The few hours that he’d slept was filled with nightmares of Harmon broken and alone. The entire Trenton team along with a few strange faces filled a cramped motel room. They had Gibson, the Powers Fire Chief, who had medic training, on hand for any emergencies. Then there were two scary men named Horace and Freddie who looked as if they’d just escaped from a mental ward or prison, maybe both. He didn’t think they should be in possession of firearms. Gage called in a friend of his, Alex, and the man was wearing a suit that screamed money.

Alex was all polished and elegant, a blond Adonis Daddy with silver-streaked hair among the sea of heathens in black tactical gear.

He didn’t know half the stuff they were talking about. He could figure out most of it, though. Once the operation went down, Pelter and Peaches would handle local law enforcement.

“You doing okay, Poe?”

Hunter sat down beside him in one of the stained chairs. The place looked like it should come with a dose of antibiotics along with the key to get into the room.

“He looked so bad.” His man was strong and most of the time had a smile on his face. When Harmon had said he wanted to go home, he’d wanted to bundle his man up right then. It hadn’t sat well with him when they’d left him behind. Gage explained they didn’t know what kind of security the clinic had. It turned out that the clinic had a crew of ex-special forces who took care of problems. He still didn’t know how they were going to get Harmon out.

“From what Gage told us, he looked dehydrated and underfed.”

“Gage said he needed to be ready to fight. He could barely lift his arms.”

“Little knows his job. Instinct will kick in, and he’ll know what to do,” Hunter said.

The rational side of him told him that these men were far more experienced at this sort of thing than he was. Although, the other part was terrified that everything would go wrong. That the last time he’d see his man breathing was in that tiny visiting room.

“What are they talking about?”

“They’re looking at the best points of entry. I was able to get my hands on the blueprints, and I hacked into the records. Our client’s mother isn’t listed as a patient, but the names that were, are the who’s who of the infamous. There’s a few FBI’s most wanted inside. Carrington sure as fuck doesn’t want to draw attention.”

“Wouldn’t it be stupid to use real names?”

“They didn’t. I cross-referenced aliases and a few matched up. Some people have more money than brains. Peaches recognized a few names and said they wouldn’t be problems.”

“How would she know?”

“She’d have to kill you and me if I told you.”

As Hunter laughed his ass off, he returned his attention to his laptop. Since he’d met Peaches, he’d noticed that the woman seemed to be in charge. Pissing her off was to be avoided at all costs, but when he’d seen her cry, it terrified him. The woman was too fucking strong to break down.

“Poe,” Linus called his name, and then the man crouched down in front of him. “We’re setting up with body cams so that you can be there every step of the way. You’re going to see shit you don’t like, but you gotta keep it together for when we bring Little out. You got me?”

“Yes. Is he going to be okay?”

“If not, then we’re going to have bodies to answer for. We get you didn’t like leaving him behind. It wasn’t what we fucking wanted either, but safety is top priority. Especially when it comes to one of my team.”

“I just want him home.”

He was surprised when Linus took his hands and squeezed them.

“Listen, we’re getting Little out no matter what we have to fucking do. You’ll be in the van about a mile from the facility. Horace and Freddie will be on you at all times.”

He peeked around Linus at the two men in question. “Are they safe?” he whispered. Both men were burly, not overly tall, but Horace had a darkness in his eyes, and his heavily silver-streaked long hair hung to conceal the harsh angles of his face. Freddie was the same height but wider through the shoulders and chest. They both had ink covering their arms. Violent slashes of crimson and what looked like crushed skulls like a massacre. Horace had more skulls than Freddie and wondered if there was a reason for that, but he felt it wouldn’t be safe to ask.

Linus snorted. “Safe, yes, sane, not so much.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed against Linus’ chest. “You’re not being very comforting.”

“I wouldn’t leave them with you if I thought they’d put you in danger or be a danger to you. Little trusts them. I didn’t think he’d mind them being around his man.”

Linus’ voice was soft, almost caring. He was used to hearing the word fuck come out of Linus’ mouth about every other word. He also didn’t forget the blows Liv and Linus exchanged the other day while they were having a friendly match.

When had his life become a SWAT reality show episode?

He slumped into the chair and sighed as he rubbed his hands over his face.

“You got Little’s kit ready?”

“I got Lily’s present and his favorite energy drinks.”

“He’s so fucking easy to please.”

He smiled as he thought about Harmon. His man didn’t need much. Some affection. His own space. He loved that Harmon wasn’t like the men he’d met in the past. Harmon was unique and perfect. When he’d whispered that he loved Harmon, that wasn’t the way he’d wanted to tell Harmon, but he’d needed his man to know. The agony that twisted Harmon’s face had broken his heart. His man would never look that lost again.

One a.m. found him sitting in the back of Harmon’s van in the ratty recliner he’d pulled up to the monitors mounted on the side. Each cam was assigned a screen, and the laptop let him zoom in, and he’d switched them to night vision. He listened to the chatter and whatever code they spoke was making his head hurt.

“What are they talking about?”

“They’ve breached the outer wall at the back of the facility. At this point, they don’t see any guards walking the perimeter. Alex has eyes on the guard at the gate, and he’ll take him out, then make an entrance at the front.” Horace pointed at the screens he spoke.

It was a voice that sounded as if it wasn’t used often.

“We’re hoping for a soft entry and exit.”

“And—”

He had the urge to elbow Freddie when the man grunted. “It means we’re hoping for a quick in and out, you know like a bad fuck.”

“Y’all don’t get out very often, do you?”

“We live in the woods by ourselves,” they answered in tandem.

“I am in no way surprised.”

“Little doesn’t spank you enough.”

He couldn’t help his snort/laugh hybrid at Freddie’s disgusted tone. Harmon hadn’t even attempted to spank him, but Harmon loved to receive a spanking. In no way was he complaining about that. He didn’t care how open they were about sex; he wasn’t going to be one of them to talk easily about it.

“Linus and Liv are at the back exit.”

“Baby, is the system down.” Linus’ voice filled his earpiece.

Hunter responded, “Give me…got it. I’ll lock it back down once you’re in.”

He closely watched the monitors as the team seemed to move in a practiced choreography. Seamless. He remembered they were going in at an employee access door to the basement level. The place was dark, and the paint was peeling from the walls. It was like one of those scenes people would see in horror movies about abandoned asylums.

“Alex, we good?”

“No movement. This fucking place is a ghost town.”

His eyes widened at Mr. Three Piece Suit popping out an F-bomb.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Gage sounded amused.

“Teams of two. Room by room search until we find our targets. Silence except for five-minute check-ins.”

The targets were Harmon and the client’s mother.

“Gentleman, you have an hour before rounds,” Hunter informed them.

His legs bounced as his eyes darted to each monitor. It was getting harder to keep track of who was who even though names were on the screen. He wanted to ask questions. Make demands, but he bit his tongue and perched on the edge of the seat.

“Their clearing all the rooms following a preplanned grid search.”

He nodded at Horace’s explanation. He didn’t know why, but when they sat on the arms of the chair, and he felt their warmth, he found it strangely soothing. A few hours ago, he’d asked if it was safe to be trapped with them and there he was taking comfort in their presence.

A momentary crackling preceded Raul’s voice. “Boss, we found our female target.”

“Secure her. Any sighting of our second target?”

The echoing of no almost made him collapse. Where was Harmon? They needed to get his man out now.