don’t know if he got the money for something as simple as reuniting this Hutson guy with his one true love who was being kept locked away in a tower or if he helped him find something of mass destruction,” I say. “I know nothing about this.”
“Yeah, if you ever met Hutson, you’d know no one could love that man,” Jackson says.
“We could keep him as a hostage. I mean, he might have more info,” Cassel says.
“Can I get up?” Aidan asks. “I need a drink. I feel queasy.”
“Sure,” Jackson says, and the moment Aidan stands up, I hear the extremely familiar sound of a bullet breaking a window as Aidan falls back down, quickly ending our discussion and any further debate. I shove Jackson back, trying to get him out of sight of any window.
“Cassel, get down!”
“I got it,” he says as he grabs for my rifle and drops to the ground. He takes a shot and then a second. “He’s down… I don’t see another.”
“Okay, get back in here before you get shot,” I say, highly anxious after what happened with Jackson. I didn’t handle that well and I know that I couldn’t deal with someone I care about getting hurt again.
“Was he in Aidan’s apartment?” I ask.
“Yeah, idiot was standing right in front of the window with his gun,” Cassel says as he retreats from the balcony window.
“Well… Aidan’s dead,” Jackson says. “There goes our lead.”
“We have more leads,” I assure him. “I just want to get you out of here. It’s clear we’re in a bad spot. Everyone was good, right? None of you took your gloves off? You have everything you came in with?”
“Yes,” Cassel says as he starts packing up my rifle. The room wasn’t exactly “ours” either. Cassel had snatched the key from a cleaner, so our names aren’t anywhere near here.
“One last sweep and we go,” I say.
“I got his phone, but I’ll get the data onto my computer in the car, disable the GPS, and trash it before anyone can follow it,” Cassel assures me.
“I trust you,” I say as I take my rifle case from him and hurry them out. We quickly head to the back stairwell and continue down it. I call Tucker as we go so he can decide what we should do about the bodies.
When we reach the lower floor, we head out to the car and hurry back toward the safe house.
Twenty-Three
Jackson
Cassel wants to head back to his place to tinker on his own computer that’s set up to do so much more, so he splits ways with us. We swing by to grab Cayenne and head for the safe house. By the time we reach the safe house where Sarge is eagerly waiting for us, it’s late.
“Well… that didn’t really go as planned,” Leland says.
“It never does, does it?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Maybe not. But I’m glad we have something. We’ll find the people who are involved in this shit, and we’ll take them each down so my honey bunny is safe. Only I am allowed to pierce you.”
“Definitely,” I say as I catch his wrist and pull him in. “That was some pretty wicked gunslinging you did.” I knew Leland could shoot a gun better than anyone else I know, but the level of precision for the shots he made was remarkable.
Leland grins at me, clearly pleased. “Did it turn you on?”
“It did but now it’s almost two in the morning and the thought of snuggling in bed and sleep turns me on even more. But tomorrow… tomorrow you better be prepared.”
“Ooh, what are you going to do to me tomorrow?” Leland purrs.
“First, I’m going to make you breakfast.”
His eyes get wide. “Ooh. What are you making?”
“Pancakes.”
He grabs his chest. “Oh fuck. Don’t stop,” he says.
“And then, we’re going to just look at your guns for ten full minutes.”
He gasps as he grabs onto me to steady himself. “Are we really? You promise?”
“We can even finger them a little if you want.”
“I wanna finger them!”
“And then…”
His eyes are huge. “And then? Don’t leave me hanging, Jackson!”
“I’m going to make love to you.”
He starts laughing, which makes me start laughing even through the tension and the exhaustion.
“I’m not laughing at the idea of sex, I promise! It was the way you said it… and the ridiculous list!”
“I know,” I say. I pick him up and he wraps his legs around my waist as I kiss his neck and carry him into the bathroom. His hair