Chapter Seven

Ventura, CA - Pegasus bunker - Undisclosed location

Seven

After stabbing the button for the fourth time, the gate to the Pegasus parking lot finally opened for him.

Seven screeched into a parking spot and exited the SUV to find Link standing at the open doorway. It had taken him a fucking hour to get from Bel Air to Ventura and he was in no mood for the smart-ass grin Link gave him.

“Having trouble getting in?”

“Not fucking funny,” Seven snapped.

Link’s eyes grew wide. “What’s wrong? Where’s Hunter?”

Link was very fucking astute. Coming up in the doorway behind Link stood Pegasus operative Declan Weller, who went by Eagle, which was his Army handle.

“Is Ace here?” Seven said.

“Yeah, in his office,” Eagle said quietly. “You didn’t answer Link’s question.”

“I’ll answer it only once and to all of you,” he said and stepped past them. Pulling his phone out, the video clip had come through from the guard.

He walked into the bullpen and found it almost empty, which was odd considering the size of Pegasus. There had to be close to fifteen operatives by now. Or hell, it could be more, he wasn’t sure.

“What’s going on?” Kellum looked up from a computer screen that both he and Fisher were looking at.

“Where’s Ace?” Seven said, and Fisher jerked his head toward an open door at the far end.

Seven stalked across the bullpen and reached Ace’s open doorway. The Pegasus boss wasn’t alone and both Ace and Jacob looked up from the stack of files on the desk.

Seven rapped on the doorjamb as a courtesy and Jacob’s face broke into a huge smile.

“Seven,” Jacob said, waving him into the room.

Seven had had the pleasure of working with Jacob Burns during a brief assignment last year. The man had the technical savvy to break into the Pentagon if he wanted.

“Jacob.” Seven gripped the cell phone in his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Ace said with a frown, and Seven stalked to the man’s desk to hand him the phone with the video clip open.

“I’ve already spoken to Hunter. He’s going to call us once he gets to wherever he’s going,” Seven said, and it irritated him to no end that he wasn’t with Hunter.

Ace squinted at him and then poked at the start button, but the man’s fingers missed the tiny button on his phone. With a snort, Jacob took the phone and placed it on the desk before hitting the start button. Several bodies filed in through the open door without an invitation because that was how they worked around there. Nobody’s business was sacred. It was one of the reasons Seven hadn’t taken Dave up on his job offer.

“No fucking way,” Jacob hissed after the small clip of Hunter and Theo played out.

“Put it up on the big screen.” Ace ran a hand down Jacob’s back as if to calm the agitated operative.

Jacob snatched up the phone, punched at something, and then turned Ace’s laptop. Jacob’s fingers flew over the keyboard and in seconds, the monitor on the far office wall filled with the hail of bullets and the car chase of Hunter and Theo leaving the Olsen, Hobbs, and Adler mansion.

“What the fuck is going on?” Creed’s deep voice growled. Seven hadn’t seen the guy come in, which was a note on how distracted he’d become because Creed was hard to miss.

“His name is Theodore Kada,” Seven said, pointing to the man in the passenger seat.

Kellum, who’d slipped through the open door and stood next to Jacob, frowned at the screen. “Why does he have a gun on Hunter?”

“The gun is not actually on Hunter. Those two vehicles—” Seven gestured to Jacob to pause it on the two SUVs. “They were after Kada, from what Hunter said.”

“I know of Theodore Kada,” Link said, his voice ringing out in the sudden silence.

Seven turned toward Link, whose attention was locked on the screen. Seven moved closer and he had to hand it to Link, the slighter man didn’t back up one fucking bit. Not many stood their ground when Seven turned toward them.

Link’s eyes changed, though—a flat, deadly stare that silently said come at me, motherfucker, and it will be the last fucking thing you do on Earth.

Eagle stood to his full height and the big bastard glared at them all. Every single one of them knew if they fucked with either Link or Eagle, they were taking on both. Seven didn’t want any trouble with that duo, but he’d be damned if he’d stay silent while Hunter was out there.

“How do you know Theo?” Seven asked Link.

“I said I know of him,” Link said. “I came across a case file a few years ago.”

“A case file?” How the hell did Link come across a case file a few years ago? Hadn’t the guy been in the military?

“Yup,” Link drawled.

“And you recall this guy’s name?” Seven frowned when Link didn’t elaborate.

“Mhmm,” Link said, remaining stingy with the info.

“How do you remember that shit?” Eagle muttered at Link.

Link snapped Eagle an annoyed look. “Because unlike you, I have a brain.”

Eagle’s face closed up and in the next instant, the big man stalked out of Ace’s office. A muscle ticked in Link’s jaw before he crossed his arms stubbornly and glared at the rest of them.

Ace pointed a finger at Link. “Make it right with him. Half my team is on another job, so I’ll need every person on site on this. So go do it now,” Ace growled, and in the next moment, Link disappeared out the door.

Seven sighed; it sounded like Link had a photographic memory, and that might come in handy. But now they’d gone off topic, damn it. Seven didn’t even want to know what that shit was between Link and Eagle; he had bigger things to handle.

“How the fuck are we going to find them if Hunter doesn’t call?” Fisher asked.

“I know where Hunter is. I put a tracker on his phone,” Seven admitted, and saw the exact moment Ace realized he’d encroached on Hunter’s privacy and possibly any Pegasus related jobs the man had done.

“We are going to talk,” Ace snapped.

“Anytime,” Seven said, clenching his fists.

He didn’t report to Ace, and he had already lost a loved one—he was not going to lose Hunter.

He and Ace stared at each other for a long moment. When Ace seemed to come to some silent decision and relax, Seven let out the breath he was holding. He really did not want to get on Ace’s bad side. Nobody in their right mind did. The commander of Pegasus was not one to fuck with. Ever.

Ace turned his focus on Fisher.

“What?” Fisher said a bit defensively from the look of challenge in Ace’s steel blue eyes.

“I’ll need you on this.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Fisher shot back with a glower.

The standoff settled thickly in the room. He didn’t envy Ace’s job. Dealing with Pegasus operatives was like dealing with a bunch of wild fucking animals.

“Knock it off, Fish,” Creed snapped with a scowl, and Fisher glared at the bigger man before he shrugged and propped a shoulder against the wall.

The tension in the room eased a bit.

“What’s the plan?” Seven turned his attention back to Ace.

“That depends.” Ace pulled his gaze from Fisher and zeroed in on Seven. “Are you in?” the man flatly asked.

Seven closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fuck. He knew what Ace was asking.

He had a choice.

Join Pegasus or he wasn’t included.

“Babe.” Jacob’s soft murmur drew Ace’s attention and Jacob pointed to the buzzing cell phone on Ace’s desk. Seven got a quick look as the name “SecDef” flashed on the screen before Ace snatched up the phone with a frown.

“Hey, Dave, what’s up?” Ace greeted, turning away from the room. The big man stood with his back to them.

Seven waited along with the rest of the men for Ace to finish the one-sided conversation. Other than greeting Dave, Ace hadn’t said a word.

“Understood. Will do,” Ace murmured, hung up the phone, and turned to face them. “That was the former SecDef. He’s sending in a man who can give us some insight into what’s going on.”

“What is going on?” Seven asked.

“Honestly? Dave felt it better coming from this man.”

“Who’s he sending?” Link said.

“Jaxon West.”

Seven frowned. He had no idea who the fuck Jaxon West was, but if he got in his way retrieving Hunter, he’d flatten the man.