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Killion nodded to the cameras and the bed, and Cane turned red.
“Okay,” Cane said hastily.
“Okay, then.” Wit nodded with a grin.
“Alrighty,” Killion continued.
“Ah, no ya don’t. You two were gonna leave so I could finish up in here,” Wit warned. “I’m about to head on into that there bathroom for some business. You can follow, but I’ll start to question your intentions if ya do.”
“Right,” Cane said and turned to leave. “Ah, shit.”
Ronan and Ryker entered the room before Cane and Killion could leave.
Wit tossed his arms out in surprise. “I thought you said Coy and Rip were here with y’all. That there ain’t Coy or Rip.”
“Too good lookin’ to be either of those guys,” Ryker teased. “What’s up? What are you all doing in here?”
“Getting some answers.” Killion glared at Wit. “About our sister. And we said Coy and Rip were helping Aye with breakfast. We didn’t say they were the only two here.”
Ronan and Ryker shared a knowing look and puffed out their chests.
“We got a problem? Is he… with Ayelish?” Ronan began.
“I don’t care how honky-tonk, backwoods you say it, but it better be a no. That may be their baby sister, but she’s our baby cousin,” Ryker warned. “And there’s a good hundred more O’Reillys nearby who’ll have your ass in a sling in no time if…”
“Y’all know she’s a grown woman, right? And even if she was sleepin’ with… someone… it’s her choice,” Wit defended. “I dare you to go out there and look Ayelish in the face and question her ’bout who she’s sleepin’ with. Let’s see whose ass is in a sling then.”
Wit winked while tying his boots. “Now that we got that out of the way, can we rewind a minute? Who else is here… not making breakfast with Ayelish?”
“Landry, Gannon, Iz, Mendoza, Eli, Dillon, Mercy…” Ryker began to count off fingers as if it helped keep the list of Keepers in the other room straight. “Charlie Tango, Coy, Declan, Liam, Luke, Dace, and… Wylie.”
“What the hell? That’s almost everyone from our local crew.” Wit sat back down. “If Dillon is here, that means…”
“Yep,” Ronan answered, knowing exactly where Wit was going with his inquiry. “Ransom’s in town. Too many protocols for the president of the United States to come here, so he’s at Watermark waiting. Didn’t want to draw attention to you.”
“Didn’t his big fancy plane do that?” Wit asked. “Air Force Oneis a pretty big deal when it lands in Portland.”
“Didn’t land here,” Killion said. “We sort of found a work-around and drove him in. The vice president is campaigning up north, and he sat on the plane until the coast was clear and jumped in a convoy.”
Impressed, Wit chuckled. “No one knows he’s here?”
“He’s offered the full support of the White House and considers this an attack on national security in a roundabout way,” Killion offered. “Anything we need, it’s ours, he said. Even brought his head guy, Kroy, to help in his place since he can’t go out in the field much. Too risky.”
“Why?” Wit’s voice lowered to barely audible. “Why are they all here?”
“For you,” Cane said frankly.
“I get that, sort of. But why?” Wit went on, having trouble expressing his feelings and words as it related to all the help coming in from all over. “What do they know that I don’t? I don’t understand.”
Wit stared off in the distance as awareness began to settle in.
“You good?” Ronan asked, and Wit nodded, turning his attention back to the guys. “They’re here to help clear you. Everyone’s coming in. From all over.”
“Oh. Right.” Wit pondered the statement a moment. “For me, though?”
“Yeah, man.” Ryker took a seat next to him. “Seems you’ve got more friends than you thought. We’ve been putting people on standby –– keep them spread out.”
“Wow, that’s…” Wit paused as Ayelish entered the room. “Incredible.”
