Page 27 of Broken (Powertools: The Shields 4)

9

Ace flexed his fingers around the grip of his gun several times as he half-crouched, half-ran around the rear of the building to the service entrance he and Liam were about to use to infiltrate it. It had been months since he’d been in the field, but despite the worries he’d smothered while falling asleep most nights since his injury, it felt familiar.

The sound of his heart steady but strong, amplified by the comms in his ear. Liam in his peripheral vision as Ace scanned the area for signs they’d been made. The hope that if all went well, it wouldn’t be long before they took one more piece of shit out of the world so they could never harm another person again.

His damn palms didn’t lie, though—they were sweating around his weapon. What if he wasn’t ready? What if his new weakness put Ruby at risk?

Maybe they should have waited for one of the other cars to arrive. Or maybe he should call Tavish to take his place on the lead team with Liam while Ace watched their sixes with Legend.

If he’d had another few seconds to debate and doubt, Ace might have done it.

But when he glanced at his partner, Liam jerked his chin toward the door. This was it. They were going in.

Together. Like they always had before.

Except Ace was scarred. Forever changed. And he couldn’t afford to let his doubt claim a toehold on his focus or Ruby would pay for it.

Ace entered the six-digit code JRad had given them and the security panel flashed green. While it might have been more satisfying to bust the thing down, having stealth on their side for as long as possible was worth keeping Liam’s aggravation pent-up. His partner practically vibrated with fury and the need to lash out.

Soon, he was going to have his chance.

Ace popped open the door and peeked inside. The boring paint color and cinderblock wall matched the one he’d been staring at on the video feed. No one there. A short hallway led to a corner. Around it, three doors down, was the room Ruby had indicated she was in. Damn, she was incredible. She’d literally given them a map. All they had to do was use it.

He wasn’t about to let her down. Again.

He signaled to Liam with his free hand then ducked inside. They crept along the hall, listening for any signs of movement and heard none. So he kept going. Liam reached the corner first and checked around it, before beginning their final approach. One door, two…

She was there. Right there on the other side of the wall. Ace swore he could feel her energy—sparkly and special.

“Tavish. Legend. Stay alert. They’re about to go in.” James’s steady voice alerted the rest of the team outside the command center to Ace and Liam’s status as he watched the stream from their bodycams. “Guys, remember, we need the masked man alive if at all possible. The rest of the team will be there in five minutes, tops.”

A lot could happen in that amount of time and no one was suggesting they wait.

Ace looked to Liam, who nodded. This was it.

Liam gestured toward the doorknob, so Ace took a deep breath. Then in one motion he grabbed it, turned, and flung the door wide. His own heart leapt as his partner, best friend, and sometimes lover rushed into the eye of the storm of danger, because that’s the kind of man he was.

Time froze.

Was Ace afraid? More than he’d ever been before. Taking that bullet had impressed upon him the very real risks involved. Ones he maybe hadn’t considered seriously enough when he’d been younger and the illusion of invincibility hadn’t yet worn off. Now he knew precisely how small their margins for error were.

But he wasn’t about to let Liam face those odds alone.

When Ace charged after him, entering the room, the two dweebs were still hovering over Ruby, though their puzzled expressions made it clear that even watching her every keystroke didn’t clue them in to whatever she was doing. Beside them, one of the gunmen was leaning against the wall. And the other bracketed them, standing between the masked man and everyone else.

That left the masked man immediately in front of them, completely exposed. Ace’s primal urge to take him out was something he’d never experienced before.

“Don’t do it,” Jordan warned in Ace’s ear. “We need him.”

The masked man knew it too. He barked at his gunmen, “Get rid of the evidence. But not her.”

Liam elbowed the guy in his shrouded face, trying to stop the inevitable. As the man grunted and doubled over, Liam shoved him aside, flinging him so that he crashed into a row of desks. But he didn’t make it through the asshole fast enough and the mercenary beyond him took out first one then the other dweeb with two rapid shots. Of course that also left his back turned to Ace and Liam, who returned the favor.

Ace ignored it all. His eyes locked on Ruby’s for an instant before flicking to the second hired gun who held her captive. The brute had his arm around her neck by then, locking her tight to him. Those bastards needed her even more than the Shields needed the masked man. She was safe for the moment. But her captor…not so much.

Ace lifted his bad arm and braced the butt of his gun with the opposite hand.

He wasn’t very far away and had nailed shots like this repeatedly during his training sessions since getting his cast off, and still, he wobbled.

---