Page 73 of Barrett

“Good, you’re both here. Barrett has one of the victims. Somehow the man broke free after being held for more than a week. Barrett was going to take him to the hospital to get checked out then to the station to question him, but the man started screaming and refused to go, begging Barrett not to force him. We’re meeting Alton at Thirteen."

Warehouse Thirteen was one of the many locations Jordan used for... activities.

I was itching to go to Barrett, to see him and help the man he found. I wondered how he did it. Barrett didn’t dress in a uniform so he wouldn’t look like a detective unless he had his badge around his neck.

A handful of minutes later, Jordan slid into the Maserati with Albert and Raiden, while I drove one of the Navigators. I had Vincent with me.

Albert took the streets through East Dremest with skill as we wove in and out of traffic, drove down side streets, and eventually pulled up to the warehouse. Barrett wasn’t in sight, but his personal car was.

We parked and got out, Albert staying outside, per usual. If someone came upon us or if he needed to get Jordan out of here in a hurry, he could. Jordan told him to keep Alton outside when he arrived. My guess was Alton had to clear his schedule a bit to show up.

It took everything in me to walk at a reasonable pace into the warehouse. My body vibrated with the need to have Barrett in front of me, to make sure he was okay. Not physically. I knew he was fine there. He just had a lot of shit going on inside him that made me worry.

Our situation wasn’t ideal by a long shot, but I’d fight every day to keep him with me.

We stopped only a few feet into the warehouse. It used to house a business but when it went under, Jordan bought it. He purchased a lot of the places in this part of the city. It gave him the ability to do things without others watching him, though we were always careful.

I expected to find Barrett and the man in one of the offices, but the man was sitting with his back against a wall. He had a shirt on, one of Barrett’s. My detective was bare-chested, crouched in front of the man, talking softly to him. The man nodded every so often, his brown hair falling onto his forehead. He didn’t look older than his mid-twenties. His arms had scuffs of dirt on them and his feet were bare. A pair of sweatpants were on his legs where he wrapped his arms around them. He was a tight ball.

Barrett stayed where he was with his eyes still on the man, but he raised his voice above a whisper to speak to us. “This is Noah. He ran into me when I was leaving my building. He was outside, trying to get in, rattling the handle but not pressing the buttons. He didn’t know which apartment was mine. Noah knew who I was because the man who took him kept talking about me and how my brother was a loose end. How no one gets away from him.” Barrett’s right hand curled into a fist, causing Noah to whimper.

“Sorry, I won’t hurt you,” Barrett said. “The man who took him was in the process of moving his prisoners when Noah broke away. I tried to leave Noah in my apartment where he’d be safe, but he clung to me, so I had to make a choice. When I brought up taking him in so he could give a statement or taking him to the hospital to be looked over, he panicked. He knows who the kidnapper is personally.”

Jordan stepped forward and crouched. Noah scooted farther down the wall, so Jordan fully sat on the floor with his suit on. “You know who I am.” It wasn’t a question. It didn’t need to be.

Noah nodded.

“You’re under my protection now. If you don’t want to go anywhere, you won’t. I have a doctor on his way. He’s someone I trust, who takes care of my family, my employees, and me. He won’t break your privacy and won’t do anything you don’t agree to. Barrett will be there the whole time. I won’t take him away. Okay?”

Noah nodded again, pulling his legs tighter.

“The man who took you, is he a relative?”

Another nod.

“A spouse?”

Noah shook his head.

“Can you tell me his name?”

“No,” Noah rasped, his voice rough. “He’ll come for me. Our family will protect him. They won’t listen to me.”

“I won’t let anyone get to you. I have places to hide you where no one knows about. We can take you there. You’ll be free to walk around and there will only be two other people with you, the man who lives there, and one of my guards for security. The place is solid. If anyone steps foot on the property, we’ll know. No one will hurt you.”

“He doesn’t know?”

“I don’t know whoheis but unless he works for me, no. And he better not be fucking working for me,” Jordan growled.

“He doesn’t. He’s…” He shook his head, and another whimper bubbled up his throat. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Can you tell me where you were being held?”

Noah gave the name of the street. I immediately put my phone to my ear and called Barry to send a team there.

“He’ll be gone. Half of them were already moved and I don’t know to where. But I heard him say he was planning to sell them.” He swallowed hard and shook.

My blood pumped through my body like I was waiting for a match to drop to ignite me. Noah got away. So did Marshall. We couldn’t let the others be sold.

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