“That’s an unacceptable risk.” Sloan ran his hand through his hair.
“We’ll be there in spades,” said Mac, truly not understanding and thinking this had something to do with the fucking mess at that table. “We’ll pull out all the stops. Nobody’s going to get past us and hurt her.”
Sloan’s phone vibrated on the table. “It’s my mother. We need to let the kids come back here soon.” He eyed Regan, the look an indecipherable mix of anger and trust.
Mac was seriously fucking confused. “The kids know you’re alive?” he asked Regan.
“Nope. And I don’t want them to know until this is all over.”
The phone continued to vibrate. “Then where do you suggest we put them?” Sloan asked. “You talking and breathing at my table might be a giveaway.”
“So hold them off for a while,” said Regan. “Send them to Chuck E. Cheese, I don’t care. I’ll call McKenzie and have her meet me at the warehouse.” He pulled out his phone.
Sloan yanked it from his hand. “No.”
Joanne let out an exasperated sigh. “Why not? Why can’t he go? It’s him or me, and frankly he has a history with McKenzie. We might be better off.”
Mac sipped his coffee, watching the scene play out in front of him. It was time for more details. “Dvorak, I need to talk to you privately.” Sloan led the way to a room with bookcases, a fireplace, and a desk. “What the fuck is going on in there, man? Let Regan be the bait.”
“I can’t. This woman and her associates could pack a lot of firepower. He could be killed.”
“Not likely with us on the ground, but what do you care? He made his bed. Why can’t he lie in it?”
“Because Joanne’s still in love with him, that’s why. He’s the father of her children.”
“Ahh.” He propped his hip on the desk while Sloan paced. “And you don’t want to kill off your best girl’s husband, is that it?”
“Something like that.”
Mac sipped from his mug. “This coffee tastes like shit.”
“I’ll go. Hell, David can make the call and lure her there, but I can be the bait.”
“I thought you wanted Jo for yourself.”
“That’s not how this is going to go.”
“Because…?”
“I told you. She’s in love with him.”
“My radar must be way off, ’cause it seemed to me like she’s been sleeping with you.”
Sloan shot him a warning look. Mac grinned. “I should get prizes for figuring this stuff out. Giant stuffed animals and shit.”
“It doesn’t matter. She and I aren’t meant to be. She thought she lost him once already. I don’t want to be the reason she loses him for real.”
“What if she’d prefer a one-armed, arrogant little beefcake like you?”
“She doesn’t.”
“You never won a lot of stuffed animals at the fair, did you?”
“What the fuck does that mean, Mac? You’re talking in goddamn riddles.”
“She loves you, dumb ass.”
“Maybe once. Not anymore.”
