Rafe held up his hands. “We only go for the coffee. Norah’s promised that she won’t ever ‘spice up’—her words, not mine—anythingthe Maguires order. We’re clean, Marshal.”
“Flynn’s high on life.” Kellan made a heart with his hands and held it up to one eye to look at Delaney through. “Or love,to be more specific. He’s got a girl.”
Both of her eyebrows shot upward. “Is she aware of this development? And willing? You know, there are rules in this stateabout locking women in the basement.”
“Very funny.” Flynn had come clean with the government on a lot of the aspects of his life—right down to telling them whatsize boxer briefs to stock his drawer with in their first relocation house. But no way would he let the marshal weigh in onwhat he had going with Sierra. It was, officially, none of her damn business.
Delaney propped her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her hands. “Ooh, I’m intrigued. Tell me all about her.”
“Her name’s Sierra. She’s pretty great. And that’s all you get.”
Her arms fell to the scarred wood. “Sierra Williams?”
“Yeah.” Uh-oh. Were they being bugged? Or followed? “How’d you know that?”
“Because she’s in the police report as a witness to the event that brings me down here tonight.”
Shit. “You came to talk to us about what happened at the Gorse on Saturday.”
“No. Not ‘what happened.’” Delaney made air quotes with her fingers. “More ‘what you did.’ A hailstorm happens to you. When you repeatedly punch and then toss a man out a door, that’s a conscious choice.”
Kellan’s chair had barely scraped backward before he moved to the head of the table and lifted one upraised finger to hammerhome his point. “Rosalie O’Hearn is the one who made a choice that night. She chose to put her faith in the wrong man. Flynn didn’t make a choice. He had a responsibility—as a man, as a concerned citizen, and as the bar’s official bouncer—to help her out of a tight spot. To prevent her fromgetting a worse injury than just her broken arm.”
Pride puffed out Flynn’s chest. There was nothing like watching Kellan on a tear. Law school might’ve honed Kellan’s abilitiesto argue his point. Most of it, though, was raw talent. Rafe and Flynn had always called his current stance the takedown position. Once Kellan stood that way, whoever he argued against—for an extra bag of Cheetos or for class president—was goingdown. Period.
The kid was magnificent. Most of all because he was standing up for Flynn.
Even Delaney gave him a brief nod. But then she was right back into it. “While I appreciate your vociferous defense of yourbrother, I need to hear from Flynn himself.” Palms up, she placed one hand on top of the other and laid that icy cool starestraight across the table. “What was your intent that night? Did you have any prior interactions with Mr. Neal before bloodyinghis face?”
Kellan’s speech had given Flynn just enough time to think this through. If they were really in trouble, there wouldn’t havebeen this time lag. Black SUVs would’ve pulled up to their house by 2:00 a.m. after the fight and disappeared the Maguiresyet again.
They had a history of fighting in their previous towns. Not to mention his own string of underground fights in Chicago thatthe FBI and marshals were well aware of. Delaney was only doing her due diligence, questioning him in person.
No need for panic or pissyness on his part.
“Look, as far as I can remember, I’d never seen Gil Neal in the Gorse before Saturday night. We’d definitely never spokenbefore. Until he pushed Rosalie into the wall, I hadn’t even noticed him. My intent? To get his strung-out ass out of there.And, to be one hundred percent honest, to teach him a lesson about the right and wrong way to treat women. If that brokennose makes him think twice before laying his hands on a woman again, then I don’t regret any of it.”
The sound of Delaney’s skirt rustling as she crossed her legs was as loud as a burp in church. “Mr. Neal’s not pressing chargesagainst you. Or claiming undue harassment. Are you sure that you want to admit to a federal agent that you were teaching hima lesson?”
“I do. Because I’m being up-front.” Because earning her trust was better than just expecting it. The marshal didn’t have tolike them or respect them. But she did. She’d fought for them, to give them this one last shot at staying in the program.Flynn needed her to know that it hadn’t been a mistake. “I didn’t get in a fight because I was jonesing for one. Hell, ifyou’ve reviewed the tapes of my MMA fights, it should be obvious that he easily could’ve been in much worse shape than howI left him. Out of respect for our town, for the promises we made to keep our noses clean, I took it easy on the scumbag.”
“There is a part of me, the part that likes it when a date opens my door and believes in fairy-tale endings, that applaudsyour actions.” Delaney stood. Crossed her arms and paced down to Kellan’s end of the room. “The part of me that puts on abadge every morning, however, wonders when you’ll stop looking for trouble.”
“It’s the other way ’round,” Rafe insisted. His voice got louder. Lower. Rough like he’d run a cheese grater over the words.“We’re laying low, living our lives. Period. Trouble finds us.”
“Is that so? Because the weak link in that assumption is that the only one of you who never dirtied his hands with the mobstill seems to be clean as a whistle. Kellan, has Lady Trouble found you yet?”
“I don’t know.” He gave a slow, exaggerated wink. “I’ve got blinders on to any woman who isn’t you.”
Flynn leaned back. Crossed his ankles, as loose as if he was in seats just behind the dugout at Wrigley Field.
