“Bitch,” Long Hair called as I reached the sidewalk. “Help me.”
Ignoring the pain in my injured foot, I raced down the street toward the drugstore three blocks away. I could run faster than Baldy—at least I thought I could. Why hadn’t I agreed to jog at lunchtime with Marci when she’d asked?
I chanced a look back after several houses.
Baldy was helping his friend up. But it got worse. There was a third man helping Baldy get Long Hair to his feet. Then, it got even worse when they all piled into a small blue car on the street.
Now, the drugstore was no longer an option. I couldn’t outrun a car.
I darted into the side yard of the closest house.
CHAPTER 29
Zane
Yates dialedas I drove like a madman to get to my woman.
“Yeah, boss, what’s up?” Roberta answered.
“Something happened at the house. Jordy called, and we lost the connection.”
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” Yates said. “We need you to get eyes on what’s going on. Can you patch into that system?”
“Sure thing. Give me a second.” The rapid clacking of the keys was loud enough to come across the phone line. “My God,” she shrieked. “Jordy’s on the floor. So is another man. Jordy called him Pete.”
“Peyton,” I demanded, clutching the wheel. “What about Peyton?”
The pitch of her voice went up. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
An uncomfortable chill ran through me. I downshifted and pressed harder.
Yates stayed calm. “Find her.”
“Give me a second to back up the feed,” she said.
We couldn’t do anything but wait and drive as quickly as possible.
She let out a sigh. “She went into the backyard just before the explosion.”
“Explosion?” Yates challenged.
“Hold on, boss, I’m trying to make sense of this. Shit flew around and there’s smoke.”
I transmitted on comms. “We have Roberta on the line. There was an explosion at the house. Jordy and Pete are on the floor. Stand by for more.” I hit the brakes hard when a minivan came out of a parking lot right in front of us.
“Duke and I are on the way,” Lucas said. They were going to break the sound barrier to get to their brother.
Roberta spoke next. “Okay, here’s the deal. Peyton went into the backyard. Jordy fell down, passed out, I can’t tell. Bad guys blew a hole in a wall and entered the house, and then left, one out the back and one out the front.”
“Where’s Peyton?” I demanded. The driver flipped me off as I accelerated around the stupid minivan.
“I only have the one camera angle in the back. She ran off, and then the one guy exited the back after her. That’s all I have, except that the bad guys entered the house with gas masks.”
“They gassed them, then blew the wall,” Yates said, which matched my take on it.
“They’re both near the back door,” Roberta said. “If you go in that way, you can get them to fresh air without a mask.”
