Love in the Land of Fire, Brochu, Rebecca [best free novels .txt] 📗

its station, which means that the one he’s currently operating belongs to the dead man on his floor. When Gar’s eyes fall on him again he smiles, a sort of awkward upturning of his lips, as he gestures to the body and the room with his free hand.

“Your boy did some damage, Josiah. He fought hard and as outnumbered as he was I’m impressed. I mean I knew he was good, the video and notes on his first escape were impressive, but he’s better than I expected.

These guys are all private sector according to this, efficient, ruthless, and not known for being particularly soft handed. This one must have gotten too close. His neck’s been snapped in a way that would make you proud. I suspect that the only reason they got him at all was because of this.”

Gar fishes in one of his many pockets and pulls out a tiny familiar syringe. Josiah takes it from him and knows what he’ll find even before he raises it to his nose and inhales the sickly sweet scent of quiesco root, the same sedative Rafe had overdosed on.

“Fuck.” Josiah runs a hand through his hair, gripping at the strands in frustration before he forces himself to calm down.

Before he can say anything else an alarm goes off on Gar’s personal p.a.t.c.h and Josiah watches as the other man unfurls the tech and his fingers fly over it almost too quickly for Josiah to follow his movements. A minute passes and then another and it takes everything Josiah has in him not to pace. He knows that if he doesn’t keep a tight handle on himself he’ll be out the door in flash and desperately searching for any sign of Rafe. His best bet is to be patient, to let Gar work and wait for the information that the other man is sure to provide.

“Got them.” Gar’s voice is filled with triumph and Josiah is immediately on alert, muscles tensing in preparation for movement.

“Where?” He growls the words out, sees the understanding and muted bloodlust on Gar’s face at his 6question. Even though the other dominant has never actually met Rafe, Josiah knows that Gar is fiercely protective of their old unit and anyone they consider family. It’s reassuring to have him at his back again.

“I’ve got a positive I.D. on our boy Frisch and his men on the far side of Ember Harbor, outside of a small warehouse. There’s no sign of Zweil outside but judging by the area and the travel time I’m ninety percent sure he’s inside. Address is being sent to your navigational system and details of the surrounding area are currently being worked up. I’ll do a full layout of the perimeter on the way there.”

Josiah’s already moving, long legs eating up the distance as he rushes out of the apartment and back to his still running transport, Gar hot on his heels. They’re peeling out of the parking area in seconds, Josiah focusing on weaving in and out of traffic while Gar types away at his p.a.t.c.h, mouth spewing a constant stream of information that Josiah absorbs automatically. Gar’s always been talented at battle strategy and they’d worked together for so long that Josiah trusts him to develop the most effective plan. It would be beyond foolish to ignore such a reliable source of information and support.

“I’ll set up on a neighboring rooftop and pick off any outlaying guards while you secure an entry point. Once that’s handled we’ll rendezvous and infiltrate together. A word to the wise, you might want to call Eagan. I thought you’d want to handle this in-house so to speak but given the nature of the situation and the dead man in your apartment you might want to head off any currently unforeseen complications. Plus back up, no matter how late or inept, might actually be a good thing in this case.”

Josiah curses low and rough, hands tightening around the steering wheel until he hears the metal and plastic material groan in protest. He cannot believe that he’d not thought of that himself, that he’d let himself get tangled so deep in thoughts of Rafe being hurt and of killing Frisch with his bare hands that he’d let something so important as that slip his mind. Despite his best efforts to stay calm and clearheaded it’s painfully obvious that he’s not nearly as in control as he’s been trying to be.

He pries one of his hands loose and jabs roughly at his ocular, barking out a request for a secure channel with Eagan and waiting impatiently for the Lead Enforcer to answer.

“Marx. I didn’t think I’d be hearing from your ugly ass for a while longer.” Eagan is as loud and cheerful as always but Josiah doesn’t have the time for pleasantries.

“Eagan, Rafe’s been taken. Private sector muscle under Frisch’s command broke into my apartment while I was meeting Marcel and took him. Gar’s located their position and we’re in route now, E.T.A. eight minutes.”

Eagan’s silent for a moment and when he speaks there’s a commanding tone to his voice that chafes at Josiah even as he tries to shove the instinctual reaction back down.

“Do not take any unnecessary risks, Marx. I know how you are and I told you before that I don’t want to lose my best agent over this. Take the little fuck alive if you can, but I’m honestly not going to lose any sleep over it if deadly force is necessary. He forfeited all rights to be treated with care when he kidnapped someone under enforcer protection. We’ll use him to send a message.”

Josiah smiles, a sharp stretch of teeth and lips, at Eagan’s words. Frisch has fucked up royally by kidnapping Rafe. By directly violating the protection laws in such a blatant manner he’s