Chapter Thirty-One
Hayes
Ishoved a second piece of gum into my mouth as the blades of the chopper slowed.
We orchestrated an emergency landing on the FBI helicopter pad and Agent Samantha Carson was waiting for us.
I knew her, but she either didn’t remember me or had chosen not to acknowledge it when we spoke on the phone a few weeks ago.
Agent James Garner assured me she was capable of handling this case.
She’d been trying to stop the influx of Nightwalker into the PNW for the last three years.
It had been over an hour since I’d last heard Margo’s voice, and it was all because of Agent Carson.
Margo’s tracker was off and I was two seconds away from losing my mind.
The FBI unit on Gordon’s case assured me this morning that he’d gone underground, possibly out of the country.
I’d gotten that call just after I’d made love to my woman and she had strolled into the kitchen to make us coffee before getting ready for the day.
Even though I still wanted someone with Margo until Gordon was behind bars, she’d gone to her classes this morning thinking she was safe.
I had plans to take her out to dinner before driving back to Astoria for the weekend.
Then everything went to shit.
I pulled off my headset and shot a glare over my shoulder to Grayson before glancing at the brace on his knee.
“You need to sit this one out, boss,” Ash said from beside him, reading my thoughts.
“Like hell,” Gray barked, getting out of the chopper. “Look, we get a debrief and then we roll out, understood?” He looked at me. “You got a lock on it?”
“No,” I answered honestly.
Dominic looked up from his gun. “Just don’t kill any federal agents. I don’t want to deal with the paperwork on Monday morning.”
Grayson gave me a nod, and they all got out.
Taking a second, I looked out over the city. “I’m coming, Temper. Stay angry and fight, baby,” I whispered.
I hopped down, my jaw popping every time I chewed.
Red Snake was dressed for the mission, ready to do whatever was necessary to get Margo back.
Fury boiled in my gut at the sight of the woman who’d given me the wrong assurances less than twelve hours ago.
She was calm, cool, and collected. Logically, I couldn’t fault her for that, because Margo was a stranger to her.
Whether she lived or died, this woman wouldn’t lose much sleep over it.
She wouldn’t grieve my angry woman like I would.
She wouldn’t go insane. She’d get up on Monday, put on her badge, and move onto the next case.
As we approached Agent Carson, the grim look on her face made my stomach twist. “Where is he?” Dominic asked. “Where is Jake?”
“Mr. Murphy has been transported to Seattle General. I have three agents there,” she answered before looking at me. “Mr. Mitchell, I believe you and I spoke on the phone this morning.”
“Yes,” I clipped. “You told me Gordon had left the country.” I took a step closer, nostrils flaring. “You assured me of that, Agent Carson.”
The woman blanched, flinching at my harsh tone. “I understand Ms. Bennett’s safety is a top concern for you and I want—”
I was nose to nose with her then, Gray and Ash trying to pull me back.
“It is extremely imperative that you, your fucking department, and the goddamn government do everything in your power to make sure my woman is returned back to me without so much as a scratch.” I leaned back, snarling.
“You don’t even have your fucking gun on you.
You aren’t prepared to do a goddamn thing.
Your boss sent you up here to pacify us. ”
Ash let out a low whistle.
“Hayes,” Gray warned, his hand on my shoulder. “That’s enough.”
The agent blinked a few times, mentally composing herself as she straightened her jacket. “I understand that you’re upset, but Margo is not our main objective in this case.”
“No, finding three million dollars’ worth of Nightwalker is,” Dominic drawled.
Her blue eyes snapped over to him. She swallowed and clasped her hands together. “The drug is harmful—”
“You don’t need to tell us.” Gray cut her off, stepping up. “My wife was drugged with it. We know its effects. I want to know where your team is and Samson’s last known location.”
“Given your reputation,” she said slowly, “we were hoping you would have some insight—”
A harsh bit of laughter left me. I tossed my head back, feeling the rage surge down my arms, my bloodstream tainted with it.
“Right,” I snapped, rolling my neck. “This is how it’s going to go.
You’re going to call the local police and give us free rein.
You’re also going to supply us with an SUV and whatever else we might need. ”
She opened her mouth, but Ash cut her off. “We’ll take it from here.”
Grayson brushed by her, heading downstairs. Ash and Dominic followed without giving her a glance, leaving her on the rooftop with me.
“Anything happens to Margo,” I began, my voice somber, “I’m coming at you, your unit, and your boss with everything I have.”
“Mr. Mitchell, threatening a federal agent—”
“You’re playing with lives here, Agent.” She flinched. “This is the job you signed up for. You can’t just put on a mask and pretend your fuck-ups won’t cause lasting damage. Your position is too powerful.”
She said nothing.
I jerked my thumb to the chopper. “Anyone lays so much as a finger on my bird, I’ll fucking chop it off. We clear on that, Agent Carson?”
“Y-yes.”
“Right,” I muttered before pulling down my mask.
She stumbled back. “Quicksilver,” she breathed. “I—I know you.”
There it was.
“I know you do,” I shot back. “You flew with me in Germany.”
It was my second tour, and I’d been assigned to train in Germany for six months.
Samantha Cruz was her name then. Now she was out and working for the FBI.
I started to head inside and stopped at her shoulder, looking down at her.
“It’s okay to give a shit about others.” My eyes dropped to the diamond ring on her finger. “Do you love your spouse?”
Her bottom lip trembled. “She’s my everything.”
“Margo Bennett is mine.”
“I’m sorry,” she rasped, the dam breaking. Tears were in her eyes now. “We got a tip from one of our contacts on the ground. I didn’t think—I didn’t—”
Fuck me. I looked down the stairwell and went back to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t apologize. It will do neither of us any good. All Red Snake needs from you is free rein.”
“You have it.”
“I know we’re on the clock here,” Dominic started, “but I need to take a moment to advise Ash against taking any sort of explosives with him.”
Ash’s brown eyes flicked up to glare at our weapons specialist. “You’ve got to let that go, man.”
“You blew up a building,” he deadpanned as I double-checked the ammo in my pistol.
We were in the parking garage, waiting on an update from Agent Carson.
They were calm because we would get Margo back. Deep down, I knew that, but there was a pain in my chest. A blade, sharp and lethal, shredding through the confidence in my team. We’d been in tougher spots than this. We’d walked away from worse things, but we weren’t going in to save a client.
We were going after the love of my life.
“I never want to be in this again,” I confessed as the three of them came to me.
“I never want to feel this way again.” I shoved my gun into the strap at my thigh and tightened it, holding my breath and grinding my teeth.
The pain in my jaw was nothing compared to the fire in my chest, the burning embers falling into my gut.
The fire was catching, and I was close to being consumed by it.
The memory, the scent of burning flesh filled my nose, and Damon’s screams filled my ears. Gray called my name, but I couldn’t—I wasn’t—
I squeezed my eyes shut, keeping my head bent, and tried to swallow as I fought back against the memories of me crawling out of the front windows of the plane, sliding down onto the ground, the sound of my bones cracking.
Damon’s jagged screams morphed into Margo’s sharp ones, the dark part of my imagination finally getting its talons in her.
“Mitchell.” Hands were on my shoulders, shaking me. “I know where you are and I need you to get back here.” I raised my head, finding Grayson’s furrowed brow. “Get out of your head.”
Behind him, Ash was speaking with Agent Carson. She was talking fast, using her hands. Dominic pulled his eyes from me, following my gaze.
“We got something,” I said, my voice gruff.
“I know we do,” Grayson said. “I need to know where your head is at, Hayes.”
“My head is on Margo,” I answered.
After a moment of assessing me, he nodded and dropped his hands. Dominic stepped closer. “Leave the crash where it is,” he said gently. “The past has no purpose in the present, yeah?”
I took a deep breath, rolled my neck for the twentieth time, and agreed. Ash waved us over. “We got two possible locations,” he announced as Agent Carson showed us her tablet, zooming in on the north part of the city.
“Location number one,” she stated and zoomed out and back in again. This time, in a small area toward the southern outskirts of the city. “Location number two.”
“Margo is at one of them?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes. We’re certain. Both of these properties are owned by G.
D. Maxwell, one of Gordon’s investors. He’s an up-and-coming property developer,” she explained, handing me a file.
“That’s all we have on him, but we haven’t had a chance to dig into this lead much.
Not after discovering one of Gordon’s largest warehouses in November. ”
“Thanks,” Grayson said, giving her a tight smile. “Is there any update on Murphy?”
“He’s getting a blood transfusion now, but he is stable.”
The boys and I looked at each other.
Fucking hell, Murphy.
“We need to split. Two take location A and two take B,” Grayson declared.