Chapter Five

Seven

Seven had spent the morning in Hunter’s bed. Mainly, because it was becoming harder and harder to leave Hunter each time they met up.

He eased back in his chair until the door to the patio closed and then he was up and stepping out of the room and into the hallway—which was really more of a foyer.

Pulling out his phone and dialing a number, he leaned a shoulder near a painting and waited impatiently for the other end to answer.

“What.” Annoyance filled the man’s voice.

“Don’t be an ass. I need you to give me everything on a Theodore Kada.”

“Do I look like your fucking assistant?”

Seven smirked, heading down the hallway to the far end patio. “No.”

The silence lingered over the phone and a few moments later, Ice responded.

“I’ll do it, but it’s going to cost you.”

“Name it.”

“I’m in on whatever the fuck is going on.”

“Who says anything is going on?” Seven murmured, stepping out into the cold morning and closing the door quietly.

Ice snorted with disbelief. “I know you. You always have some shit going on.”

“What about the PI? Anything on that?”

“Nothing yet,” Ice said. “It’s only been a few days.”

“You made calls though,” Seven said.

“I did.”

He knew Ice wouldn’t let him down.

“Tell me what the detectives on Lisa’s case say,” Ice said.

Seven’s leg suddenly ached and he stopped to rub at it.

“That the case is growing cold.”

“Then let’s heat it up,” Ice clipped.

“Let me figure out what the fuck is going on with this Kada guy and then we’ll sit down and go over some stuff.”

“So, where are you?”

“At Hunter’s.”

“Ahhhh”

“Don’t ahhh me.”

“Then don’t make it sound like it’s nothing,” Ice advised.

Seven grunted. It hadn’t been all that bad hanging around this morning, and he thought maybe he’d do it again in the near future. Something about waking up next to Hunter made him feel…he couldn’t quite come up with a word yet, but yeah.

Ice snickered at his silence and Seven gnashed his teeth.

“I’ll get back to you when I hear from the PI,” Ice said and hung up.

Seven tucked his phone away before slipping between two tall hedges that would take him within ear shot of the patio where Hunter and Theo were talking.

Only they weren’t there.

Making his way down the gray cobblestone path, he cut around the tall hedges and down the side of the house. The place had six lower-level patios and four balconies. Not to mention, the library, gaming room, two dens, and fourteen other rooms.

Damn it.

He should have put a bug on Theo. Reaching the east side patio, he made his way down to the small gate. From there, he walked the length of the back of the mansion, giving the gardener a quick nod. No sign of them on this side of the house either. Reaching the second gate, he shut it on his way through and made his way toward the front of the house.

Shit. He stopped walking. Hunter and Theo could have finished by now and be looking for him.

Bang, bang, bang!

The hair on the back of his neck lifted and his heart thundered when gunfire peppered the air near the front gate.

Seven sprinted down the side of the house just as the sound of tires squealing filled the air. He reached the padlocked side gate of the house, grabbed for the top, and pulled himself over in one go. He dropped to the concrete on the other side and entered the circular driveway at a dead run.

Both entry gates stood open and the driveway was completely empty.

Seven ran full out to the blown-out guard shack and stopped in the doorway as the guard crawled to his knees, brushing glass from his head and shoulders.

Seven assessed the shattered glass of the guard shack, noticing several shell casings on the ground. He spun and spotted black tire marks burned into the driveway where several vehicles had peeled out, leaving behind an acrid smell combined with gunpowder.

“You okay?” Seven stepped forward to grip the guard’s shoulder and help him into a chair.

“Yeah. They came out of nowhere.” The man’s voice shook; reaching for the phone, his fingers hovered over the buttons. Presumedly to call 911, but Seven needed answers before the cops put a halt to anything.

“Show me,” Seven ordered.

The guard forgot the call and turned to the state-of-the-art computer that ran the security system and cameras. Seven stepped closer as the man’s fingers flew over the keys. The recorded driveway flashed up and the guard hit the back button until two dark SUVs converged on the front gate. They fired several rounds from what he had suspected—a military grade automatic rifle. When the rounds had punched into the glass, the guard was ordered to open the gate. Shakily, the guard hit the button and the black wrought-iron gate slipped back, but before the two vehicles could enter, another SUV shot out the other side of the driveway.

The guard grimaced. “I panicked, but Mr. Olsen has said before not to risk my life.”

“Mr. Olsen is correct.” Beneath the hail of bullets Seven saw on the tape, if the guard hadn’t opened the gate, he’d be dead.

“Zoom in on that vehicle.” Seven pointed to the third SUV on its way out of the other driveway exit, and the guard clicked a few buttons.

“Pause it there,” Seven snapped when the vehicle passed right in front of the camera. Hunter sat in the driver’s side and spun the wheel as the SUV shot forward and onto the street. The other two SUVs backed out and with tires spinning, both took off down the street after Hunter.

Seven stepped closer to the computer and hit the view to zoom in on the inside of the vehicle. There was nothing grainy or grayed out about this system. The camera had been placed high and angled down to catch every single detail.

Clear as fucking day, Seven saw the gun in Theo’s hand from where the guy sat in the passenger seat of a vehicle.

Theo is a dead man. That little motherfucker is fucking dead.

Seven yanked out his phone and pulled up an app and checked Hunter’s whereabouts. The blinking red dot was moving south. Seven glanced back at the screen.

“Get Mr. Olsen on the phone for me.”

Without a word, the guard jerkily dialed the number. Seven took the phone and stepped back out of the small shack, standing on the cement step.

“Jeffery? What’s wrong?” Scott Olsen said.

“Scott, it’s Seven.”

“What’s wrong?”

He liked that about the guy—Scott wasn’t one to beat around the bush, and that was what made him a great attorney. During his research on them, Seven had found that the law office hadn’t lost a case in fifteen years.

Without mincing words, Seven told Scott about the gunmen, the two SUVs, and what he’d seen on the gate camera with Hunter driving away with Theo. Oh, and they needed to invest in better glass for the guard shack!

“That’s all I know right now, but it’s clear as day that Theo has a gun.”

“Pointed at Hunter?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“What the fuck?” Scott said. “I met Theo this morning.”

“I know. I just met him last night,” Seven said. “I’m having him looked into as we speak.” Seven sent his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know what Theo was up to, but the question on his mind and one he kept repeating to himself was…why hadn’t Hunter come back inside and gotten him when the shooting started? Why drive away with Theo?

Seven could have helped. There was no way in hell he would have let those men chase Hunter out of here. This was all kinds of fucked up. He clenched his teeth to keep his body still as his mind raced.

“Okay. Let me call my security team. I’ll have them track the vehicle down,” Scott said.

Scott could do what he thought best, but Seven was going after Hunter.

“I rode over with Hunter last night. Can I borrow one of your cars?”

“Take Tim’s Jag. Put Jeff on the phone; he can give you the keys. I’ll have him call the cops.”

“Have Jeff send me that clip of the gunmen.”

Handing the phone back to the guard, Seven waited until he had the keys. The guard hit a button on the screen and one of the multitude of garage doors rolled opened. Instead of the bright red Jag he was expecting, Seven found a gleaming black SUV. Leave it to Tim to own a 2023 Jaguar F-PACE.

The powerful engine roared as he pulled it out of the garage, through the gate, and down the street.

Just then, his cell lit up with Hunter’s name and he snatched the phone up.

“Hunter?”

“Yeah. I’m sure you saw that.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Some very bad people are trying to kill Theo.”

“I’m going to kill him myself. Now tell me where you are.”

“You’re on speaker.”

“Tell someone who cares. Where are you?”

“Just entering the 101 Freeway.”

“And your tail?”

“Caught in traffic behind me.”

Seven racked his fucking brain for an answer to this but came up empty. “What do you need?”

“I have something in mind. I’ll call you back.”

“No! Stay on the fucking phone. I’m in Tim’s SUV. I can catch up to you.”

“Not in this traffic. Seven, call Pegasus. I’ll call you back.”

Seven gnashed his teeth and ran the red light in front of him. A truck coming the other way narrowly missed him—horns blared.

“Trust me,” Hunter whispered.

“I do trust you, baby.” He and Hunter had never used endearments, but the word baby fell from his lips like it had been there all along. “It’s Theo I don’t trust,” he continued.

“I know,” Hunter said and ended the call before Seven could say anything further.

Seven knew Ice would work his magic on information on Theo Kada, but until then, he was flying blind. When the line went dead, Seven punched the gas. He reached the freeway and just as Hunter had said, it was gridlocked. Bumper to fucking bumper traffic and there was no way in hell anyone was catching up to Hunter, much less the bad guys on his tail.

Hopefully, the two SUVs after Hunter and Theo were locked in the same mess.

Making a decision, he flipped a U-turn and punched the gas.