“Elvis,” Dane said as he spun his plate in front of him so the brisket was closer.
“Boss.”
“Blaze. Hawk.”
They offered quick greetings between bites and sips, none of them surprised that the man was there.
“So, how’s it going?” Dane asked as the server set his tea in front of him, draping his napkin over his lap. He looked casual, like this was just a friendly check-in, but Elvis knew better. He had been with Dane Garrison in the thickest of battles and darkest of missions. He knew when Dane had ulterior motives, and this was it.
“If you mean working with the Silvers,” he said, “it’s good. They know what they’re doing. I can see where Sage gets her savvy.” He reached for his drink. “However, if you’re talking about the reason Blaze is here, then, well, that remains to be seen.”
Dane nodded, his golden-brown eyes focused on Elvis. “So, tell me what there is to know. Is it really her?”
Elvis nodded. Dane was the only one he had ever shared the story of Julia with and how heartbroken she had left him. “It is. She finally admitted it, much to the marshal’s dismay.”
“I can imagine,” Dane said as he glanced around at the others, then back to Elvis. “Probably made his job a lot harder right now. Have they sent people to her parents?”
Elvis nodded as he dug his fork into his meatloaf. “Yeah, and her baby sister. He tried to get Julia…” he paused and shook his head, “…Delaney—to go back to Oregon and away from here, but she refused.” He felt a smile tug at his lips. “Still stubborn as hell. Always loved that about her.”
Dane nodded. “What else?”
“Blaze is working on tracking that second ping to see who monitored our search outside of the marshals.” Elvis took a slow breath. “If they know we’re searching for her, if they even think she’s alive…”
“Then they could have watched you do another search on Delaney Rhodes and put the two together.” Dane nodded his head. “I get it.”
A silence stretched between them, filled with the sound of chewing
“So, what’s the plan?” Dane asked before shoving a spoonful of red beans and rice into his mouth.
Elvis sighed, his glass in hand. “I wish I knew. All I know is that I’m not letting her out of my sight again. I understand the issues, but there’s no way I’m turning away from this second chance that seems to have fallen into our lap.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Dane told him, and the others agreed. “I just want to know how to back you up on this. We’re a family first, and we’ve always got each other’s backs.” He cut into his brisket. “What was her mother’s name?”
“Carmela Moretti.”
Dane made a slow bob of his head as he turned to Blaze. “So let’s find out what she testified about. If this marshal is still nervous, then it had to be something big. I want every name, every case file, every connection to this family. We’re playing catch-up here while the feds scramble to plug holes. Let them focus on protection,” he held up a hand before Elvis could interrupt, “along with you, and the rest of us can see about putting these people down.”
Blaze nodded, already reaching into his backpack and pulling out his tablet.
“If someone comes sniffing around, we’ll be ready,” Dane assured him. “Gage and Callen are due back tonight, and Grim and Sage will be in the day after. Nothing else is on the calendar, so you got us all. I’ve already told Abbie to let them know what’s going on. Just tell us where to go.”
Elvis told him he appreciated it, and then they turned to how it was working with the Silvers. As they talked, Elvis leaned back in his chair, staring up at the cafeteria ceiling. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, and he let them burn through his thoughts.
He had made a mess of things by not taking time to think through his next step. But even so, he wasn’t walking away from it. Nor was he letting her walk away.
Not this time.
Not ever again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHE DIDN’T WANT TO leave Bobby. Not back then and not now. If she were honest with herself, she wanted to keep him in that bedroom and make up for lost time. But she still had a job to do and still had people to whom she had to answer. Regardless of what Marshall Donavon Ashland thought or said.
And he had a lot to say, all of it in harsh whispers as they walked so no one would hear them.
“You know that the Serrano family are the ones who did that second ping, right?” he asked as they slipped into the elevator, punching the button for her floor and keeping anyone else from joining them in the car. “They’ll be wondering why someone ran a search on a sixteen-year-old girl.”
She sighed as she fell back on the wall, ignoring the sign promising crab legs at the buffet. “I already thought of that. But it’s too late to do anything about that now.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe they’re still monitoring my family. It’s been fifteen years. What’s the point?”
