“Do you have a full tank of gas?” I finally got the words loose and they had both the men in the front seat turning to look at me.
“Why?”
I exhaled and could taste terror and panic bright and crisp across my tongue.
“Because we’re going to the mountains.”
Not just any mountains. We were going to go to Quaid’s mountains. I was going to take these thugs on a wild-goose chase so I could hopefully buy Rome and Church time to help my parents out. There was a pretty good chance I wasn’t going to see tomorrow, and if that was the case, I was going to spend my last moments in the place where I fell in love and felt more loved than I ever had.
It was the easiest decision I ever made.
CHAPTER 17.5
Church
She told you not to call the cops.”
I shot Rome a look out of the side of my eye. It had been a long time since the big man had been my CO but some habits were hard to break, and ever since I came to Denver to work for him I often found myself looking to him for direction and guidance. The man had saved my life more than once, so it was a rare occasion I questioned him. That’s why I was sitting next to him in his big-ass truck as he raced across town towards Darcy’s house based on nothing more than Avett’s cryptic words and odd behavior. He thought something was wrong and I hated to think he was probably right.
He tossed his cell phone on the seat next to him and met my look with one of his own. The scar that bisected his eyebrow and slashed across his forehead always made him look fiercer and more terrifying than he actually was. Rome had settled into full-on civilian life since leaving the Army. The man had a forever kind of girl and a growing family, not to mention he was pushing paper and paying bills like an average Joe, instead of doing things that a man trained to kill in a variety of ways could be doing with his time. Maybe I should envy him. It was clear Rome had found not only peace but his place since getting out, but none of that was for me.
In fact, speeding towards the unknown, handguns stealthily tucked away as we tossed around various hostile situations that could be waiting for us when we reached the house, was the most alive, the most invigorated, I had felt in way too long. I wasn’t sure what kind of sick fuck that made me—the fact that I missed dodging bullets and the sounds of bombs going off way too close to where I was trying to sleep, but I did. What I didn’t miss were my friends dying and fighting a war that felt like it would never end. If I never had to make another phone call to a surviving wife and family again, I would be a happy man. A bored man, an unfulfilled man, but a happy one. I was pretty sure I wasn’t hiding that the only part of bouncing at the bar I liked was knocking heads together when idiots got out of line and the daily back and forth I had with Dixie.
The job was simple—I could do it in my sleep—but Little Miss Sunshine with her strawberry blond curls and her “I don’t believe in bad days” attitude was anything but. I’d never met anyone that was so … happy. The woman acted like the world wasn’t going to shit and like her go-nowhere job handing out drinks and smiling at drunks was the best thing to ever happen to her. And what really got to me was the fact she wanted to be my friend. What in the actual fuck? I only had a handful of those and sure as shit none of them were women. I wasn’t friends with people I wanted to fuck, and even though she wasn’t my type, her optimism alone was enough that my dick had no business getting hard when she turned her pretty fawn-colored eyes in my direction. Big doe eyes that were so soft and warm that they made me want to believe in things I knew weren’t real. I’d left anything that looked like hope and faith in the desert when my last platoon had been attacked and I’d buried pretty much every single man I’d been in the war with for the last eighteen months. It didn’t matter; Dixie spread her sunshine around, tried to get the rays to break through the perpetual black cloud that hovered around me, and I wanted her. I wanted to show her how rough and ugly the world and the people in it could really be, and since I wanted to tear apart what made her who she was, I stayed away while everything inside of me ached to get as close to the sunny little cocktail waitress as I could.
My being able to kill time and lay low at the bar was running out and not because I was bored and restless. My time was up because it was getting harder and harder to stay away from the girl and I refused to be the reason any of her pretty and infectious light went out.
“I didn’t call the cops, I called a cop. Royal said she would wait for my call but would have guys ready to roll as soon as we give her a status update.”
I tapped my fingers on my knee and nodded. “You really don’t miss this?”
Rome turned his head towards me and the edges of his mouth pulled down. “No. I have people I need to be around for now, and I want to see my kids grow up. Catching bullets and putting myself in danger are two things that are so low on my list of things I want to be doing with my time they don’t even rank.” He lifted the ruined eyebrow at me. “You do?”
I shrugged a shoulder and turned to look out the window as he pulled the truck to a stop around the block from where Darcy’s modest home was located. “I was in for a long time, longer than you. Sometimes I think the fight and the fear changed my blood. It doesn’t seem to move through me the way it used to. I can only feel it when the adrenaline kicks in.”
His dark eyebrows snapped down in a deep V and his mouth pulled tight. “That’s not any way to live, Church. You shouldn’t have to chase after things that can kill in order to feel alive.”
No, I shouldn’t, but I did, which meant I was a dangerous man, far more dangerous than I had been when I was working for good ole Uncle Sam.
We climbed out of opposite sides of the truck and I cocked my head at Rome as we rounded the back. “You take the perimeter and let me go inside.”
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with. We should both take the perimeter and then work our way inside together.”
I shook my head at him. “No way, brother. There is more unknown happening inside the house. Brite’s a big fucking dude. It woulda taken more than one guy to get him down. You’ve got those people you need to be around for, so there is no need for you stick your neck out any more than it already is. I’ll go inside—you make sure the outside is clear.”
He scowled at me and I could see the argument in his eyes before he said anything. “I don’t like this plan … at all.”
I chuckled drily and clasped a hand on his beefy shoulder. “Well, you aren’t my CO anymore and I’ve got more tactical strike experience than you, so this is how it’s going down.”
He blew out a breath of resignation. “Let’s hope we don’t need your tactical experience.”
If I was able to hope for anything anymore it sure as hell wouldn’t be that. “Let’s do what we do so we can focus on figuring out where Avett went because we both know that wasn’t any kind of hired car she jumped into. This situation is a full-on shit show and we’re in the stink neck-deep.”
He grunted his response as we split up and maneuvered our way around the block from opposite directions. Rome had changed since leaving the service but one thing that was ingrained in the man regardless of his situation in life was his need to protect those that needed it. Brite wasn’t only Rome’s mentor and savior; he was the man’s friend and there were no lengths the former soldier wouldn’t go to in order to make sure his friend was safe. I considered it my job to make sure that no one that mattered, no one that had someone to lose, got hurt. I would storm the castle and I would take the shot of adrenaline, the surge of fire and focus, that the first action I had seen in over six months brought with it.
I cut through the backyard of the house behind Darcy’s and dodged a barking German shepherd as I scaled over the privacy fence that separated the two yards. Luckily, Darcy’s yard had plenty of big elms scattered throughout the landscaping so I ducked behind one as quickly as I could in case whoever was in the house with the captive Brite and Darcy went in search of what had the dog going nuts.
/> I waited a beat to see if anyone was going to come out of the house guns blazing, but when nothing happened, I moved my way closer to the house using the trees and then the deck at the back of the house as coverage. I made sure to keep my head below the window lines since I was tall and would be easily spotted by anyone looking out. I crept along the side of the house and found my way to the back door. I didn’t think I would be lucky enough to find it unlocked, but fate apparently wanted Brite out of harm’s way as much as I did because the knob turned easily under my palm. The interior of the garage was dark and I could clearly make out the outline of Brite’s Harley and the bulk of Darcy’s Chrysler 300 parked next to it.
My heart was thudding in my ears, but outwardly every single part of my body was focused on the possible threat that was waiting for me behind the door that separated me from whatever was happening inside the house. I didn’t hear any noise coming from outside but Rome was good like that. If there were bad guys protecting the perimeter he would take them out without making a sound, even if it had been years since he’d had to put those particular skills to use.
I didn’t get as lucky with the interior door. It was locked up tight and I knew all my stealth and covertness was about to be blown to hell. I wasn’t going to waste time picking the lock when a shoulder and some muscle could get me in so much faster. I pulled out the gun that I had tucked in the back of my waistband and made sure the safety was off. I took a deep breath and reared back so that I could shove my way into the house, knowing I was only getting one shot to get through the door and take whoever was on the other side unawares. It felt like the good ole days and there was no denying that I could feel my blood rushing through my veins and the way the thrill of the action had me feeling alive in a way I seriously missed now that my life wasn’t about war and carnage anymore.
The flimsy wood gave way easily enough; it was the body on the other side that proved difficult to get through. I took a man to the floor as soon as I broke through and wasted no time in cold-cocking him on the side of the head with the butt of the weapon in my hand. I jerked my head back as blood spattered up at me and rolled to the side as gunfire erupted over my head. A bullet tore into the floor right next to where my face had been only moments before, and I swore as I aimed from my back and fired off a return shot that it hit its target dead-on, if the sound of the man shooting at me screaming was any indication.
I scrambled to my feet with my weapon clutched in both my hands and made a quick sweep of the room. The guy I hit was out cold and the guy I shot was lying on the floor clutching his leg as blood pumped steadily out of the hole I put there. I made my way over to him and kicked his gun to the side. I cocked my head as I looked at him and asked, “How many more?”
He looked up at me with glazed eyes as his pallor turned from white to gray. I may have hit his femoral artery with my shot, but I didn’t have time to feel bad about that. I nudged him with the toe of my boot and asked again, “How many more of you are in the house?”
His head lolled to the side as his eyes drifted closed and I knew I wasn’t going to get an answer from him any time soon. I swore under my breath and pressed my back to the wall so I could make my way down the hallway towards the front of the house while being as small of a target as possible. I couldn’t believe I missed this … but I did. I was operating on instinct and years of training. It felt good to be doing something, anything, that felt useful and purposeful again. I needed the charge. I needed the threat, and like Rome said, that was seriously no way to live the life I was lucky to still have. I so easily could have been one of my fallen brothers that didn’t even get a chance at anything more.
When I got to the end of the hallway, I caught sight of a reflection in the glass of one of the pictures Darcy had hung on the wall. Brite was on the floor on his side and his hands were tied behind his back. He wasn’t moving but that could be because there was a man in a dark suit, also reflected in the distorted image, who had a nasty-looking revolver pointed at Darcy where she sat crying on the couch.
“Fuck me.” The situation took on a whole other level of seriousness when it wasn’t insurgents taking hostages, but thugs threatening an innocent family. I wasn’t sure which was worse but I knew I couldn’t stand by and let Darcy and Brite get hurt any more than they already were.
“I heard the commotion from the back of the house and my spotter out front hasn’t radioed in. I know you’re there and if you don’t want this pretty lady’s brains splattered all over the couch you’ll throw your gun out so I can see it and then get your ass in here.”
I swore again, this time loud enough that he could hear me. I never liked to give up my weapon, but in this case I didn’t really have much of a choice. I threw the gun down and kicked it across the floor so that it went skidding well into the living room. I shook my head at how quickly things had gone south and lifted my hands up in front of me in the international gesture of surrender as I rounded the corner. I glanced down at Brite and was instantly relieved to see the man’s massive chest moving up and down in even breaths. His eyes were open and furious as he gazed at me with blood dripping down his face from a wicked-looking gash that ran the length of his forehead. I knew the badass biker wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The man with the gun shook his head back at me and gave me a grin that made my skin crawl. “I can’t believe you actually tossed the gun away. That’s an amateur move and I’m gonna make sure the girl pays for not following orders.”
I heard Brite growl from his position on the floor and Darcy started crying harder.
I dropped my hands so that they were hanging loosely at my hips and lifted my brows up at the cocky intruder. “No, an amateur move is bringing a single weapon into an unknown situation with an unknown number of hostiles.”
Before he could fire off the shot that I knew was coming as his finger twitched on the trigger, I pulled out the other pistol I had stashed behind my back and fired first. I hit the guy in the shoulder and the gun he was holding fell uselessly to the ground. I hurried across the room and tackled the man to the floor before he could regain his wits about him and reach for the weapon again. I punched him in the face hard enough that I heard my knuckles crack. He gurgled a trickle of blood out of the side of his mouth, and let out a pitiful little moan. Satisfied he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon, I climbed to my feet and asked Darcy where I could find some rope to tie all the intruders up with.
She was a blubbery mess and couldn’t respond but Brite barked out that he had a whole stash of zip-ties in the garage. I made short work of the guy in the back hallway and bypassed the one that I was pretty sure had bled out. When I jerked the guy’s arm with the bullet hole in it he screamed in agony and called me a lot of really colorful names. By the time I had them all situated, Rome burst through the front door followed by a pretty redheaded woman dressed in police blues.
They both gave pause as they took in the bloody but handled situation as Rome visibly shook himself back into action as he made his way over to Brite to work on getting him free.
“I’m calling this in. Ask the guy that’s still conscious if he knows where the guys that grabbed Avett are going.”
The redheaded cop disappeared back out the front door while she was talking into the radio pinned to her shoulder.
Brite leaped to his feet and went to work untying his lady. His dark eyes shifted between us with an intensity only a person that had been to war or a parent that had a child in danger could manifest.
“I need to call Quaid. He might know where she would take them. I have to get her back.”
Rome put his hand on the other man’s shoulder and told him solemnly, “We will. There isn’t any other option.” Brite nodded and started frantically poking at the phone that he had clutched in his hand.
Rome turned to me with narrowed eyes and asked in a voice so low that only I could hear him, “You really fucking miss this?”
I looked around at the blood and smelled t
he acrid scent of spent gunpowder that lingered in the air. I flexed my bruised hands and shifted on my feet.
“I do.” And that was why I had to get the hell out of Dodge, before I did something stupid like fall in love with a girl that didn’t have any idea what I was really like.
CHAPTER 18
Quaid
Orsen was staring at me from across his desk with an expression on his face that I had never been on the receiving end of. He looked frustrated and disappointed, but more than that he looked resigned. He had his hands resting on the slight roundness of his belly and his mouth was drawn in a line so tight it made the rest of his face look like it was stretched too tautly across his bones.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Quaid?”
I lifted an eyebrow as he bit out the words and settled back in my chair. I felt a lot like a kid getting pulled into the principal’s office. Where I would normally be doing everything in my power to placate Orsen and fix the situation, now that I had a better understanding of what was really important to me and what I really wanted to fight for, it was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him and his exaggerated bluster.
“Nothing.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my ankle over my knee. I wanted him to know I wasn’t intimidated by this little meeting and that I was done letting him yank on my chain. “I have nothing to say for myself, Orsen. I told you I wasn’t going to represent your friend, so even if I had been in my office when you brought him back by this afternoon, my answer would have been the same.”
Orsen’s bushy eyebrows rose until they almost disappeared into his snowy hairline. “Have you forgotten that you work for this firm? The firm you have been chomping at the bit to be made partner in, I might add.”
“I haven’t forgotten because it’s this firm that has dangled that partnership in front of me like a golden carrot for years, while I jump through every single hoop you’ve put in front of me. Answer me honestly, Orsen, are you and Duvall ever planning on offering me a full partnership?”