Viper’s bark cut like a knife. “This isn’t a sandbox for kids.”
Micah’s cheeks flushed, but he held his ground. “Fuck you. You don’t know my story.”
Black cracked his knuckles in the sudden silence.
Law chuckled under his breath. “Careful, Viper. He has a pistol.”
Viper’s eyes snapped toward Law, heat flaring. “Shut it, Steel.”
“Bite me,” Law smirked.
“Enough. Stay focused,” Dave said, every word measured.
The former SecDef’s words hit the room like a hammer. Lightning flared, shadows slashing across the walls. Thunder rolled a heartbeat later, sharp and punishing.
“If Franklin supposedly works for you, why can’t you just make a house call?” Viper snapped.
“And so, what if I do? You think he’s going to take me to Tatum?” Titus asked, incredulous. “Franklin has information on his laptop and phone that I can’t crack into,” Titus said.
“You can’t hire someone?” Viper sniped.
“No, we already tried. The encryption is like nothing I’ve ever come across before,” Titus snapped and then turned to Dave. “I can get to Franklin. I will get the phone and laptop. Your guys can crack it.”
“Now that you’re here, there’s no way in hell you’re going after Franklin without us,” Viper snarled.
“I can get closer than any of you can,” Titus said, chin tipped in a silent challenge.
“No,” Dave shook his head.
“I agree,” Stone said. If they let Titus out of here and he really was the culprit, then they would have lost the prize plus Franklin.
“You can’t get close to Franklin. He has trust issues,” Titus shook his head.
“What if…someone went in as…say a buyer of merchandise?” Dave said.
Titus hesitated, frowned, and then murmured. “That…might work.”
“You call Franklin and set up a meet,” Dave said.
“A meet with who?” Titus squinted at them. “You?”
Stone met Dave’s gaze. “He doesn’t know us. That could be our edge.”
“He will see you two coming a mile away,” Walt chimed in with a snort.
“It stinks of a setup,” Titus agreed.
Dave’s nod was slow, thoughtful, his gaze shifting around the circle. “Then we’ll send in someone who looks non-threatening. Someone Franklin won’t see coming.”
Dave’s eyes landed on Sage—the slender young man already straightening under the weight of the attention.
Then Dave’s gaze drifted to Boston, silent against the far wall.
Rip tensed beside him, fists going white. Stone caught the muscle ticking in his jaw—the fight he was swallowing down. Rip didn’t need to speak; the silence coming off him said enough.
Titus broke it. His voice cut through the quiet like glass. “Tatum is a fucking child molester, just like Tanis. His taste is for young boys. You send in someone like them alone…” He jerked his chin at Boston, then Sage. “You risk losing them forever.”
Boston laughed, sharp and low, already fingering the edge of the blade he kept sheathed at his thigh. “That fucker won’t see me coming.”
