“Did you bond?”
She laughed. “If you consider him mansplaining the stock market and all of its issues bonding, sure.”
I felt my lips tip up. When I looked over — the fourth time in twenty minutes — she was still laughing, and I found it impossible not to laugh along. Here I was on a rescue assignment, laughing. Admittedly, I hadn’t been on many rescue assignments, but the one I could remember, I’d spent the entire time calculating exit strategies and going over the steps in my head. I couldn’t even tell you who the fuck I rescued. That was how little attention I paid to them. When I was on a mission, I tuned the world out and focused. Lenora made that impossible.
“How were the blossoms?” I asked, looking at her for the fifth time.
“I didn’t see them.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “We miscalculated and went the wrong weekend.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.” She laughed. “Gabe is so smart when it comes to his job, but he can be such a moron for regular life things.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “When we were kids, we always got in trouble because of Gabe. He didn’t know when the hell to shut up.”
She sighed. “I wish I’d grown up with you guys.”
“I don’t.”
Her smile dropped. “Why not?”
“I would’ve gotten into a lot more fights if you went to school with us.”
“What, defending my honor?” She laughed.
“I would’ve probably fucked up any guy who looked in your direction for too long.”
She grinned. “Because you’re jealous.”
“When it comes to you, I guess I am.”
My heart clenched when her expression turned sad, and she looked out the window.
22
ROCCO
“Here? You brought her here?”Enrique hissed.
“Just for an hour until I’m sure the safe house is ready.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” He shook his head and looked over at Lenora, sitting on the couch, resting her chin on her knees as she looked at the television.
It’s set on some reality dating show, but her eyes were glazed over, and she was just staring. Dominic and Dean were on their way to the safe house, about two hours from here. Gio and Loren were staying back to make sure everything remained safe there.
“I have a USB drive that has some sort of tracking device. How can I strip it without stripping the contents?”
Enrique exhaled, running a hand over his buzz cut. It was the same haircut I had for years before I finally started letting it grow out. I still kept it short, but it was long enough to grab. He paced his kitchen back and forth as he thought about it, or something. I couldn’t be sure what he was thinking half the time. He was a former military pilot and former FBI agent. Former, not because he was old, but because he’d taken Loren up on an offer he couldn’t refuse. He was making enough money to afford this lavish mansion in Sarasota, with the beach steps away. It was his second home. His first was still down in Miami. That one was just as opulent. He shared them both with Emma, which was comical. He was a smuggler, and she was writing newspaper headlines about people who smuggled shit. As far as everyone knew, he was a private pilot, which wasn’tnot true. He was also pretty tech-savvy, which was why I was here now.
“Let me see it.” He stopped pacing. The door opened as I reached into my pocket, and Emmaline walked inside, eyes wide when she saw me.
“What the fu—” She stopped when she saw Lenora on the couch, then looked at Enrique. “What. The. Fuck?”
“I’ll explain later,” he said.
She still hadn’t recovered as she closed and locked the door, but she went up to Lenora, who started sobbing when Emma hugged her. My chest squeezed. I threw my head back and looked at the high ceiling to take a breath. When I looked at Enrique again, he was still waiting, palm up, for the USB drive. I took it out and handed it to him. He walked to the kitchen counter and examined it under the light.
“I’d have to uninstall whatever program they put in it, but that would require me to use a computer, and then they’ll be able to track it to me.” He set it down. “You’ll have to go to a rest stop, open it there, and keep driving.”
