“Sure. Is it about the meeting tonight?”
“Sort of. I need you to skip the meeting. I can fill you in tomorrow. Right now I have something more important to ask of you.” He locked up the front door and took a seat on the top step.
“Okay.”
“Can you come over to my house and look after Sloane? He hasn’t been feeling well, and I don’t want to leave him on his own. He probably won’t wake up for a while. I’ll leave the key under the potted plant to the right of the door.”
There was a long pause before Rosa answered. “So he’s not part of the meeting?”
“No, and it’s important you don’t tell him about it either.”
“Dex—”
“Please, Rosa. I need to do this. Trust me.”
Rose sighed. “Está bien. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
“You owe me several for this.”
“Whatever it is, it’s done. Good night, Rosa.”
“Be careful.”
“I will.” He hung up and slipped the key under the pot before calling for a cab. Walking down the stairs, he stopped at the bottom as a little old lady walking her tiny dog went past. Dex gave her a wave and a smile. “Hi, Mrs. Bauman.”
With a huff, she continued on her way. At least this time she hadn’t caught him in his underwear or lying on the sidewalk in his uniform holding his tranq rifle. As he waited down on the sidewalk in front of his house for the cab, he looked up at the bedroom. He thought about how much fun he and Sloane had in bed earlier. He also thought of Sloane’s words before he’d lost himself to his feral side.
“To protect you!”
Protect. It’s what Dex was trying to do. He hoped Sloane understood. Most of all, he hoped Sloane would forgive him.
Chapter 7
“SERIOUSLY? WHAT are we, the fucking A-Team now?”
Dex ignored Ash and addressed the team gathered inside the sleek black catering van with fancy white scripted letters that he’d borrowed from Lou. Thank God it was Therian-sized, or they never would have fit. It was pretty tight as it was with three Humans and four Felids. Lucky for Dex, Lou had been in a good mood. In fact, he’d been floating high. Dex assumed his date with Bradley had gone well. Lou had been all too happy to give Dex whatever he wanted, handing the keys over while he rambled on at full speed about how sweet and funny Bradley was, how handsome, smart, business savvy, and about his tattoos, how maybe Lou would get a tattoo—which had knocked Dex for a loop considering how squeamish Lou was about needles.
Ash had put in a call to everyone and given them the location of the van they currently occupied. They were in a parking garage a block away from Clove Catering next to the fire station. Everyone sat on the benches on either side of him waiting to know what they’d been called out for.
“Why are we in a catering van?” Cael asked, eyeing Dex suspiciously.
“I asked you guys to come because I need your help.” In reality, on the drive to pick up Ash, Dex had started to have second thoughts, but Ash insisted they needed backup on this. The two of them had argued—as usual—but in the end Dex had conceded, and not because Ash threatened to go ahead with the meeting anyway, but because the guy was right. Dex wouldn’t be able to do this on his own. Hogan and his crew outmuscled him. Ash had also admitted he felt like he’d been followed on his trip to the grocery store the other day. It had sealed the deal for Dex.
“Is Sloane okay?” Letty asked him.
“Sloane’s fine. He, uh, doesn’t know we’re here.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of this,” Cael muttered.
Calvin looked around the van. “Is anyone going to tell us what’s going on? Is this Lou’s van?”
Dex was trying to come up with the right wording when Ash did his Ash thing and blurted it out. “Dex has decided to put his career on the line to track down Hogan.”
“What?” Cael jumped to his feet and faced Dex. “Are you crazy? You can’t go against Sparks’s orders.”
“I don’t expect any of you to join me, but at least hear me out. Hogan’s not going to stop with the Westward Creed. He sent two of his followers to case Sloane’s apartment, and we’re pretty sure he sent someone to keep an eye on Ash.”