“Nothing has changed here. Over.” A moment later, he came back, “Bourne. Check your headspace. Nothing exists but the air you’re breathing and what you see through your scope. That’s it.”
“Copy that. Over.” Fuck fuck fuck. I am not going to crack up over here. I start counting cars, people moving in front of the building, keeping a list in my head. I start cramming intel into my brain, keeping it too busy to think about anything else.
It was 10:21pm when I heard from Jax again. “Bourne. I’ve got a vehicle parked on the South side of the building that looks like it might be our guy. Over.”
“Fuck. I don’t have a view of that side of the building. Hold your position and let me get down there and get eyes on it. Over.”
“Bourne…. Don’t move on that vehicle without me. Over.”
“Copy that. Over.” I was already running down the last flight of stairs and toward the entrance at the back of the building. There is an emergency exit on the south side, but it’s alarmed. Even though Frank could disarm it for me, I didn’t want to attract attention coming out a door just feet from where this guy was parked.
When I hit the exit door, I already had my 9mm out and against my thigh. I turned toward the south side of the building and nearly collided with him. It took a split second for my brain to register whose face was in front of me. That same split second had him trying to pull something out of the pocket of his jacket.
I leapt on him, taking him to the ground with my hand wrapped around his throat. When he pulled a gun from his jacket, I slammed my own weapon against his wrist, knocking the gun out of his hand. I shoved my gun into its holster and threw a punch as hard as I could right into this fucker’s face. When I hit his nose and cheekbone, the crunch of bone sounded right before the sickening thud of his head hitting pavement.
Lights out, motherfucker.
I clicked my mic while I stood up over him. “Jax. I’ve got him. I need some help at the back of the building. Over.”
“Goddammit, Bourne. What the fuck? I’ll be right there. Over.” Yeah. Jax was pissed off.
Shit never goes down the way you expect. Which is why you always need a Plan B. This wasn’t our backup plan, though. This was ‘fly by the seat of your pants and thank God that you were faster than the other asshole.’
The good news was that this side of the building had basically no foot traffic to worry about since you can’t park on this street and the trees lining the median blocked the view of the doorway from most of the building on the other side. The bad news was that there wasn’t an easy way to get him down to the basement without being seen by someone in the building.
I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed Frank. While it rang, I pulled Dan’s jacket off and used it to wrap up the gun lying on the ground.
“Frank. I need to get…something… to the basement from the back entrance to the building. I’d like to do that without running into anyone from the building. Any ideas on how that could happen?”
As I finished, I saw Jax come jogging up the side of the building. I could tell just from the way he was holding himself, he was fucking furious.
“Let me send Gene that way. He’s, uh, picking up the trash from the restrooms on the first floor….”
“Thanks, Frank.” I slid my phone back into my pocket and turned to face Jax.
“Hey. I didn’t have a choice. I came out the damn door and fucking walked right into him. Fucker had a gun, too!”
“No shit? Huh. Everything you told me about this guy made that seem…unlikely.”
“You’re telling me. If Uncle Sam hadn’t spent so much fucking time and money making sure my ass knew how to throw down without having to think about it first, I might’ve gotten fucking shot by an asshole who probably doesn’t even know how to clean that damn gun.”
“You might want to leave that part out when you tell Emma what happened tonight.”
“You aren’t fucking kidding.”
The door opened and Gene, the morning security guard, came out pushing a cleaning cart. A cleaning cart big enough to hold a grown man. Frank was a genius.
Jax and I picked Dan up and dropped him into the cart before Gene starts pushing it back into the building. I stopped Jax with a hand on his arm when he started to follow Gene inside.
“Gene – take him down to the holding cell in the basement security office and cuff him, wouldja? We need to take a look at a few things before we talk to him.”
“Sure thing. I’ll keep an eye on him until you get down there.”
Once Gene was back in the building, I grabbed the jacket that had his gun wrapped in it and grabbed the keys out of the pocket.
“Figured we should know what he’s got in that car before we confront him.”
Jax nodded. “Got any guesses?”
“Only in my worst nightmares.”
We got to the car parked on the side of the building and found it unlocked. After digging through what was inside, it really looked like he was living in the damn thing instead of just driving it. Which made sense since we knew he had no money.
I was digging through the glove box when Jax called my name. He was standing over the open trunk, perfectly still. I walked around the side of the car and stopped next to him.
My breath caught in my throat for a second before fury coursed into my system. Almost from a distance, I saw my hand reach toward the trunk before Jax stopped me.
“Don’t touch it. It’s evidence now.”
“I will fucking kill him. Rip his goddamn hands from his motherfucking body. He’s dead. Dead.” I turned and started running back to the building. When I yanked on the handle to the back entrance, Jax slammed himself against it to keep it from opening.
“Bourne. No.”
“Move, Jax. Fucking move, RIGHT NOW.” I slammed my fist into the door beside his head. He didn’t even fucking flinch.
“Bourne. I can’t let you do it. Emma will never understand killing her ex-husband if your own life isn’t in danger. Pull it back, man.”
I folded in half and yelled until there was no breath left in my lungs. Then I fell to my knees.
“Talk to me, Bourne. I saw it too, brother. You love her. That makes this a thousand times worse. But you have to control it.”
“You saw it. He was going to hurt her. Kill her. Emma. Mia?” My heart was beating so hard my chest actually physically hurt. “They’re MINE. And he was going to HURT THEM.”
Jax just waited. He knew. He knew what it was really all about. But I can’t say it yet. I focused on breathing, slowing my heart down, pulling my thoughts back in line. In, out. In, out. When everything cleared and my mind was quiet, my vision was crystal clear, the world wasn’t buzzing in my ears anymore, I looked up at Jax.
“What if I was too late? I could have lost them both. Jesus. He could have taken them from me forever.” I closed my eyes.
“’What if’ is for people who don’t train their entire lives to keep from asking that question. We don’t ask ‘what if’ – we ask ‘what now.’ You weren’t too late. You didn’t lose them. He didn’t take them. Now let’s go finish this shit and get that fucker behind bars so you can get back to your woman.”
He held out his hand to help me up and I took it. And then I used it to pull him to me and slap his back. There’s so much I want to say at that moment, but the words don’t come.
“Thanks, Jax.”
“Anytime, Bourne. Anytime.”
Chapter 20
~Emma~
By ten o'clock, I was past just pacing around the room holding a gun. Mia was sleeping in her play pen and the only light in the room was coming from the nightlight we brought over here from Mia’s room. I kept trying to sit down and look at something on my phone but all I ended up doing was pulling up my contacts and then having to force myself not to press Jason’s name. I knew I couldn’t call him right now. Even if he wasn’t in danger, he didn’t need the distraction when I have no reason to call. I’m fine. Mia�
�s fine. I’m just…losing my mind a little, that’s all.
At eleven, I called Heather and woke her up. I know I woke her up because she mumbled and groaned for a good fifteen seconds before saying anything remotely resembling ‘hello.’
“Jason’s been gone since eight and I haven’t heard anything. Has John heard from him?”
It took Heather a moment to realize who she was talking to and process what I asked.
“John isn’t home, Emma. His guys have that huge sting tonight. He’s been gone since early this morning and told me not to wait up.”
“Oh…. It’s been three hours, Heather.”
“He’s a Navy SEAL. He’s fine. And he didn’t go out alone, right? Who’s with him?”
“Jax.”
“Hm. I don’t know if I’ve met him or not. John does try to keep me out of what’s happening at the office, but he’s kind of friends with some of them, so I push him to be social….”
“He has a British accent. You’d remember him if you’d met him.”
“Ooh. Maybe John’s kept him away on purpose. I do love a man with an accent.”
I almost smiled at that. Only Heather. “Okay. If you hear from John –“
“I’ll call you. Promise. You call me after Jason gets back.”
I stare at the clock beside the bed again. 11:02pm.
“Emma. You need to get your mind on something else.”
“There IS nothing else, Heather. He’s out there with GUNS because my ex-husband has lost his damn mind! I can’t think of anything else because this is the only important thing right now. I am locked inside a guest bedroom in his apartment just … waiting! I can’t go anywhere or do anything because I promised him I would stay right here and be safe.”
“He has to focus on what he’s doing, Em. Knowing that you’re safe is the only way he can shut that off in his head, you know?”
I sighed and sat back down on the bed. “I get it. I do. But it doesn’t mean it somehow miraculously becomes easy. Waiting is hard. I’m not a patient person and this is agony.”
“Check Facebook, go make a new board on Pinterest, read a book, take a bath…. I don’t know – just try to distract yourself. You know I’d come over and help if I could, but you’re kind of in quarantine right now and John pretty much forbid me to get involved again after last time.”
“Forbid you?” I can’t even imagine. I might even offer to pay to see someone do that. No one has ever gotten away with something like that with her before and I have a hard time believing John survived trying.
“Yeah. He actually used that word, too. Like I need him to tell me what to do…. Have you ever had angry sex, though? Because…it has its merits.”
I laughed. I laughed hard and long and kept laughing until I slid to the floor with tears running down my cheeks. This has all been too much. I’m not made for this much chaos and conflict. It’s just too much.
“It’s okay, Em. I’m so sorry I’m not there. Everything is going to be okay. They know what they’re doing. They’re damn good at their jobs and they’re smart.”
“I know, but I just want it to end.”
“It will, Em. Hopefully tonight, but definitely soon.”
I sighed and reached for a tissue on the nightstand. I put the phone down and blew my nose before picking it back up.
“You gonna be okay now?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna be okay. Thanks, Heather.”
“Love you, Em.”
“Love you, too.”
I held my phone in one hand and the gun with the other. I paced. I sat down and then popped right back up. I checked on Mia, paced around the room and did it again. I prayed.
Jason was everything I had ever dreamed of finding but never actually hoped to realize. He’s far from perfect, but his imperfections make him…better. They make him real and complex and amazing. I thought maybe, someday, I’d find a man who would love Mia the way a father should. I hoped that he would love me, too. But my definition of ‘love’ before Jason…well… the word seems entirely inadequate now.
So, I prayed. I bargained. I begged. I need this man in my life – in our lives. Please, please let him come through this unharmed. Please let them find Dan and make it all stop. Please let tonight be the last night we spend worrying about my past affecting my future.
It was nearly midnight when my phone rang. I jerked up on the bed where I had apparently managed to doze off at some point between now and 11:40pm.
My phone showed Jason’s face on the lock screen. Thank God!
“Jason?!”
“Em. I’m coming inside. You can unlock the door now.”
I dropped my phone without even hanging up and launched myself at the door. It took three tries to get the stupid lock to turn and then I ran full tilt into Jason in the hallway. He wrapped me in his arms and lifted me off the ground, hugging me so tight my ribs pinched. I locked my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and clung to him like I’d never let go.
I pulled back and kissed him. I kissed his mouth, cheeks, jaw, nose, chin – everything I could reach. The relief crashing through me was insane, like nothing I’d ever felt before.
“Em. Baby. I’m okay. Everything is okay.” He kissed me one more time and tried to set me down on my feet. Nope. I wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Don’t let go. Don’t ever let go.” I started to cry. Blame it on me being a weak female, my hormones, the adrenaline crash, whatever. In the end, these were happy tears.
He stroked my back and kissed me over and over, whispering assurances that everything is okay. Then I heard a cough in the living room.
I let go when Jason tried to put me down that time.
“It’s Jax and Carla. They’re going to take Mia back to Carla’s apartment while you come with me. I…. You need to see this and John wants a statement from you before anything else happens.”
“Did you find him?”
“Yes. We found him.”
I didn’t even know how to feel or what to think. They caught him. Jason caught him. Just like he promised he would.
I helped put together the bag for Mia and pulled her from the play pen. She stayed asleep as I transferred her to Carla who wrapped Mia back up in her blanket.
“I’ll keep her until morning, Emma. You deal with this mess and then try to get some rest. I can keep her all day tomorrow if you need me to, too.”
“Thanks, Carla. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know what’s going on by then.”
Jax and Carla left. Jason grabbed my hand.
“It’s bad, Em. John and I need you to understand – really understand – what was going on and why you need to press charges. I promise I won’t leave you at any point while we’re down there.”
This isn’t what I expected. I really expected him to tell me they found Dan and now he won’t bother me anymore. They warned him off or threatened him – maybe hurt him enough to get the point across.
“Okay. If you’re with me, I know I’m safe. I can do this.”
“I know you can, babe. I know you can.”
We left the apartment and he took me downstairs from the lobby to the basement. I knew there was a basement, but I always assumed it was just for janitorial storage or standard office usage. There were a few rooms that fit in with that general idea, but there was a full set of offices as well as a meeting room with screens and cameras for video conferences.
The security office down there was all computer screens and phones and filing cabinets. Next to it was another room with the door closed. Jason held my hand and walked me to that door.
“You ready?” His eyes are worried and serious.
“Yes.” My voice only shook a little.
Jason knocked on the door and pushed it open. My eyes landed on John immediately and I opened my mouth to say hello – until the door swung open the rest of the way and I saw a man handcuffed to a chair muttering to himself and bleeding. It took a few seconds to recognize that the man was D
an.
His gray hoodie is soaked in the blood running from his hugely swollen nose and the cut above his left eye. Both eyes are turning black from bruising and swelling. He’s lost weight since I saw him last – his face is gaunt and his cheekbones throw harsh shadows on the hollows of his cheeks and the beard he has grown. I could have passed him on the street and not known who he was. I flash back for a moment to the man I first met over six years ago. His wide smile and bright green eyes had mesmerized me from the moment he touched my hand and introduced himself. He had been so handsome and charming…. And now he’s sitting here, broken and bleeding in handcuffs, his mind somehow shattered.
At that moment, he looked up and saw me in the doorway.
“You fucking worthless piece of shit! Fucking cunt!” he started screaming at me, straining against the handcuffs as he tried to lunge toward me.
Jason wrapped his arm around my waist in support.
“It’s all because of you! You fucking ruined my fucking life. Bitch! I lost my job because those ignorant fucks liked you better than the women I was fucking. I bet you sucked old man Jones’ dick, didn’t you, you fucking unfaithful whore. I lost my fucking job because I wasn’t married to your worthless ass. I lost my house and my car because of you! You ruined my life! You and that fucking kid! I used to be able to fuck anyone I wanted. Flash a little money and all the bitches want to suck you off. I could fuck two or three at once. All I had to do was fucking snap my fingers and they ran like my cock was made of fucking gold. It’s all because of you, you goddamn cock tease. You fucking owe me everything.”
John moved and Jason pulled me back out of the room while Dan continued to scream at me.
“I paid for your college degree and helped you find a goddamn job even when you weren’t giving me that pussy when I asked for it. ASKED FOR IT! I don’t have to ask, bitch! You’re my goddamn wife and I OWN that fucking pussy! I can fuck it anytime I want, bitch!”
Jason closed the door. A few steps later, he pulled me into his arms. I could feel myself shaking. Hard. Almost like something inside me was shaking apart.
Bourne to Love Emma (RED-Stone Operatives Book 1) Page 18