I lean down and kiss her forehead. “It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do. You’ve been through a lot. Let’s get through this, and then you take time to think it all through. All right?”
She kisses me lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”
“Warm enough yet?” Ozzie asks.
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, fine. Let’s do this.”
Ozzie wraps his blanket around his shoulders and sits in a chair by the wood stove. I grab a chair and join him. He holds up his phone, and as the screen comes on, we discover—to our horror—we are looking up Thunder’s nose.
“What the hell, dude?” Ozzie asks. “Why?”
The phone flips around and finally moves out. Thunder grins. “Sorry. Didn’t realize it was on yet.”
“Liar!” Lightning says from behind him. “He thought it would be funny to give you an up-close and personal view.”
“How are you all doing?” Durango asks as he reaches out and moves the camera to him.
“We’re doing all right,” I say.
Ozzie shakes his head. “It’s so cold here. All of California and Harding put us in the damn mountains.”
“It’s cold, but we have a wood stove, beds, and a kitchenette,” I say.
“Well, don’t make it too awkward for Ozzie, Coff. I heard you have your girlfriend there,” Lightning says.
I grab Ozzie’s phone and show them the cabin. “We are all in bunk beds in the same room. Nothing’s happening.” I circle so they can see the kitchenette, then I return the phone to Ozzie and sit back down.
“Wow, close quarters. Just like the barracks,” Axel says.
“What’s the plan?” Durango asks. “Harding isn’t telling us anything.”
I glance at Ozzie and then back at the phone. “Same here. We’re waiting to find out if the cartel was told anything more about my brother.”
“Hey, anything new there?” Ozzie asks.
Durango frowns. “You haven’t been gone very long. What could be new?”
Ozzie shrugs. “Any news on Stacy’s lawsuit?”
They all shake their heads. “Reed hasn’t mentioned it, and none of us want to bring it up,” Lightning says.
Well, that’s understandable. Even saying her name puts everyone in a bad mood. That woman has put Reed and the rest of us through hell.
Thunder smiles. “Oh, there is some news! I almost forgot.”
Lightning’s hand suddenly comes up and covers the camera lens. “No, don’t tell them that.”
“Why not? You know I have to.”
I glance at Ozzie, and he rolls his eyes.
“Guys, covering the camera does not mute you. We can hear every word,” Ozzie says.
Delaney laughs at their antics as she steps up next to me.
“Fine,” Lightning says. Then he steps back and crosses his arms.
“Is Lightning pouting?” Ozzie asks.
