“People like to talk to us, we’re open and friendly.” Noah shot Buster a look, then added, “Well, I am anyway.”
“The point here is that we mean Lani no harm. We’re concerned about her,” Tex added.
Why not? He trusted these men and knew not one word of what was spoken would leave this room. “She slept in her car when she first arrived, as you already know,” Noah said slowly. “She’s carrying secrets for sure.”
“You need to get those secrets out of her, bud,” Tex said.
“She told me she’s in danger and has been running for four years.”
Newman whistled. “From who or what?”
“I don’t know that, but I know it’s bad, and I think someone wants her dead.”
“The hell you say.” Brad looked angry.
“Makes a man wonder why,” Tex added.
“And then some. I told her she’s not allowed to leave town without telling me.”
“Because you care about her,” Newman added.
“We talked, me and Lani, about Samantha and the baby. It helped, I’m not gonna lie, and I felt better for it. She made me see things a bit differently.”
“Nice, and long overdue, it has to be noted,” Tex said.
“So you and Lani, you’ve been a thing is my guess?”
“A thing?” Noah looked at Brad.
“Sex,” Tex added. “Brad’s just being polite.”
“I’m not sure why that’s something you need to know.”
“I’m just seeing how involved you are and if we should be worried now you’ve told us she’s on the run,” Tex said.
“I just had a thought,” Newman said.
“Just the one?”
“Shut up and listen, Noah, this is important. If she is in danger and whoever she is running from catches up with her, that could spell danger for you.”
“How so?”
“Because if you care about her, you’re likely to want to protect her.”
“I just had a thought too,” Brad said.
“Let’s hear it.” Noah waved a hand at him.
“Lani Sullivan is probably not her real name if she’s running.”
“Already thought of that, and she didn’t deny it when I spoke to her about it. Plus, Katie told me there was no sign of her on the internet.”
“Okay, that is weird and confirms the name thing. I mean, you only need to burn your toast and it ends up on there,” Brad said. “So what happens now?”
“We watch and wait, and you”–Newman pointed at Noah–“need to get more information out of her so we know what could be coming our way. Hell, it’s not like we haven’t done this shit before. Drugs, criminals, we’ve had it all here.”
“I don’t honestly know if Lani will stay,” Noah said softly, and the words left a pain in his chest.
