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Now, alone again after the short flight to Arizona, Travis sped down the highway outside of Tucson. He was on his way to the house where Zach and Abby had moved after finding out they were expecting.
According to the report he’d just received from the teams watching his older two brothers, Zane, Keelie, Zach and Abby were all together there. Abby and Zach were expecting their parents to descend within the week and knowing Abby, she would want the house organized down to aT—and since Travis knew his brother, that meant he would have hauled his brother and friend Keelie into helping, doing what he could to keep Abby from doing anything more than the bare minimum.
Travis had no doubt Abby would have somehow managed just fine—she was terrifyingly efficient, likely a response to her freakishly chaotic mother. Travis was of the opinion that her mother, Blanche, was one of the sorriest excuses of human excrement ever to grace the planet and the only decent thing she’d ever done or created in her life was Abby, and he knew he wasn’t alone in that opinion.
But Abby adored her husband and if sitting around while he doted on her made him happy, she’d play along ... until it drove her crazy.
And now he was going to go in there and drop all of this on them.
As he pulled into the neighborhood, he called the two teams assigned to watch the couples, giving them a heads-up. One was in the empty house across the street, doing unnecessary repairs. The other had found the house behind and the right of them available for long-term rentals on Airbnb, so either Uncle Sam or Miles were currently footing that bill. There was another team located closer to Zane and Keelie’s place just in case the oldest Barnes brother and his wife made a quick exit and one of the teams couldn’t quickly vacate.
Zach and Abby were still somewhat visible in the media and unlike Sebastien and Marin, they were easily accessible and, therefore, vulnerable. Miles wasn’t taking any chances. Travis couldn’t thank his mentor enough for the care he was taking with his family.
As he parked the simple Black Ford Fusion in the driveway, he blew out a breath. A couple more hours, and he’d be back on his way to Isabel’s side. He checked his phone for any updates from Miles, or a text from Isabel, but saw nothing.
Just as he was pushing his phone back into his pocket, the front door opened and the two men there paused at the sight of him.
Travis went still, tucking his phone away and offering Zach and Zane a smile.
“Ah ... hey, guys.”
A wide grin split Zach’s face and then he took off running. In seconds, Zach had him wrapped in a tight bearhug that threatened to choke off his air supply. A second set of arms soon joined it and Travis closed his eyes, letting himself just enjoy his family for a minute.
“You’ve got securitywatching us, don’t you?”
The question came from Keelie. She was wearing a skinny denim skirt over a pair of pink fishnets, Doc Martens and a pink tank top, her eye makeup playing up her exotic eyes—one the pale gold of whiskey, the other icy, remote blue. And those eyes were sharp, peering right inside you. Travis had always taken care to avoid spending much time around this woman—she had the kind of street smarts that had made him suspect she’d pick up on things about him he’d rather she not see, much as Ressa had.
Since he was about to introduce them to their respective security teams, there was no point in lying, so he shrugged and nodded. “It’s necessary. Until this threat is dealt with, you’ll have people watching you.”
Zach scowled. Abby rubbed her belly.
Zane yelped and rubbed his side, looking at Keelie, who had just poked him in the side.
She had a smirk on her face and was smiling at her husband. “I told you so.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He tugged her in close and kissed her, then looked at Travis. “How long?”
“I can’t say for certain.” Blowing out a breath, he said, “My gut says it won’t be long.” Glancing at Zach as he wrapped his arm around Abby, he added, “Guys, I’m sorry.”
Abby frowned at him. “This isn’t your fault. Blame whoever this bastard is that’s terrifying your girlfriend ... Isabel, right?”
“It’s not just this,” Travis said.
“Travis.” Zane’s quiet voice pulled Travis’s gaze to him. “All of us have known you were dealing with some shit for a while now. We all hoped you’d come to us if you needed help, although ... fuck, I don’t think any of us thought it was going to be something like this. And as it turns out, you’re not in trouble, you’re just carrying weight from seeing the absolute worst of society out there. And you were doing it all because you couldn’t quit blaming yourself for being a stupid kid. You could have died at any point in time since you threw yourself in there. You don’t owe us any apologies. You were hauling kids out of hell. Shit, you’re a fucking hero.”
“No,” Travis said in a gritty voice. “I’m not.”
“I’ve been one of those kids living in hell, Travis,” Keelie said quietly. “Not in a pit as deep as some of the kids you’ve helped, but it was still hell. You sure as hell are a fucking hero.”
Eyes stinging, he lurched off the couch and paced over to the window.
He wasn’t any damn hero. He’d spent years living lies and he was ready to be done with it.
Soft hands touched his shoulders and he turned to stare blindly at Abby.
“Travis ... it sounds like you’ve got a second chance with this woman, and it sounds like you’ve loved her for a long time.” She smiled at him, a dimple creasing her cheeks. Glancing over her shoulder at Zach, she looked back at Travis. “I could have missed the best thing that ever happened to me if I’d insisted on being stubborn. Don’t you go insisting on being stubborn, too, and messing up this second chance you’ve been given. Not everybody gets one.”
She pulled him in for a hug. “Now ... bring in these bodyguards we’re supposed to have, then you finish up what you need to do so you can get back to where you’re supposed to be.”
