Page 27 of Hayes (Voodoo Guardians #37)

Standing over the maps, praying for something that would lead them to the right area, the men talked about plans to find the entrance in the marketplace.

“But if someone there tells Aamani we are there or searching for him, we’re putting Victoria in more danger,” said Hayes. “We can’t know who works for him and who doesn’t.”

“That’s true,” said Mo. “In a place like this, with a man like Aamani, we need to just think of everyone as being on his side.”

“This is crazy,” said Hex. “We’re looking at miles of possible tunnels stretching in a hundred different directions. Do we have the data back from the Lidar scans on the drones?”

“Not yet, but once those are back, we should be able to identify clear routes and possible alternative entrances and exits,” said Luke.

“Hey!” said Jak, running into the room. “We just got a message from Hiro. Our girl truly is a genius. The equipment Aamani gave her to make functional was an older machine. She repaired it, connected it to our system, and tapped out Morse Code.”

“Are you fucking serious?” grinned Hayes.

“As a heart attack, dude,” he laughed. “It’s going to give us the chance to get a hard read off of it and a location.

She even programmed it to tap out every forty-five seconds.

She’s going to make it functional for Aamani to use, allowing whatever he’s trying to do to be fed back to our team. Fucking incredible!”

“I love her so much,” said Hayes. He winced as he wiggled his fingers, and Cruz frowned at him.

“Let me take a look at the hand,” he said.

“No. No, it’s okay,” said Hayes.

“Give him your hand, or I’ll fucking sit on your chest,” said Eric.

Hayes nodded, swallowing his fear. As Cruz unwrapped the hand, every man in the room sucked in a breath, realizing how painful it must have been for Hayes to hide.

“It’s infected,” said Cruz. “You really don’t give a shit about using this hand again.”

“We should get you back to Belle Fleur and the pond,” said Hoot.

“No!” yelled Hayes. “No, I’m begging you, Dad. Please don’t force me to leave. I’ll do whatever Cruz tells me, but I’m not leaving until I see Victoria’s beautiful face in front of me and I can tell her I love her and I can ask her to marry me again and…”

The entire room smiled at him, shaking their heads.

“Marry you, huh? I think you already asked her that,” frowned Mo.

“Yes, sir. I’m a little confused and fuzzy. But I swear to God, I will never hurt her like this again. I don’t know what will happen with my hand, but whatever it is, I will deal with it, with her by my side.”

“So, are you asking for my permission?” said Mo with a serious expression.

“Yes, sir. I guess I am.”

“Well, then. I guess I’m giving you permission,” said Mo. “She loves you, Hayes. She always has. The two of you were meant to be together, and the world, as fucked up as it is, threw you two together in those damn schools. God help us all, you’ll have mega-genius children.”

Hayes could only laugh as Cruz extended the hand onto the table, carefully removing all of the dressings to see fully the extent of the infection.

“I think you got lucky,” he frowned. “I’m going to drain the wound, debride it, and I’ll need to re-suture it. I’m going to give you another antibiotic and some pain meds as well.”

“No. No pain meds. I need to be alert,” said Hayes.

“You need to be fucking alive, you dumb ass,” yelled Cruz. Hayes stared at him, his brows raised.

“I don’t see what the women see in you. You’re definitely not giving vibes of hot, sexy Latino.”

“Fuck you, kid,” he smirked.

Thirty minutes later, the team had their weapons, stealth netting and suits, two choppers ready to take off, and several potential locations for Victoria. With Hayes’ hand redressed, pain meds flooding his body, he was ready to find his girl.

As the men filtered out of the mansion toward the choppers, Omar stood with six men armed to the teeth.

“Sir? What are you doing?” asked Luke.

“I’m sending six of my best men with you. They know the language, they are skilled warriors, and they have a purpose in killing Aamani as well. He is responsible for killing all of their families.”

“I’m sorry,” said Luke. “You’re obviously a welcome addition, but our priority is to get Victoria.”

“Understood, Luke,” he said, gripping his hand. “Survive the day, my friend, and go home to your family. Hug your fathers for me and tell them to come and visit us.”

“We’ll do that, sir,” said Cam, smiling at the man. “Thank you for all you’ve done for us. We won’t forget it.”

“I’m sorry it came to this, but I am repaying a debt a long time coming. I will never forget what your fathers did for my father. I would not be here without them. If you need more assistance, call, and it will be there.”

“We will,” smiled Eric, giving the man a big hug. “Can’t leave without my hug, Sheikh.”

“You are lucky that I like you,” he laughed. “It is forbidden to hug me unless I initiate it.”

“You know you like a good bear hug,” smirked Eric. He boarded the helicopter and waited for the rest of the team. When Hayes got to the steps, he looked at Omar and nodded.

“Thank you. For everything,” he said. The man nodded at him.

“I’m disappointed she will not be the wife of one of my sons, but I am happy that such a woman exists. Find her and cherish her.”

“That’s my plan, sir. That’s my plan.”