28. Hartley

28

HARTLEY

Two steps forward…

“So, if the restaurant was the first step,” I began. “A house would be the second. What if the house number is two-three-four-seven?”

Oleander immediately pulled out his phone and began searching. Jordan got on his, placing a call to Lawson, who could find anything online.

“It’s not going to be in Gil’s name,” Vail said. “It would be too obvious like the restaurant. The cops would have known and searched it already.” He began to pace on the opposite side of the room from Jordan. I could hear Reghan and Raiden in the other room talking, no doubt having heard our conversation.

“What if it’s in yours?” I asked Vail. “Could someone buy a house and put it in your name without you knowing?”

“It’s in Vail’s name,” Jordan said, pulling the phone from his ear. “Gil figured out a way around it. I don’t know the legality of it, but there’s a house in your name.”

“Where?” I asked.

“An hour west.”

“Where it’s more rural,” Vail murmured. “It makes perfect sense. We have to go there.” He started for the door but didn’t get very far before Jordan reached him and pulled him to a stop.”

“You’re not going anywhere. My men and I will.”

“No,” Vail stated firmly, drawing his wrist from Jordan’s hand. “It’s my fucking family in danger. They’re in this situation because of me. I might not have wanted you to hurt him in the past, but I do now. And I’ll be damned if I’m not there when it happens. I need to see the end of this.”

Jordan softened his tone. “He’ll have men with him, baby. It won’t be easy to walk up to the house.”

“No, but I’ll be able to. They won’t shoot me. And if you open fire on it, you could hit Cat, Ivy, or Carson.”

“He’s right,” Sheldon said, leaning against the doorway from the kitchen to the main living area. “We can’t go in there with our guns out, firing. Not when we don’t know where he’s holding them. They could be in front of the windows. We have no damn clue, and we don’t have time to scope the place out beforehand.”

“Lawson sent me the listing from when the house was on the market.”

“That doesn’t do us much good now. We have to go there and, I hate to say, let Vail walk inside.”

Jordan strode toward Sheldon and put his hand around his throat. “Don’t you ever tell me to risk one of the men I love again.”

Sheldon held Jordan’s eyes and didn’t move, like this was exactly what he expected to happen. He probably predicted it would.

I went to them, put my hand on Jordan’s lower back. “Let Sheldon go. He’s right.”

Jordan dropped him as his gaze snapped to mine. “You’d risk Vail?” he bit out.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m not scared to death of what could happen. Vail is his own person. I don’t tell him what to do. If this is how he wants to handle it, I’ll support him. Besides, once he’s inside, the guards will be distracted by him being there and you can start taking them out from up close, so you don’t hit Vail’s family.”

“We can get close,” Sheldon spoke while rubbing his neck.

“Jordan,” Vail said to get his attention. “It has to be me. It’s me he wants. Once I’m inside, do what you have to and get us out.”

“I hate this. Every fucking part of it.” Jordan paced away from us. “What I hate more is that if this was anyone else, I would have said it was a smart move. It’s also predictable. You could be walking into a trap.”

“I figure I will be. Gil is a smart man, but when it comes to me, he doesn’t see much else. He has tunnel vision when I’m in the room and not in a good way. I’m his prey, always have been.” His words got quieter the longer he spoke. “If he’s going to slip up, it will be once he has me.”

Jordan visibly deflated.

I couldn’t stand the distance between us, so I reached for Jordan and pulled him toward Vail. “You have to trust us,” I told Jordan. “We’ve done almost everything your way, but this is what Vail wants to do. Let him.”

“He could be killed,” Jordan stated.

“He could every time he leaves our home. Our lives aren’t guaranteed. If he wants to be the one to go after his sister, that’s his call to make.” I put my arm around Vail again, wanted to feel his solid body against mine. The fear inside me wouldn’t be pushed away. I didn’t miss the way Vail trembled. This wasn’t easy for him. Not when it came to his family. Not when it came to putting himself in front of Gil again. He was scared and rightfully so.

“You said you didn’t want to clip my wings,” Vail murmured.

Jordan whispered, “Never.”

“Then I’m going in and you’ll have to save me.”

Jordan put his hand on the back of Vail’s neck, while his other went around my waist to pull me closer. “I will always come for you both. No matter the situation.”

“Does that mean I can follow Vail in?” I asked, my fear bleeding out in a poor attempt at humor.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Jordan growled. “You’ll stay here with Sylvan.”

I reared back. “The fuck I will. I’m going with you. I’ll stay with the SUV, but I’ll be damned if I’m sitting here while this shit is going down.”

Jordan dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling. “You two are driving me to an early grave.”

“Nah,” I said. “You’re already sixty. It wouldn’t be early at this point.”

Vail chuckled while Jordan speared me with his gaze. “If I didn’t love you,” he growled.

“Yeah, yeah. Now kiss us so we can go rescue Vail’s family.”

That was just what he did. Jordan laid a possessive kiss on each of us before shouting orders and putting the wheels in motion.

“I’m coming too,” Forest said.

Before Jordan could even respond, Sheldon spun. “You’re not going anywhere.” There was a tiny thread of irritation in Sheldon’s voice. That was probably the most inflection in his voice I’d heard.

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Your choices are to stay here or stay here,” Jordan said. “It’s bad enough I’m taking Hartley with me, while Vail walks into the fucking home where his piece of shit ex is. I’ll be damned if I’m allowing anyone else to join us who isn’t experienced in defending themselves or knows how to handle a gun. Do you know how to shoot?”

“Well… No. But if you show me quick, I can learn.”

“You stay here with Sylvan. You’ll need to keep him company anyway. He might wear a path in the floor from worrying over us.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sylvan said, his hand shakily moving to his hair.

“Uh huh.”

We had to say a quick goodbye to Sylvan while Jordan and his team entered a bedroom and came out with an arsenal of weapons.

“Jesus, where the hell did that come from?” I asked. We’d been in every room of the house when Sylvan gave us a tour. I definitely would have remembered one of the bedrooms being filled with guns and bulletproof vests.

“It’s a safe house, remember?” Sheldon winked as he walked past. He slipped a vest over his head. “We’re equipped to hunker down and kill anyone who finds us here.”

“I thought safe houses weren’t supposed to be known about, and where people feel, you know, safe.”

“They are, but with the technology now, drones, trackers, and whatever the fuck else, is anything really secure?”

“You have a point.”

“I usually do.”

With the SUV Vail was in damaged, Reghan went into a big garage behind the house and opened two of the bay doors. There were more Lincoln Navigators inside.

“Did you get a special at the dealership?” I asked. “Buy ten get three free?”

Jordan’s hand went to the back of my neck again, this time to propel me forward. “Just get in.”

Jordan, Vail, and I slid into the back while Albert climbed behind the wheel and Oleander sat in the passenger seat.

“You’re hurt,” Vail said. “Jordan, he shouldn’t come.”

“Just like I apparently can’t tell you what to do, I can’t where he’s concerned either. Besides, his shooting arm and hand are just fine.” Oleander proved Jordan’s point by pulling out his gun and making sure it was loaded.

Another SUV followed us down the driveway, the gate opening before we got to it. We were only on the road for a little bit when two more SUVs joined us.

“How many men did you call?” I asked as I looked over my shoulder. It was like we were driving the president somewhere. Instead, it was a mafia boss and his partners.

“As many as I could spare. I still have to protect other areas, but Gil won’t have just one guy protecting him. I need to bring more in anticipation of what he has.”

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if everyone didn’t walk away? What if Jordan lost some of his men?

I glanced out the window, unable to stop the thoughts from swirling around my mind. Jordan knew what he was doing. I doubted this was the first time he’d gone on a mission like we were. And I was certain it wouldn’t be the last. That didn’t mean I had to like it or fully understand it. Every life was precious, yet these men would willingly give theirs up for him.

I couldn’t do what Jordan did. Not only the trafficking of illegal shit but asking people to join me who might not live through the day. I got that they knew this when they took the job. That didn’t diminish their role and what they might have to sacrifice.

At least my brother stayed behind. Having one person I loved going in there was bad enough. Jordan could handle himself. I hadn’t seen him in action, but he didn’t survive this long by being unskilled.

The trees flew past us in a slow blur. The roads became less occupied the farther away from the city we went. The houses were more spaced apart, and farmland spread out on either side of the road.

There were people in these homes having a meal or playing with their children. Working, wondering how they would pay next month’s bills. If only we were one of them and not on our way to rescue loved ones with a chance of not all of us returning.

Here I thought my biggest problem was trying to pay down the debt on my grandfather’s home. Nope, that wasn’t even close. A day facing that outstanding bill was nothing compared to what had unfolded today.

“Are you okay?” Jordan asked.

I turned to find Vail rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m good. My neck’s just a bit sore. Probably from the accident.”

Jordan, ever the problem solver, put his phone to his ear and called a chiropractor to book Vail an appointment tomorrow. Today, well, none of us knew what was about to happen. Hopefully, we’d be fine, and Vail could make his appointment tomorrow while Cat and the kids were safe in their home, no longer having to worry about Gil.