Roarke!” the man growled with an unusual lack of control. “Check KCAL9 and get your shit packed.”
He needed to update Gabby. He tried to call her but immediately got her voicemail.
Fuck.
He jumped up from the couch, grabbed the remote, and switched the TV to KCAL-9.
On the screen, the footage of red and blue lights, ambulances and fire trucks seared into his vision.
He quickly scanned the caption as he turned up the volume.
“We’re on the scene of what looks like another fentanyl attack. Witnesses reported an explosion and then people who were running out of the club started dropping like flies…”
“Holy fuck.” He spun on his heel and stalked toward Levi’s room, pounding on his friend’s door.
“Jesus, Roarke, what is it?” Levi asked when he opened the door, clearly jolted from sleep.
“Pack a bag and get ready.”
His partner backed away from the door to let him in and headed to the bathroom to throw water on his face and gargle mouthwash.
Declan leaned against the jamb leading to the bathroom, arms crossed, impatiently waiting for his partner to properly wakeup. “Garrison just called and we’re code red. Ortega has escaped confinement.”
Levi stilled, finished his gargling, and looked at him sharply in the mirror. “Just now?”
“Yes. There’s also been another fentanyl attack. I don’t know if it’s the same case Gabby …” Declan wasn’t liking these developments. Two weeks of nothing and then this? “Dammit! I don’t like coincidences.”
“No shit.” Levi walked back into the bedroom, his body alert.
“Garrison’s not sure what Ortega’s end-game is, but we need to be ready to leave if Theo is still a target.” And Gabby. Who would protect her when she was out there and he was here? He’d never felt more powerless in his life.
“Agreed. Our perimeter surveillance drones can only do so much if we have an all-out assault on this place.”
“What’s going on?” Theo’s voice came from the open door.
“Pack a bag, kid. We might need to leave,” Declan told him.
“Not until one of you explain what’s going on!” The teenager’s eyes flashed defiantly. “Does it have something to do with that nightclub attack? It’s all over twitter.”
Declan’s jaw hardened. “Partly.”
“Or did you two screw-up? Playing Russian roulette with whoever got the captain killed and now I’m the target?” Theo said. “I’m not a dumb kid. I know you’re all not plain bodyguards or fight instructors pandering to the whims of teen-actors or the studio.”
“That’s actually my job description,” Levi said dryly.
“Bullshit.”
“Theo!” Declan snapped. “Pack a bag. We’ll explain later.”
His son still wouldn’t move. “Did Gabby agree to this? Why isn’t she home yet? Is she at the scene? That’s why she’s not answering my texts, right?”
The look of worry on Theo’s face escalated the anxiety he’d been trying desperately to reign in. He swiped her number again. Failing, he tried to raise Kelso. Straight to voicemail as well. Dispatch lines were clogged.
“Can’t get hold of her. We’ll have to go through other means.” Other means meant going through the police scanner which could take a while. Declan jerked his head at Theo. “Get going.”
“You can’t order me around.”
“Mouthing off isn’t gonna help me find your sister, so knock it the fuck off.”
“What about Emma? I can’t just disappear and not tell her.”
“You can’t have any contact with her, Theo,” Levi said.
“No fucking way.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Declan growled. “If I have to hogtie you and stuff you into the trunk of a car, I will. Your safety is our priority and the nightclub attack is only the beginning. Happy now? Will you just do as you’re fucking told?!”
His son clenched his fists at his sides. Declan’s cool was fast evaporating—he was about to hit his limit with the kid.
Levi turned away from their standoff and started packing his gear.
“I’m not you,” Theo said finally. “I’m not going to turn my back on the girl I love when the going gets tough. That’s something cowards do.”
His son backed away slowly, holding Declan’s eyes in defiance, and then pivoted on a foot and exited the room.
At that parting shot, Declan’s anger deflated, his chin dropped, and his eyes stared blankly at the wooden floors. Those words slammed into him harder than any gunshot.
“He’s never going to forgive me for divorcing Gabby.” His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
Levi’s bare feet appeared in Declan’s line of vision. “The kid didn’t mean that.”
“I had nothing to offer her back then except heartbreak … and my trust in her was shot.”
“Your situation and Theo’s are different, but maybe