Hopper flushes, modest as he dips his chin, unable to hide the smile. He can’t help it. Honestly? He’s a little proud of himself.
“You should’ve seen him with that painting knife. So vivid. So alive.”
“Uh, Hopper?” Jake asks.
“Yeah?” Hopper says, scrubbing a hand over his face. They’ve already spent an hour catching him up on Whitaker, leverage, and Boone Hitchens—none of which sits right in his chest yet.
“You called us all here today because you have news?”
“Oh yes.” Hopper gives a little bounce. “I think I want to be Boone’s friend.”
“You want to be friends with the guy who paints like Jack the Ripper?” Hedy asks, tilting her head.
“I like him. I think he’s a really good guy.”
“Hopper, were you not listening? He could put you away for life.”
Hopper throws his head back, laughing as if that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. When the room goes silent, he looks around. “Oh, you’re serious.”
The friends shuffle uncomfortably. Hedy isn’t one for overly dire warnings.
“If Hitchens goes after you, then we have to go after him.”
“And you don’t think this could be akeep your friends close and enemies closerthing?” Hopper asks, pushing his hands out.“Don’t you think we should have a friend in the local police department?”
“Only if he’s actually on our side, sweetie,” Parker says, patting his shoulder. “We shouldn’t be friends with him like that unless he’s on the inside.”
“Oh.” Hopper bites at his lip. “Should I disinvite him?”
Everyone shakes their head.
“I just can’t be his friend.”
Everyone nods.
Hopper wilts, and it’s the saddest thing ever.
“None of that makes any sense to me,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Besides, I just wanna be his friend.Maverickis the one who wants to be his boyfriend, fall in love, and get married.”
Odd and DB raise their brows simultaneously.
“And what makes you think that?” DB asks, his voice weirdly calm.
Anders taps his chin thoughtfully. “Maverick talks about Hitchens a lot for someone he’s only met a few times. Calls himBooney.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Hopper pulls his chin back. “Wait. How do you know that?”
Anders and Omar share a look. “Just a little light…reconnaissance.”
Reconnaissance,as in several state-of-the-art bugs pilfered from the weapons locker and scattered throughout the kids’ condo.
Rami busted them a while ago, and they promised to remove all listening devices. While the dads always take matters of trust seriously, Hopper has his suspicions.
Parker shakes her head. “We are gonna get into that at a later time.” She turns to Hopper. “I get that it’s confusing. It seems like Boone Hitchens is a really good man. But he’s dangerous.”
“No, he’s not,” Hopper insists. “He’snot. I can feel it. We’re…connected somehow, and he is not dangerous. Not to me, at least.”
Parker gives Hop her best patient expression and reaches for his hand. “Even if he’s not dangerous to you, he could be a danger to the mission.” She pauses and exchanges a glance with the others. “Jake and Ryder are deep into Whitaker now. With the death of his son, he’s escalated from liability to active threat. We don’t want him on Whitaker’s radar any more than he already is. He’s already too close for comfort.”
