Harding gave a sharp nod.“That’ll do.”He glanced to his people, all of them dressed for dinner and dancing, all of them with hard faces and squared shoulders, even Natalia’s wife, who knew what it was to stand by a warrior when she went into battle.
Even Toby Trotter, their little DJ, who had been rescued by warriors when he’d gotten in the way of the sociopaths.
“Okay, people,” Harding said.“What’s coming next is off books.Whether you join us or not, you need to keep your eyes peeled—we don’t know how much he knows about the whole unit.We meet at the office in two hours to pick up body armor and tactical gear and to map out a plan.Bring your drop pieces and ammo.Anybodynotup for this needs to let me know—”
“See you in two hours, Boss,” said Doba, with Henderson nodding at his side.
“Tal’s drop piece is in the lockbox in the car,” Emily said.“Let her get that and she can ride with you.Toby, I’ll get you home.”
“Thanks, honey,” Natalia said, giving her the warm gaze of somebody who has seen their every faith rewarded.
“It’s Gid, honey.We gotta go get our boy, right?”
Gideon, who had been there from the very beginning, Joey remembered.Gideon who wasn’t only Joey’s.Gideon who belonged to the unit, andeverybodywanted in.
“It’s a plan,” Harding said.“Crosby, Harm and I will take Joey to Gideon’s apartment to get his stuff.I’m going to give you two Joey’s apartment keys and the location of the cameras his father has been tapping to monitor him.So far we haven’t spotted any other tails or cameras, but we need to make sure.Let us know how many people you see waiting for him.I’m pretty sure it’s a trap.”
Crosby grunted.“Boss, uhm… permission?”
Harding’s smile wasn’t… pleasant.“With cause,” he said temperately, which meant Stevie Carlyle might be out some men that night.
“Course,” Crosby said.“Joey, you want us to bring you some, uhm—” He gave Joey an apologetic once-over.“—clothes that won’t rip?”
Joey remembered Gideon’s comment about seeing when Joey had last waxed and was surprised he could still smile.“Most of my work clothes are at Gid’s,” he said, not caring.They knew.Everybody had seen that dance, their kiss.Gideon may have dealt with the fallout, but Joey had known what he was doing.
“Then you won’t mind what we stash in there if we have to,” Crosby said, nodding.“Fair.”He was still standing a little behind Joey, and Joey was surprised by the giant, all-encompassing hug he received.“You keep your brains in your head, Carlyle.Remember, we got your back.We got Gid’s.Nobody has to be alone, you hear me?”
And Joey remembered that late-night talk with Gid, and how Gid had told him he would be okay, would remain himself, because he had people to remind him who he was.
“I hear you,” he said and gave Harding a grim nod.“Can we send somebody with Emily and Toby?”he asked, remembering the night Toby had gotten hurt.“I am not okay with them on their own.”
Harding glanced up, obviously reluctant to ask somebody to stand down.His shoulders relaxed when Henderson stepped forward.
“I’m not as good a shot as Doba,” he apologized, nodding to Emily.“But I’ll be happy to escort you both.”
“Harm, do you want to go with them?”Clint asked, and his husband gave him a bored glance.
“No,” he said, without elaboration.
Harding let out a soft breath.“Of course not.Okay, people—we all have our assignments.Two hours.First person who gets there needs to unlock the equipment room and start cleaning guns.Let’s go.”
And they went.
Invasion
TWO ANDa half hours later, Joey was dressed in tactical gear—vest, weapons, helmet at the ready, earpiece in—and he and the team were having a spirited game of where aretheyand how do we getthere?
“Massachusetts,” Joey said, no bullshit.“Yeah, I know he does business down here, but the bodies he didn’t bury in the basement, he used to dump in the res.He shares property borders with it, and he knew where to leave the remains so the scavengers got there long before the law.He would rather transport a body in the back of his car than dump one somewhere he wasn’t comfortable with.”
Memories of his father and his habits, long dammed up, were flooding him now.He found they weren’t painful anymore, not embarrassing, not infuriating or threatening.Two years of taking classes, of studying perpetrators, of learning how to profile bad guys in order to predict their movements had boiled the information down to its purest form: A weapon to defeat Stevie Carlyle, to remove this painful, dangerous phantom from Joey’s life.
To get Gideon back.
“Okay, then,” Harding said.“That’s a long drive with a prisoner, and we know he’s going to be pressed for time.I don’t carewhoyou are—abducting a federal agent is a quick way to get stopped at a roadblock.I know we’re a small branch, but we frequently interact with the bigger boys.Why does he think he can get away with this?”
Joey gaped, suddenly realizing the enormity of what his father had done.Big pointy brains—dammit, this is why we need Gideon!
“Because we just alienated a bunch of people,” Natalia said, walking in brusquely with her tac bag over her shoulder.“Clint, I’m not sure if you’ve been taking temperature readings, but in this climate, putting a bunch of racists in jail doesnotmake you any friends.”
