Page 65 of Stryker

“How many hostiles areleft?” Brick asked.

“I’m scanning the area,”Gunner responded. “The Feds have already arrested multiple subjectswho ran out. I don’t see any other movement.”

“Okay, let’s clear out,”Brick ordered.

They took the stairwell down to thefirst floor and were under two hundred yards away from the frontdoors when a man stood up from behind a filing cabinet with hishands up. They turned their lights in that direction, and Strykerwas momentarily stunned as he set the elderly lady down. He knewthe guy from somewhere, but where?

“Kevin?” Gator said as helowered his weapon slightly. “What are you doing here?”

Right, this was thedishwasher from the pub. What the fuck was he doinghere?

“They took me from thebar,” Kevin said. “Help me.”

John spun around, his face stormy.“Don’t trust him. He’s one of the Noah Group. He’s the one who wasworking on the inside in Marshall.”

Kevin’s face twisted in anger.“Freak.” He pulled out a gun from behind the cabinet, aiming it atJohn. Stryker dove in front of his partner as the shot rang out.The blow hit him near his collarbone, just below his neck. Itwasn’t a spot protected by his bulletproof vest. Multiple shotssounded by the time he hit the ground, and he knew the team hadended the asshole.

“Shit, Stryker’s down,”Brick yelled.

Stryker knew it was bad. As somethingwas pressed against his neck, Stryker’s eyesight dimmed, and John’simage faded. He should have been in pain, but he felt nothing. Thiswas it, his final mission. At least John was safe. That’s all thatmattered.

***

John

“No, don’t close youreyes,” John cried desperately.

The shirt that had been pressedagainst Stryker’s wound was soaked with blood, and the flow wasn’tstopping. Fletcher and Brick were desperately trying to stop thebleeding, and as chaos reigned around him, John watched as the manhe loved slipped further and further away from him.

His body went numb as he fell to hisknees, and John was transported back to that street of Hood River,watching as his parents died in pools of their ownblood.

“Move over,” Lori ordered,her voice echoing around the room.

He moved out of the way as she kneltbeside Stryker. Her eyes began to glow golden, and soon her handsalso shone with brightness. John had seen that glow before whenhe’d had the asthma attack back in his cage. This was how she’dsaved him.

The rest of the team watched instunned disbelief as she laid her fragile, arthritic hands onStryker’s wound, causing his entire body to glow. It might havebeen seconds or minutes, John didn’t know, but when the glowingfaded and she removed her hands, Stryker opened hiseyes.

Lori smiled down at Stryker, who wasstaring at his healed chest in wonder, along with everyone else.“Don’t worry, son, I’ll keep you safe.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Stryker

“Are you sure you don’tneed anything?” John asked again.

“I’m positive,” Strykersaid. “I feel great. Like I hadn’t been shot.”

“Trust me, you were,” Johnsaid as a chill worked through his body.

“Come here,” Stryker saidas he held out his arm. “Sit with me.”

They’d been home for over two weeks,and John hadn’t stopped racing around since. Between taking care ofFrank and the store and worrying about every move Stryker made, theman was headed for exhaustion. It was also determined that Kevinlifted the spare keys Gator had left in the bar in order to gainaccess to John and Jason’s shop and sneak up on John.

John finally stopped and joinedStryker in bed. They were staying at the lake house for now, andFrank had a bedroom next to theirs. They hadn’t decided whether toreturn to the apartment or stay out here. Brick had already offeredthem one of the cottages once the next round was built, but they’dwait and see how Frank took to everything.

The boy had become like a son to them,and they wanted to make sure he was happy where he lived. Much tothe Feds’ dismay, the other prisoners had made their own choices onwhat they wanted to do. If they’d had their way, no doubt some mayhave been asked to join up, but Brick and the team would neverallow that to happen.

Senator Raleigh returned to his homeand politics but hired additional security so he wouldn’t be caughtunaware again. The team had no idea if he had an ability, as itnever appeared to them. Then again, that meant nothing. He couldhave been hiding it the entire time, which was his right. No one onthe team would ever make someone who’d already been victimizedsuffer further.

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