Page 234 of Wild Card

He grumbles, “Shut the fuck up. No one calls me that anymore.”

“Never live it down, boy scout.” I grin at the memory of slapping that moniker on him the first month. He was so fucking eager to impress, we all compared him to a boy scout seeking his patches.

“Let’s roll.” I jump in the back of the van and secure the still unconscious man with zip ties.

Hugo takes the guy’s phone, connects it to his own laptop, and starts downloading. After a few minutes, he curses a string of profanities under his breath. “Fucking pervert likes ‘em underage.”

The screen fills with pornographic images of young girls in various provocative positions.

I close my eyes, trying to scrub the pictures out of my head. “Got anything useful?”

“Give me a few minutes and we’ll know every contact and location this asshole has been.”

I stare out the windshield, mentally calculating the distance to our quarters outside of town. The road gets bumpier, indicating we’re closer. A sinking sense creeps into my system, my instincts suddenly alert.

“Pull over and cut out the lights,” I demand, yanking my gun from under the seat.

“What the fuck, man?” Blade curses, doing as I asked.

“Something’s off, I’m checking it out.” A firm hand grasps my shoulder.

Fuck—that shit hurts.

“I’ll go, you took some pretty hard hits tonight.” Hugo lifts his piece from his holster and checks it.

“No fucking way.”

“There’s been no activity all night, not even a raccoon passing,” Rand informs us, reviewing footage on his screen.

I bite my tongue, reminded for the umpteenth time this is not my normal team.

My guys don’t question gut instinct—we live by it.

“Wait for my word.” I slip out of the van, creeping along the perimeter of the woods.

Something is definitely off. The closer I get, my insides buzz with awareness.

My movements are deliberate, avoiding the motion sensors.

Our security is top-notch, created by the military and trial-tested by Hayes Security for over a year. Even the best wouldn’t know about the laser wiring… unless.

It hits me, my pulse racing as I stand and whistle. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Movement comes from all sides, a blinding light in my face.

“Fuck, what happened to you?” Major lowers the beam, stepping closer to inspect my head.

“Nothing much.”

“Seems like you got your ass kicked,” Ace mutters.

“Why aren’t you with your family?” I twist to Ford. “Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?”

“Funny how things change when the goddamned United States Marines call you up. Or when your fucking best friend hauls ass in the middle of the night without his team.”

“I had my reasons.”

“We know all about your fucking bullshit reasons.” Ace steps up, his dark eyes loaded with the same fury as Ford.

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