Jay lifted his head and turned, but he kept ahold of Ryden, watching as Frank darted over, grabbed Joshua, and lifted him off his feet to squeeze him.
“Thank fuck,” Frank said gruffly, gently putting Joshua on his feet. He cupped his face. “Are you okay?”
Joshua nodded. His smile was wide. “We kicked ass.”
Frank chuckled. “I knew you would.”
“We should take this inside,” Ryden said. “In case those assholes are still around.” He ushered Jay toward the doors, leaning in to murmur. “I was on my way to, uh, what was it? The Suburban Sasquatch?”
Jay let out a shaky laugh despite the current circumstances. “You mean the Urban Unicorn?”
Ryden snapped his fingers. “That’s it.”
Jay shook his head. If he didn’t laugh, he’d cry. Having been trained and having to use what you’d learned were two very different things. The adrenaline was still pumping, and he didn’t want to think of what would follow once everything caught up with him.
Upstairs, Ryden led them to his office, turning on the lights when they stepped inside. He motioned to the couch, but Jay shook his head.
“I need… I don’t want to….” He tightened his grip on Ryden’s T-shirt, grateful Ryden didn’t ask. He led Jay inside but didn’t sit. “How’d you know?” Jay asked him.
“I called him,” Frank said, sitting on the couch with Joshua and pulling him close. “After Joshua messaged me.”
Jay blinked at Joshua. “How?” When they hadn’t been running, they’d been defending themselves.
“My smartwatch,” Joshua replied, holding up his wrist. He pointed to one of the app shortcuts on the screen. “I have an app that lets me send a 9-1-1 message to whomever’s programmed in. Two taps and it notified Frank.”
Jay made a mental note to get himself that app.
“Was it them?” Ryden asked Jay.
Jay shook his head. “These guys werenotMarines, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t send them.”
“You know who’s behind this?” Frank asked, standing. Joshua quickly jumped to his feet and took hold of Frank’s hand.
Ryden gave them all a brief rundown of what was going on, leaving out everything that had happened between him and Jay. All of it Jay knew, except the part where it could be connected to one of their clients who’d been killed in a car bombing earlier that day.
Jay gasped. He stared up at Ryden. “Who?”
“Graham Gibson.”
“Oh my God.” Jay put a hand to his mouth. “Poor Mr. Gibson.”
“Wait, Graham Gibson of Gibson Global?” Joshua asked, his frown deep.
“You know him?” The moment Jay said the words, it struck him. “He has a contract with Connolly Maritime.”
Joshua nodded. “He is—I mean, was, one of Connolly Maritime’s subcontractors. Colton had lunch with him yesterday.”
“Shit.” Frank ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t like where any of this is going. Does King know?”
Ryden nodded. “We talked to him today. Jack’s looking into these guys. For now, you all stay safe and watch your backs.”
Joshua worried his bottom lip. He met Jay’s gaze. “When King assigns you protection, please don’t say no.”
Jay blinked at his best friend. “Say what now?”
“The moment King finds out, he’ll want to assign someone to protect you.”
Joshua wasn’t wrong, but he’d worry about that later. “I can’t think about that right now.” He hadn’t even wrapped his head around tonight. His adrenaline rush was fading, and he began to shake.
