About twenty minutes ago, Simon got a hit on Alexei’s car with his license plate reader. Alexei, the elusive Russian boss we’ve been chasing after for months. The same Russian bastard behind Sophia and Beth’s kidnapping.
Everyone has been pulled in to help follow him. Gabriel, his wife Meghan, Johnathan, Andrew, and the Chief of Police have tailed Alexei’s car to highway 40, heading east toward Bethlehem.
Detective Sommers and I have been en route to provide additional backup.
But everything has gone to hell.
Who the fuck would kill the damn Chief of Police? There’s no way I heard that right. I mean seriously, he’s gotta be alive. If not…
Shit.
There’s no goddamn way the man, whose daughter I’ve been secretly stalking and watching for how many fucking months, just fucking dies.
There’s no fucking way.
A bunch of chatter suddenly comes through the bud in my ear. Shit about Meghan running away from Gabriel to confront her father and getting grabbed by the Russians.
None of this shit is making sense.
How the fuck did a simple tail job fail so spectacularly?
Who the hell decided to pull over the Russians?
“Chief’s dead, confirming it now. Same with Brady. Both have fatal shots to the head,” Andrew says over the comms.
My heart sinks at the words.
There’s no fixing dead.
And Sophia…
Shit.
Sophia’s just lost the last of her family. Her mom died a few years ago, and now her dad’s been murdered by someone.
And I don’t even know who fucking did it.
More chatter comes over the comms. Simon and Lucifer are ordering everyone to obey the fucking state police.
“Fuck!” I scream out as loud as possible.
Mashing the gas pedal to the floor, I keep trying to get around all the stupid slow fucks surrounding me, but it’s like the gods have all decided to take a giant piss on the idea.
I’m the furthest away from everything that’s been going down and I’ve never felt more fucking useless!
Normally I’m the guy in the background with a sniper rifle, watching over my brothers. But I’m stuck in a car and I can’t do a fucking thing.
I have zero clue what’s happening right now. I can’t get my eyes on the situation and it’s killing me.
“I’m putting a call into the Governor’s office right now. Give me a few minutes. They’ll have to get extra cars and men there before they can haul you away. We’ll have enough time to get you free,” Simon says.
“I’m about a minute away from the scene. There isn’t a lot of traffic right now, but you will be causing a backup soon enough,” I mutter over the comms.
“Do not stop. We need to get someone after the Russians,” Lucifer says.
Heaven seems better than the fucking purgatory I’m dealing with now.
“What about the Chief? Who the fuck killed him?” I ask, my throat wanting to close up around the words.
I’m fucking torn here. Do I stop and kill the motherfuckers who are holding my brothers down?
Or do I keep moving like I was ordered?
I’ve never left a brother behind before, and every instinct inside me is screaming for me to stop my car and kill the two fuckers harassing Gabriel at least.
Kill them so he can be the wrecking ball he was always meant to be.
“Not our immediate concern. All we know is that it was one of the Russians,” Simon says.
He’s right, and I know it.
But it doesn’t feel good accepting it.
Speeding past all the guys, I try to turn off that little part of my brain that calls to me.
Calls me to cause some bloodshed.
The little part of me that’s always sitting just beneath the surface and wants to kill every single motherfucker standing in the way of what I want.
I make it a couple more miles down the highway before I get stuck in more traffic.
“Goddammit,” Simon all but screams over the comms just as I screech to a halt.
His yell is so damn loud in my earpiece, I fight not to scream myself from the feedback echoing around in my brain.
Lucifer talks over Simon’s yelling. “The Russians slowed down long enough for the Highway Patrol officer to get close to them. Then they opened up with automatic rifle fire, killing him. We’ve lost them in the ensuing traffic panic ahead and behind them.”
“You what?” Gabriel asks in disbelief.
Jesus Christ. Can this shitshow get any shittier?
Gabriel snarls into the comms. “James, what’s your location?”
“In traffic. I could jerk off and the line will probably have not moved. We’re at a standstill,” I grumble.
I could get out and do naked cartwheels around my car and still be fucking waiting.
I gun my engine uselessly, trying to weave just enough to see around the cars ahead of me, but it’s fucking pointless.
This shit is the absolute worst thing that could be happening right now.
Everything’s going south and I’m a turtle crawling toward Bethlehem.
Suddenly an awful thought breaks through the murderous rage I’ve been stewing in.
Sophia.
My fucking Sophia is back in Garden City, unprotected and alone.
My fingers dig into the steering wheel and I can feel them threatening to rip the leather clean off.
We’ve lost the Russians. We’ve got two dead men on our hands.
And we’ve got me, a murderous sniper, who can’t get to his fucking woman…
Fuck.
Punching the ceiling of the car doesn’t ease any of my fucking emotions.
“Cocksucking, mouth-breathing, dick-gobblers!” I scream.
Jamming my finger against the phone button on my steering wheel, I growl, “Call Lucifer.”
The line rings twice before Lucifer’s smooth drawl comes through my speakers.
“James, unless this is a matter of business, now is not the time to be calling for a chit-chat,” Lucifer says, and there’s this fucking slyness to his voice.
Like he’s already playing with me.
“Cut the shit, Matthew,” I snarl. “Give me the green light to waste someone. Let me kill these fuckers in the cop cars so I can get on with the shit I need to take care of.”
“No,” he says without missing a beat. “We can’t and you can’t.”
“I need to get back to Garden City, Matthew. I need to be there right now.”
“Why?” he asks.
I know that he fucking knows why I want to go back, but he’s enjoying this little game of torture.
“Sophia,” I say with a growl of frustration.
Might as well put it out there.
Fuck the games.
Fuck the runaround.
Her dad is dead.
I’m the only person left to protect her now, and there’s no reason I can’t make her mine.
“We’re tracking her, and even though it looks like she’s got a couple of undercovers following her, she’s safe for now,” Lucifer says. “We have to deal with the situation at hand. We need Alexei and we need to help Gabriel rescue Meghan. As soon as we’re done here, you can get back to your little perch.”
Fucking bastard.
“Fuck you,” I spit out.
“Get your rifle ready, James, you’ll need it. We’ve got men looking around Bethlehem for Alexei,” he says. “As soon as this is dealt with… You can go get your little curse.”