Page 96 of Hide and Seek
They both glance at me, and with just those few words, they know what Harper is to me. If it had been any other woman, I would have let the police or insurance deal with it, but the fact that I’m here, putting not only myself but my boys at risk, tells them everything they need to know.
“No shit,” Ace murmurs, his gaze swinging back to the house, probably already trying to figure out the best way in. Though there’s no point, I’ve more than cased the joint. I know every inch of that home and have my plan well and truly ready to go.
“Mm-hmm. Did I mention the fucker stole it after he and four of his friends jumped her in a back alley before leaving her for dead. She’s fucking lucky someone called for help.”
“What?” Diesel grunts, his head snapping between me and the house, his hands already balling into fists, barely able to keep still. “Awh fuck no.”
Ace lets out a heavy breath and immediately begins to pace, already pissed on my behalf. “Shit,” he mutters, his jaw clenched, taking it just as personally as I have. After all, any woman of mine would be seen as nothing less than a sister to these guys, despite never having met her. “She good, man?”
I cross my arms over my chest, the vision of Harper in that hospital bed tormenting me, and I shake my head. “She had emergency surgery to repair her liver and spleen. Other thanthat, she’s bruised up and swollen. She’s going to be sore for a while.”
“Fucking hell,” Diesel says, stepping in beside me, his jaw clenched. “Whatever you need, you know we’ve got your back. No matter where this goes.”
I nod. I didn’t even need to ask. They’ve had my back from day one, but truth be told, I didn’t ask them here to have my back. I can handle the asshole living in this house and anyone else who might be here as well. I simply don’t have enough asses to drive both my truck and Harper’s Civic back home, but if they suddenly have the overwhelming desire to jump in and teach this guy a lesson, then who the fuck am I to stop them?
This will be a piece of cake. I’m not a violent man, but something tells me I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this.
Trystin Black, the piece of shit now working as the night shift janitor. It was all too easy to get his information. After Harper kicked me out of her room, I sat outside her door for a few hours, just needing to be with her, needing to hear the steady beat of her heart rate monitor, but after overhearing the nurse say she’d fallen asleep, I was on my feet in seconds.
I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, especially while I knew she was safe, and if I was right and all of this stalker bullshit was in her head, then she was going to be okay while she slept. As for me, I was knocking on the hospital’s surveillance room door the moment I could.
It took all of a few seconds to convince Carly to give up the personnel file for their newest recruit.
“Trystin Black,” I tell the boys, letting them know our target. “Twenty-seven years old and lives in his deceased mother’s estate with his two deadbeat friends and three rottweilers. Currently on probation.”
From what information I’ve been able to gather, Trystin doesn’t have much to live for. He’s a part time drug dealer with arap sheet longer than the great wall of China. He tried his hand at growing marijuana in his earlier years, and after a stint in jail, he’s back causing havoc on the street.
As for his roommates, I’ve got no fucking idea. But assuming they’re anything like their friend, taking care of them won’t be an issue.
“Three entrances,” I tell them, getting in the zone and treating this like any other mission we take on. “Front door, side entrance to the east, and internal door through the garage. Kitchen and living in the front, three bedrooms down the hall.”
“And the rotties?” Ace asks, nervousness in his tone. He’d never admit it, but the big fucker is terrified of dogs, and for good reason, but that doesn’t mean that Diesel and I haven’t gone out of our way to fuck with him because of it. For two years straight, I had him believing that I was signing him up for the K-9 program. Truth be told, he’d probably benefit from it, but that’s not a fear that needs to be tackled tonight.
I nod toward the side gate, and the boys lean around me to see the three dogs, happily watching us. “They’re handled,” I tell Ace.
“The fuck? How?”
“I did my homework,” I explain. “I bought them each a turkey sub and gave them head scratchies. We’re best friends now. They won’t be a problem.”
Ace gapes at me. “You wasted three turkey subs?”
“Don’t worry. If you’re a good boy, there’s a turkey sub in my truck for you too.”
Ace grins, and I roll my eyes. They say a way to a man’s heart is through his dick, but when it comes to Ace, if you detour past his stomach on the way to his dick, he’ll be loyal until the end of time.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
The three of us make our way toward the house, and without a word, Diesel slinks away into the darkness, skipping over the broken chain-link fence and heading around to the side entrance.
I stop by the dogs, giving them another scratch and confirming they’re not going to attempt to tear us to shreds the second shit goes down, then I sail straight up to the front door. Ace taps my shoulder to let me know he’s right behind me, and I almost grin. We don’t exactly need our formal training tonight, but old habits die hard.
With Ace on my six, I slam my boot straight through the front door. The lock breaks instantly, the wood splintering into hundreds of pieces, and as we step through the open doorway, I hear Diesel breaking in through the side.
The house turns into chaos immediately.
Trystin is sitting on the couch, watching porn on the main TV with his hand down his pants, madly jerking off, and the moment we storm into his home, he scrambles off the couch, having no fucking idea where to look or where to run.
Another guy races in from one of the bedrooms with a girl on his heels, while some other asshole just stands in the open refrigerator, a slice of pizza in his hand, looking as though this is the last thing he wants to be dealing with right now.
