“Your omega’s bitching ’bout a headache or somethin’; says he needs someone to look at him.”
Jax held his breath, hoping that Bo would fall for it.
“He always was a whiner.” Bo sounded uninterested.
The guard looked at Jax and then turned his back. He whispered exactly what Jax had said. “You don’t want nothing serious to be wrong? He could die, and this will all have been for nothing.” He hissed out the words, then turned back to Jax. Jax made a face to show that he was in pain.
“Alright, but if he’s fine, there’ll be hell to pay for everyone,” Bo growled. “I’ll call the doc over.”
“Thanks, boss. Don’t think it’s a ploy. He looks like he’s going to throw up.” The man backed away like he thought Jax would do so on him. Jax was glad his poor acting skills were helping. The guard put the phone back in his pocket. “Sure the doc will be here soon.”
Jax nodded slowly. Like it took everything out of him. “Thank you,” he whispered weakly. At least now, he’d bought himself some time.
Adoctor who must be part of Bo’s pack came into the room where Jax was held. He gave Jax a thorough exam, or thorough enough for Bo’s liking, asking Jax a ton of questions. He prodded him like a steak. But to every question, Jax responded with a no.
He’d get this furrow in his brow, then murmur, “Strange.”
Jax doubted the man even was a doctor. “You say it’s your head, huh?”
Jax nodded. “I think it’s just the eye or something.”
The doctor arched an eyebrow. “Could be.” He stood up from his kneeling position, then stepped away from Jax and went over to talk to Bo. They had a brief conversation, then he came back to Jax. “You appear to be fine, but I’m going to prescribe you something for the pain. Alpha Bo will get it to you later.”
Jax nodded. “Thank you!” He watched him leave and thanked Goddess that was over.
Chapter Twelve
Ryder
The closer Ryder and Ronin got to Jax, the stronger Ryder could feel Jax’s fear, but he also felt his mate’s certainty that Ryder would come and get him. “I’m coming, Jax.”
He noticed Ronin looking his way. They hadn’t talked much since they’d gotten in the car. When they were about five minutes from their location, Ronin asked, “How are you holding up?”
Ryder laughed, but it held no humor. “I’ve been better.”
Before he could say more, Ryder’s phone rang, and he hurriedly fished it out of his pocket. “It’s Zander,” he said to Ronin before picking up. “Hello?”
“How close are you?” Zander asked.
“About four minutes, why?” Ryder asked.
“We’re ready to go in and wanted to see how close you were. This looks like an easy in and out. Figure Jax would want to see you first.”
“We’ll be there soon.” He hung up the phone and looked at Ro, and the smile he shot his brother might have been the first real one. “They’re okay.”
Ronin turned down a road that seemed to have more boarded-up houses than not. It looked like an abandoned estate. They pulled up at the back of one of the houses, and Zander, Maddox and Finn came out of a house that was completely geared up. This was Ryder’s first-ever mission, and he was running on adrenaline.
“Ro, gear up; you can come with us. I don’t think we’ll need it, but just in case,” Maddox said.
His brother nodded, went to the trunk of the SUV, and began putting on his gear. Finn walked up to Ryder, holding a bulletproof vest. “This is just a precaution. I don’t think you’ll need it, but better safe, right?”
Ryder didn’t care what he had to wear, he could feel how close Jax was, and he wanted to run in and grab his mate. But he also didn’t want to do anything that would put Tabby or Jax in danger.
“We’re going non-lethal on this one, guys,” Maddox said. “Doesn’t look like they’re heavily armed. So this is an incapacitate and secure mission.” He met each of their gazes and the guys nodded. Even though they had their guns, they switched to tasers.
It was already getting late, so they waited till it was dark out before making their approach.
The house they came up on seemed to be one of the few occupied out here. Not that it said much.
