Elvis stepped out beside him, closing the door softly behind him. “You know you don’t have to stay, right? I can have one of ours come get you. Get you back to your people; maybe go help her family.”
Donovan stopped pacing long enough to look at him.
Up close, the marshal carried exhaustion the way some men carried scars—quietly and layered with deep beneath discipline.
“She’s my responsibility,” Donovan said. There was no heat in his words, no posturing. It was a simple statement of fact. “That didn’t change because someone smeared her name on a mirror or because you showed up.”
Elvis nodded once. “I get that.”
Donovan’s jaw tightened. “Do you? Because we seem to keep having this conversation.”
Elvis held his gaze, his back stiffening. “Yeah, I do.”
The marshal leaned back against the porch rail, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t walk away from people under my protection, no matter how hard it gets,” the marshal continued. “I brought her into this system, helped her learn to deal with disappearing and not drowning in the void she left behind. I’m not handing her off now because it got messy.”
Elvis exhaled through his nose. “Fair enough. But I think we’re the best chance she has right now.”
The marshal cocked a brow. “Which is the only reason I haven’t pulled her away from you.”
He turned his gaze back out to Delaney, thinking the marshal didn’t have enough manpower to pull her away from him this time. However, he kept that to himself.
For now, anyway.
Delaney had her arms folded tight against her ribs, curls pulled back into a loose knot, and her boots tracing idle patterns in the dirt while she stared at nothing in particular. She looked like someone trying to breathe through history.
Elvis turned when Dane’s face appeared on his phone screen. He looked tired, like he’d been up all night, and with the way things stood, Elvis imagined the man had. When one of them were in trouble, there were no naps.
“Everything there all right?” he asked as soon as the connection went live.
Elvis nodded. “As all right as they can be considering. There?”
Dane ran a powerful hand over his face. “Roman’s airborne and heading back to Obsidian Analytics. I sent Hawk with him just to make sure there were no more surprises. We also gave him a cover story about where Delaney went and why she wasn’t with him.”
He glanced up at Delaney, who had heard Dane’s voice and moved to join him on the porch. When she heard the news aboutRoman, she exhaled visibly, bobbing her head as she crossed her arms over her chest.
He smiled at her, knowing she needed to hear that bit of good news.
Levi Silvers leaned into the screen. “The summit wrapped up, and boy, that man Raymond was more than eager to have us all out of his hotel.”
“What are you doing with Dane?” Elvis asked. “I thought you’d be back in New Orleans by now.”
“Nah. My brothers went home, but I hung back to harass that sister of mine and Parker before Dane here sent them away on some other case.” Levi shrugged. “The rest will turn around in a heartbeat, though, if we need them.”
Elvis nodded. “Much appreciated.”
The door to the cabin opened, and Abe appeared, wiping his hands with a towel. He must have heard the talking and came to investigate. He moved closer to them, hands on his hips.
Elvis glanced back to Dane. “Blaze called earlier about Serrano’s son. Any updates there?”
Dane shook his head. “Nothing new. He hasn’t surfaced again yet. However, Blaze finished his digging into what we’re facing and what Carmela Moretti testified against. Or rather who.” He shook his head. “These people remind me of some criminals we’ve gone up against overseas. Even with the father in prison, he runs the show and not with a gentle hand. His son finding the woman who sent him to jail would go a long way to earn him credit in Daddy’s eyes.”
Delaney stepped closer, and by the intensity on her face, Elvis knew she hadn’t even realized she had moved.
“However, there’s a rumor that Alberto Serrano might have a chance of getting out within the next two years,” Dane said. “Which is probably why the son is trying to earn points.”
Delaney went still, staring at the screen, and Elvis wanted to reach out and reassure her.
“There’s no way that bastard will get out,” Donovan hissed. “There was too much stacked against him.”
