Page 76 of Hawk

It was complete chaos for a while after Chance and all the people he’d brought in on this arrived. I still couldn’t believe that the Iron Jackals had been involved in human trafficking. I hadn’t particularly liked any of them, but I didn’t think they were evil.

I should have felt bad that Butch was dead. After all, I’d once claimed to love him, but I didn’t. He, along with his other gang members, had participated in the kidnap and transportation of other humans. What kind of monster does that?

Add to that the fact that he’d not only held a gun to my head, but he’d injured one of Chance’s men and shot Gator. No, he deserved what he got, so I didn’t have it in me to feel bad about it. Hawk said that might change after everything that happened had sunk in, but I didn’t think it would.

The local police department had taken statements from everyone involved, but since Chance was in charge of the operation, it was mostly a formality. As it turned out, Gator’s wound was, in fact, not just a scratch. It was what the paramedic called athrough and throughas they argued about whether or not Gator had to go to the hospital.

“I knew it wasn’t just a scratch,” I grumbled.

“It’s nothing, Mika, honest. I’ll be fine. I’ll have Rylan take a look when I get to HQ.”

I rolled my eyes at him. I could tell he was in pain, and as far as I was concerned, all this macho shit could fuck right off.

“What you’ll do is get in that ambulance like the nice paramedic said and go get stitched up. Do you hear me?”

Gator looked to Hawk for an assist, but Hawk just shook his head. “You heard him. Besides, Rylan isn’t in town, remember?”

“Fine, but I expect brownies as a reward for being good.” Gator made a pouty face that was ridiculous on the big man.

“Gator, you got shot rescuing me. I’ll make you brownies anytime you want.”

“Within reason,” Hawk growled. “You gotta watch what you promise this one.”

We stepped back and watched as they loaded him up in the ambulance, then I let out a relieved sigh.

“It’s really over, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, baby boy, it’s really over.”

I looked around at all the aftermath. There were police officers and agents everywhere, most of them running around trying to look important.

“How long do we have to stay up here?” I asked.

“We can leave whenever you’re ready. If they need anything else from us, they know where to find us.”

I nodded. “Take me home, Daddy.”

“Hey, Chance,” he called out, and the agent looked up from the notepad he was writing on. “Mika and I are leaving. If you need us, you know where to find us.”

Chance said something to the man he’d been speaking with and then came over to us. “Thanks for your help, Mika. I’m sorry about what happened. Butch never should’ve gotten that close to you.”

“How’s agent Collins?”

“He has a concussion, and they’re going to keep him for observation, but he’s doing okay.”

“Good, I’m glad.” I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt horrible about him getting hurt. I wanted to leave, but there was one more thing I needed to know. “How are the people who were in the van? Are they okay?”

“They’ve all been taken to Vesper Memorial to be checked out, but physically, they seem to be in good condition.”

I noticed he said physically, and that was good to hear, but I was sure they were in much worse shape emotionally. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be in their situation.

“This has been quite a day.” Hawk slipped an arm around me and pulled me against his side. “So as long as you don’t need us, I’m going to take Mika home.”

“You’re good to go. I’m sure this is going to be an open-and-shut case, and I don’t expect any problems. But I’ll update you as soon as we get everything all situated.”

Knox had agreed to take the car Hawk and Gator had driven back to their headquarters, so Hawk and I drove mine. He parked next to his truck in the parking garage, and we got out.

“I need to stop and update Wolfe. Do you want to come with me or head on upstairs?”

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