Chapter 197: Brenden, Damian

Sunday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

BRENDEN NEEDED OUT OF this house. He had to think. To process.

He took the mugs into the kitchen, his skin still buzzing from Priscilla's touch.

Last night did not make sense any way he looked at it. He very rarely had a restful night's sleep. It was something he'd grown accustomed to. When on the job he'd often get up and share surveillance duty, allowing whoever was on to get a break. At home he used that time to do small chores. It was routine. Nothing about his wonky sleep schedule bothered him.

What he couldn't wrap his head around was that he'd fallen asleep while talking, fully dressed and weighted down by a warm woman.

He'd never been diagnosed with anything. The doctors he'd seen had ruled out PTSD, depression and a whole host of other typical suspects. Did he have guilt that he'd survived and so many hadn't? Yeah, but he never allowed that to rule his life. He just didn't sleep well and sometimes his nightmares brought