Page 53 of Harris

Woodley thought he’d caught movement behind Soloman, but when he looked harder, he saw nothing.

“I’ve had enough of you,” Soloman said as he uncrossed his arms and pulled his legs back from his lounging position, as if preparing to stand. “Rot in hell.”

Soloman stood, and time stopped. Woodley braced out of habit, but knew none of them would survive the blast. Even with his healing ability, he was as dead as everyone in the building, and likely several buildings on either side of them. He waited as the rest of them did, but nothing happened. Had Soloman been lying?

Suddenly, out of thin air, Darren appeared behind Soloman, holding the wires that had been connected to the box of explosives in his hand. He had stripped naked and used his chameleon-like ability to go ghost and blend in with his surroundings, enabling him to sneak up behind Soloman and pull out the wires as Gator had instructed.

Holy shit. Woodley would have passed out in relief if Soloman hadn’t spun around to attack Darren. Woodley wasn’t certain what happened after that, but one moment, Griffin stood beside Brick, and the next, something flashed across the room, and Soloman and Griffin were gone.

“What the fuck just happened?” Stryker asked while scanning the area.

“It’s okay,” Damon said. “Griffin took care of the bastard. He won’t be able to hurt anyone anymore.” He walked over to Darren and held out his jacket. “Best cover yourself up,” he said with a smile. “You deserve a lot more for saving our lives like that.”

Darren pulled on the jacket, which didn’t cover everything but gave him some privacy. “Happy to be of service,” he joked. “Soloman has gone.”

Woodley stared round at the others. Where exactly the man had disappeared to was a mystery.

He supposed some things were unexplainable and should remain that way.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Harris

“That’s twice now I almost lost you. First, when you were shot, and second, when Soloman almost blew you up. Being back at the rental and watching that shit go down was a living hell,” Harris said as he pulled Woodley close. “You’ve got to stop doing that to me.”

“Trust me, it’s not intentional. If it hadn’t been for Darren, we’d be part of the New Orleans waterfront.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” Harris said, not completely over the recent events.

“Sorry,” Woodley said. “How’s Soloman’s son doing? Do you think he’s the Xavier from the notes?”

“We won’t know until he wakes up. He’s still in a coma. Whatever Soloman dosed him with that last time has had some serious side effects.”

“I can’t believe a father would do that to his son. I hope the asshole’s rotting in hell.”

“Hell might be too good for Soloman.”

They’d returned to Fire Lake late last night and were back in their room at the ranch. It felt good to be away from New Orleans.

“Have they been able to round all the other members up?” Woodley asked.

“Yeah, everyone but Jaws. The crazy bastard drove himself off the Maestri Bridge and straight into Lake Pontchartrain when the state troopers tried to arrest him.”

“That makes two fewer psychos in the world. Sounds like a good result to me,” Woodley said.

“I’ll tell you what an even better result would be,” Harris said.

“What’s that?”

“If you told me where you wanted to live permanently. The ranch or the lake house? I want to make this official and break ground.” Harris was ready to make some solid changes in his life.

Before Woodley could answer, there was a knock on their bedroom door.

“Get dressed, you guys, or you’re going to miss it,” Jennifer said from the other side of the door.

“Miss what?” Harris asked, but Jennifer was already gone.

“Come on, let’s see what the excitement is all about,” Woodley said with a chuckle.

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