Page 2 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)
“ Y ou’ve been with me for eight years, Jordan,” Dave said.
Jordan sighed and pulled his gaze from the horses grazing in a field not far from where he and Dave stood.
Early morning on the Nightfall Drifter’s ranch was quiet. The sun cast an orange glow as it rose from the horizon.
It was summer in Nevada, and the early warm air promised to deliver a blistering hot day.
Jordan didn’t mind it; he loved the heat.
“Has it been that long?” Jordan said, resting his arms along the top of the wooden fence that enclosed a couple of mares along with two foals.
It didn’t seem like that many years had passed since Seth, Frost, and Storm had rescued him from the streets of Oakland and delivered him to the doorstep of Phoenix.
Apparently, time flew when you were having fun.
Dave smirked and nodded. The former Secretary of Defense was in charge of the unit known as Phoenix, as well as numerous others.
Phoenix consisted of an elite group of governmental operatives.
The unit was brought in when cases got messy or law enforcement needed plausible deniability, which was needed more than the average citizen realized.
They operated above the law, without restrictions.
Taking out the scum of the earth that preyed on the weak and innocent was Phoenix’s specialty.
Jordan loved working there and also working for Pegasus. Both teams were the first places he had ever felt at home.
“Eight years is a long time,” he said.
“Yes, it is,” Dave agreed. “And I haven’t asked you for much other than to do your job. So, I’m asking you now, stay with Pegasus,” the man concluded.
“I like it here on the ranch,” Jordan murmured instead of agreeing.
One of the mares came over and nuzzled his palm, and Jordan smiled before pulling out two carrots from his pockets.
The horse gripped one orange stick between her teeth, pulled it away from him, and crunched it loudly. The sound drew the attention of the other horse, who came trotting over, and Jordan dutifully handed her the second carrot.
“I like it here too,” Dave said, watching the young man with the horses.
Jordan had a gift, and it wasn’t only with animals, it was with people. Although Jordan would say he wasn’t a people-person, in Dave’s opinion, he most certainly was.
The eighteen-year-old boy Phoenix had rescued from the streets was long gone, and in his place was a well-educated super hacker with unmatched skill. At twenty-seven years old, Jordan had already attained more in his lifetime than most people did by their fifties or sixties.
Jordan had gone back to school for his GED shortly after coming to work for him.
From there, the young man had craved education and gone on to get his AA in business, BS in communications, and Masters in computer science.
Jordan was currently working on his PHD in the same field with a focus on both data science and cybersecurity.
Dave couldn’t have been prouder. Jordan was one of the best hackers on this side of the planet, and that was why he needed him to stay with Pegasus or hell, even come back to Phoenix.
He didn’t want Jordan mixed up with Genesis; the younger man was like a son to him, and the thought of Jordan running with the assassins just didn’t sit well with him.
“Genesis isn’t a place for you. For one, you don’t do that kind of work,” Dave pointed out, gripping the fence.
The ranch was actually a training facility for active and former military assassins as well as another specialty team. The place wasn’t right for Jordan, who had a much softer heart.
“Who’s to say this place isn’t for me?” Jordan volleyed back with a tip of his chin.
“Do you want to be an assassin? To kill people like that?” Dave squinted. Granted, they were bad people, but killing someone wasn’t easy. Something like that could stick around and haunt someone.
“No,” Jordan sighed, and after a moment, spoke again. “Tell me about this job.”
“Owen will fill you in,” Dave said.
Jordan tensed. “Why does it have to be Owen?”
“He is former military and available. He can keep you safe while you’re on the job,” Dave said, turning to face him.
“Okay,” Jordan said resignedly. He could see that Dave wasn’t going to budge on this, and he respected the man, so he gave in. “If I must.”
“Can I ask you something?” Dave said.
“Sure.”
“What sent you running from California?”
“Stuff,” Jordan murmured and avoided Dave’s searching gaze.
How could he tell Dave, a man he respected, about his shady past? Sure, they all knew he’d been a drug runner as a teenager, but that was it. Only Seth, Frost, and Storm knew that he had also sold himself for money.
The rest of them? Well, they thought they knew him, but they didn’t.
Dave had no clue what it was like growing up in foster care and deciding at the age of thirteen that it was better to live on the streets instead.
He, on the other hand, had firsthand knowledge because he had lived it.
The only one who came close to what he had experienced would be Storm, who had also grown up in the foster care system.
The worst part of it all was that he wanted to tell Owen. He wanted to share about his past, but the thought of disappointing the man was holding him back. He couldn’t face a look of distaste on Owen’s face…that would fucking crush him.
“Hey…I’m here if you want to talk about it,” Dave said, regaining his attention.
That was one of the things Jordan liked best about Dave. The man didn’t pry. The former Secretary of Defense was, in a nutshell, one of the many things he was thankful for in his life.
His life wouldn’t be what it was today without the man standing beside him. In truth, Jordan considered Dave more of a father than a boss.
Dave was part of his family.
He only wished he didn’t feel like he was living a lie.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
Dave smiled, patted his shoulder, and then headed through the morning light toward the mess hall.
Jordan stayed where he was for several moments and then turned back to the horses.
His friends and the men of Pegasus and Phoenix were all he needed.
But everything was at risk right now.
Because he was starting to care about Owen.
And fear was paralyzing him.