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I knew that feeling. “Mine’s back in full force at the moment.” I lit up a cigarette, too, and took a drag. “It won’t be long now.”
He blew out a breath. “Man, I hope you’re right. I check in with the kids every day, and they keep askin’…”
Yeah. That, I couldn’t imagine. I hadn’t actually spoken to Piper on the phone since we’d left Europe last time, and even before then, it’d been once or twice. I couldn’t deal with her being upset at the same time as I was dealing with my own shit.
I’d text her quick in the morning. First and foremost, she was Blake’s mom.
“Where’s Ramirez?” I heard Elliott ask.
“He’s stayin’ in Barcelona,” Darius answered. “He has a safehouse there with better tech.”
We were hit with the headlights from another car, and I watched Reese pull in between ours and the minivan that was already here.
“Took you long enough!” Crew hollered.
I glanced around us quickly and—
“Is Carillo close by?” Mercier asked.
“No, it’s safe here,” Darius said. Oh good. Or else someone might have to tell Crew to pipe down. “We have surveillance runnin’, so it’s all good. They’re about ten minutes up the mountain, and they have to pass us if they’re goin’ anywhere. Unless they’re heading into France, but that route takes forever.”
“Been there, done that,” Elliott said. “You look at the GPS and wonder how the fuck they estimate it’s gonna take two hours to drive twenty klicks.”
“Theview, though…” Gray smiled before shifting his focus and walking over to Shay. “It’s so good to see you, man.”
More greetings and hugs followed.
* * *
“…so Darius rented the place from a cycling club—apparently that’s huge in Andorra,” Gray was saying. “Kitchen, bathroom, and living room up here, but as you can see, we’ve put all our gear and stuff in the living room. The downstairs area is just a wide-open space with bunk beds—and another bathroom. Head down and grab a bed, make yourselves at home, and I’ll reheat dinner.”
“Thanks, kid. Good lookin’ out.” Reese clapped Gray on the back before taking the lead down the stairs.
“No problem, oldster,” Gray replied, not missing a beat.
“I knew I liked Gray for a reason,” Crew laughed.
The banter just never stopped in this crowd.
As soon as I had Blake back in my arms, I wanted nothing more than to take part—and to join their level of camaraderie, which I’d envied for years. Between work, deployments, raising my girl, and the shitshow that was Piper, friends were a foreign concept to me. Sure, I had work buddies I met up with for a beer or two every now and then, but that was really it. We went to the same bar, the one where I’d once reconnected with Elliott, and we had a few beers, we played pool, and then I went home, reminiscing about the time Elliott and I were there.
I wanted to make so many changes in my life.
Gray had been right in his description of the downstairs area. Past the entryway and bathroom, the room really was wide open, each wall lined with bunk beds. The center of the floor had nothing but a rug and a small table littered with cycling magazines.
Elliott and I dumped our backpacks on the bottom bunk he claimed as his, and I smacked a kiss to his cheek.
“It’s okay. I can climb.”
“Hey. I expect to get that shit from Crew.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What shit?” Crew asked.
“Nothing,” Elliott insisted.
This waiting game before we could get to Carillo was going to be interesting and probably frustrating as hell.
* * *
