Chapter 17
They were going in circles in more ways than one.
Sloan drove the now-familiar highway back from Chicago toward New York, Joanne asleep by his side. He could only hope what he’d said to her was true, and they were really making progress.
Moto had checked into the plumbing supply business, and sure enough, its owner had just recently passed away. It was located in a warehouse on the banks of the Hudson River. It would take twelve hours to drive there.
Fiona and Lucas were struggling with so much time in the camper and needed a break, so they planned to spend the night at a hotel, then pick up Sloan’s mother at the Albany airport in the morning before dropping Evelyn and the kids at Wiseman’s cabin in the foothills of the Catskills.
There they would be safe, while he and Joanne looked for McKenzie and the missing money.
He put in his AirPods and dialed Mac, filling him in on the timetable. “Do you want any men at the cabin?” Mac asked, since HERO Force New York was just over an hour’s drive from Wiseman’s place.
“Not necessary. No one will know they’re there. Just meet us at the warehouse in Poughkeepsie. Who’s coming?”
“Champion, Chop, me. Gavin and Asher are flying in from Honduras tomorrow if we need backup.”
“Have them come up when they get in. I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.”
“What are you worried about?”
“That it might be a trap.” He hadn’t voiced that concern to Joanne, but with McKenzie being married to Bannon, anything was possible. “I don’t know if we’re going to walk in there and find Regan alive or the mob equivalent of a firing squad.”
“Got it. I’ll have all hands on deck for this one. See if I can bring in Razorback, too.”
“Ask Moto to get the plans for the warehouse. I don’t like going in there blind.”
“Already tried. The building’s too old. Nothing on file.”
Sloan cursed under his breath. “Tell him thanks for trying.”
“Have a safe trip, brother.”
Sloan hung up and sighed. So, they’d be going in blind, after all. He wished he could leave Joanne at Wiseman’s cabin, too, just to keep her out of harm’s way. But as the only one with a relationship with McKenzie, her presence was necessary, no matter how uncomfortable that made him.
Yeah, he had a bad feeling, all right.
He thought of his arm and the recent issues he’d had in combat.
If the shit hit the fan at the warehouse, he needed to be at his best, not this eighty-five percent, one-armed soldier bullshit.
But that was out of his control, and he knew it.
More than that, it scared him. He’d nearly gotten Razorback killed.
This time, there was even more on the line.
“I’m hungry,” piped Fiona from the back of the camper.
“Me, too,” called Lucas.
“Me, too. There’s a rest stop a few miles up the way.” He eyed April in the rearview mirror, seeming to watch a movie with Fiona on the iPad. The older girl had been downright withdrawn since the incident at the campground, and he didn’t know how to pull her out of her funk.
That’s because they aren’t your kids, asshole.
This was Joanne’s family, Joanne’s life. Beyond knowing they all liked Lucky Charms, he was just an interloper with no inside information on this clan. But if he was being honest with himself, sometime over the last few days, that was beginning to bother him.
He wanted to be there for Joanne and her kids, wanted to get to know them better. Hell, he even wanted to be closer to April, though that girl’s attitude could burn like the sun. He could see himself here, with them, going forward. Could imagine that all of them might one day become a family.
The Brady Bunch theme song started playing in his head.
I’m an idiot.
She’d asked him not to be nice to her kids, now here he was, thinking they might make a nice family. Just add water and stir. But nothing in life was ever as simple as it looked, least of all a woman and kids.
Maybe he could start small. Ask her out on a date.
Given that he’d nearly made love to her against a tree, that seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do.
Dinner and a movie. No, Joanne hated going to movies with him because they couldn’t talk.
Dinner and bowling. Dinner and sex. Damn it, the tree idea had taken hold.
“I gotta go potty,” called Fiona.
“We’re almost there. Five minutes. Can you hold it?”
“No.”
“Well, you have to.”
“Okay.”
He smiled. Road trips were widely considered to be one of the levels of hell, but rather than aggravating him, it only showed Sloan how much he enjoyed their company.
Maybe what he’d said to the old woman in the knitting store had held a kernel of truth.
Maybe it wasn’t too late to grab the brass ring and hang on for the ride.
Hell, he’s said something similar to Mac just the other day.
There was more between Jo and him than just some leftover chemistry. There was enough of a real relationship left over to build upon. But did she feel the same way? They were almost to the rest stop, and he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. “We’re going to stop up here and get some food.”
She sat up slowly and stretched, nodding. “How much farther are we going tonight?”
“Maybe another hour. Fiona’s about had it.”
“Me, too.”
He wanted to talk to her, wanted to see what would happen if he said what was in his head. His palms started sweating. “I was doing some thinking about you and me.”
“Oh?”
Just say it. Just push through the bullshit and say it.
“I enjoy your company.” God, that’s lame. “I mean, I like being around you. When we were going back and forth, bickering, I realized how much I missed it.”
“Arguing with me?”
“Yeah. Or like, not arguing. Disagreeing.”
“We were arguing.”
“It doesn’t matter. I liked it. That’s what matters.”
“Okay. So what?”
This is not going well. “So, I guess I was wondering if you liked it, too.” Cringe. The thud-thud-thud of the pavement joints counted out the time it took her to answer. God, he was bad at this.
She sighed. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if you liked it?”
She clucked her tongue and looked away. “It’s not that simple.”
“Of course it is. Did you like it or not? Pretty straightforward to me.”
“Don’t railroad me, Sloan.”
“Asking if you’ve enjoyed my company like I’ve enjoyed yours over the last couple of days is not railroading you. It’s laying my feelings on the line. Putting myself out there.”
“Could you lower your voice, please?”
He did. “What, you don’t want your kids to hear that I like spending time with you? I think when this is all over, we should go to dinner.”
“Stop. Please.”
That was what he got for going out on a limb. One hell of a fall to the ground. She wouldn’t even look at him. “Forget I said anything.” He changed lanes, the camper slowing down as he approached the rest area.
Sloan’s mood hung in the air like a heavy storm cloud. He had his answer. And while his gut told him Jo still had feelings for him, he had no intention of forcing the issue.