“I don’t know,” Michael said honestly, and Deacon smiled.

“Fair enough. This is the situation. I’m telling you so that you’ll be prepared, and so you trust us. Okay? We just got a call from Stone. He’s at Coach’s. In his side yard, to be exact. He was shot about an hour and a half ago and hit on the head. When he came to, his phone was gone and he was too weak to move, but Stone’s a tough guy and I’m sure he’ll be fine. Dani’s taking care of him right now.”

“Okay,” Michael said, his heart slowing. Not a normal rate, but he no longer felt faint. Something about Deacon’s manner calmed him. He was like Coach that way. “How did Stone call you guys if he didn’t have a phone?”

Deacon smiled approvingly. “Good question. You’re thinking now. Stone is a suspicious sort. He’s also a reporter, so he has sources who like to stay anonymous. Because of that, he always carries a burner phone. You know what that is?”

Michael nodded. “A throwaway phone. I watch TV.”

That made Deacon grin. “Okay. Well, he had a burner phone, but it was hidden in his damn boot, so he had to get to it and that took a while. He called his brother Marcus before he even called 911. He knew that this guy was looking for you. That he’d probably been following Dr. Dani, thinking she’d lead him to you. He wanted to warn Marcus that the man was coming.”

Michael’s shoulders lowered as some of the tension seeped out of him. These people really did care. Marcus and his wife had guarded him and Joshua, sitting by the door. All Dani’s friends had gathered to protect them. And Delores’s boyfriend, Stone, had put Michael’s safety over his own. “Oh.”

Deacon’s smile was warm. “Yeah. Stone likes to pretend he’s a gruff badass, but he’s really a marshmallow inside.”

“Like Coach.”

“Exactly. There’s a good reason those two are friends. Anyway, Greg just told us that he’d noticed an SUV that shouldn’t have been parked in front of one of the neighbors’ houses. He’d been walking the dogs.” Deacon rolled his eyes. “All seven of them. God. How did we get so many dogs?”

“Greg said it was because of Delores and her shelter.”

“It’s because we’re all saps,” Deacon said, but he smiled and Michael suspected the white-haired man was probably as big a marshmallow as the others. “Anyway, we believe he’s out there.”

“Did you call the police?” Michael asked.

“Well, yes,” Deacon said. “But we are the police. Scarlett’s a detective and Kate, Decker, and I are FBI agents. We will protect you.”

“Why don’t you just go out and arrest the guy, then?”