"He's...Okay, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. He might remind you of my father. Or men like him. That hard 'doesn't stand for shit' kind of person, you know? But underneath that, he's nothing like my dad. He's kind. Bought me a puppy and a kitten for Christmas the year before last." He smiled a little, thinking of her reaction. "He named the kitten, but I named the puppy. Max." Because they all knew that's exactly what Max was. A giant puppy in a cop uniform.

He took a breath. "But he gets me." That wasn't the entire truth, but it was part of the truth. There were some things that Bass got and others that Guerin got. Or maybe it wasn't even as defined as that. Guerin had just been in him too long for him to ever really escape until he'd finally realized he didn't really want to. But Bass understood all the darker parts that Guerin never seemed to. Both men could connect with Alex's traumas, each from their own desert. But Guerin hadn't been here. At least not at first. It sounded like not back home, either. And Bass had.

"He works at a club in the Down, Crimson, as a general manager. That's how we met, actually. He was around and it was my first night. Naked but for those damn hospital gowns they put you in. And I got jumped. One or two I might have been able to handle alone, but it was more than that. And he stepped in and helped."