“It’s all right,” Cindy crooned, glancing over at Toby. “You can tell them everything. They’ll help.”
“That or we’ll shoot you,” Reese grumbled. “Your choice.”
Brantley held back his smirk. He was impressed by the way Reese was handling things. He hadn’t lost his temper—at least not yet—nor was he trying to manhandle Toby into the truck so he could deliver him to the cops. Again, not yet.
However, the muscle in his jaw was ticking, so Brantley figured it was only a matter of time before the guy snapped.
And when that happened, because it would sooner or later, Brantley didn’t want Cindy to be caught in the middle.
***
The absolute last fucking thing Reese expectedwas to find his mother consoling her kidnapper, urging him to seek their help.
How she wasn’t terrified, he had no idea, but Cindy looked as in control in this situation as she had on the first day of school when any of them panicked and begged her not to make them go. Reese had always admired his mother, loved her beyond measure, but he’d never realized she had a spine of steel and nerves of iron.
Then again, she was a teacher, and if a teacher wasn’t capable of handling whatever life tossed their way, he wasn’t sure who was.
“It’s a long story,” Toby said, his gaze lifting for the first time, shifting from Reese to Brantley then to Cindy as they all stared, waiting not so patiently for him to enlighten them.
“We’ve got time,” Brantley noted, always the levelheaded one. “Start by tellin’ us why you didn’t make your court date.”
Reese continued to watch his mother and Toby, trying to determine what the relationship was. Had they been wrong? Had Toby not taken her at gunpoint from the restaurant? According to the witnesses the police spoke to, he had, but she sure wasn’t acting like a woman who’d been forced to help him against her will.
Then again, she also wasn’t acting like a woman who was all that thrilled to be here, so maybe she was just a good actress, too.
“If he’s not gonna talk, we’re done here. We just need to get him into police custody,” Reese decided when it was clear Toby was clamming up.
“No!” Toby snapped, his eyes pleading as they met Reese’s. “If you take me in, they’ll kill me.”
“Who?” Reese asked. “Who’s gonna kill you, Toby?”
“Sabrina Moroso’s guys.”
Reese shared a look with Brantley. Of all the people he could’ve mentioned, Moroso wasn’t on the list. Sure, he recalled what Max had told them, but he still didn’t know how Toby tied into the Mafia nonsense.
“You’re not runnin’ from Hartwood?” Reese asked.
Toby waved a hand. “He’s a small fish who wants to be taken under Sabrina’s wing. I’m more worried about her.”
“Why’s she wanna kill you?” Brantley sounded completely chill and not at all bothered by the turn of events that had led them here.
“Because I’m not who she thinks I am.”
“Patrick O’Brien?”
Toby nodded.
“Why the fuck does she think you’re O’Brien?” Reese asked, his tone gruff. He was still irritated with it all, and his patience was frayed beyond repair. He wanted to know what the hell was going on so they could get his mother out of this mess.
“Because he is,” Cindy said, meeting his gaze. “But he’s not.”
“Oh, Jesus fuck,” Reese huffed. “Could someone start makin’ some damn sense?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Cindy shot back at him.
Reese pinched his lips together to avoid smiling. There was certainly nothing funny about this situation, but his reaction was ingrained in him since he was a kid. He was just glad Z wasn’t here to see this. His brother would’ve been laughing his ass off, something he always did when Reese got in trouble.
“What’s your real name?” Brantley asked, stepping in to lead as he was prone to do.
