'd never seen her without makeup. Her lower lip trembled like she might cry.
"Everything's okay." Garrison stepped out of the way so she could come inside.
"Want to tell me what's going on? I thought you guys were camping."
Camping? He hadn't heard that part of the story. "I promise to tell you everything. Right now, you just need to know that Matty is safe, and he's not in any trouble."
"You said that on the phone."
Right. "Well, it's still true." He led her to a chair at the kitchen table beyond the sofa, where he longed to return to sleep. "Matty's asleep. I would recommend you not wake him right now. He had a rough night."
She sighed. "I had to drop Jimmy off at my mom's and rush up here in the middle of the night, and now I'm supposed to do what? Take a nap?"
"He needs you here, Allison."
"Tell me what happened."
Garrison wasn't going to be able to put this off. As quietly and quickly as possible, he filled Allison in on all that had happened in the past twelve hours.
By the time he'd finished, the woman was weeping and angry. "If Frank wasn't already dead, I'll kill him myself."
"Yeah. In the end, he tried to protect Matty. Maybe knowing that will help your son deal with this."
Through tears she said, "I really want to put my arms around my son."
"I'm sure you do. Thing is, he's exhausted. We're all exhausted. And you must be, too. You drove all night. Why don't you go upstairs and fall asleep?"
"Oh, I couldn't. I don't even know whose house this is."
Sam stepped around the corner from the stairs. "Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt." She approached, introduced herself to Allison, and pulled her into a hug. Allison fell into her arms and wept. "I could have lost him."
How did Sam do that? How could she connect so quickly with someone she'd never met?
"I know," Sam said. "You didn't, though. He's safe. He'll recover."
They held each other while Garrison stood there awkwardly. Finally, Sam stepped back. "Let me show you to the room. You'll be comfortable up there. If you're still asleep when Matty wakes up, we'll send him in."
Allison nodded, and five minutes later, Sam had settled her on the sofa bed in her office. She came halfway down the stairs. "You need anything?"
Garrison shook his head. "Thanks for"—he waved toward the second floor—"that. For being here."
"Least I could do." She smiled, stepped back. "Help yourself to anything you need. I'm going back to bed."
Garrison collapsed on the sofa again, the memory of Sam's smile keeping him company.