Page 135 of Maximus

He was correct, Eva would jump at naming my kid Tex.

“We’re having girls, so this conversation is moot,” I told him. I did not see good things for my unborn child so I changed the subject. “Anything we need to go over? Did Owen ever get back to you about Natasha?”

“The woman’s not talking. I’ve been over all missing persons reports with the first name Natasha and came up with nothing. Either that’s not her real name or no one’s reporting her missing. Owen’s gonna get me something so I can run her DNA. But for now, he’s more worried about her getting settled in. You know he took her back to his place, right?”

“Yeah, I know. Eva’s called over there a few times to check on her.”

“And I got nothing new. You already know Novak’s body was taken care of. Kenneth and Tracy Eklund are making deals. Joshua Lemont is up shit creek with no paddles or life preserver. You four are all good. Smooth sailing from here.”

“Smooth sailing? We’re gearing up to roll out as soon as you and Garrett finish your work up.”

“Yeah, we should have everything ready in a few days.”

Fucking hell—a few days and I’d be leaving.

“It gets easier,” Tex told me.

“What does?”

“Leaving. Or so I’ve been told. The first time Wolf went on a mission after he met Caroline he was a wreck, couldn’t wait to get home, all the guys busted his balls over it. The first time’s the hardest.”

“You know you sound like an old man, sitting back sharing wisdom.”

“I’m an old man with everything I could ever want.”

Damn right, he had it all.

“Listen, I need to talk to about something.” The seriousness in his tone had me on high-alert.

“There a problem?”

“Not right now but there’s gonna be.”

“Come on, Tex. This isn’t your style. Enough with the cryptic bullshit.”

The deep creases between Tex’s brows worried me. In our world a problem could mean a variety of things. Anything from a shortage of ammunition, to someone’s life in danger, to anything in between.

“Declan’s…in over his head—”

“Yeah, Tex, I know.” I cut him off. “Has he talked to you about her?”

“Take Dec’s back,” Tex told me.

“What?”

“Max, trust me on this. Take his back. I know you don’t understand right now, but Declan’s struggling more than any of you know.”

“Declan is—”

“Hollow. He’s a dead man walking with nothing left to live for. He’s a shell of who he once was and if this goes sideways, he’ll never recover. This is it. Autumn Pierce may be the only person who can heal what’s broken inside him.”

“How do you know about Autumn?”

I didn’t bother asking how he knew Dec was dead inside. That was the only thing my team leader didn’t hide. You didn’t even need to meet the man face-to-face to know he was a shell of a man, you could hear it in his voice. I hated that Dec preferred to suffer in silence, but there wasn’t anything any of us could do when he refused to open up and trust us.

“I know a lot of things, Max.”

More ambiguity. Tex did know a lot, truth be told he seemed to know all—yet he’d never tell anyone how he came about the information.