Page 57 of Wrecked

“What’s going on?” the former SecDef answered on the second ring.

“Can you send a few men to a location for me? I lost contact with Crow.”

“I can do that,” Dave said and spoke to someone in the room for a moment before he was back. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, Winter and Rip are on their way, so make sure your guys know that. Rip can fill Stone in,” Real said and then gave Dave the shorter version of the job involving crime boss James Lincoln and the why—for two different reasons—Crow and Rebel were involved.

“Will do,” Dave said.

“Thank you for this.”

“It’s not a problem, you know that.”

“I know, but I also know that you’re set to retire and Will is going to take over. I just don’t want to add to your plate.”

“Yeah, well even if I do retire, you can always call me.”

They talked for another moment and then Dave ended the call.

Dave gazed at Stone. “Who are you taking?”

“I’ll take Ice and Echo if they’re available. If not, I’ll snag Wrath and Rogue. We can be in downtown Los Angeles in roughly two hours. What’s the job?” Stone asked.

“To save time, call Rip from the road, he and Winter are en route. Rip can fill you in on the details of the case.”

“Got it.” Stone hesitated and when the man’s hand lifted to touch his shoulder, Dave gave a brief nod and stepped away from the touch.

Without a word, Stone turned and walked out.

Dave fisted his hands and stood still until the door closed, then he walked over and dropped down into one of the two leather chairs that sat facing his gardens.

“What happened to Crow?”

Dave closed his eyes when Azrael spoke. The assassin had a habit of curling up with a book in his study and Dave was forever forgetting to double-check.

When Azrael sank into the other leather chair next to him, Dave gave the slender teenager a slight smile.

“It’s nothing that Stone can’t fix.”

In the hallway, Azrael ran into Boston. The boy had been home for about a week and wasn’t happy about it.

“You heard?” Azrael asked.

“Yes. Rip and Winter are on their way and there’s a problem with Crow and Rebel.” Boston held his gaze.

“What are you thinking?” Azrael moved further from Dave’s study. No way in hell did he want the former SecDef to overhear him and Boston.

Taking the hallway to the stairs, Azrael jogged up them and didn’t stop until he and Boston were inside his bedroom. Going one step further, Azrael opened the bedroom window and stepped out onto the roof.

It was his favorite spot.

When he sat on the tile, Boston lowered down at his side.

“I’m thinking they might need help,” Boston said.

“Probably not. We’d only get in the way.”

“That’s not true. We know how Rebel thinks. We lived that life. Tanis and Solomon subjected us to the same fucked up shit as Rebel.”

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