Chapter Twenty-Three

Link

Three houses ripped apart and they had nothing.

It was about three in the morning. Eagle had been gone for a couple hours, and the more time that went by, the more Link got in his head. He couldn’t even talk right then; all his words had dried up and Dalton had taken over.

Eagle was alive, he could feel it.

As much as Dalton tried to get Link to leave the crime scene, he wasn’t having it. They all stayed. Someone went for coffee, but his was already cold. He wasn’t leaving the last place where Eagle had stood, giving him that cocky smile. Both Creed and Dalton stayed close to him, and at first, he couldn’t figure out why until he realized he was shaking. Creed slipped a heavy jacket over his shoulders.

“Got him! Near the back of the building!” Fisher’s voice came through the comms.

Link stumbled and gazed down the alley, squinting. Between Ice and Fisher strode a familiar figure, and his breath caught at the sight of those wide shoulders.

Eagle’s steps slowed and then stopped, but Link didn’t have any problems moving. Jerking steps took him all the way down the alley and he didn’t stop running until his whole body was pressed against Eagle’s and the man’s tree trunk arms were holding him tight. One hand came up and cupped the back of his head, pressing him close.

“I’m okay,” Eagle kept whispering into his ear, but Link had a hard time believing it.

Link shoved Eagle hard in the chest, using all of his strength, but Eagle only crushed him closer. The fear that fisted his heart released, and he sucked in huge gasping breaths against Eagle’s neck. After a long moment, Eagle’s arms eased their mighty grip.

Drawing back and in the light of the alley, Link studied the bruises on Eagle’s face and finally was able to speak in an almost normal tone of voice.

“What happened?”

“Can we get somewhere warm?” Eagle rubbed at Link’s frozen arms beneath the heavy coat. Leave it to Eagle to be concerned for Link instead of himself. His guy was a protective badass.

“Yeah, let’s head back to the motel,” Dalton said. “I have Wall sending officers to relieve us.”

“Come on, there’s something I need to tell you, but we need to hurry,” Eagle said and took his hand.

Right there in the middle of their unit, Eagle linked their fingers together. Just the feel of that rough palm against his steadied his shaking legs.

Thirty minutes later, Link sat in the middle of the motel bed, freshly showered. The heater was blasting and freshly delivered pizza sat between him and Eagle. He felt like every muscle in his body had been drained.

They’d showered together, but Eagle hadn’t tried to do anything other than wash him off and give him kisses—deep, drugging kisses.

“Eat up, we need to hurry.”

It was the second time Eagle stated they needed to hurry. He thought they’d have a moment to clear the air, but even after the hot shower, Eagle was tense. And Link was done jumping to conclusions. He wasn’t going to damage the fragile truce they’d established. They really sucked at communicating and he was going to end it here and now.

“Tell me what happened.” Link took a large bite of pizza.

Eagle took a bite of cheesy bread. Chewing for a moment, he lowered the bread.

“I let myself be taken. I needed to get close enough to see where the boys were.”

Link’s chest squeezed. Eagle had let himself be taken. The man had gone off alone and surrendered because he didn’t feel like Link had his back. Their partnership, friendship, and anything else they hoped to be was suddenly on the line.

Link realized that this was a pivotal moment for them. He could fly off the handle and get pissed or he could show some fucking understanding. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d pushed Eagle away until this moment.

“I’m sorry I made you feel you couldn’t come to me,” Link said around the lump in his throat.

“I’m so fucking sorry I left you behind,” Eagle said gruffly, poking at the crust. “And for a lot more.”

Link closed one hand over Eagle’s until the man glanced up. “We own this right here right now and then we move past it. I don’t want to lose you.” He almost admitted his love, but he kept quiet. He wanted to address Eagle’s comment of “a lot more,” but he knew this might not be the time.

“I won’t lose you,” Eagle rasped, linking their fingers and then squeezing his hand.

“You can’t.” Link gave Eagle a smile, squeezed his fingers, and continued eating. He picked up speed when Eagle started wolfing down his meal.

“I met the man who set the bomb.” Eagle explained about a gang leader and missing drugs. The guy must be one of the leaders who hadn’t been at home earlier when the team had busted down doors.

“There’s two major gangs in this area. We have Marco Woods in the Northeast and Ricky Elron in the Southwest.”

“This would be in Elron’s territory,” Eagle said, and went on to explain Kenneth’s part in all this by stealing from Elron and the fact that Cliff Carson was dead.

“Then Elron ordered me to get his drugs back. When I flat-out refused, he shot John in the head, killed him right there in front of Tyler,” Eagle said grimly, and explained that John’s treatment of Tyler was appalling and abusive and that he suspected that Tyler was being sexually abused from what little John had said.

“I think John was pimping out Tyler.” Eagle tossed his pizza crust down and pushed away the container.

“Jesus…” Link whispered and gripped Eagle’s hand again.

“When the fucker turned the gun on Tyler, I couldn’t let that happen.”

“No, we can’t let that happen.”

“I agreed to get Elron his drugs in exchange for Tyler. The fucker wants me to call when I have the stuff to arrange an exchange,” Eagle said gruffly.

“Do you know where they are?”

“They had a hood over my head, but I counted.” Eagle’s smile was satisfied. The man was very good at that particular skill. He couldn’t count the times Eagle had found a location by counting the drive time alone.

“Did they turn any corners?”

Eagle snorted and stood from the bed. “Two, and those were twenty seconds long.”

Link gave a huff and took the hand that Eagle held out. They dressed in silence, putting their tactical gear on and weapons in place, and hurriedly left the room. By Link’s watch, it had been forty minutes since Eagle’s return.

Link rapped on Dalton’s door. The man pulled it open. He was shirtless, and placed the side of his arm on the door. Through the opening, Adam sat on the bed, still fully clothed.

“Good, you’re still dressed.”

“Kind of.” Dalton eyed him, his eyes serious, and jerked his head, opening the door wider. “What’s up?”

“We have a situation.”

“Hang on,” Dalton said and called the rest of the men.

Five minutes later, they gathered in Dalton and Adam’s room. It was a cramped fit, but they made it work. The only ones missing were Fisher, Ice, and the pup. Fisher never came to meetings and Ice was damned elusive.

Link stood by Eagle’s side while he told everyone the whole story, including the demanded exchange and the murder of John Carson.

“Those motherfuckers,” Adam said hotly.

“So, are we digging up the drugs and doing a trade?” Gage looked and sounded confused.

Link didn’t blame the guy. Trading wasn’t something Pegasus ever did, but there was an innocent life at stake and that changed everything.

“We are not waiting. We are getting Tyler out of there.” Eagle checked the clip on his weapon.

“We are taking these sons of bitches down,” Link said.

“Anyone else have questions?” Dalton asked.

Everyone shook their heads and as a group, they turned to Eagle.

“We end this tonight,” Eagle rasped and shoved his gun into his shoulder holster.