He shoved those thoughts aside and focused on his burger. At least that wouldn’t make him feel depressed.
He’d just drowned his fries in ketchup and taken the first bite of his burger when his phone rang.
Mackenzie looked at him, a French fry poised halfway to her mouth. “Guess you have to answer that, don’t you?”
He reached in his pocket and pulled out his damn phone. One weekend, that was all he’d been looking for. “Yeah, they wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”
Of course, it might not be work… Gage glanced at the call display. It was Mike’s cell, not the main line at the compound. He thumbed the accept button.
“Yeah, Mike, what’s up?”
“Damn, I’m glad you picked up. I was worried you’d let it go to voice mail.”
The tone in Mike’s voice immediately made his inner werewolf go on alert, and all kinds of bad shit start running through his head. “What’s wrong?”
“I just got a call from a guy I know over in Customs and Border Protection at Dallas/Fort Worth International,” Mike said. “We’ve got trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Red flags have been coming in on nearly every flight inbound from Mexico and South America since 0900 this morning. We’re talking more than a dozen guys. All cartel connected and all well-known killers.”
That sinking feeling in his stomach just got worse. “Why are we only hearing about it now?”
“Federal district attorneys have a couple major drug cases going on right now and thought the guys were in town for a hit on one of their witnesses,” Mike said. “My guy called me from the freaking bathroom because he knew they weren’t coming in for any witness. Not when they figured out who brought these guys in.”
Gage swore. “Hardy.”
“Yeah, and he’s not even trying to cover his tracks. The son of a bitch had limos waiting for every one of these guys. According to cops and informants I know back from my days undercover, the word on the street is that these guys are here to take you and your girlfriend out. Soon.”
“Shit.”
On the other side of the table, Mackenzie had put down her burger and was looking at him with concern.
“Gage, the deputy chief is going to want to put the two of you in protective custody, you know that, right?” Mike asked.
“That sure as hell isn’t going to happen,” Gage growled.
“No shit,” Mike agreed. “Hardy has men on the inside. He’d know where you were going before you got there. What do you want to do?”
Gage hesitated. His first instinct was to protect Mackenzie. His second was to protect his pack. But the Pack could take care of themselves—and Mackenzie—if they were warned. And if they were together.
“Call everyone in and get loaded up and ready. Mackenzie and I will be there within the hour. We’ll go from there.”
Mike didn’t argue. He didn’t comment about the fact that Gage’s visit to Hardy’s residence hadn’t had the desired effect, either. Damn it, he should have killed Hardy when he had the chance, badge be damned.
“What’s wrong?” Mackenzie asked when Gage hung up.
Gage didn’t have a clue what dinner cost, but he pulled fifty dollars out of his wallet and tossed it on the table. Then he stood and held out his hand to Mackenzie. “I’ll tell you on the way to the compound.”
Mackenzie didn’t demand answers, but just took his hand and let him lead her out of the restaurant. Even though she was the poster girl for calm, he could hear her heart pounding.
“Gage, you’re scaring me,” she said when he made her wait while he scanned the parking lot. “What’s going on?”
He hurried her across the lot, his nose taking in a hundred different scents, his eyes shifting just enough to sharpen his night vision without giving off that telltale glow. The sun was just going down, so it wasn’t completely dark out, but he still focused as he peered into the deepening shadows.
The parking lot was clear and he hustled Mackenzie in the car before he’d even thought about how to answer her question.
He seriously considered making something up. But he wouldn’t make her any safer by lying to her. In fact, he’d probably do the opposite. If she didn’t know the danger she was in, she might take a careless risk without even realizing it. So, as he spun out of the parking lot, he told her the truth.
