“It might cause some pain and suffering at first, but I tend to believe the world is a better place when all the secrets are out in the open,” she said.
Damn, sometimes it was hard not looking at her and assuming she could see right through him. But with that question, he’d just exposed the biggest difference between them. She’d seen the real world, but she was still an idealist. She lived in a place where honesty and truth always led to the best outcome. He’d seen the same real world, but lived in a place where lies and cover-ups kept people safe.
“What about secrets the world isn’t ready to handle yet?” he asked.
“Give the world more credit than that. People can handle more than you think.” She gave him a pointed look. “Besides, no one has the right to decide what secrets another person can and can’t handle.”
Yeah, Mackenzie had definitely figured out this wasn’t a theoretical discussion. Not surprising. She was a journalist after all.
But when the burgers showed up, she changed the subject and started talking about the last time she had a burger this big and how much she loved them.
Great. Now Gage felt like shit. She probably thought he was trying to work the courage up to tell her about something else that had happened when he was in the Army, and that he’d tell her when he was ready. She’d freak if he told her his biggest secret—that he hadn’t gotten out of the Army because he couldn’t deal with the death of his friends, but because he couldn’t deal with becoming a werewolf. No matter how well Mackenzie thought she could handle things, she wasn’t ready for that kind of secret. He wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for that.
He shoved those thoughts aside and focused on his burger. At least that wouldn’t make him feel depressed.
He’d just drowned his fries in ketchup and taken the first bite of his burger when his phone rang.
Mackenzie looked at him, a French fry poised halfway to her mouth. “Guess you have to answer that, don’t you?”
He reached in his pocket and pulled out his damn phone. One weekend, that was all he’d been looking for. “Yeah, they wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”
Of course, it might not be work… Gage glanced at the call display. It was Mike’s cell, not the main line at the compound. He thumbed the accept button.
“Yeah, Mike, what’s up?”
“Damn, I’m glad you picked up. I was worried you’d let it go to voice mail.”
The tone in Mike’s voice immediately made his inner werewolf go on alert, and all kinds of bad shit start running through his head. “What’s wrong?”
“I just got a call from a guy I know over in Customs and Border Protection at Dallas/Fort Worth International,” Mike said. “We’ve got trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Red flags have been coming in on nearly every flight inbound from Mexico and South America since 0900 this morning. We’re talking more than a dozen guys. All cartel connected and all well-known killers.”
That sinking feeling in his stomach just got worse. “Why are we only hearing about it now?”
“Federal district attorneys have a couple major drug cases going on right now and thought the guys were in town for a hit on one of their witnesses,” Mike said. “My guy called me from the freaking bathroom because he knew they weren’t coming in for any witness. Not when they figured out who brought these guys in.”
Gage swore. “Hardy.”
“Yeah, and he’s not even trying to cover his tracks. The son of a bitch had limos waiting for every one of these guys. According to cops and informants I know back from my days undercover, the word on the street is that these guys are here to take you and your girlfriend out. Soon.”
“Shit.”
On the other side of the table, Mackenzie had put down her burger and was looking at him with concern.
“Gage, the deputy chief is going to want to put the two of you in protective custody, you know that, right?” Mike asked.
“That sure as hell isn’t going to happen,” Gage growled.
“No shit,” Mike agreed. “Hardy has men on the inside. He’d know where you were going before you got there. What do you want to do?”
Gage hesitated. His first instinct was to protect Mackenzie. His second was to protect his pack. But the Pack could take care of themselves—and Mackenzie—if they were warned. And if they were together.
“Call everyone in and get loaded up and ready. Mackenzie and I will be there within the hour. We’ll go from there.”
Mike didn’t argue. He didn’t comment about the fact that Gage’s visit to Hardy’s residence hadn’t had the desired effect, either. Damn it, he should have killed Hardy when he had the chance, badge be damned.