Page 65 of Eagle

“Owen ate something that didn’t agree with him,” Mac tossed over his shoulder as he rushed toward the bathroom. “Stinks to high heaven in there.”

I turned back to Leo. Her eyes were clear now, and bright with humor. “Tonight, baby? I’ll pick you up at your house?”

“I’d like that. Do you want me to fix dinner first?”

“No. I have plans for that.” I kissed her on the nose. “Got shit to take care of. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

I felt her eyes follow me as I left the office. Tonight would be interesting.

Chapter 27

Leona

I couldn’t stop thinking about my upcoming evening with Eagle. I wished for the day to fly by and kept busy so it would. All the way home, I thought about what I would wear. A bike ride didn’t leave me with many choices other than jeans and boots, but I could dress up the top half of my body, and I knew exactly which top I was going to wear—something off the shoulder, flowy, and very sexy.

I pulled into the drive and parked behind Ron’s car. I was surprised to find him home. He’d said that he was going to work all the double shifts he could in order to pay the Soldiers back as soon as possible, but as soon as I walked in the house, I knew why he wasn’t working.

“What’s going on?” I noted the boxes that were stacked in the middle of the room. I tossed my purse onto the nearest chair and slapped my hands on my hips. “What have I missed? Have you been evicted?” I hadn’t been home in a few days.

“I’m going home.” He straightened from the box he’d just closed and faced me.

I frowned. “You mean home, home, to Mom and Dad?”

He nodded. “I need to get away from the people here. Distance myself.” He shrugged. “Mom was right. I’m not ready to be out on my own.”

That was surprising. I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. “Is Lawrence giving you a hard time?”

“Lawrence, and the people he’s involved with, Sis. I don’t know who they are, but the Soldiers broke some of Lawrence’s fingers and warned him away from us. I’m sure he’s told the man he works for, and he’s not going to be happy about losing those dogs he paid for.”

“They broke his fingers?” This was the one piece of information that stood out to me.

He made that clicking sound with his tongue that revealed his irritation. “Big picture, Leona. They did what they had to do to rescue you and the others. The Soldiers guessed that there was a connection between the stolen dogs and you girls being taken, and they were right. Lawrence knew where the Maniacs had taken you.”

Oh, the little bastard. “So do you think they’ll come after you now?”

He shrugged. “I’m not going to take any chances. I’ll go home and lay low for a while, then find another job. I’ve got three months left on the lease. You can stay here ‘til then.” Regret filled his eyes. “It’s not paid.”

I hadn’t expected that it would be. “Do Mom and Dad know that you’re coming?” They hadn’t mentioned anything to me while I was there.

He nodded as he expelled a loud breath. “Yeah. I called them when I made the decision. I didn’t tell them about any of this, Leona, just that I wanted to be closer to home.”

This time I did laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure they believed that. You’ve spent half your life telling them how you couldn’t wait to be out on your own.”

He frowned. “You didn’t tell them what’s going on, did you?”

I’d wanted to, but I’d decided that there was no reason to worry them when, until now, everything that had happened had turned out okay. “Of course not.”

“As soon as I load these boxes, I’m out of here.”

I wasn’t sure how I should feel about Ron’s decision. On the one hand, I was glad that he was going home. On the other hand, he was the reason that I’d moved here in the first place. But regardless, I knew that he was making the right decision. Mom and Dad would have more of an influence on him if he was underfoot.

“I think you going home is probably a good idea.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been a real fuck-up lately. Guess I’m not as ready to be out on my own as I thought I was.”

I stepped closer to him and gave him a hug. “You’ll get there. Just don’t be in such a hurry. It’s a big responsibility to be out on your own, and Lawrence took advantage of your, um...” I stopped, because the only word I could think of to describe my brother’s behavior was ‘stupidity.’