“Of course. You’re crazy if you think we’re not monitoring everything you do. Might as well come to Montana,” Jory said cheerfully.
“After I get the baby.”
“After that?” Jory asked, his eyes glittering.
Denver settled. Of course Jory Dean could read him. It’s what they all did. He knew Denver was going after Madison and Cobb on his own at some point soon. “You know it’s gonna be me, right?” he whispered.
Jory’s eyes darkened. “Yeah. I know.” He didn’t even try to pretend not to know what Denver was talking about. “You know itwasme, right?”
Denver nodded. “Yeah.” An evil man in Jory’s past had chased Jory and his three older brothers, and it had been Jory who’d taken him down for good. Jory’s brothers were all from the same father. “When it happens, I’ll call.”
Jory’s expression darkened. “You need me, us, now?”
“Not yet. Stay there. I’ll call when needed.” Jory and his brothers had relocated to Montana, where they were safe and building normal lives. Well, pretty normal, anyway. “Thanks, Jory.”
“You got it. There will be a car outside within ten minutes. Your truck is blown for now. Keep it in the garage, and I’ll have it fetched when it’s safe to do so.” The screen went black.
Noni blew out air. “Your life is sure . . . interesting.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Denver muttered, reaching for the money. At least twenty thousand dollars. What exactly did Jory think he was going to do with this much cash?
“But I’d like to,” she whispered, pain in her voice.
He jerked and looked at her. “The less you know, the safer you are. Don’t you get that?”
Her eyebrows—both of them—lifted. “Think so? It’s a little late, right? I mean, I posted the picture of us together, and there doesn’t seem to be a doubt that it’s been seen. Those enemies from your past know we were together. My not knowing about them puts me in more danger. At the very least, I need to recognize who’s coming.”
Damn if she didn’t have a point. Denver gave a short nod. “You’re right. I’ll tell you everything later tonight.” He drew out two knives and a gun.
She took a step back. “Why not now?”
If the woman wanted to be in the know, she could be. “Because I’m heading back to Greenville, to the hospital, to torture one of those gang members into telling me everything he knows.”
She paled but remained in place. “Oh,” she whispered. “I don’t think—”
“It’s a done deal.” He grabbed another sheathed knife to place in his boot. “You don’t have to be part of this, and I can definitely keep info like this from you.” He’d prefer she didn’t know what he was capable of doing. “But you can’t stop me.”
“I’m not trying to stop you,” she whispered. “I just wanted to apologize for putting you in a place where you have to do this.”
He stiffened and then rose. She was worried abouthim? Even more so, she understood and accepted that he would do what he needed to do. Maybe he’d underestimated her before. Could she handle his darkness? Really? “You’re okay with me doing this?”
“No,” she said softly. “I wish you didn’t have to, and I’m so sorry. I’d offer to do it, but . . .”
But there was no way in hell a person as sweet as her could torture somebody. Thank God. He finished suiting up and handed her a gun. “This one fits your hand better than the one you have in your pack. Point and shoot at anybody who’s not me. When I get back, we’ll talk.” Then he’d tell her everything.
Noni finished stirring the chicken in the large pot as the kitchen filled with the aroma of homemade chicken soup. She’d found a satellite radio station on one of the computers, and it blared Christmas music throughout the quiet house. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t banish thoughts of Denver confronting the gangbangers in the hospital. What if they had friends there? Would he try to take them all on?
Oh, she’d known he was a good private detective, but she hadn’t realized he was so comfortable with the darker and illegal side of life. There was so much she didn’t know about him.
Yet that just intrigued her more.
Her phone rang and she quickly grabbed it to see her aunt’s face on the screen. “Hi, Franny,” she answered the video chat.
“Sparrow here, Eagle,” her aunt responded, her dark eyes sparkling. Light gray sprinkled her dark hair, which was piled high on her head. “I’m in Portland and have met with a cop on the local force. Pretended I was writing an article about gangs in the area. I’ll e-mail you the information.”
Noni nodded. Her aunt was pretty good at this. “The gang contact in Greenville was a bust. Nothing there. I’ve moved into Snowville,” she said. There was no need to let Franny know about the hit squad. She would just worry.
“Okay. Hawk Two checked in and there doesn’t seem to be any activity in Salt Lake City. She tried the same tactic as I did but didn’t get as much information about the gangs. I’ve never thought Salt Lake was where Richie was headed.”
