People ran into old high school friends in airports, on vacation in other countries, all the time. It was a small world, andwhile their town was small, it was a tourist mecca. O’Connor’s presence was a random coincidence. A Facebook-worthy mention, if they’d been normal people, butnot dangerous.
Still, giving Delaney the intel was important. In the past, Rafe had handled all the official business with the Marshals Service.He’d looked thrilled that his middle brother was picking up the slack today.
What Flynn hadn’t mentioned to either of his brothers was why he’d volunteered. Because he wanted to ask their marshal a very personal favor.
“Color me intrigued.” Delaney dug underneath the gun to come up with a small notebook and a pen. “Anything I can do to helpyou succeed in your placement, I will.”
That was the very fine line Flynn needed to balance on. Because the favor, technically, wasn’t for him. “You keep tellingus that for our new lives to work, we need to find reasons to be happy.”
“Yessssss.” She drew the word out longer than the Cubs catcher took to signal the pitcher at the bottom of the ninth withthe bases loaded. “Why do I think that my own words are about to bite me in the ass?”
“Did I really ruin your date?”
She looked at the sturdy runner’s watch with three dials and a whole bunch of buttons on her wrist. “Right now, it’s onlypostponed. We’ll see how this conversation turns out before I decide.”
Flynn had rehearsed his approach three different ways on the drive. But now, looking at her squinted blue eyes so full ofsuspicion? None of them were good enough to break through her multiple layers of adhesion to rules and policy and every damnedquintuple-checked loose end.
He had to use the big guns. He had to shoot from the heart.
“I need your help. Me, personally. Nothing to do with the case. Nothing to do with my brothers. I’m asking because this mattersto me. Because this person matters to me.” Asking Delaney for help fixing Sierra’s situation had been a hard decision to make. Especially without gettingSierra’s approval first. But this whole damn thing was a chicken and the egg. Did he explain first why he had an in with the Marshals Service? Or did he line up the cooperation of said marshal first?
“Oh, Flynn.” Her voice softened to the consistency of a flannel sheet, straight out of the dryer. “You went and fell in love,didn’t you?”
“Yeah. And I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life.”
Delaney laughed. Clapped her hand over her mouth as soon as it escaped, and then shook her head. “Wow. I mean, for a man restartinghis life for the fifth time in Witness Protection gearing up to go back and testify against the mob . . . that’s saying something.”
Way to state the obvious. Flynn gripped the steering wheel and stared across the busy parking lot. Because she could haveher laugh. Hell, she could ask him to boogie all around the lot with his underwear on his head and he’d do it. As long as she came through for Sierra.
“I’ll do anything for this favor.” Flynn slid his gaze sideways. “It’s not one-sided. It’ll end up being a favor to you, too.”
“Aside from keeping your idiot younger brother in line, there’s really nothing you could do to help me, Flynn. And those ofus on the government dime tend not to bargain with semi-illicit felon-types.”
Hell, did she think he was trying to bribe her? “I get it. Don’t worry. This has nothing to do with the mob, or our case.But I do have information that, if you move on it, could make you come off as a rock star of a marshal.”
“Withholding evidence is a crime.” The words snapped out.
“I’m not withholding. And it’s not my evidence to share. This is all hearsay. You have to do a little bit of the work yourself.”
“Fine.” Delaney waved a hand dismissively in the air above the gear shift. “But let’s stop talking in what-ifs and get rightto this amazing font of info you’re going to drop on me like a surprise Beyoncé album.”
“I need a guarantee there won’t be prosecution for this hypothetical person I’m about to discuss.”
She blew a raspberry. “I’m not some naive rookie, falling all over myself at your earnest pleas. I can’t promise anythinguntil I hear the details, let alone guarantee an ADA would fall in line.”
Damn. Had it been this difficult for Rafe when he’d struck the original deal to bring down McGinty’s crew?
Flynn grabbed her forearm. Stared into those unblinking, icy blue eyes. “Give me your word, Delaney. That’s good enough forme, seeing as how it’s kept us Maguires alive this long. I promise you’ll be helping someone who needs it.”
Toying with the ends of her ponytail, Delaney asked quietly, “Does this person deserve to be prosecuted?”
“No. I swear on my mother’s grave. She’s an innocent. Just got accidentally pulled into something nasty. If anything, shewants to help you catch the bad guys. She just doesn’t know it’s possible.”
A heavy bass beat coming from a motorcycle on their right rattled the windows. Flynn watched Delaney turn, almost absently,and check out the noise. He’d bet that she could give a full description of the bike, its driver, and the passenger from thatthree-second perusal.
She rapped the backs of her knuckles against the glass twice. “Okay.”
Flynn let out the tail end of a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. This could really happen. He could save Sierra, banishthe fear that kept her tossing and turning at night. No matter what did or didn’t happen to him at the trial, her life would be good. Safe. Everything he’d gone through since entering Witness Protection was worth it if it all led up toa U.S. Marshal guaranteeing to help Sierra.
Feeling lighter already, he picked up his coffee and slugged back half of it. “How would you like to bust a counterfeit
