Page 30 of Hartley

“Yeah, and that’s why they’re here. They figure it’s easier to take you out when you’re outside of your home base.”

“I need an address.”

Lane told him where they were, and Jordan quickly sent Vincent and Julia to scope it out. Not to do anything but look. The vehicles were rentals and not recognizable. Vincent and Julia weren’t widely known. I didn’t even think word had spread far about Ava. She was outside with the others, but I still had to ask to be sure.

“Do you know who Ava is?”

Lane tilted his head like he was running the name through a list in his mind. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Good, then they won’t either.” The better we could keep Ava hidden, the fewer targets on her back. We couldn’t hide her forever, but if we could keep her connection to us quiet, then hopefully the assholes wouldn’t find out who she was and how much she was cared for.

Like Jordan always feared something happening to Vail or me because of who he was and what he did, the same could be said for Ava. Although, I’d seen enough movies to realize kids were an easier target than a full-grown adult. That thought sent an icy chill over me. No one would get near her.

Jordan lifted his hand and brushed it over my cheek. “Smart,” he whispered, then turned back to Lane. “Now, what are we going to do with you? I can’t let you roam on the off chance you’ll give your family information. You’re coming with us. Leaving you anywhere else is a liability. Then again, so is bringing you. Having my men and guns on you is preferred to having yours on us. We’ll go to the hotel, waitfor word from Vinny and Julia, then plan our next move. I’m not staying here if I don’t know where your family members are.”

“I’ll go wherever you want me to, as long as you put an end to them.”

Jordan stepped closer to him, got right in his face. “If you so much as breathe wrong in the direction of my family, I won’t kill you quickly. I’ll flay you layer by layer. I’ll keep you alive for days so I can watch you slowly bleed. Every nightmare you’ve had, I’ll make look like a fucking fairy tale with what I’ll do to you. Do you understand?”

He swallowed and nodded thickly. There was no way Jordan missed it. Sure, Lane could have been faking it, but I’d seen enough genuine fear in Vail repeatedly to be able to recognize it in another. No, their abuse wasn’t the same, but they were both abused. Emotionally, physically, it left scars, whether visible or not. And Vail would attest to the ones no one saw being the worst.

Vail walked around me until he put his hand on Jordan’s back. “That’s enough,” he whispered. “You don’t trust him, and no one blames you for that. He gets what you’ll do if he steps out of line.” I wanted to reach for Vail just then. To remind him his own nightmare was over, even if a different one was playing out in the man in front of us.

Vail was one of the sweetest men I’d ever have the privilege of meeting. And knowing just how deep that caring soul of his ran, I had a feeling nothing was going to happen to Lane while we were near. Sure, Jordan could hold true to his threat, and would if he needed to, but his other side was still in there. The one that held Vail and me with the gentlest hands. Jordan had his light and dark sides. He pulled on whichever he needed in the moment. But we understood theman as few did. We got to the actual heart of him and loved him deeply.

Jordan gave Lane a hard look before motioning for us to leave and telling his men to find Lane’s gun. We were almost in the SUV when Mrs. Morris walked into the yard. A pale blue bathrobe wrapped around her body while she shuffled over in a pair of pink shoes that were more slipper than sneaker. Some things never changed.

“Is that you, Hartley Weathers?” Her voice was raspier than I remembered. Her white hair was curled short, just like it was the last time I was here. When I was younger, she’d go to the salon in town where most of the older women did, all coming out with the same hairstyle. I bet she still did.

“Yes, ma’am. And my brother and Vail too.”

She stopped a few feet away and looked not only us up and down, but the people with us too. “Are you here to cause trouble, or are you selling the house to these people?”

“Not selling, ma’am. These are our friends and my partners.” Forest should be the one talking to her since he lost, yet I was.

“Partners,” she scoffed. “I’ve heard the news. You have two people in your life. One wasn’t good enough for you?”

“Nope. I was greedy and had to have them both.”

Mrs. Morris never came across as homophobic, but the whole three people in a relationship was obviously more than she could deal with. “When I was your age, if we wanted multiple partners, we got that out of our system before we got married.”

“Yes, well, there’s no exorcising them from my body. I’m with them for the long haul. Did you need something, or did you just come over to greet us? That was very kind of you, bythe way. Pop always loved telling us stories about how you two got along.”

“He was good company after my husband passed. Did nothing inappropriate and would come over if I needed help with something. He’d be proud of you. Maybe not you so much, Forest. I saw the way you hightailed it out of here after the funeral. You couldn’t even stay to help your brother?” She shook her head. “You better be doing right by him now.”

“I am, ma’am,” my brother said. “We’re on good terms. I won’t do anything like that again.”

She nodded, a firm dip of her chin. “See to it.” She tried to peer around us and that was when it occurred to me, we couldn’t let her see Lane. If she did and someone came asking about him, she’d tell them he was with us without thinking about it. She was a gossipy neighbor and would love to spread around just who she saw today.

Luckily, when I turned, he was nowhere in sight, only the people who came with us. That would be enough to tip anyone off, but we had to hide who we’d discovered waiting for us in the house. That was a hand we couldn’t tip.

“Is there anything else you need?” I asked, sweet as hell. She had enough to gossip around the neighborhood after our brief visit. She didn’t need more.

“Are you leaving?”

“We’ll be staying for a few days,” Jordan said, a casual tone but also one that brokered no argument or questions. The thing was, Mrs. Morris didn’t give a shit about any of that.

“I know who you are.” She pointed at Jordan.

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