“Hell, you’re not staying alone. I’m staying with you,” Woodley stated.
“Calm the fuck down. I’m not suggesting a retreat,” Brick growled as if the mere thought pissed him off. “But even the best plan requires regrouping and reevaluation when the variables change. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Harris nodded but refused to take back what he’d said. He wasn’t veering from this path, no matter the roadblocks and variables thrown up on his way.
***
Woodley
Neither he nor Harris questioned sharing Woodley’s bedroom at the rental. What was the use? After all, everyone appeared tohave declared them a couple, even if they weren’t. They weren’t. Couples plan futures together. Couples talk about what they mean to each other. Couples share their lives. He and Harris did none of that and never would.
It didn’t take Harris long to have Woodley wrapped up in those strong arms and pressed against the nearest wall. The bulge pressed up against his thigh matched his own; it had been a long week apart, and now that they were alone in the same space, nothing would get in their way.
“Damn, you feel good,” Harris said before capturing Woodley’s lips in a commanding kiss full of promise.
He loved it when Harris stopped thinking and just went with it. Everything got screwed up when they stopped to think about the future or what the hell either of them wanted out of this. Enough was enough. They’d be fine if they could stay in the here and now, but that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
He wouldn’t lie and say he was sorry the plan went to hell. Woodley had never liked it from the beginning, and now that it was a wash, his blood pressure had drastically lowered. As his lover’s strong hands worked their way down Woodley’s body, he couldn’t help but moan in need. He wanted so much more.
CHAPTER NINE
Harris
Harris didn’t like this.
Surprisingly, Apollo had agreed to meet, and now here Harris stood, his senses open as he scanned the area of the abandoned junkyard. One wrong move, and he’d crush this Apollo dude under a pile of rusted-out and flattened vehicles. Mountains of rusted pieces and parts of old junkers filled the landscape like some macabre horror movie. Claws made of rusted sheet metal, and gaping eyes formed of broken glass stared out as silent sentinels ready to attack at the slightest provocation.
It might be weird to some that Harris felt right at home among the surrounding castoffs. The worn-out and deemed worthless seemed the perfect place for a group of Noah Project survivors to meet. When the project was originally shut down decades ago, they were thrown to the wind into orphanages, foster care, or abandoned on the streets. It’s funny how they’d suddenly become a hot commodity to those who shouldn’t still be in business. A fucked-up form of recycling of human assets.
The rest of the team was scattered throughout the darkened labyrinth of the yard, with only their gear and the moonlight to guide them. If Apollo expected them to show up without being prepared, he was naïve. And Harris doubted that. He figured the guy expected it. How he would respond was still up for debate.
The thick gravel crunched under Brick’s boots and seemed to echo through the quiet. The team leader wasn’t hiding his location. If anything, he was announcing it by standing out in the middle of a path between two dismantled cube vans without an ounce of fear. The man had balls, no question, but the team was standing at the ready with conventional weapons and specialabilities ready to be used at a moment's notice, and without hesitation. Apollo wouldn't get far if the guy tried to harm the boss.
Conor remained hidden until Apollo agreed to be read, his ever-protective sniper boyfriend high in the nearby metal stacks zeroed in on various targets, ensuring their continued safety. Woodley was on the far side of the junkyard covering Brick’s back while Fletcher, Shaw, and Stryker spread out to complete a ring around the area. Spencer and Jennifer remained at the rental and were on the comms waiting while Jason was stationed near their SUVs in case they had to make a quick getaway. Everything was set; their guest of honor was all that was needed now to get this show on the road.
Would he show? Would he be alone?
As the hours ticked by, Harris had to admit he was losing faith that the guy would show up until his bone mic crackled to life.
“I have two approaching from the east,” Gunner’s voice came across clearly as if he were standing beside him.
“Got them,” Fletcher said.
“Drone is airborne,” Spencer added.
With silent eyes in the sky, they could follow all the heat signatures in the area to ensure no new parties randomly appeared to crash their party.
“Confirmed only homing in on one individual,” Conor said. “Apollo is still a mystery and unreadable to me.”
No surprise there. What would truly be shocking was if he allowed Conor into his thoughts. In the meantime, Harris kept his full attention on Brick, ready to react and send things flying so the team leader could make his getaway. Lifting a wrecked car would take hardly any effort after all the training he and his sister had put in over the past several months. Brick hadinstructed him to let chaos reign if the plan went to shit, and that’s exactly what he planned to do.
“In my sights,” Brick stated as Apollo and a second man came into view.
Harris got his first look at the new guy Apollo had brought along. He was shorter than Apollo—hell, most people were—and he had short black hair, a full beard, and his neck and arms covered in tattoos. He appeared to be in his forties and walked with a slight limp on the right side.
“Reading the secondary target now,” Conor announced. “He’s angry at being here. Doesn’t trust us and is prepared for an ambush. He feels this is a waste of time, that they don’t need our help for something. I’m not sure what that something is; I’m trying to dig deeper.”
Both men stopped and scanned the area as the duo came within five feet of Brick. A knowing look passed between the two.
