“I've gotten my ass chewed by the department chief for letting the bikers go, but they're so violent, even the cops don't mess with them unless we have riot gear.
“Last year, they had some beef with a rival gang down in Austin. The Leviathans were responsible for a drive-by shooting, and they used rocket launchers to blow up the rival gang's clubhouse. Patti and I talked about it extensively, and she didn't want to press charges and risk retaliation.”
A muscle started ticking above Dillon's eyebrow, and there was no faking her feelings on the matter.
“That's total bullshit, Rain. My foundation has protocols in place for things like this, and if Patti is worried about retaliation, I'd have moved the whole goddamn shelter somewhere else. She knows that.
“She knows because it's right there in the contract she signed, and any breach of security means Monumentally is on the hook to foot the bill for relocation and a new secure facility.”
“I know, I know,” Rain placated. “It's rule number one with Vanguard too, Dillon. We press charges, but in this case, the danger as a whole was greater than danger to the one. Patti has twenty women and eight kids in the shelter right now, so I made the call.
"This gang is being investigated by the FBI, ATF, and the DEA, and if they have access to rocket launchers? No way. I advised Patti to let it go for the time being.”
Dillon reached up to pinch her nose, sticking to the role she had to play.
“I hear you, and I get it, but your badge does not trump the fact that the shelter is my responsibility, and Patti is my employee.
"In the future, I expect if something like this happens again, you will not leave me out of the loop.”
Nasa made a hissing sound, and while Rain promised not to take such liberties again, he looked at Dillon with such heat in his gaze, she felt singed.
Dillon had to focus on the fact she was pissed at Rain, otherwise she'd forget all about it and go over there to drop between Nasa's knees like she'd wanted to earlier.
“Was it also your call to file a missing person’s report on me?” Rain didn't immediately respond, but Dillon could hear a door open and close, the sound of the police station disappearing from the background.
“Once homicide notified me that the suspects I released were responsible for Portia's murder, I went back to the shelter,” Rain started, her voice lowered to a conspiratorial murmur.
“I told Patti everything I knew, and she reluctantly told me about the girl you helped get out of Dallas. Patti didn't tell me where you took her, and I don't care.
“What I care about is the fact the bikers tracked Portia down, killed her, and headed to the shelter.
"They didn't get anything out of Patti, but we were both concerned about blowback from the gang. I told Patti to keep on business as usual and not involve you unless it was absolutely necessary.”
Dillon's stomach flipped over, automatically feeling the fear of being found guilty of killing the two Leviathans at her home.
Veracruz didn't seem like the type to take chances, and if Nasa trusted him to completely dispose of the men she'd killed, then she trusted it was done and would never trace back to her.
Wasn't that an unexpected twist?
Rain kept talking, and Dillon turned to restlessly pace off the anxiety nipping at her heels.
“I worried the Leviathans were out hunting you, but I couldn't go back to homicide and tell them that without putting you, the girl, and Vanguard at risk.
“I called to warn you the day after they were released, then Patti called a few days later, and when we didn't hear back from you, I tried to track you down through DMV records, but your address came up as an office building downtown.
“I knew you were private, we all are, but you're totally off the grid. No GPS in your cell, Patti only has a number to your burner, no one in Vanguard has ever been to your place... You're so off the grid the missing person’s was a last resort, and I couldn't file it without my partner asking questions.
“The only way I could make it happen without connecting you to the series of events leading up to the murder, was to have Patti file the MP because you missed an important meeting and hadn't been heard from since before the break-in.
“I can't tell you how glad I am to hear you're fine. I'll take care of getting it pulled from the system. Can I call you back at this number if I need to reach you?”
Dillon agreed, already having discussed what to do if the detective asked with Nasa, and hung up.
The scuffed, beat-up toes of Nasa's boots came into view a few seconds later, and she looked up just as he settled his hands on her waist, studying her expression intently.
“What's wrong?”
Dillon shook her head, not sure if she could properly articulate the emotions rolling through her. She gave him a loose rundown of the conversation.
“You said the only calls I got on my burner were from Patti, right?”
“Three calls, all on the same day, from the same number registered to the shelter.”
Already feeling nauseous and anxious, Dillon swallowed hard as the list of people she could trust dwindled to an all-time low.
She focused on Nasa and didn't question why his hands on her made her feel better.
“Then Rain just lied to me, and I don't know why.”
Nasa's brows slammed down in a hard frown, his eyes narrowed in a nasty scowl. “What did she lie about?”
“She said she called to warn me the day after the Leviathans were released from county.”
“No one else has called your burner but Patti,” Nasa repeated, his gaze gone hard and mean with the implications. “I'll dig deep into Bolton's background right now.”
“Why would she hang me out to dry?”
Compassion cut through the heat of Nasa's
