Page 29 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)

Two weeks later…

Pegasus bunker.

T he team meeting room was noisy. A table with coffee, water, and donuts sat against the far wall. Chairs were lined in rows beneath the fluorescent lights overhead.

Up at the head of the room, Ace stood talking to Dave, Stone, and another man whom Owen had never met. He wondered about the Secret Service when he and Jordan had arrived at the building.

Micah had called last week, and he and Jordan met Micah and Black at the coffee shop down the street.

Owen just didn’t feel comfortable letting assassins know where he lived.

Although they worked for Genesis and could find him, he wasn’t going to make it easy.

He didn’t trust anyone but Jordan, his immediate family, and Pegasus with his boys.

Micah told them about Lucas’ death that day at the coffee shop and vowed to get vengeance. Apparently, when Lucas’ body had been discovered, it looked like an overdose.

“But he didn’t do drugs, I know he didn’t,” Micah said with his voice wobbling.

Jordan drew Micah into a hug, and the pair shared a moment for their fallen friend.

Laughter near the back table brought Owen’s attention back to the noisy meeting room.

“All right, settle down,” Ace said, his deep voice booming over the room.

A hush settled over the place along with the scraping of chairs as people took seats.

“There isn’t a person here who doesn’t know about the recent assassination attempt on the former Secretary of Defense’s life,” Ace said. “I’ll hand things over to Dave now.”

Dave stood from his chair, and Ace took a seat.

“Many of you already know or have heard of Viper, and most of you know Real,” Dave said, gesturing to a dark-haired man who Owen recalled from a brief time at the ranch.

The man wore a military uniform with the breast covered in medals.

Viper nodded to Dave and then lifted a hand to the group.

Dave then turned and nodded to Real, who stood leaning against the wall near the front table.

Owen knew Real, the man got shit done and took no prisoners. Owen was glad to call him a friend.

A quiet settled over the room as everyone waited for Dave to speak. The former SecDef had the full attention of every single person.

“Currently, we have Genesis eliminating the threat against my life. What I need to emphasize is that they can get to me through you and your loved ones. So, until the threat is completely gone, I need every single one of you to keep yourself, each other, and your families safe.”

“Why now?” Oliver asked from his spot in the front row. “Why are they trying to kill you now?”

“For one, we are growing. I have more teams than any of you know of, and with more people involved, the word is getting out,” Dave said. “For another…” Dave sighed. “This isn’t the first attempt. It’s the only one you know of.”

Murmurs ran through the room at those words, but it made sense. And it was ludicrous to think that the former SecDef would only have one assassination attempt.

“Another thing I’m set to announce is my retirement at the end of the year. My replacement has yet to be determined.”

“Aww, man,” someone mumbled, and soon others agreed.

“I’m getting old…and I’m tired,” Dave admitted.

“Congratulations, Sir,” Oliver said and started a slow clap.

Others joined in, and soon they were cheering, and Dave smiled.

Stone, ever present, stood next to Real against the wall and was wearing a smirk.

“That’s it for now, watch your backs. Thank you for everything you do,” Dave said and resumed his seat.

The clapping died down, and Ace stood.

“We’ve brought in the local PD and Federal Marshals to watch your families. They will be staked out in front of their homes and following them on any outings until the threat is eliminated,” Ace said.

“Can I ask who the threat is? And how many are there?” Oliver again.

Dave glanced over to Stone when Ace looked his way.

“I can’t divulge the name of the threat, but there is only one left,” Stone said.

“Cool,” Oliver said, and several in the room chuckled.

“And with that, the meeting is adjourned. If you have any questions, see me afterward,” Ace said.

The room broke out in noise again and side conversations.

“Who do you think is the threat?” Jordan whispered to him.

“I have no freaking idea,” Owen murmured and linked their fingers to draw him from the room.

“What about your mom?” Jordan asked.

“Let’s go home. Ace said he will take care of Mom. She’ll probably stay in their spare room until everything is over.”

“That’s good.”

Two days later…early morning.

“A special news report just came in. Former Senator Nix was killed in a boating accident at Buggs Island Lake in Virginia. Just a note to our viewers, please be careful when on the water and wear a life jacket,” the anchorwoman said. “Back to you, Jim.”

“Thank you, Rhonda. That’s right, be as safe around large masses of water as possible. In other news…” the newsman Jim said.

Jordan turned off the television and pulled out his phone and shot a text to Micah as he walked into Owen’s kitchen to start coffee.

“I haven’t heard from you in a while. Did you hear Nix is dead?”

The text came back immediately.

“Yes, I heard. I’ll come by when I get back.”

Jordan smiled. He didn’t ask Micah back from where, because he had a gut feeling that Micah had taken care of Nix.

Or Black had done it. Maybe both of them had killed the asshole together, but he didn’t see that happening.

They were still at odds because Black hadn’t liked Lucas, and Micah was angry about that and hurt that Lucas had killed himself.

“Hey…whatcha thinking about?” Owen asked, coming into the kitchen from the hallway.

“Did I ever tell you about Remy?”

“Um…no?”

Jordan walked over and dropped down onto the sofa, and patted the spot next to him. Owen came over and sank onto the cushions.

Taking a deep breath, Jordan told Owen about Remy and his part in his, Lucas’, and Micah’s street life as callboys.

“We weren’t the only boys, but the three of us were really close. It went on from the age of fifteen to eighteen until I was rescued by Phoenix,” Jordan admitted.

“And Micah and Lucas?”

Jordan shook his head. “The camp was displaced, and Remy moved the boys so he wouldn’t get caught. About a year later, I’m guessing, Black found Micah and Lucas and killed Remy.”

“Good,” Owen’s voice was guttural, his hands squeezed into fists.

“But the power behind Remy was a government official, Former Senator Nix,” Jordan murmured, linking their fingers together.

Owen cocked his head. “Didn’t he just die in a boating accident yesterday?”

“Yes, yes, he did.” Jordan held Owen’s gaze and continued. “And I was the one who broke into his system and gave Black and Micah the man’s itinerary,” Jordan admitted, coming clean.

“Well, it’s a good thing then.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, otherwise I would have gathered the guys and gone and killed him myself.”

Jordan choked out a huffing laugh, relief flooding him, and he launched into Owen’s arms.

They held each other for a long time.

“I’ve been thinking,” Owen said, pulling back to look down into his face.

“What about?”

Owen hesitated and then decided to just fuck it and come clean.

“I want to retire and be a full-time dad. I have investments and an inheritance, so I wouldn’t be short on money for a long time.”

“Okay.”

“I could do it until the boys were in high school or graduated. It wouldn’t be forever.”

“Okay.”

“I just can’t see myself continuing this line of work when I’m also responsible for my sons and you.” He rubbed his hands down his face.

“Okay.”

Owen’s head jerked up, eyes on Jordan.

“Wait…okay?”

“Mhmm.” Jordan smiled. “With my techie hacker work, I make more than enough to support a family, and that’s even without your savings and inheritance.”

“I know you love your work.”

“I do, and I can do it from anywhere. I can work from home some days and in the office others.”

“God, I love you,” Owen choked out.

Simultaneously, their phones pinged with a team-wide alert, and they both reached for their cells.

“Threat has been neutralized.” The text was from Ace.

Jordan looked at him, and Owen squinted.

“You don’t think…it was Nix, do you?” Jordan asked, frowning.

Owen’s mind raced, if it had been Nix coming after Dave, then it was a small fucking world for sure.

Either way, the guy had taken young boys and turned them into prostitutes, and if Nix had a hand in Dave’s assassination attempt, then good fucking riddance.

“I don’t know, baby,” Owen murmured and poured two cups of coffee into mugs.

“I’ll ask Black, he would know,” Jordan said, getting the heavy cream from the fridge.

“Okay.”

“Daddy!” Weston yelled, running down the hallway, followed closely by Elliott.

Both boys bounced over to him and Owen.

“I want pancakes,” Weston announced.

“I want bacon,” Elliott insisted.

Jordan turned and crouched down in front of the twins.

“How about both?” Jordan said, and Owen smiled when his sons whooped together.

Jumping up and down, they both hugged Jordan and demanded he pick them up.

“But you’re getting sooooo big,” Jordan groaned. “How about I sit at the table and you sit with me and we’ll have Daddy cook?”

Owen smiled, carrying the coffee to the table.

“Wait, what?” Owen said as it dawned on him that he’d been volunteered.

“Oh, I suppose I can help.” Jordan gave an exaggerated sigh.

Weston and Elliott giggled.

It was the best sound in the world to Owen.