Dream Chaser (Dream Team, #2)(59)

And it sucked, but Boone had to give it to the man.

Cisco didn’t hesitate before he said, “You know I’m sorry about that. Now, more than I was before. But I was in a bind.”

“Ryn isn’t a fan of sleeping alone, especially now this shit is going down, because you were in a bind that got her into a firefight in the parking lot of a mall,” Boone reminded him.

“And I’m sorry about that too,” Brett said, and the look on his face said those words were no lie.

Fuck.

When someone apologized, and meant it, like this guy just did, you were screwed.

Even if he couldn’t push that, he pointed out, “And she was holding it together when I left, but a man was shot dead when she was hiding in the bathroom, so my guess is, she’s not gonna be good with sleeping alone for a long fuckin’ time.”

Cisco flinched before he muttered, “I’ve been wanting to ask how she’s taking things.”

“You’re not the only shit she has to deal with in her life, just that, today, you’re the worst of it and we can say her morning didn’t start off real great.”

He nodded knowingly. “Her brother and his ex.”

Jesus, how much did Ryn share with this guy?

And now Boone was getting a new sinking feeling.

Because maybe she was something to him.

But the only people who could know that were…

Before Boone could finish that thought, Mamá cut in.

“In all of this, you’re missing something, Cabe,” Mamá noted.

“I’m not,” Hawk replied. “They left his brother alone.”

She inclined her head.

Hawk hadn’t missed that.

But Boone did.

Fuck!

They were going after women.

They didn’t go after Cisco’s brother.

They went after his sister.

And after she was out of reach, they went after Corinne, not the brother.

They didn’t kill Corinne Morton’s husband as a message to Corinne, and through her Cisco.

They killed Corinne.

Now with Corinne gone, they were after Ryn.

Not the brother.

“Why are they targeting women?” Hawk pushed.

“Maybe because a man like Brett will think another man can handle himself, but he’ll do quite a bit to protect a woman,” Mamá answered.

It was whacked, but now Boone was beginning to like this guy.

Mamá continued, “But more likely it’s because they don’t like women. Especially not ones who hold power, influence or know their own minds. Men like that, I don’t understand how they work. I also don’t want to. And neither does Brett. At this point, it’s important to point out, Brett is not instigating. He’s responding. Take that into account, Cabe.”

Hawk gave her a chin lift then asked, “We’re not going to get any more, are we?”

She slowly shook her head.

Hawk (and Boone) looked to Cisco.

He shook his head too.

“Then we’re gone,” Hawk murmured.

On that, Hawk went to Mamá and bent to kiss her cheek.

When he pulled away, she lifted both hands and patted him on his cheeks.

Boone wished the circumstances were different, because as it was, he couldn’t give Hawk shit about that.

There was a lot of shifting around to get out of her little kitchen, but once they were on the back stoop, Hawk ordered, “Rendezvous at the office.”

“I need to get back to Ryn,” he told his boss.

“Mo’s got her. Rendezvous at the office,” Hawk said. “You can go to her after we debrief.”

They all had shit to do that day, and Hawk had clients that were paying them to do it.

But in that moment, they went to their vehicles in order to drive to the office, doing it on the lookout. They did this even though Mamá’s soldiers would be stationed in a way that no one would see them, but if someone was there watching that shouldn’t be, Mamá would have known before they walked out the back door.

As Boone drove, he debated who to call to check in on Ryn, Mo…or Ryn.

He picked Ryn.

She answered the phone on the first ring.

“Hey.”

“How you hangin’ in?” he asked.

“Lottie’s here. So’s Pepper and Hattie.”

Her girls were there.

Good.

“You call off for Smithie?” he asked.

“Why would I do that?” she asked back.

Boone didn’t know how to answer considering the answer was obvious.

“Boone, I need money to flip that house,” she reminded him.

He could share that she also needed to be breathing to flip that house, but he did not.

As far as she knew, Cisco’s shitstorm had meant that she’d had an attempted intruder.

Not something worse.

He had to figure out if he was going to share that and flip her out more, but she’d be safe because she’d be cautious, or be double cautious for her and keep her safe from that information.

He let the Smithie thing go and said, “We’re done with Cisco and I gotta meet with Hawk. Then I’ll come to your place.”

“What did Brett say?”

“I’ll fill you in when I see you,” he evaded. “Now, I gotta go, sweetheart.”