Mason rolls his eyes. “Parker, really, you’re getting a little?—”
“Please,” I say, interrupting him. He turns to look at me in the dark of the car, eyes full of worry now instead of the annoyance from a moment ago. “Please, just stay behind me if you need to, okay?”
“All right, Parker.”
“Good boy. Thank you.”
Mason’s lips part at thegoodboy, and I wish I had time to explore his reaction. But I’ll tuck it away for the futurebecause my anxiety is for nothing, surely. I climb out of the car, ignoring the furious glare being sent my way by Hayden, and open Mason’s door for him. I help him navigate over the puddles on the ground, then join the others as we make our way toward the plaza. Mason circles his arms around himself in the crisp night air, and I wish I could tug him to me, but it’s not the time. It’s also probably something Mason wouldn’t want, given us being out of the safe germ-free bubble of the house.
I double-check that his holster has his gun and his new taser gifted to him by Reid, then step up front with Dante to lead the charge into the office building. The lights are bright in the dark night of the city, and the others hang behind as Dante and I put space between us and them. I glance over at Dante to watch him pull the ski mask over his face, and I let out a sigh at the time I pull mine down. Ihatewearing the masks, but sometimes we have to, if Hayden can’t guarantee the camera footage will be deleted later. Also, when we leave people alive.
“Sucks having your boyfriend with you on missions, huh?” Dante asks.
The sound of our shoes slapping the shiny marble grates on my nerves and so does his question, kind of, but I know Dante doesn’t mean any harm by it.
“Feels like a liability.”
Dante snorts. “Sure, Parker.”
“Well, how do you feel?”
Dante flashes a scary smile at the closest guard. “Like my heart stayed behind when we walked through those doors. Heyyyyy… You don’t want to do that, dude. We come in peace.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds to turn back around,” the guard says in a shaky voice.
Dante makes a pouty face that would be hilarious at any other time and leans against the security counter. “Sorry, bud, but we won’t be leaving. What you will be doing is taking a little nap after you tell us where your coworkers are stationed.” The guard goes to reach under the counter for a button, but Dante reaches out to grab his arm in a firm, painful grip. Dantetutsthe guard. “Don’t do that, bud. You can make this hard or easy, your choice.”
The guard swallows and flicks his gaze between us. “Listen, my name is Darren, and I have a wife and two daughters, they’re nine and five and?—”
“We’re not serial killers,” I say, interrupting him, already knowing his tactic. “Telling us about yourself won’t stop us from tranq’ing you and making you take a nice little nap. Now, where are the other guards stationed?”
“Fifth, eleventh, twentieth, and thirty-second floor.” That was easy as pie. Almost too easy.
“Nap time,” Dante says before jumping over the desk, putting the man in a headlock and knocking him out. I hop around the desk myself and help Dante tie the man up with a zip tie. “So easy.”
“Too easy,” I mumble under my breath.
“Yeah.” Dante tilts his head. “What’s up, Parker?”
Unease settles heavy in my gut. “Something isn’t right.”
I can feel it in my bones that something is terribly, terribly wrong. Hayden leads Jacob, Reid, and Mason into the lobby, but all I can hear is the rushing of the blood in my head as I stand up. The lights to the building turn off, leaving us only in the glow of the flashing emergency lights.
“Fuck,” someone says aloud.
The sounds of sirens echo around us. Fucking hell. Hayden is shocked still, but I remember the plan, and I know it well. Always protect Hayden. I have half a second to meet Dante’s eyes before we spring into action. Dante grabs Reid and Mason to drag them bodily out of the building. I grab a stunned Hayden’s arm and drag him along behind me, knowing Jacob will not be far behind us. It’s always my job to get Hayden out, protect Hayden, and I can’t focus on anything else but the mission. As long as Dante is in front of me with the brothers, it’ll be okay. Jacob will be behind me.
The high-rise hallways are dark, filled only with the sound of us panting, our footsteps slapping against the expensive marble. I keep my eyes trained on the strong line of Dante’s back. As we head farther down the hallway, my grip on Hayden’s arm intensifies, even as he digs his feet in, making it harder to tug him along. We reach an exit door, but Dante fumbles with it for a moment, since it doesn’t want to just push open. I scour the door for a sign, but Reid beats us all to it. He tugs against Dante’s firm grip and slaps his hand against a small, almost hidden button against the wall that lights up in a signal that we can finally open the door.
Dante makes a relieved sound and shoves it open, tugging the brothers along behind him. My heart pounds in my ears with every step, and it keeps pounding when we break into the night air through the back door. The car is four blocks away and the lights of the sirens are getting closer, shining against the puddles on the dark asphalt. Tires screeching on gravel sets me on edge. Clenching my jaw tight, my molars threaten to crack as I use every ounce of strength to drag Hayden along.
“Jake!” Hayden shouts in terror.
But I can’t turn around. Dante doesn’t turn around either,but Mason and Reid do, and I can’t look at their faces because I can’t know for sure what my intuition has been telling me all night. We just keep running until the sirens fade and the dark of night is all we have to guide us toward escape. All I can think about is getting us to safety, putting as much space between us and those sirens. Because those sirens mean one single thing: pain. Finally, after longer than seems possible, Dante cuts into an alleyway and guides us into an abandoned-looking restaurant that’s door easily opens.
We all stand panting for a while, trying to get our breath, and Reid is the one to get his nerves about him first.
“What the fuck was that?”
