“That’s right, EmersonEugene,”Dash whispered.
Emerson pinched Dash’s upper arm.
“Oowwch,”Dash growled playfully.
“Don’t push your luck,” Emerson muttered, fighting a smile.
Dash returned the smile, but it quickly ebbed, fatigue quickly taking over.
“While it was lovely meeting you all, I think I need to get back to my room now,” Dash said, his voice low and weak sounding.
“You’ve overdone it,” Emerson said, rounding the chair and unlocking the wheels. “Let’s get you back to bed.” He eyed his family. “I’ll check back in later.”
A chorus of goodbyes sounded as they exited out into the hall. Emerson was glad to get away from his family for a few minutes, if just to breathe a little after what had just happened. “Well,thatwas terrifying.”
“They seemed to take it well enough,” Dash said.
“Hey! Wait!” Jackson called from behind them.
Emerson looked over his shoulder. Jackson limped closer, clearly in a bit of pain. He spun the wheelchair around and closed the gap between them.
“I put a call in to my higher ups this morning and just got a text while you two lovebirds were doing your thing just now. Black Guard’s arrived. They’ve taken over all of the Fort Seattle Guard precincts, using the excuse that they believe your explosion might have terrorist ties. Two teams. One will run the investigation on the fire. The other will covertly dig into the disappearances and determine who among the Red Guard might be involved. I’ve told them about the evidence you showed us earlier, Dash, so they know to be on the lookout for your boy Crenshaw and to focus attention there.” Jackson sighed. “I’m sure everything you had is gone now, so we’ll have to dig it up again and put it together.”
“I scanned everything and put it on my server,” Dash said.
“Which likely died in the fire, too,” Jackson said.
“My serverisn’tin the building,” Dash said, cocking a brow as if stunned he had to explain. “And it backs up to others I’ve hidden away for safe keeping.”
A slow smile spread across Jackson’s face. “Of course you’d cover your ass, you big geek.”
“Not the first time my skills have saved the day,” Dash said.
“Oh, no doubt,” Jackson replied. “I’ll let the boss know you’ve got everything safe and sound.”
“I just need to get out of here,” Dash said.
“You need to be here,” Emerson said.
Dash ignored him, gaze on Jackson. “Am I being pushed out of the investigation?”
“They may want you there for input, but this is now a Black Guard investigation,” Jackson said. “At best, you might be allowed in as a consultant, but considering how you were pushed out, I don’t know.”
“I wish y’all luck getting my info without me,” Dash said. “You want it? I’m on the team.”
“Afteryou’ve had time to recover,” Emerson growled. “You’ll need to be here at least another day or two.”
“Why?”Dash asked. “I’m fine.”
“You almostdied,”Emerson argued.
“And I’ve got my own real-life superhero at my side if something happens.” Dash turned his gaze to Jackson. “Emerson’s an arson investigatorandhas knowledge of this case. They can make him a consultant, too.” He looked at Emerson. “Then you’d be there in case something happened.”
“Oh, look out, now,” Jackson said to Emerson. “He’s gonna get real cocky thinking he’s bulletproof because of you.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that,” Emerson said, gazing down at his mate.
“If we want to catch whoever did this, find these missing alphas, and put Crenshaw away, I need to be a part of this,” Dash said. He focused on Jackson. “You know what I can do. They know what I can do. Make some calls.”
