Page 123 of Duty and Desire
Hawk
Hawk stood looking out the window at Mo’s truck taking off.
He felt Smithie come up beside him.
“You’re gonna let me call Mitch and Slim?” Hawk asked.
“Yup,” Smithie answered.
“And you’re gonna let justice take its course?”
“Yup.”
“Then, after it does, if it doesn’t swing Lottie’s way, you’re gonna bring someone in to neutralize this whackjob,” Hawk guessed.
“Yup.”
Hawk stared at the empty street.
“My girls gotta be safe, Hawk,” Smithie explained.
“I didn’t say a word.”
“Allgirls should be safe.”
He turned to the man at his side. “I got a daughter, Smithie, and I got a wife. Even if I didn’t, you’re still preaching to the choir.”
“You won’t know,” Smithie assured him.
“I’d give you some names, you asked. But if you want to compartmentalize, this is your thing, she’s yours to protect, it isn’t my call.”
Smithie studied him before he noted, “Your man, he had no say, you just wanted him to think he did.”
“He was here speaking for her. The only thing I feel bad about is that Mo was right, she should have a voice in this. And in the end, she didn’t.”
“That’s what men like us are for, Delgado,” Smithie pointed out. “Someone’s gotta make the tough decisions. This guy,” he tossed up a hand to indicate the house they were in, “he’s touched. Somethin’ wrong with him. But that’s not my problem. What’s in that basement is anyone’s worst nightmare.That’smy problem. And that cannot stand.”
Hawk nodded.
He could maybe argue, but he wouldn’t know why, since he agreed.
“I’ll lock the door when you go,” he said.
Smithie didn’t hang around.
Hawk locked the door when he left.
He dealt with the situation first through Jorge, then he called Slim.
Mitch was a straight arrow.
Slim had been DEA. He got shades of gray. He’d take care of it.
Then Hawk went home and was met with the sounds of pandemonium coming from the kitchen. This pandemonium being his wife getting breakfast for their three kids.
It wasn’t just the kids, though both his boys were a handful.
Gwen was an even bigger handful, thankfully, and she got off on the chaos of family.
