Page 38 of Capturing Perfection

“Pretty much. Don’t worry, buddy, I won’t let you fry.”

“Ah Trev, it gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies to know you care.”

“Shud up!”

Logan stuck his tongue out at the quirky kid, who was a genius with anything electronic. Too bad he had the worst luck with love. Logan wanted others to realize how thoughtful and giving the introvert was. Logan knew the other man was also gay. Trev was pretty subtle about it, but Logan had asked when he caught Trevor’s eyes glued to the ass of one of the uniformed officers acouple of months ago. In Logan’s opinion, Trevor’s problem was that he always went for the wrong type of guy. Big and beefy with a side of asshole was the smaller man’s main dish. Logan and Clay had batted around ideas for potential setups, but the only man Logan considered a potential match was taken. Matt had been seeing his boyfriend for about a year. Logan knew little, since it wouldn’t be professional of Matt to discuss his personal relationships, but in Logan’s opinion some the sparkle had left Matt’s eyes from when they first met.

His head turned at the sound of running feet, and he flagged down the sprinter, heading his direction.

“Hey, Coleman! What’s going on, man? What’s with the stampede?”

“Officer down. Some guy got a gun inside the courthouse and is holding a bunch of people hostage.”

“Oh shit! How the hell did that happen?”

“Apparently, the guy had credentials. Security let him keep his weapon. I gotta go, man.”

“Yeah … yeah, go. Do your thing.”

Trevor stood next to him, and Logan’s eyes met his before they sprinted across the hall into Trevor’s domain. Numerous video screens filled the space, and with a couple of quick taps on the keyboard, they had a live video feed to the Moakley Courthouse in the Seaport District. The massive glass and brick structure housed the U.S. Attorney’s office, twenty-seven federal courtrooms and meeting halls used for various lectures. The place was an ever changing art gallery and even offered rentals for parties with full catering services. It masterfully fused justice and capitalism.

“Can you get us a view inside?”

Trevor clicked away on the keyboard for a few more seconds as he hacked into the security camera footage.

“You know I could get in deep doo-doo for this?”

“I doubt anyone’s worried about a couple of squints with a bird's eye view at the moment. Besides, maybe we can see something that can help?”

“Mitchell!”

Logan and Trevor spun to see Captain Fredricks standing in the doorway. They both spun around, using their bodies to block the view of the monitors.

“Yes, Captain?” Trevor answered.

“Is that a live video feed from inside the courthouse?”

“Um…”

“If it is, move over. You’re blocking my view!”

“Yes, Sir!”

Logan stepped aside so the Captain could gather around the monitor with them.

“Can you make this any bigger, Mitchell?”

With a couple of taps, the gigantic wall in front of them came to life. Logan watched as Trevor flipped through various camera feeds ‘til he found one that was aimed toward the unfolding action. The situation seemed to take place on the third floor inside the atrium. Logan could see the massive concave glass wall that looked out onto the city skyline and harbor. The black and white images did nothing to dispel the terror on the faces of the hostages, especially with the high-quality resolution and Trevor’s ability to zoom in. The gunman had his arm wrapped around a woman’s neck and a semi-automatic pistol pressed against her head. About twenty hostages sprawled on the granite floor, hands spread wide.

He could see one officer lying in a pool of blood off the side. His gun inches from his slack hand. Logan couldn’t tell if the officer was dead or unconscious from the wound. He turned his gaze to the gunman, recognizing the hardened resolve in the man’s eyes. This was no panicked man in an out-of-controlsituation. Hate and determination coexisted in his eyes. Logan was intimately acquainted with that expression.

This will not end well.

Logan’s fingers itched to text Clay and find out where he was. The courthouse was in his district, and it was very possible his partner could end up in the thick of things. Only two things prevented him from doing so. The first was not wanting to distract Clay if he was onsite, and second, he knew exactly what was happening since he saw it all in live and living color, so to speak. He saw movement in the shadowed back corner of the balconied hallway. He squinted to identify if this was an additional threat or the good guys coming to the rescue.

Logan gasped as he recognized the familiar shape. Trevor and Fredrick both turned to him with questioning looks.

“That’s Clay.”

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