He had no idea how long he’d been up on the roof—a while—when he heard what sounded like the entire Maryland police force coming down the road, sirens screaming. From his vantage point on the roof, he saw the glow of what had to be dozens of light bars illuminating the main road.
Welp. The cavalry had arrived. Only hitch: it had headed for the Brentwood estate and not here.
Should he continue to stay put? Or maybe get down and make a run for the road and all those lovely armed police?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it. He trusted Gunner with his life, and if Gunner said to stay here, he would do that. He might hate Gunner’s profession, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man was extremely good at his job.
Maybe time passed faster knowing the police were nearby, or maybe it was just knowing an end to this nightmare night was in sight. But before long, Gunner murmured in his ear, “It’s all clear out here. Either that or the bastards are better than me.”
Chas sincerely doubted the Oshiro gang members were better than a SEAL. “I’m willing to bet my life on your being better,” he murmured back. “Can I get down, go inside, and get warm now?”
“Yes.”
Praise the Lord and pass the potatoes. He uncurled and was shocked at how stiff he was. He whole body felt like a board. He dangled his feet over the edge as he pushed back on his belly, shoving himself backward until his hips hung off the edge of the porch. Letting go, he controlled his fall and rolled all the way back to his feet.
And then Gunner was there, wrapping him up in a crushing hug.
“Jeez. You’re an ice cube. Let’s go inside,” Gunner murmured.
He followed Gunner up the front steps and into the living room. Chas reached for the lights, but Gunner grabbed his wrist. “Leave the lights off.”
“Any reason why?”
“Well… yeah.”
“Care to tell me why?”
“Umm, there’s a dead guy in the dining room. Thought I’d spare you that sight.”
“There’s a what?”
“There were two hostiles in the house. I neutralized them both. Surely you heard the shooting.”
“I was in denial. Shouldn’t we tell the police?”
“We will. Once the situation across the street is contained. I’d rather not siphon off FBI resources until all the tangoes over there are dead or in custody. When Spencer reports that he’s in the clear, I’ll let him know we’ve got a couple bodies over here.”
“Right. But gross.”
Gunner guided him across the living room to the sofa. “I’ll go get us some blankets.”
Chas nodded, watching Gunner move swiftly upstairs. That was when the smell of blood abruptly overpowered his nose. His stomach threatened to revolt, but then Gunner was back, handing him shoes and wrapping him a thick blanket.
Gunner sat down and pulled him against his side. “When you called to say there was someone in the house, I swear it took twenty years off my life.”
“Really?” Chas replied. “I figured that would be normal everyday stuff to you.”
“Not when it’s you in danger.”
“Aww. Feeling a little warmer now.”
Gunner murmured, “They say sex is a great way to warm up.”
Chas laughed under his breath. “We don’t know everyone’s safe over at the Brentwood place yet. Speaking of which, should you head over there?”
“The FBI will have brought a small army with them. I would just be in the way.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Gunner.”
“Me too. You did good. How in the hell did you make it onto the porch roof?”
“I went out the bedroom window. It was a stretch, but my rock-climbing skills gave me an edge.”
“Nice piece of climbing. That took serious strength.”
“I figured if the bad guys found me, they might kill me. Turns out that’s a pretty good motivator to try hard.”
Gunner said sharply, “They would have killed you for sure—and me—if I hadn’t killed them first.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Then Chas said, “It seems disrespectful to sit here like this with two dead men in the house.”
“My sympathy for them is limited.”
“They were still human beings,” Chas responded mildly.
“Human beings who made very bad choices.”
Chas shrugged beneath his cocoon of blankets. “I’ll never approve of killing.”
“Can you accept that it’s necessary sometimes?” Gunner asked in obvious alarm.
Chas frowned. “In theory. But in practice, I have to ask myself if there was another way to handle all of this. I mean, you guys set them up. You laid an ambush and then killed them when they walked into it. Why couldn’t we have tried something else first?”
“Because that’s not how people like this operate.”
“You don’t know that for sure. You didn’t even try anything else.”
“I cannot believe we’re having this conversation,” Gunner muttered. “I just killed two men to save your life. And Spencer and Drago are picking off hostiles in the woods across the street to save Poppy’s.”
“I don’t like it,” Chas replied stubbornly.
“So you’d have preferred to die rather than have me take out the guys who came in here to kill you?” Gunner asked in disbelief.
“I could’ve tried to run away. If you hadn’t come, that’s what I would have done. In that scenario, you wouldn’t have had to kill those guys. Which I suppose means their deaths are on my hands too.” He fell silent as the reality of that sunk in and appalled him.
“Stop, Chas,” Gunner said sharply. “They broke into this house intent on killing you. Their team had already figured out Poppy wasn’t here. They had no reason whatsoever to come in here except to kill you. It was revenge, straight up. Don’t start feeling sorry for a couple of violent killers who were bent on murdering you. They would have chased you down, and believe me, they’d have caught you. They were wearing the same kind of tactical gear I was.”
“I hear you. But—”
“No buts. Some people are simply in need of killing.”
“I can’t agree with that,” he declared. “I hate all of this.”
“Hell, I hate killing. But in my world, it often comes down to kill or be killed. If you can accept that, then we’re okay. But if you can’t, then we’ve got a problem.”
Chas clamped his mouth shut so he wouldn’t say something he could never retract. But God, it was hard. He was not the bad guy here for being unable to accept outright killing as a viable option for dealing with problems. Sure, he’d had to defend himself a few times over the years. But punching a guy a few times was a far cry from putting a bullet in his head.
Where did it stop? This wasn’t a sanctioned SEAL mission, but Gunner thought it was okay to kill in this situation. What if a more casual friend’s life was threatened? Was it okay then? Or what if the threat was slightly more vague? Was a lethal response still okay? What if an asshole in a bar assaulted Chas? How much violence was okay then? Or what if Chas really, really pissed him off? Would Gunner resort to violence in that situation?