Talon shrugged. “Maddox will keep working on him.”
Solo nodded and cleared his throat, stepping forward. “Good. We need?”
The slap of running footsteps had Wilder jerking his head up and regretting it immediately when pain sparked behind his eyes.
Someone pushed Talon aside in the doorway. A flash of blond hair sent his heart into a frenzy until it was pale blue eyes that found his gaze and not the sapphire blues he loved.
“I’ve got a location,” Ezra said, skidding to a halt in front of them. “They’re still on the road, but they’re heading toward DC.”
“What? How?”
“His CIs have GPS.”
“His what?” Talon asked, walking to Ezra’s side.
“His implants,” Wilder explained, gaze locked on Ezra. “You tracked him via his implants?”
“I know I’m drop-dead gorgeous, but I’m notjusta pretty face,” Ezra said, wagging his brows.
“Debatable,” Talon muttered, just loud enough for Ezra to overhear, and Wilder swallowed back a groan as he watched a smug smile spread on Ezra’s face.
“Aww, you think I’m pretty, Tally?” Ezra crooned, catching the belt loops on Talon’s jeans with his fingers, leaning back to bat his lashes at the usually stoic man. Wilder held his breath as he watched the flash of emotions on Talon’s face, unsure what the hell he was even seeing.
Before anyone could step in, Talon wrenched Ezra’s fingers off him, jerking his arms behind his back in what looked like a painful hold. Ezra’s smile didn’t dim. He was pretty sure it only grew more smug.
“Call me that again, and I’ll break yourpretty face,” Talon growled low.
“Promises promises, Tal?”
Jane’s hand muffled the rest of Ezra’s words, and she gave Talon a look that had him releasing the other man into her hold. She jerked Ezra back, her mouth at his ear as she whispered something that had Ezra straightening, his expression hardening. He dug a phone out of his back pocket and handed it to Jane, who released him.
“You can track him with that,” Ezra said and turned on his heels. “Call me if you need me.”
Wilder took a single breath, and then he said, “Alright, let’s go.”
“You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” Jane protested.
He met her gaze, determination raging inside him. “Just try and stop me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Emmett
HE WAS curled up in the corner of the van, shaking and trying not to cry. How had this happened? What the hell was even happening? The terror raging inside him was overwhelming, leaving him gasping for breath as he shuddered.
They’d pushed him into the back of the van, one man behind the wheel while the other two were in the back with him, watching him closely. They hadn’t bothered to tie him up. Not that he could claim it was necessary. He wouldn’t even know how to fight his way out.
The shortest of the men said something to the other, his voice too low to hear, and with their scarves covering the lower parts of their faces, he couldn’t read his lips either. The man bent down to grab a throw blanket off the floor of the van, and then he made his way to Emmett’s corner, one hand on the wall of the van to keep himself upright. Emmett hated that he folded in on himself.
“Here,” the man said, crouching down in front of him and laying the blanket over his shoulders. Emmett didn’t move a muscle, staring at the man as he tried to breathe as quietly as possible.
He tugged his scarf down to reveal a clean-shaven square chin and a small scar through his upper lip.
“It’s alright. You’re safe now,” he said, looking as if he believed it, too.
He’d never felt more unsafe in his life. He closed his eyes, regretting it immediately when a vision of Wilder falling to his knees in the parking lot flashed through his mind. He couldn’t think about Wilder right now because if he did… If he thought for even one second that Wilder might be…
All he could do was breathe.
