Page 23 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)

“ W ho is your son?” The perp’s voice shook, and Jordan noticed a dark stain on the man’s light brown pants. Obviously, this guy wasn’t one of the suits that had entered the house.

“He’s about this tall, five years old. Black curly hair and big blue eyes.”

“I don’t remember him being in the house.” The guy squinted, and Owen could tell that the perp was trying to think by the way he looked up and to the right as if accessing something from his brain.

“Where the fuck is Danner?” Owen scowled and stood.

“He wasn’t in the house,” Link said, coming to stand next to him.

“So, he was never here?”

“Not that we can see,” Link said.

“Get me information.” Owen turned on the lined-up group. “The first one to talk gets some leniency and is handed over to the cops. The ones that don’t? Well, enjoy your last breath.”

The room broke out in a frenzy as perps stumbled over themselves to give up Danner.

The following night…

Arizona border between Utah and Nevada.

Danner had ended up owning more than the abandoned factory, and Pegasus had split up into teams to cover every single location.

Through the night vision scope of his high-powered rifle, Owen tracked Jordan, Black, and Micah’s movements below.

Jordan was pure poetry in motion. The other two were highly skilled, but Jordan easily kept ahead of them. In his opinion, Jordan outshined them all.

The techie was built for the field, even if the perp had gotten the upper hand on him on that back porch last night.

Owen had broken the man’s arm, but the odd thing was that the perp never ended up in the house or in custody.

According to Micah, the guy was gone when he went into the backyard to retrieve him. Owen wasn’t sure if he believed Micah. Something was going on, and after he found Weston, he was going to sit down and talk to Jordan about his suspicions.

His scope followed Jordan and Micah as they flew over the parking lot, streaking from shadow to shadow, avoiding the lights that gave glow to the circled areas.

Just as both men slammed through the doors of the building Owen was on top of, several of Danner’s men came barreling after them.

Black spun and blocked the path with his big body. Shooting and cleaving with a knife through darkly dressed men like they were paper.

Owen knew Black could only hold out for so long. There were too many of Danner’s men.

One thing was very clear.

None of his men had found Weston.

It was another fucking dead end because he knew that they would bring back his son dead or alive.

Owen slid the rifle into his pack, slung it over his shoulder, and pulled his Hellcat pistol from his holster. When on the move, he preferred the compact weapon over his bigger Ruger.

Rushing through the propped open roof access door, he took the stairs downward three flights of the fifteen-story high building before he glanced over the railing.

Spotting Jordan and Micah racing their way upward, he breathed a sigh of relief that ended when several of Danner’s men charged into the stairwell and began firing upward.

That meant that Black had been overrun below.

He hoped the man survived.

Owen tucked his Hellcat away, unzipped his rifle, and slipped the barrel over the railing. He waited, and when the first man came running up the next flight of stairs, Owen dropped him with a bullet to the head.

Jordan and Micah were ahead of them by at least four stairwell levels. If Owen could keep the perps at bay, then the pair could safely reach him.

Neither man broke pace. They flew upward amidst gunfire.

Perps started shooting up at him as one lunged upward to the next level, opening fire simultaneously. Owen slid back out of view before once again taking aim.

He dropped that perp with another headshot.

Suddenly, the fuckers were scrambling, ducking for cover, rethinking about chasing Jordan and Micah any further.

“That way out of the building is no longer an option,” Jordan said, reaching him along with Micah.

Both young men were dressed darkly and looked more like assassins than Pegasus operatives.

A wide smile accompanied Jordan’s words, and excitement sparkled in the man’s blue eyes.

Owen groaned.

The kid was an adrenaline junky. How had he never known that?

“Aw, now don’t be pissed,” Jordan chided and took aim over the railing to fire off a couple of rounds to hold the men at bay. “We will find Weston.”

Micah moved up beside Jordan.

“I have to go back down, Black is still down there,” Micah said, moving up beside Jordan to shoot down.

“I doubt he’s still down there,” Owen said and grabbed Jordan by the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“I have to go back down,” Micah hissed insistently.

“We will wrap back around. Let’s get out of this building,” Owen promised and shoved the rifle away, zipped the bag, and slung it over one shoulder.

He grabbed Jordan by the wrist and pulled him through the floor exit door that read level ten.

The place was practically deserted since it was the weekend and nighttime. Which was a good thing because if any of the gunshots were heard, they would definitely be reported.

Just as the thought ended, flashing blue and red lights flickered, casting a glow through the window.

“Oh, look, the Fuzz is here,” Jordan snickered.

Owen could do nothing but grin and shake his head at the teasing tone.

Jordan was spontaneous and snarky and kept him constantly on his toes. He had thought the techie’s attitude was a facade at first, but as the days passed, Owen had begun to realize that it was Jordan’s true nature to be lighthearted and teasing.

It was only at certain times that Jordan became pensive and preoccupied, and Owen had a gut feeling Jordan was thinking about his past.

With the three men from his past showing up, there was no way Jordan could avoid it.

“Are you with me?” Jordan rasped, dragging him from overthinking.

“Always,” he said, making sure that Jordan heard him. He grabbed Jordan and pulled until they were racing across the tenth floor of the high-rise with Micah on their ass.

Right then, they were being pursued by Danner’s men, and now was not the time for distraction.

They careened around a corner and sprinted to the far stairwell that served as a maintenance entrance. If they took that down to the fourth floor, they could catch the service elevator from there.

Easing open the stairwell door, Owen slid inside first, weapon up, scanning the area. It was quiet, and he lifted his silencer and took out the overhead light, plunging them into darkness.

A door opened somewhere below and Owen crowded Jordan back against the wall, shielding the slender man with his whole body. He reached out and yanked Micah closer.

If they came for them, Owen would protect Jordan and Micah with his life. And he’d make damned sure he took every single person to hell with him.

He would gladly die so that Jordan could live.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

He had kids to get back to and keep Jordan alive.

Owen pressed closer to Jordan’s slender frame, planting one hand on the wall near the techie’s head while his other gripped his weapon.

They were going to get their happy ending in whatever shape or form that happened to be. The distance between them would never happen again.

Jordan would be in his life.

Owen would make sure of it.

“You two need a moment?”

Black’s voice came deeply from the darkened hallway.

Jordan had to laugh.

Micah made a sound in the back of his throat, and then he was flying across the distance at Black.

The big man caught the slender Micah, but only briefly hugged him before setting him away.

Owen cleared his throat and moved back from his crush against Jordan.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he muttered.

They had to meet up with Pegasus and fill Ace in on their lack of finding Weston.