Kane put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, kid.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Kane cracked a grin. “He’s already more polite than you ever were, Sean.”
Carson Spade practically growled. “Madison will never let you near him, not after what you’ve done.”
Sean glared at Spade. He was in deep. Could the feds even trust him? That wasn’t Sean’s concern.
He glanced down at Jesse. Yes, Carson Spade was Sean’s concern, because he was in his son’s life. Even if Spade went to prison for the rest of his life, he had worked for some very bad people, and those people may seek retribution on Spade’s family.
Sean’s son.
Kane caught his eye. His expression was hard, as if he knew exactly what Sean was thinking. Kane put his arm around Jesse’s shoulders, silently showing Spade-and Sean-that Jesse was under their wing. That the Rogan family would protect him.
The FBI agents drove away with Spade, and JT came over to them. “Sean, do you have a minute?”
Sean followed JT away from the others. Jack and Matt were refueling the plane and talking. Sean had learned that Matt was Jack’s brother-in-law. That, more than the fact that Matt was a prosecutor and JT’s closest friend, was probably why he’d come to help. Because he was family. It was truly a small world.
“First, the feds are going to want to talk to Jesse, but I convinced them to let you bring him back to his mother in San Antonio. Madison Spade has been told not to leave town until after she and Jesse are both deposed. I thought you might want some alone time with your son first.”
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat, surprised at the emotions that ran through him. It was like he was one big emotional balloon that could burst at any moment.
“Sean, I want you to come back full-time with RCK.”
Sean hadn’t expected that. He didn’t know what to expect-maybe a lecture, or a warning. For years he’d wanted to please his brothers-and JT, who was the next closest thing to a brother-but he always felt like he’d fallen short. That he’d disappointed them. When he left, he left on his terms, because he realized that his brother Duke-his guardian, his mentor, his tormentor-would never think of him as an equal. Sean would always be the problem child, the kid who got in trouble and tried to charm his way out of it.
Duke never gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“You know why I left.”
“Yes.” JT looked Sean squarely in the eye. “Family is complicated, and while we love our family unconditionally, there are still… long memories. Deep resentments. Sometimes we can’t overcome our own insecurities, guilt, failures, or fears. Duke is a good man, but he has a blind spot when it comes to you. He’s trying. I want you back in RCK. Me. And Jack. You’ve already been working freelance, but I want you under our umbrella. You’re an asset, one I don’t think any of us appreciated until you were gone. You won’t be working under Duke. You may have to work with him, because when you two partnered on security systems it was truly a sight to behold. You work well together… But you would be a full partner. Like Jack. Like Duke. Like Kane. Like me. Equals.”
Sean was speechless. He hadn’t been expecting the offer, and he didn’t really know what to think about it. He missed his old assignments, but he didn’t miss the tension.
If he was really a full partner, an equal, maybe he could find a way to work with Duke.
JT continued. “It won’t be easy. Jack and Duke are both married to federal agents, you soon will be, and there are times when we won’t necessarily see eye-to-eye. But I know we’ll make it work. I want to make it work.”
“I need to talk to Lucy. I need a few days.”
JT nodded. He slapped Sean on the back and said, “You were good back there. Truly good. Even with the personal stakes. But it’s not because of this operation that I’m asking you back. It’s because you make RCK better.”
“I appreciate it.”
“One more thing.” He put up his finger to have Sean wait, and walked over to the plane. He spoke briefly to Jack and Matt, then went inside and came out empty-handed. Odd.
This week had surprised him. JT and Jack had Kane’s back. They didn’t work south of the border anymore, but when Kane and Sean needed them, they were there. That kind of brotherhood went beyond blood. And for the first time, Sean felt like he was really one of them. Not just Duke Rogan’s smart-aleck troublemaking little brother, but one of the team.
Returning to RCK had a lot of pros, more pros than cons. The only big hurdle might be Sean himself-whether he could forgive his brother Duke, whether he could pull himself out of the role of the troublemaking little brother, whether he could get over his insecurities and resentments. Maybe his entire problem with RCK in the first place had been psychological.
JT came back over to him. “The bearer bonds. They’re in the lock chest on the plane. I need you to take them to your house. You have a safe, correct?”
“Yes.”
“State of the art, I assume.”
Sean smiled. “Yes.”
“Those bonds are hot right now. There are a lot of people who want those bonds for a variety of reasons. Until things cool down, I’d like you to keep them in your safe.”
“Okay,” Sean said, skeptical. “Though RCK has a safe, too. Bigger. Better.”
“It’s complicated. But Rick Stockton and I have an agreement-and it works for us. One of the terms is that we don’t keep certain information from each other. After the operation, he heard about the bonds… and asked me if I had them. I said not anymore. So I can’t have them, at least not right now. When things settle down, we’ll arrange a time for you to bring them back to RCK.”
“Okay.” Sean was curious-more than a little curious-but he would do research on the bonds later. Talk to Kane.
First things first. Reunite Jesse with Madison. See Lucy.
“You’re good here?” JT said. “Kane’s going to go with you to San Antonio, just in case. I don’t expect trouble, but…”
He didn’t need to say anything else.
Sean asked, “Do we have a report on casualties?”
“All I know for certain is that Samuel Flores is a confirmed kill and Jose Flores is alive and well. He’s the least of my concerns.”
“There was a girl, with Alberto. Young. And an infant.”
“Gabriella got the girl and baby out, but I don’t know where they are. The Romeros will try to get them back to the States. I don’t have a report on Alberto, Dominick, or Jasmine, but we have people down there. We’ll have intel soon.”
“Thank you.”
“Watch your back, Sean. Until we get a full and confirmed report, we all have targets on our back.”
JT left with Jack and Matt. Kane walked over with Jesse. “Ready?”
“We’re fueled, let me just check over the plane and we can go.”
“What’s going to happen now?” Jesse asked Sean.
“The FBI will talk to Carson. Decide if they have enough to arrest him. There’ll be a trial. Your mom will be questioned about how much she knew. You may be questioned.”
“My mom didn’t know anything. She wouldn’t have let me go if she did.”
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe she was willfully blind to the truth.
“Carson isn’t all bad,” Jesse said.
“No one is all bad.” That wasn’t true. Sean had promised never to lie to Jesse, and he’d just lied. “Well, there are some people who are mostly bad, but let me tell you something. When Carson recognized me last night, the first thing he thought about was you. He was worried about you.”
“But you weren’t going to hurt me.”
“No, never. But he didn’t know what the plan was, and he knew that whatever it was it would be dangerous. And he didn’t know if I was there to take you away from your mother.”
“Would you?”
“I thought about it for half a minute.” Sean stared at Jesse. He hadn’t been there for him. Through no fault of his own, he hadn’t been there. But would he have made a good father? He didn’t know. “Look, right or wrong, your mother did what she did and we can’t change that. But she loves you. She was there for you every day since you were born. I wouldn’t take you away from her. Okay? Don’t worry about what’s going to happen.”