Both women looked uncertain.

So Hawk kept going.

“It isn’t just the people in this room who have your back. This team is larger. We’re motivated to see an end to this not only to put a stop to what’s happening in the DPD, but to make certain you two and your families are out from under this threat.”

When they both continued to appear unsure, Hawk gave them more.

“We don’t know who they are, but we know what they want. Now what we need to do is stop them before they get it and disappear. I know I don’t have to tell you that Tony needs justice. And Heidi, whatever your husband did, he didn’t kill his partner. What he did cannot be undone. But that’s what should be known about him. And what should be known about the ones behind this is that they’re dirty, they’re murderers, and it might not be innocent men who took their raps, but they were innocent of those raps. I understand your fear and that it might be difficult to trust people you don’t know. All I can do is assure you that we have significant resources, and they’re at your disposal to keep you safe if you choose to accept them.”

Heidi and Lynn looked at each other.

Then they looked at Hawk.

“Okay,” Lynn said.

“You’ll clear my husband’s name?” Heidi asked.

Hawk nodded, but replied, “Of what he didn’t do. Absolutely.”

Heidi took a beat.

Then she said, “Okay.”

That ended the meeting.

Ally, Mamá and Cisco were about taking care of the women.

Hawk, Boone and Axl moved back out to the Hummer.

Hawk had turned around in the huge drive and had just started them down it when he said, “I wanna know who Dynamite is before we’re down the mountain. And I want to know where to find whoever that is.”

Boone got out his phone.

Axl did too.

EPILOGUE

Soar

AXL

That evening, Axl walked into his house with his phone at his ear and his eyes scanning the refrigerator door.

“Ghost,” Jorge stated. “And I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know she’s been outta sight for months. People saying she just vanished. Word she’s a sex worker. Also word she’s a junkie. Can’t get a lock on it. Now, she’s just nowhere. She could be dead. She could have relocated. Vance is on it.”

They were talking about Dynamite, who he now knew was a ghost, something that didn’t help them. Also something they unfortunately hadn’t been able to ascertain before Hawk drove them down the mountain.

Now he knew why.

Because she was a ghost.

And Vance, Lee Nightingale’s man, was on it because he was not only Lee’s best tracker, he was the best tracker any of them had.

Which meant he was the best tracker not only in the state of Colorado, but the entire Rocky Mountain region.

As in, unless Dynamite was encased in lime, which she hopefully was not, and maybe even if she was, Vance would eventually find her.

“Brandi?” he asked Jorge.

Having gotten a greeting-non-greeting from Cleo, who saw him, took him in, established he was still capable of feeding her, then walked away, he continued looking for a note from his woman.

This because her car wasn’t in the garage and she hadn’t sent him a text to say she wasn’t going to be home when he got there.

“Still elusive. No one knows where she is. Cisco and Ally are still on that,” Jorge told him.

He was in his bedroom, seeing no note on his nightstand, so he stopped and looked around.

“I’m not having good thoughts about Brandi not being locatable. She’s not the sharpest tack and she’s been untraceable for weeks,” Axl remarked.

“I think we need to brace for the fact that we are far from the only ones who know that Brandi blabs for dollars. And it wasn’t long after you and Aug talked to her that you connected the dots on the setup and handed that shit to the police in an official capacity, which meant Hattie’s stalking stopped,” Jorge replied. “They took out two of their own. If Brandi becomes a liability, they wouldn’t blink in erasing her. And she might not be a bright bulb, but she knows this is ugly. So it might be her that decided on a new location that doesn’t include the Denver Metro Area or anywhere near it.”

If he was her, he’d be gone about ten minutes after he and Aug left her apartment.

He was not her, which was why he wasn’t stupid enough to be on her side of the game.

“So right now, dead in the water …again,” he finished.

“Yeah. For now,” Jorge confirmed.

Axl heard him, but he was focused on something else.

He’d found Hattie’s note.

As well as other.

“Lee’s got guys on the camera work,” Jorge said in his ear as Axl moved to his dresser. “Lynn’s feeds will come into our monitors. Heidi’s will go to Nightingale.”

“Right,” Axl murmured, staring at the top of his dresser.

“That’s it for tonight. Meet tomorrow with all the players to brief and reassess,” Jorge said. “Nine, at our offices.”

“See you there,” Axl said distractedly.

“Right, brother, uh …you good?”

Axl stared at the picture frame by Jordan’s flag, more precisely what was in it, and said, “Yeah, I’m great. Hattie left me a present and I just found it.”

“Cool.” Jorge sounded amused. “Later.”

“Later, man,” Axl said and disconnected, eyes still to the picture.

They’d been on leave.

They’d taken it in the Keys.

Beach bar.

A babe in a bikini top and short sarong who had a thing for Jordan took that shot of them.

Three inches taller than him, Jordan had been fucking around, got Axl in a headlock.

They were both pretty significantly drunk and laughing.

During that vacation, they’d sprung for separate rooms.

It had been a good call.

That night, Jordan had tagged the girl in the sarong.

Axl had spent the night, and the rest of his leave, hooking up with a tall blonde who gave shit head and he’d discovered had fake tits. But it wasn’t a bust because she was seriously funny and she was a local, so she knew all the best restaurants.

Call him crazy, but he’d take laughs, good food and good company during a vacation fling over good head and real tits any day.