“Yeah.”
“See, I was going to say the opposite.” Another quick glance. No movement. How the hell long did it take to buy a bag of worms?“That if we have to run to keep Mollie, or say . . . Sierra safe, then we should.”
Rafe smirked. “So that’s how it is?”
“Shut up. How about we start with a little reconnaissance? Tail him. Figure out why he’s here.”
“That’s what my gut says to do. But what if he’s not alone?”
“We’ll figure that out by tailing him, won’t we? If he rode in on a shitstorm of a coincidence? If he’s really just here tocatch whatthefuckever is lying in wait out there in the ocean?” Flynn hooked a thumb in the direction of his workplace. “Chancesare good that he’ll end up at the Gorse tonight.”
“Where he’d definitely spot you. Then all hell would break loose. So whatever we do has to be wrapped up before your shiftstarts at what—four?”
“I’ll follow him.”
“Amateur.” Rafe rolled his eyes. “The only person you’ve ever followed is me. In everything.”
They were both scared spitless at the possibilities represented by the redheaded son of a bitch across the street. So Flynnwould let that one go. Give his brother a pass this once. Good thing Kellan wasn’t here to see it happen. “I’m the one withthe free day. You need to stay at the garage. Stick to your routine.”
“Flynn, this isn’t a game. Pat could spot a bad tail.”
“He’s in a bait shop. Chances are good that means he’s buying bait and heading out on a boat. If anyone else from Chicagois out here, they’ll be on that boat, too. Once I find that out, I’ll call Delaney.”
“Fine.” Rafe jogged to his car and came back with a baseball cap. “Wear this. Stay at least a block behind him. Whatever happens,do not engage.”
“Funny you should use that word. I’ll tell you why later. When K’s around to mock you, too.”
“As soon as you see his car, text me the plates and the location.”
After checking out the yellow Oregon Ducks logo above the bill, Flynn settled the green cap on his head. “Why?”
“If we want him out of our hair, we need to give the police a reason to discover his rap sheet, right? Couple of broken taillightsshould be a good start. And I haven’t had any fun with a crowbar in a long time.”
“What happened to not turning into a mobster again?”
Rafe flashed an angelic smile. “Hey, I’m aiding and abetting the law on this one. Pat O’Connor’s a dangerous man. With atleast fifty unpaid parking tickets he bragged about a year ago. Bet its twice that high now. Pretty sure there’s an outstandingwarrant for him in Indiana, too. I’m just using my talent and experience to keep the streets of Bandon safe.”
Flynn wanted that. But keeping Bandon safe wasn’t at the top of his list. Keeping Sierra safe was.
That’s why he was going to spend his day skulking behind a known criminal with a hair-trigger temper who undoubtedly wantedto get revenge on all the Maguire brothers for breaking up his crew.
It was the most romantic thing he could do for her. Chivalrous, like a knight defending his lady in her teeny tiny castle.
Too bad she’d never know . . .
Chapter Sixteen
Sierra sliced the crusty, golden loaf of garlic bread. “Lily, you never explained what the occasion is? Why we’re all togetherat your house on a Thursday night?”
The strawberry blonde shoved her shag cut behind her ears. Steam from the pasta pot billowed around her face. “Because youhave to work on Saturday nights.”
“No, seriously,” she said with a roll of her eyes. Like they’d really bump their long-standing GNO tradition for her.
Lily fisted her hands on her hips, still clutching the bright red pot holders. “I’m dead serious.”
It . . . it was too much. They were all too sweet. Aside from Mollie’s birthday party, Elena, Karen, and Lily had only bumpedinto her in town a few times. She didn’t have the long history that the four of them shared. “You moved Girls’ Night? Justfor me?”
Elena cocked her head to the side. The quizzical look crinkling her nose pretty much said that Sierra had lost her mind toeven ask. “Of course. You’re one of the girls now.”
“Although we really ought to update and feminize that term.” Karen scowled as she set the salad bowl on the red farm table.“It’s too militantly 1950s, get me a cup of coffee, doll.”
After a loud scrape against the burner—did Lily actually know how to cook? Sierra wondered—she lifted the pot and upended it. Lifting her voice over the whoosh of water, she said, “Dr. Vickers, whatis your professional opinion on the gender politics of the phrase Girls’ Night?”
Mollie pulled the cork out of the bottle of red and flipped it end over end, considering. “I guess we could change it to Women’sWine Night, but that’s both too long and excludes our awesome margarita binges.”
“Elena? Where do you stand?”
A few deft twists of her wrists had her long dark hair up in a bun that Elena secured with a chopstick from the jar of utensilson the counter. “This isn’t your kindergarten class, Lily. You don’t have to call on each one of us.”
The sharp tone made Lily’s eyebrows raise above her pink frames. “If you’re going to be snippy, I won’t call on you at all.”
Sierra felt the tension rising in the air, like fog creeping its way up the beach. This was the problem with not knowing peoplewell, not knowing their histories. Would this be a big blowout of a fight? Should she leave the room and let them work itout? God, she hated feeling like she was on the outskirts even when in the cheerful white and red shininess of Lily’s home.
This was just more proof that her decision to stay, to put down roots, was the correct one. By the end of
