Page 21 of Lone Star Witness

Nash nodded. “Jericho and a new Maverick Ops’ recruit are with her now. I’ll relieve them as soon as I get home.” He glanced around, his mouth tight. “I don’t want Caroline to go through any shit with Sonny. She’s been through enough.”

“Agreed,” Slade couldn’t say fast enough.

Their brother Bodie had tried not once but three times to kill Caroline. In the end, she’d been the one to end the miserable SOB’s life. Now, Sonny’s arrival could bring all those bad memories back to the surface.

And the danger.

“I’m going to move Caroline to the Maverick Ops training facility,” Nash said, speaking of the large campus-style area that Ruby had set up for her operatives. “She won’t like that, but I’ll tell her it’s for my own peace of mind. I can help you track down Sonny once she’s there and safe.”

“Let me deal with Sonny,” Slade insisted. “You just take care of Caroline. She’ll want you there with her at the training facility.”

“You’ve got someone to take care of, too,” Nash said, glancing at Marise. “And vice versa from the looks of it. How bad are his injuries?” Nash asked her.

She lifted her shoulder. “He’s had worse.”

Nash made a sound of agreement and kept his attention on her. “I’ve read Ruby’s reports. Sonny’s got you in his sights now. He’s a dangerous man, so please don’t underestimate him. Stay with Slade until this is over.”

“I will,” Marise assured him.

His brother shifted back to him, and even though Nash didn’t come out and say anything else, some things passed between them. The usual stuff. Be careful. Don’t take too many risks.

If you get the chance, rid the world of our bastard of a father.

Slade nodded to all of it and glanced over at Stephanie, who was now making her way toward him.

“Any idea where Colonel Rosa is?” Nash muttered, getting a quick glimpse of Stephanie as well.

“None, but I’m about to find out.” Slade gave his brother a pat on the arm as Nash headed out of the hospital.

“Where’s my husband?” Stephanie demanded as she approached them. “What have you done with him?”

“We were about to ask you the same thing,” Marise countered.

Stephanie threw her hands up in the air while still managing to keep her purse anchored under her right arm. “How should I know? I wasn’t the one who helped him leave here.”

“We didn’t help him either,” Slade provided, but Stephanie didn’t look as if she believed him. Slade shifted his attention to Julian. He didn’t bother introducing himself since he figured the man knew who Marise and he were. “Do you know where Colonel Rosa is?”

Julian looked at Slade as if he’d just asked about a trip to Pluto. “No, of course not. Trust me, if I did, I’d tell Stephanie. You can see how worried she is.”

Slade saw an angry woman, not an especially worried one. The fact she was pissed off could mean she truly had no idea where her husband was. Then again, she could be putting on a good act.

He took out his phone, accessing one of the reports Ruby had sent him, and Slade pulled up a photo attached to a background check.

On Sonny.

It was a fairly recent picture taken for his driver’s license renewal less than a year earlier. The photo didn’t show the man’s dark and dangerous edge. Instead, he was more or less smirking for the camera.

“Do either of you know this man?” Slade asked, holding out his phone for them to see.

Julian leaned in for a closer look, but Stephanie stayed put, giving it a mere glance. “I don’t. Why?”

Slade was about to tell her that the dipshit could want her husband dead, but he didn’t get the chance because Julian gave her a nudge.

“Steph, isn’t that the man who was at your house?” Julian asked.

The woman seemed annoyed with the question but had another look. Then, another. Before she nodded. “Yes, he was at the house… visiting with Vince,” she tacked on like an afterthought. Or a lie. “Who is he?”

Slade ignored her and went with a question of his own. “He visited the colonel?”

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