Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
JETT
It all went down pretty fucking fast.
But for me, when it meant getting to my son, it still felt like everything was in slow motion. And yet, I still managed to keep my cool and do exactly what I needed to do.
The sound of the front door splintering, followed by the blast of the flashbang—deafening for anyone not wearing tactical comms—echoed through the cabin in the breath after Gyth’s shouted command to go.
Lyric swiftly opened the door, breaching the threshold ahead of me with his gun drawn. He moved to the corner of the hall, sweeping the area before I moved past toward the room my son was in.
With my brother at my six, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, grunting, cursing, and high-pitched screams penetrated my ears through the comms. It seemed all the action was at the front of the house. I didn’t let it deter me; I was focused.
“Both suspects are down,” Gyth said as my hand grabbed the knob seconds later.
Hayes confirmed, “Griffin is still alone in the room.”
I hoped that meant the two people already taken down were all that were there. The guys kept up communication.
“Clearing the house,” Kace confirmed.
“Holding position in the hall outside the bedroom,” Lyric added.
Another unlocked door allowed me to easily walk right into the room where Griffin still remained under the bed, his hands over his little ears. But not before I’d put my weapon away.
“House is clear,” Kace announced. “Taking the scumbags out now.”
All the air seeped from my lungs, and my knees hit the floor in the middle of the tiny room. I thrust my arms out toward my boy.
“You’re safe,” I told him.
He scrambled out from under the bed so fast and was in my arms instantly. Careful not to squeeze too tight because I didn’t know what injuries he might have, I let him cling to me as I soaked in the fact he was going to be okay.
He pulled back, placing his tiny hands on my cheeks as he always did, needing me to focus. Then he said five words that tore at my heart and healed it all at once.
“You came for me, Daddy.”
The chatter that had been going in my ear ceased, and I knew everyone could hear my son, along with everything either of us said. I had nothing to hide. Not from any of these men—including Hayes.
I glanced over my son’s shoulder and saw the sheriff through the glass. He gave me a nod, and I reciprocated; then he vanished.
“I’ll always come for you, Champ.” A shudder ran through my body as even more emotions began to build. “You were so brave and smart. I’m so proud of you.”
His hands dropped to his side, one sliding into his pocket as his bottom lip began to quiver. “They h-hurt M-mommy.” He pulled out Patience’s necklace, and my breath hitched. “S-she gave me this. Mommy g-gave it to me so y-you could find me.”
“Your mommy was very smart.” God, she was brilliant. “And Braxton and the guys found Mommy; she’s going to be okay, bud.”
I pressed my lips together, hoping I was telling him the truth.
Patience was alert in the ambulance and taken to the hospital, but I hadn’t gotten a new update since she had gotten there, since we were in the middle of extracting my son from two people who were damn lucky it wasn’t me that had gone through the front of the house.
“What a-about the b-baby?”
My heart lurched. That was something I didn’t know yet at all. I wasn’t going to lie, but he’d already been through too much, so I said the only thing I knew to say at that moment.
“The doctors are checking on the baby right now.”
“O-okay,” he said.
His sweet face puckered up, and I pulled him into my embrace a second before he burst into a mountain of tears.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus on comforting my son and not the fury I felt for the people that made him hurt like he was right then—emotional trauma that could take time to heal.
“Hayes has Sloane and her hired thug in a cruiser. Everything is clear,” Gyth said.
While I was listening, I didn’t plan on moving until my son was ready. Without looking, I knew Lyric hadn’t left his spot at the door even though the coast was clear; his protective instinct would have him rooted to the spot until Griffin and I were ready.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before my son’s sobs quieted and were replaced by tiny hiccups that jarred his small frame. Then finally, his body began to relax—melting into mine even more. After one last shudder, he pulled away to look at me again.
“Can we go see Mommy now?”
Hell yes, I wanted to say but kept it clean. I was dying to see my wife, and I knew without a doubt that she needed to see her son with her own eyes and feel him against her like I just had, but I needed to make sure my son was okay before we made a two-hour trip back toward home.
“You bet we can, Champ.” I softly rubbed my hand over the top of his head, just barely skimming his hair. “We just need to get you checked out first, okay?”
“I guess that’s okay,” he said as he turned to look toward the door, his eyes widening with surprise. “Uncle Lyric. You came too?”
The look of relief and love on my brother's face when he looked at his nephew was downright touching. He’d held it together and kept me calm, but he wasn’t the only one that could read a person’s eyes.
I knew he’d not only been worried about Griffin, but I was sure he couldn’t help but think what if it was his own children.
“Of course I did, little dude.” He held out his fist for a bump—something they did a lot—and waited. “Your dad and I are a team.”
Griffin moved slowly toward his uncle and tapped his knuckles with his. Then he let out a mini gasp, his eyes rounding even more than before. He took in Lyric before his gaze swung back to me.
“You have guns,” he whispered.
My son was well aware of most of the guys' time in the military and that we had guns. Heck, Gramps even had guns. However, they were always put away and locked up, but this was a whole different scenario. We’d have to have a long talk again about their use and go over safety instructions.
“Yeah, bud, we needed them for protection in this situation. We’ll talk more about that later, yeah?”
He bobbed his head.
Getting to my feet, I reached out to take his hand, but he didn’t grab it. Instead, he looked up at me with the same expressive, big brown eyes that his mother had and lifted his arms for me to pick him up.
Anger burned hot and fast, my jaw clenching as I took in the red mark with fingerprints encircling my son’s upper arm. I wanted just five minutes with the two fuckers who dared to hurt my kid.
Was five so much to ask for?
Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, I tempered the anger pulsing through me and pointed to his arm. “I bet that hurts. You got any more spots that are hurting?”
He shook his head. “No.”
With that knowledge, I picked him up and held him against my chest while we exited the cabin, Lyric leading the way. His tiny heart quickly thumped against me, and I knew he was still scared.
It was also one of the best things I could feel.
Because it meant my son was alive.
The area around the cabin buzzed with activity.
While we’d been inside, a brush of darkness had set in, and the mountain air had cooled quite a bit, but the sheriff had gotten the ball rolling to clean things up.
It was his jurisdiction in which it had all unfolded, so he would be taking charge now.
We’d been lucky enough to be allowed to do what we had.
My eyes methodically took in the surroundings as we made our way down the front steps of the cabin and toward the rest of our team, who were speaking with Hayes. Griffin, who’d kept his head against my chest the entire way out, sat up at the sound of voices.
“Wow, Uncle Gyth and Uncle Kace came too?” He clung to me, not seeming inclined to get down at all, but twisted in my arms to get a good look at our friends. “Thank you, guys.”
Every man’s face was painted with emotion at those few heartfelt words.
Kace, who had a blanket waiting for Griffin, wrapped it around his shoulders before saying, “All the others wanted to come too, but we were the lucky ones.” He reached over and ruffled Griffin’s hair. “Right, Uncle Gyth?”
Nodding, Gyth jumped in. “Damn lucky for sure.”
My son let out a soft giggle, and it was the most amazing sound.
For hours, I worked hard to believe the only outcome was getting him back, unharmed.
I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t let doubt in a time or two—wondering if I’d hear his laughter again, sing with him, play beside him, or teach him anything new. Or if I’d ever get to watch him grow.
To have my son in my arms, fairly unharmed, meant everything to me.
And he was joking.
“I won’t tell Embry you said the D word,” he told Gyth.
Gyth threw his head back and laughed. “Thanks, bud.”
“So, you seem to have a lot of uncles,” Hayes said, snagging Griffin’s attention. “There must be a story there.”
“Yup, a lot, a lot,” my son said, full of exaggeration. He squinted, studying the sheriff. “You catch bad guys?”
His eyes darted around, his body stiffening in my arms, and I knew what he was looking for right away—so did Hayes.
“Yes, I do. And I already sent the bad man and cruel lady who hurt you away,” he replied.
I felt not only my son relax, but myself too. Having them still close by might have scared Griffin, but it also would have been hard to refrain from paying them a little visit.
“When I grow up, I want to be just like my daddy,” he told Hayes, melting the shit out of my heart. “But the police are cool too. My Uncle Bronson is a policeman.”
Hayes smiled. “Another uncle, huh?”
Griffin shrugged. “I told you I have a lot,” he said matter-of-factly, causing everyone to laugh.
“That you did,” he said after he stopped laughing. “What do you say we have someone look you over before you guys head down the mountain?”
I knew it was a good idea, but my son didn’t say a word or seem receptive to it right away.