Page 28 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)

B lack was nearby three days later when Micah got the call that Lucas had been killed.

Micah sobbed uncontrollably, and Black’s heart hurt.

He had wanted to keep the secret of Lucas’ bad deeds from Micah because Black knew that it would be unfathomable to Micah that Lucas had tried to rape him.

But that was a fact, and there was no escaping it. Black had the proof in the surveillance video he’d removed of the incident. He had proof in Lucas’ DNA, but he had hidden it from Micah by altering the database.

Those were his biggest regrets

Black wasn’t so sure he could keep the lies going, but what other options did he have?

Nothing right now. Micah was too angry to see reason, so he’d wait and let things calm down.

With nothing else he could do, Black would keep forging ahead.

And when it did come out that he had, in fact, killed Lucas, would Micah forgive him?

“I’m going to hunt that fucker down and skin him alive,” Micah vowed with a hate-filled voice.

A cold, impending doom filled Black.

A nowhere town in Utah…

The county sheriff arrived ahead of Pegasus and alerted the small town of a possible killer on the loose, that a manhunt was underway.

Half an hour later, Pegasus converged on the dusty one-street town in Utah.

It was late at night, and they wore all black. They swept through homes and businesses and abandoned buildings looking for Billy Danner.

Most people were grateful and opened their homes. If they didn’t, then comms would call in the sheriff.

“That’s a drug house,” the county sheriff said. “You take that, I’ll take next door.”

Jordan snorted after the guy, shook his head at Owen, and then kicked in the door of the drug house.

He and Owen went in at a crouch, weapons raised.

The people inside looked dazed out of their minds, and Jordan suspected that they didn’t scatter because they weren’t dressed as law enforcement. It was a quick search in the rooms to come up empty.

“Now where?” Jordan said as they left the house.

“Let’s ditch the cop,” Owen murmured, and Jordan smirked before taking off at a sprint with Owen on his ass.

Earlier, the members of Pegasus had split up into pairs.

Jordan loved the fact that Owen was now his partner on the job. He wasn’t sure where they were going after this was all done, but he was going to stick around and find out.

Perhaps they could be partners off the job as well?

He and Owen slowed down and jogged to the next street over and began knocking on doors. If anyone looked suspicious, they entered. A few people groused about it, but mostly they shut the hell up and opened their doors.

They reached dead end after dead end as the afternoon grew late.

And then the call came in…

Jacob and Ace had come across Billy Danner taking refuge in a family home with kids. When the man threatened to kill the family, Jacob had slid up behind the fucker and slit his throat.

Danner was dead, and they all gave a sigh of relief.

Pegasus had finally gotten justice for Ginny.

Several dark vehicles took them to the landing pad in a nearby dirt lot where a Chinook waited for the team. Alongside the Chinook was a smaller Blackhawk that would take Owen and Jordan back to Fern, Oregon.

Everyone appeared freaking tired and then some.

“I could sleep a week,” Jordan admitted, taking off his hood and shaking back his sweaty hair before running his fingers through his curls.

Owen slung an arm around his shoulders and drew him closer.

“Me too,” Owen echoed. “When we get home, we’ll stay in bed.”

Jordan didn’t think that was going to be possible with two five-year-olds, but sleeping next to Owen sounded like a really great plan.

Jordan slept most of the chopper ride back to Fern, Oregon, and the same driver picked them up. Which made sense since it was such a small town.

They arrived back at Diesel and Triton’s place and picked up the boys.

They had previously spent over a week staying with the couple before the word had come in about a possible location on Danner.

Creed and Kellum had gone home a few days prior, with Creed returning for the hunt.

They thanked Diesel and Triton and waved as they left town. The boys loved the helicopter ride, their faces excited, and Owen told them about Disneyland as the four of them flew back to California.

“Can we go there?” Weston said hopefully.

“Yes, I’ll take you both soon,” Owen promised, and both boys whooped.

Arriving back home was a long, drawn-out ordeal between the flight from Fern to Ventura, including refueling stops where they also grabbed something to eat and let the boys stretch their legs, then the drive home. Both boys had exhaustion written all over their faces.

Owen held Weston in his arms and unlocked the door to his Ojai home. Jordan carried Elliott into the house after them.

“Can I sleep with you?” Elliott asked Jordan, fearfully gazing around the new home.

“You sure can, buddy, but… you have your own room with Weston, or you can have your own by yourself.” The house was a four-bedroom, after all.

While at Diesel and Triton’s place, Elliott had taken to curling up next to him to sleep on the couch, and Jordan didn’t have the heart to put him in his own bed. And Jordan knew both boys had gone through way too many changes lately.

Even though they had a rough start, Weston had taken to Owen much more quickly than Elliott and hung on his daddy’s every word. Elliott was more pensive and way less talkative than Weston, but Owen did his best to split his time between the two.

Jordan closed the door and placed Elliott on his feet.

“Of course you can sleep with me, but your daddy and I are going to take you guys shopping to get stuff for your new rooms.”

Not only furniture for the bedrooms, but both boys needed everything from the ground up, plus haircuts and doctors’ checkups.

“No more bunkbeds!” Weston whooped.

“Not unless you want them,” Owen said.

“No way! I always had to sleep on the top.”

Elliott giggled. “He hates coming down to go pee.”

They all laughed.

Both boys decided to share a room and were bathed and curled up together in the queen-size spare bed.

The lamp had been left on and the door open so they could hear the television from the living room.

They were both little troopers, and even though they hadn’t ever met Owen, Jordan could see similar mannerisms.

They hadn’t shared with the boys about Ginny’s death, but Owen planned to talk to them after he read up on how or what to tell a child about a parent’s death. Jordan was sure there were a lot of references out there.

If not, he was sure that Dave knew a psychologist who could help.

It was much later when Jordan brought up the earlier phone call between Owen and Ace.

“Ace gave you as much time as you need?” Jordan asked as they cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.

“Yeah, I may take a few months off,” Owen told him.

“So…” Jordan hedged, unsure of how to ask, but he wanted to take the time with Owen and the boys.

“You’ve got to go back?” Owen turned to him, wiping his soapy hands on the dish towel.

“Getting to know your boys would be easier if others weren’t around,” Jordan murmured, staring at the soap dripping off the pan in his hand.

Owen reached over and plucked the pan from his hand and dumped it into the water before turning him to face him.

Jordan blinked his eyes to avoid the sting. He didn’t want to embarrass himself.

“Hey…” Owen tipped his chin up with calloused fingers. “I need you here. I want you here. But I also know you love your job.”

“I do love my job, but…” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Owen he loved him more, but he wasn’t sure they were there yet.

Owen’s next words surprised the hell out of him, and all he could do was stare, eyes wide. He probably looked in shock because he was.

“You have to know that I’ve fallen in love with you.” Owen exhaled deeply and kissed his lips. “If we get married, then you can live here and see the boys after work.”

Jordan stood mute, too afraid to move, just in case he was dreaming.

Owen smiled and kissed him again, and then grew unsure. “How does that sound…or did I move too fast?”

The big, muscled man stepped away, looking out the window.

“No!”

Jordan announced and launched forward to pull Owen around. He cupped his hands on Owen’s rough cheeks and pulled his head down for another kiss.

When they broke apart, they were both breathless.

“You didn’t jump the gun. I love you, Owen Gray, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and the boys.”

“Sweet Jesus, you scared the hell out of me,” Owen admitted gruffly and then hauled him into his arms.

Jordan wrapped himself around Owen, and the dishes were forgotten.

They did get to them, but it was much…much later.