Page 36 of The Fortunate Ones
“We’re good, boss,” she chimed in, sounding almost as excited as Leo. Crazy fucks. “Bastard tried to take another shot at us, but he missed.”
Luca sucked in a breath between his teeth. “Okay, good. D, how far out is their backup?”
“Um, ten minutes, boss,” he answered.
“Leo, they can take you over to the nearest safe house. Secure the assailant and wait. Our priority is to get Everett to safety, then we’ll deal with him.”
“Got it, boss. Diego, we’re going to need cleanup here too. We got two totaled cars, plus some blood tracks.”
“On it. I’m also scrubbing any CCTV and traffic lights you two may have shown up on. Luckily, he chose a deserted area to try to take you out, so there have been no 911 calls.”
“Thank fuck. I’m tired of dealing with cops,” Leo commented, which was ironic because he’d been a cop for ten years before he’d gone private.
“Oh, the Honda clipped a car at the intersection of 507 and 58. I know you’re scrubbing the camera, but double-check that one.”
“On it.”
“Leo, stay out of sight until backup arrives. Hopefully, no one drives down there.”
“Already doing that, boss. I see headlights now.”
“They’re ours,” Diego confirmed, allowing all of us to breathe.
A minute later, Leo affirmed that it was our team that showed up, and there was constant chatter on the line while they got themselves situated.
“Package is secure, boss. I’ll let you know when we get him to the safe house.”
I rolled my eyes. Why was everyone I worked with so fucking cheesy? Skye, of course, laughed.
“Thank you, Leo. Great work.”
“Always, boss. See you soon.”
Leo disconnected.
“I sent you a route to get home, Mav,” Diego said a few beats later. “Hopefully, it’ll be a clear shot with no more issues.”
I fucking hoped so because poor Everett needed a second. His breaths were heavy and quick, like he was on the verge of hyperventilating, and he was clutching Wes’s hand so tightly, I thought the man would lose circulation. When was the last time that kid had felt safe? Had he since his aunt and uncle had gotten guardianship?
The thought pissed me off. Anyone with eyes could see that Everett was vulnerable. And his own family members, the people who were supposed to protect and love him, had taken advantage of that. And then they’d tried to dump it all on Everett’s lap when they’d gotten in over their heads.
We were on high alert for the rest of the drive, but luckily, we made it home without another incident, and Leo and his people got our little buddy to the safe house and secured as well. Leo left a few of his people there to guard, while he and Foley headed back here to debrief us and get cleaned up.
Brooks and Matty were waiting for us in the garage. While we tried to keep Matty out of the business, we’d had to at least give him the bare-bones details since Everett would be staying here. Because he was the best kid, he’d immediately welcomed the idea, even after understanding that it could put him in more danger.
He’d shrugged at that, expression fierce and eyes determined. “Coming here was the first time in a long time I felt truly safe. Not only that, but seen. I can be myself. It would be all kinds of fucked up of me not to want to give someone else thesame security. Everett needs to be here; I don’t know why, but I just feel it’s the right call. I’ll help him get comfortable while y’all deal with keeping him alive.”
I wasn’t surprised after that reaction that he had come down with Brooks to meet us. It would be good for Everett to see someone closer to his age than us old farts. I hoped it helped him trust us better.
Skye was out of the vehicle first and went immediately to Matty, cupping his cheeks and staring right into his eyes. Matty was about an inch taller than Skye, but he looked so much younger and smaller at this moment.
“You okay, Link?” Skye asked seriously, despite the ridiculous nickname. It had started because Matty and Skye had played an ungodly amount of the newest Zelda game when he’d first arrived. He had retreated into his room and had been struggling to open up, but Skye had found a way by playing with him. Then, during theirSuper Smash Bros.tournaments, Matty always played Link. Eventually, the nickname had stuck, at least for Skye.
I climbed out with the others, but all of our focus was on Matty. The worry was obvious in his eyes, but he managed a genuine smile at Skye.
“I’m fine. I promise.” Skye let him go after a beat too long and turned to Brooks with a lazy grin.
“You missed all the fun.”
