need backup.”
“Have them come up when they get in. I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.”
“What are you worried about?”
“That it might be a trap.” He hadn’t voiced that concern to Joanne, but with McKenzie being married to Bannon, anything was possible. “I don’t know if we’re going to walk in there and find Regan alive or the mob equivalent of a firing squad.”
“Got it. I’ll have all hands on deck for this one. See if I can bring in Razorback, too.”
“Ask Moto to get the plans for the warehouse. I don’t like going in there blind.”
“Already tried. The building’s too old. Nothing on file.”
Sloan cursed under his breath. “Tell him thanks for trying.”
“Have a safe trip, brother.”
Sloan hung up and sighed. So, they’d be going in blind, after all. He wished he could leave Joanne at Wiseman’s cabin, too, just to keep her out of harm’s way. But as the only one with a relationship with McKenzie, her presence was necessary, no matter how uncomfortable that made him.
Yeah, he had a bad feeling, all right.
He thought of his arm and the recent issues he’d had in combat. If the shit hit the fan at the warehouse, he needed to be at his best, not this eighty-five percent, one-armed soldier bullshit. But that was out of his control, and he knew it. More than that, it scared him. He’d nearly gotten Razorback killed. This time, there was even more on the line.
“I’m hungry,” piped Fiona from the back of the camper.
“Me, too,” called Lucas.
“Me, too. There’s a rest stop a few miles up the way.” He eyed April in the rearview mirror, seeming to watch a movie with Fiona on the iPad. The older girl had been downright withdrawn since the incident at the campground, and he didn’t know how to pull her out of her funk.
That’s because they aren’t your kids, asshole.
This was Joanne’s family, Joanne’s life. Beyond knowing they all liked Lucky Charms, he was just an interloper with no inside information on this clan. But if he was being honest with himself, sometime over the last few days, that was beginning to bother him.
He wanted to be there for Joanne and her kids, wanted to get to know them better. Hell, he even wanted to be closer to April, though that girl’s attitude could burn like the sun. He could see himself here, with them, going forward. Could imagine that all of them might one day become a family.
The Brady Bunch theme song started playing in his head.
I’m an idiot.
She’d asked him not to be nice to her kids, now here he was, thinking they might make a nice family. Just add water and stir. But nothing in life was ever as simple as it looked, least of all a woman and kids.
Maybe he could start small. Ask her out on a date. Given that he’d nearly made love to her against a tree, that seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do. Dinner and a movie. No, Joanne hated going to movies with him because they couldn’t talk. Dinner and bowling. Dinner and sex. Damn it, the tree idea had taken hold.
“I gotta go potty,” called Fiona.
“We’re almost there. Five minutes. Can you hold it?”
“No.”
“Well, you have to.”
“Okay.”
He smiled. Road trips were widely considered to be one of the levels of hell, but rather than aggravating him, it only showed Sloan how much he enjoyed their company. Maybe what he’d said to the old woman in the knitting store had held a kernel of truth. Maybe it wasn’t too late to grab the brass ring and hang on for the ride. Hell, he’s said something similar to Mac just the other day.
There was more between Jo and him than just some leftover chemistry. There was enough of a real relationship left over to build upon. But did she feel the same way? They were almost to the rest stop, and he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. “We’re going to stop up here and get some food.”
She sat up slowly and stretched, nodding. “How much farther are we going tonight?”
“Maybe another hour. Fiona’s about had it.”
“Me, too.”
He wanted to talk to her, wanted to see what would happen if he said what was in his head. His palms started sweating. “I was doing some thinking about you and me.”
“Oh?”
Just say it. Just push through the bullshit and say it.
“I enjoy your company.” God, that’s lame. “I mean, I like being around you. When we