Page 108 of Honor ’N’ Duty

So this was what it had come down to. Formalities. Guess he’d help her through this meeting with the prosecutor, then go back to what he did best, what he’d done for years. Stay out of her life. Taking a barrage of bullets to the chest would have been less painful.

“How is Rosa doing?” he asked, not knowing what else to say. He’d miss his niece’s smiling face and watching her teach Smoke all kinds of crazy tricks.

“She’s doing much better.” Laia smiled, but he knew her well enough to see it was forced. She still hated him for not agreeing to turn over the ledger right away. Not that he could blame her.

“How’s your head?” she asked.

“Better. Nothing a bottle of aspirin can’t take care of.” At least he hadn’t gotten a concussion.

“Kade!” Deck shouted. The rest of his friends came down the stairs. “Gotta head west.” Deck grabbed Kade in a bear hug and clapped him on the shoulder, as did Brett and Evan. “Denver’s a beautiful place, but it’s also a hotbed of crime. The Mile High city needs us.”

“What would Colorado do without K-9 Special Ops?” Brett asked, although it was more of a statement.

“Hooyah!” Deck, Brett, and Evan said in unison, their hands meeting in a brief fist-bump.

“Laia,” Deck said as he gave her a hug. “Glad you and Rosa are okay.”

“Thank you.” Laia kissed Deck on the cheek, then proceeded to do the same with Brett and Evan. “Thank all of you.”

As the Colorado guys hopped into their SUVs, Dayne shook his head. “Showboats. I think the lack of oxygen out there has gone to their heads.”

Jamie had tugged his phone from his pocket. “Pataglio.” He listened for a few seconds. “When?” He walked a few feet away.

Dayne frowned. “Something’s up with him.”

“And where’s Jax?” Eric asked.

Kade shrugged. “Don’t know. He wouldn’t say.” From the sudden stiffness in Jamie’s posture, he worried this was “the call” his friend had been waiting for and that he was about to take off again.

“That sure isn’t good,” Dayne said, looking just as worried as Kade felt. “I’ve gotta go, too. Kat will ream me a new one if I don’t take some annual leave.”

“I’m outta here, too,” Eric said.

“Thanks, guys.” Kade shook Dayne and Eric’s hands.

“Me, too.” Laia gave both Dayne and Eric a quick hug. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Dayne looked to where Jamie stood ten feet away with the phone still pressed to his ear. “Keep us posted on what’s going on with Romeo.”

“Will do,” Kade said.

Dayne and Eric strode to their SUVs.

“On my way.” Jamie ended the call.

“Jamie?” When his friend didn’t respond, the worry in Kade’s gut worsened. “You good?”

“I will be. I’ve gotta go.” He stuffed the phone into his pocket, then walked over. “Remember what I told you,” he said to Laia.

Moments later, they watched the barricade drop, then Jamie’s SUV roll past, followed closely by Dayne and Eric’s.

“Will he be all right?” Laia asked softly.

“I don’t know.” Whatever Jamie was mixed up in left Kade with the feeling that he was on the verge of losing one of his best friends. Loss was something he’d gotten used to. First Josh and soon, Laia. Although he’d never really had her in the first place. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”

He led the way into the federal building, then flashed his ID and escorted her to the front of the visitor’s line where she put her purse and sweater on the conveyor belt. He waited on the other side for her to walk through the magnetometers.