The dog—which Eli steadfastly refused to name—wasn’t microchipped which was hardly surprising. She seemed very content though. Walking was slow going, but the vet said the injury was months old. The vet had also said she was around four years old and not as old as Daniel had originally guessed. Jacob’s eldest, Trixie, was going to come daily as soon as school was finished and take her out to the park. Eli hadn’t suggested finding her a home, and Daniel hadn’t pushed.
And they were still sleeping together every night.
And kissing. Lots of kissing, but Daniel had spent more time with his hand in the shower than he had since he’d been about fifteen.
Eli’s car had been condemned, but Daniel was more than happy for them to both ride in his. He liked knowing where Eli was. On some level Daniel couldn’t explain and was unwilling to dig deeper into, having Eli exactly where he could see him most of the time was soothing.
Daniel answered the call as soon as his phone rang. It was Talon. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said as soon as Daniel answered, “but the storage facility you visited last week has a hostage situation.”
“What?” Daniel bit out and signaled to turn in that direction.
Eli spoke up. “We’re barely five minutes away.”
“You sure?” Daniel just mouthed the words at Eli and got a sharp nod.
“There’s a chance you might even get there before the cops. Chris is on his way and called me because the property is flagged in the investigation,” Talon confirmed. “And Cruz isn’t there. An employee seems to have been taken hostage by a customer. Just—” He paused. “Just be careful. We’re on our way, but thirty minutes at least.”
Daniel glanced in exasperation as they had to pause for a truck, but beeping his horn, he managed to move around it. “I’m betting it’s the receptionist,” Daniel said.
“We could do with Sawyer or Talon,” Eli stated. “If it’s a gun or a knife.” He would be able to reduce the metal to shavings within seconds. Daniel nodded and pulled off the main road. “So we try and contain it until they get here.”
Daniel glanced over just as Eli frowned and rubbed the small patch of skin between his eyes. They could see the flashing lights of the patrol cars up ahead as they turned into the street in front of them. “Are you okay?”
Eli nodded but didn’t reply.
Daniel pulled up behind the patrol cars and turned to Eli. “No unnecessary risks.” Eli shook his head and got out, but Daniel wasn’t convinced whether Eli was agreeing or just placating him. They walked to the group of officers all getting out of their cars, and Daniel smiled as Chris turned around. He hugged his big brother.
“About time you showed your ugly mug in my district and got some real work done.” Daniel grinned at his bear of a brother—his other bear. Chris had definitely gotten their ancestors’ coloring. His big red bushy beard matched the unruly mop on his head, and his brown eyes reflected his usual good humor even if they were muted with the seriousness of the current situation. It was nice to see. Amy, Chris’s long-term girlfriend, had decided last year she didn’t want to be a cop’s partner anymore and moved along with their five-year-old son, Cian, back to New York and her parents. He knew Chris had offered to move states, and especially jobs, but Amy had just said that would have made both of them miserable.
And apparently Cian now had a new “uncle.”
“Eli?” Chris held out his hand, and Eli shook it cautiously.
“What do we have?” Daniel couldn’t see any movement from inside the office he had been in with Eli.
“I don’t know much more than you. We got a call from a Jasmine McKinty about ten minutes ago saying what she’d originally thought was a prospective customer had started taking a hammer or something similar to the row of parked trucks, trailers, and RVs along the back. Dispatch was just telling her to get the hell out of there when she screamed. Dispatch heard the door being kicked in and a man’s voice demanding she call her boss. Miss McKinty told the man that Mr. Cruz was in Orlando. He said he meant Caffrey and she had better get the bastard down here. Dispatch heard her say she had no way of getting hold of him, and then he heard the sirens. The phone went dead.”
“And the hostage negotiator is on his way?” Daniel asked, and Chris nodded.
“Do we have any idea who this guy is?” Eli asked and rubbed his head again.
Chris shook his head, and one of the cops ran over. He turned and they discussed something while the other officers quickly cordoned off the site.
“What is it?” Daniel asked. Eli had rubbed his head a few times.
“I don’t know. Something, maybe. A weird feeling.”
Chris turned to two of his officers. “Steadman, Roper. I want to know if there’s a back entrance.” The office was simply the first unit with a door and a window instead of a roller shutter. There was a large RV parked right alongside the right-hand side.
“Sarge,” Eli suddenly said. “Let us.”
“What?” Chris glanced at Eli and Daniel.
“I think we should go see.”
Daniel frowned.
“Sarge?”
They all turned at the cop’s shout. Jasmine McKinty was standing by the open door looking downright terrified. “He says he wants you all to move back and then he’ll let me go.”
“Are you hurt, ma’am?” Chris shouted.
Jasmine shook her head but didn’t move from the door. She glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to them. “He says he will let me stand here while you move the barrier back another six feet.”
“What the hell?” Chris muttered and glanced at Daniel. “Think he’s for real?”
“I think anything to delay things while the rest of the team gets here is a good thing.”
“And he’s standing out of sight, so he must have a gun. He’s not close enough to her for a knife to be a plausible threat. Too much of a chance she will just duck out.”
Daniel turned to Eli to ask him what he thought just in time to see him stepping back. “Shit,” Daniel swore under his breath. “Just get the cars moved,” he told Chris and ducked behind the cops, following Eli. Eli jogged down the nearest row of units and out of sight of the office.
“Eli?” Eli turned and paused. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Why is he delaying?”
Daniel glanced back to where the barrier was being moved. “You think he’s going to run out of the back?”
Eli nodded and slipped between two caravans which brought him to the fence and the narrow strip of wasteland behind the units leading back toward the office. Daniel drew his gun, and just as Eli and Daniel got to the end of the units, they saw a man let himself out of the back door to the reception just in front of them. He took a step, looked up, and saw them at exactly the same time.
“Mo?” Eli whispered incredulously, and Daniel gripped his gun tighter. Mo? The kid from Caffrey’s? Daniel gazed at the equally as stunned-looking man in front of him and instantly understood why Eli insisted his skin was a different color to the other witness. The whole top half of his face was pale, then mottled as it got nearer his chin and neck which was dark brown. Daniel couldn’t remember the name of the skin condition that caused it, but he would bet that was it.