Page 20 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)

T he location on Black’s phone had been stationary for about ten minutes.

That meant one of two things, either Black was waiting for him, or he was wounded…or dead.

Black worked for Genesis, and with the assassin’s reputation, Jordan didn’t see anyone getting the drop on the guy.

The place he and the other operatives of Pegasus came to was a cigarette shop that butted up against the alley. The front of the building lit up with neon signs and advertisements in bold letters on colorful paper.

The bell dinged when he walked in with Link and Eagle following closely, while Creed stood watch outside the front door.

The clerk at the counter glanced up. He looked to be in his mid-thirties with waist-length scraggly hair that matched a long, bushy beard and eyebrows. The guy wore a tie-died shirt in orange and lime green and had beads and leather-strapped bracelets lining his arms.

The clerk took their measure and then nodded to the back room as if he’d been waiting for them…or he’d been told they’d be coming.

Jordan walked to the entrance to the hallway, through the beaded curtain that separated the front from the back, and down the narrow hallway beyond. He came to a rather large break room and stepped inside.

Elliott was sleeping curled up on a broken-down sofa against one wall.

The man who stood up from the table was nothing like Jordan had imagined. If this guy was, in fact, Black.

Long jet-black hair fell past the man’s shoulders.

He probably stood close to six feet, if that.

With a slender, willowy build that looked like a strong wind could knock him over, the man was stunning.

The only thing that came to mind when Jordan was faced with Black was how absolutely gorgeous the guy was.

Slim-fitting black jeans hugged his narrow hips, and a white top with long, silky sleeves fell over the tops of his hands, while a V neck showed his creamy skin.

In short, the man was ungodly beautiful, and the way he moved, the way his onyx eyes locked on him was all grace.

It was at that moment that Jordan realized shock had filled the slender man’s eyes as they gazed at him. And he wondered if he had something on his face. Although, he hadn’t eaten anything, so that couldn’t be the case.

“Jordy?”

Jordan blinked at the sound of his old nickname coming from the guy’s mouth and he squinted, searching the man’s face.

Then, he lost his breath.

“Micah?” His voice came out raw. “Micah Tiller? Holy fuck.”

Micah was around the table just as Jordan moved, and he clutched the younger man tightly. Micah was a couple of years younger than him, now twenty-five. He had changed, but once Micah had spoken his name, he could clearly see the face of the boy he’d lived with many years ago.

“Jordy! Oh my god.” Micah’s voice came out choked, and he squeezed tighter.

After several moments, Jordan held Micah at arm’s length and tried to smile as the memories came crashing back.

“We have a lot to talk about,” he said.

“Yes, let them take the boy and we can catch up.”

Link had already approached Elliott, who was sleeping on the small, broken-down sofa. Eagle stayed watching the door.

Micah approached Elliott and gently rubbed the boy’s back. When Elliott opened his eyes, he rolled and sat up, rubbing his fists at his eyes.

“Elliott, these are my friends. They are going to take you to your daddy.”

“You and B..b..black going to take me?” Elliott whispered to Micah, eyeing the men of Pegasus with distrust.

“I know, buddy, but your daddy stayed behind to get Weston,” Jordan said, having approached, he crouched down next to Micah. “You can see both of them.”

Elliott glanced from him to Micah and back to him again, tilting his head, gazing at them before slowly nodding.

“This is Link, he’s a really good friend of your daddy’s,” Jordan said.

Link smiled, and Elliott seemed to visibly relax. Link was a kid whisperer. Link and Eagle had a boy they’d raised for the past several years and were very familiar with children.

“How about a hamburger and fries on the way?” Link said, holding out his hands to Elliott.

Those were the magic words, and the boy nodded and launched into Link’s arms.

“Want me to tell Owen anything?” Eagle asked as Link left the room with Elliott.

“Tell him I’ll text him when I can,” Jordan said and handed Eagle an envelope. “Wait…” Jordan turned to Micah. “What about Cory, Danner’s second-in-command?”

“Black took care of him,” Micah said flatly.

The hard light in the man’s dark eyes told him more about Micah than anything.

His friend had indeed become an assassin, or at the very least was hanging out with them.

They ended up staying at the tobacco shop and ordering fast food to be delivered.

“So, you’re not Black,” Jordan said.

Micah shook his head, sending his silky dark hair swaying over his shoulders.

“Then who is?”

“You remember my older step-brother?” Micah asked.

“Chase?” He asked, and then things started to click. “Chase Black.”

“Yeah, he’s the guy they call Black.”

“Damn…” Jordan rubbed at the back of his neck and lifted a fry from his plate before picking up his burger.

“Are those extra burgers for him?”

“Yeah.” Micah smiled softly and then sighed. “I knew where you were in SoCal.”

“You knew and didn’t come find me?” Jordan felt hurt and couldn’t keep it out of his voice.

“I wanted to, but for one…you’re a hard man to track down.”

“I have been pretty busy,” he admitted and then asked curiously. “What’s the other reason?”

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be reminded of your past.”

They shared a sympathetic look. Jordan got it, neither of them wanted to take a trip down memory lane.

He glanced around the room but didn’t see any signs of Black.

“So, you work for Genesis too?” Jordan asked Micah.

“Not technically.” Micah smiled and shook his head.

“So then…you guys own this place?” Jordan asked around a bite of burger. He still couldn’t get over the fact that Micah Tiller was sitting across from him after all these years. The world really was a small place.

“Half owners along with Vincent out there,” Micah said, tucking a fry into his mouth.

“So, it’s been what…a decade since we’ve last seen each other?”

“No way,” Black said suddenly from the doorway.

“Chase!” Jordan jerked to his feet with a smile.

Black stepped up and gave him a big bear hug. It was the only way to describe Black’s big, burly embrace. The man was one huge son of a bitch, all muscles, tattoos, and dark hair with flashing blue eyes.

Black chuckled when he squeezed him just as tightly.

“You were seventeen and Micah was fifteen the last time we saw each other. So that’s what…ten years?”

“I guess,” Jordan said, drawing back. “And you were twenty-one.”

“That’s right,” Black said. Following him to the table and taking a seat, the chair creaked beneath the man’s weight.

“I never knew what happened to you guys. I knew you were working on getting you and Micah out of there.”

“Yeah, and I almost managed to until some shit went down,” Black said, squeezing one hand into a fist.

“If by shit you mean you getting shot…then yeah,” Micah scowled.

“Shot?” Jordan asked, searching Black’s face.

“Yeah, it laid me up for a few months.”

If it were months, then Black must have been seriously wounded, but Jordan didn’t pry. They would tell him in their own time what had happened.

“I got rescued,” Jordan admitted, feeling guilty all over again for not being able to find more of the street kids he’d hung out with back then.

“That’s good,” Black said with a smile.

“And you ended up with Genesis?” Jordan couldn’t keep the amazement out of his voice.

“I did. I was killing people for money anyway. It was a lot more profitable than being a thug.

“Or like me, selling my ass,” Micah said.

“Hey…” Jordan squeezed Micah’s hand. “We were not thugs. As for selling our asses, we were doing what we needed to, to survive.”

“Yeah, well…Micah did it long after he should have quit,” Black cut in.

“We’ve been over this. You needed meds, and that was the quickest way to get money.” Micah shrugged as if it were no big deal, but Jordan could see the sorrow in Black’s eyes, and his heart hurt for both men.

“But you don’t do that any longer, right?” Jordan asked, appalled at the thought.

Micah snickered. “No, not any more, but I make my marks think they’re going to get lucky. That’s how I get them alone.”

“Ah, okay…but you’re not an assassin,” Jordan said, rubbing at his chin.

“Not technically,” Micah admitted.

After a moment, Jordan spoke again. “I went back for you guys several times that year, but that whole camp had been dismantled and I couldn’t find any of you,” he whispered roughly.

“Yeah, I heard they were trying to re-home a lot of people. Some group came out with funding and started getting people settled elsewhere in affordable homes and shit,” Micah said.

“That was Phoenix. They’re the ones who rescued me.”

“Ah, okay, yeah, so that’s what happened. I wondered. We split when all that started,” Micah said.

“How come?”

“Well, first off, Chase got shot and second…” Micah tossed Chase a glance and then continued. “You remember Remy?”

“I do.” Jordan felt his skin crawl at the mention of the fuck-wad from their youth.

Remy Andrews was the scum of the earth. He took young boys and sold them for sex. He himself had worked for the guy for about a year. It was either work for Remy for shit money or get taken and be forced to work for Remy for free. Jordan chose to earn money, and so had Micah.

“Well, he wasn’t letting any of us go, so…” Micah said, glancing away. “He’s the one who shot Chase.”

“Whatever happened to that asshole?” Jordan asked, hoping Remy was still alive so that he could personally kill him.

“He was stabbed and killed about eight years ago,” Black said flatly.

“You said he died of cancer.”

“I lied.”

“Okay, we’ll talk about that later,” Micah glared and then continued. “Remy wasn’t the one in charge, you know that, right?” Micah turned to Jordan.

Jordan blinked. He hadn’t known that. “Who was in charge?”

“Some former senator guy, Nix, out of Virginia,” Micah said, taking a sip from his paper cup filled with soda. “We can’t get to him no matter how hard we try.”

“Why?” That was certainly surprising.

“The security in the guy’s place is like Fort Knox,” Black said.

“He’s one bad dude,” Micah added.

Jordan gave Black and Micah a slow smile.

“What?” Black asked.

“I’m surprised that Genesis couldn’t locate him,” Jordan said.

“Yeah, well, the guy isn’t high on their radar yet,” Black said with a scowl as if just the thought pissed him off.

“Well…getting through security is my specialty,” Jordan said.

“Oh yeah?”

“Oooh yeah.”

Black and Micah both laughed.

“So, let’s do it,” Micah said.

“I’m down, but there’s something I need to do first,” Jordan said.

“What’s that?” Black asked.

“I need to help Owen get his other son back. Danner is still out there, according to my guy.” Jordan held up his phone and the text message from Kellum. “You guys down to help?”

“Try to keep me away.” Black’s smile was slow and evil.

Jordan was suddenly and fiercely glad that Black was on his side of the law…Well, as much as an assassin could be.

He frowned, thinking of something. “Hey…”

“What?”

“I thought Genesis only hired current or former military.”

“I’m the first exception to that rule they ever made,” Black said.

“Why’s that?”

“They can’t control me…so they support me.”

“All the way in New York?” Jordan snorted and shook his head.

“That…is a whole other story.” And that was all Black would say on the matter.

Jordan was curious about how Black and Micah had ended up on the East Coast in the first place and now owned a cigarette shop in Phoenix, but he had bigger things to deal with right now.

Weston was still missing.