Page 31 of Avenging Kelly

Speaking of which… London walked back into the house and smiled, his expression a little mischievous. “Marianna, Duke mentioned you still have Delia’s old car. I don’t suppose you’d let us borrow it. We need to run an errand,” he asked.

Marianna giggled. “I do. It’s parked in the garage. The plates on it aren’t valid anymore, so be careful where you park it. Sometimes the clutch sticks, so if you need to get away fast, leave it running. It has a tank of gas, so help yourselves.” She stood from the table and went to a drawer, handing over a set of keys.

Before either of us could make a comment, Marianna smiled. “I know a little about what you do from John and Ace, so be careful. Call me if there are problems,” she insisted before she handed London a slip of paper and worked to clear the table.

I quickly helped by carrying the dirty plates and wine glasses over for her. She turned to me and held up her hands. “Give me a hug, and when you come back, the code for the security system is 0224. That was the day I met Delia and the boys,” she stated before she left the kitchen.

I stared at London. “Where’re we going, babe?”

He gave me a sly grin, which I was sure would do me in every time.

13

LONDON

“Charlene Devaney has moved from her last address, and catch this shit—she’s in Scripps Ranch,” Casper told me over the secured line provided by the sat phone we’d brought with us.

“So?” I asked. I was a New Mexico boy. I knew nothing much about SoCal.

“It’s a wealthy part of San Diego County, which means she came into some money along the way. I doubt it’s from being a social worker,” Casper explained. Oh, it was just getting better and better.

“Is it gated?”

Casper laughed. “Only one cop. No gates necessary.”

“One cop?” That had to be wrong.

“Scripps Ranch and Sabre Springs like to brag about the fact that they share one cop. The crime rate is so low they don’t need any more protection than just a single officer. His name is Steven Cressey. He doesn’t carry a gun, either, only a Taser.”

I was pretty stunned by the information, but if they felt safe…

“And what about the woman? Will she be armed?”

We needed to be prepared for sure. I wasn’t taking my new… whatever… into danger. Kelly had survived a hell of a lot that I wanted to know more about, so no way was I letting some little old lady with a thirty-eight special take him out.

“Can’t find a registration on file for her, but that doesn’t mean anything, really. I’d say be prepared. You have the bag from the plane, right? Duke said to use his mother’s car so you won’t look out of place in the neighborhood.”

There had been a bag with a few weapons and the sat phone on the plane, so we were fortified, though I didn’t like the fact there were only two of us. I was used to walking into a situation of this sort with a much bigger team, but it was what it was.

We hung up, and I went back inside to see Kelly and Marianna finishing up. We got the keys to the older car, and then Kelly and I were off. He’d put the address to Mrs. Devaney’s home in my phone’s GPS because he only had a burner, and he played navigator.

As I drove us to Scripps Ranch, Kelly checked the weapons from the duffel we’d picked up—two Glock 43X’s, a Sig Sauer P365, and a Ruger 57 semi-automatic. We were definitely fortified.

There were also Kevlar vests, rubber gloves, and pepper spray, along with a first-aid kit for the worst-case scenarios that kept rambling through my head. That wasn’t anything I wanted to dwell on.

“So, how do you think we should handle this? I don’t think we should just break in,” Kelly stated as I handed him the gloves and pulled on a pair for myself. That was the voice of reason I was hoping to hear.

I glanced at the car and smirked. “I’d say I should approach her as a victim of a breakdown. This car is twenty-years old, and it shouldn’t surprise the woman that it would quit on me. While I’ve got her busy at the front, you find a point of entry at the back and wait. I’m hoping she’ll invite me inside to use the phone when I show her mine is dead.”

“Got it,” Kelly answered, but I could sense an uneasiness about him that had me worried.

I turned onto the street where Mrs. Devaney lived and parked under a large tree for cover. “Are you okay with the plan?”

Kelly stared at me for a moment before he exhaled loudly. “I’d rather go in by myself, but I have the feeling you’ll bitch about it, so yeah. If anything goes wrong, you’re my first concern.”

His words washed over me like a warm wave, and I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I loved the man. It was damn quick, but I didn’t give a shit. Love happened when it happened.

“And, you’re mine. No unnecessary bullshit, got it?”

---