Ever took in a stuttering breath, blindly reaching over her son for Roar, who hiked Lyon up into his lap to make room. Roar grabbed her around the hips and slid her down the bench to curl under his arm.
“Is it her? Is it Wren?” Roar rumbled quietly, as though he didn't dare speak any louder.
Nasa lifted his free hand in a slow shrug. “Can't confirm. It was just a number, and I didn't feel like I had the right to call before Pen.”
About this time, Ever got over her shock and turned an alarming shade of red. “What in the fuck does 'I don't know if there's anything to come back to' mean? Her whole life was here before that psycho came in and fucked it all up.
"This is her home! We're her friends, her family for fuck’s sake! Where the hell else would she go?”
Top was the voice of reason in the face of Ever's emotion, and it became crystal clear why everyone looked to him for stability.
“She's been gone a long time, Red. She left without saying goodbye and not under the best circumstances. Is it really a stretch to imagine Wren might be under the impression she isn't wanted here because of her association to Ghost?
"Never mind that it's not true. Y'all women get some strange ideas in your head when you start fretting about what other people think of you.”
“Of course, she's wanted here!” Ever practically howled. “We've been looking for her this whole time—”
Top held up a gentle, but firm hand to forestall any further shouting, his beard jutting straight out in what Dillon had come to learn was an agitated posture.
“Darlin’, you know that, and I know that, but it's pretty clear to me no one told Wren.
"Far as she's concerned, when she disappeared off the map, she cut ties with us and burned her bridges.
"In her shoes, I'd be pretty damn concerned about whether or not I'd have a place here, too.
“'Sides, we're not sure this isn't another game Ghost's running, or if it is Wren on the other end of that phone number.
"Frank, when you're done, I want you sticking close to Pen. Make sure he doesn't go tearin' outta here to do somethin' stupid without backup.”
From further down the table, Frankie gave a thumbs up in answer since his mouth was packed full of pizza. Dillon noticed Nasa pause in his own eating to fiddle around on his phone, and from the glance she got, it appeared he was ensuring Pen didn't take off by disabling the automatic opening of the gates.
“In the meantime,” Top went on, “We're all gonna cool our jets, let Nasa and Dillon take a breather after their fun and games today, and we'll get back at it tomorrow to hear what's on that drive Rachel was so keen on hiding. You got any leads on her yet, Saint?”
Dillon looked across at Saint in time to see him shake his head. “Not really. I've cast a few lines, but the leads are thin, and I'm not expecting a bite. That Vanguard network is pretty solid, and the couple Dillon made the handoff to are full-time RVers.
“Got a mail forwarding service I tracked down, and I sent them an email on the address Nasa found for us, but unless there's some secret handshake I don't know about, I doubt they're going to get back to me.”
All eyes swung to Dillon, and she felt herself turn pink. It was unbelievably strange to be surrounded by people who knew she was a transporter in an active underground railroad.
She'd kept that part of her life so secret for so long, it made her feel naked to talk about it, despite knowing she was in a safe place with people she could trust.
“I have a phone number to a burner I can call,” she answered slowly, her throat closing around the intensely secret information. “Though, I truly don't know what to expect. I could lay it all out there about Ghost, the Leviathans, the human trafficking.
"Cindy and Dave could say all the things we want to hear, then call whoever their group works with to warn them I've been compromised.”
Saint nodded in understanding, but Top gave a grunt, spreading his hands before leaning his elbows on the table.
“All we can do is try, Dillon. If Ghost decides to go after that girl, well, I don't have to tell you what he's capable of.”
“I'll make the call tonight,” Dillon replied slowly. “After everything that just went down, I won't be active with Vanguard anymore. They've made it clear I can't trust them with my safety.
“Nasa and I talked on the way back, and he suggested setting up some kind of shelter or a halfway house for the victims Veracruz and his people rescue. Apparently, most of them have no home to come back to, and no resources to help them move forward.
“I've got resources, and skills to build them a fortress to recover in. Nasa even talked about maybe finding sponsors willing to fund a program to pair emotional support and protection dogs to the people like me who would benefit from having that kind of companion.”
She glanced down the table, at where Duke and Tobias had been putting away enough food to feed six men, and saw both of them had frozen in the act of shoveling more pasta in their open mouths.
Athena bounced in her seat and raised her hand with a gleeful look on her face, “I work with the animal shelters around here to evaluate rescue dogs. I can totally hook you up, and I know all the people to talk to about funding that kind of charity.”
“Fuck yeah,” Ever declared, wiping at her eyes as she found her way back to calm. “Whatever you build, I'll pony up materials and supplies to do a gardening program. It's very therapeutic
