Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

A call came into Dex’s earpiece and he tapped it. “Daley.”

“Have you found my little treasure trove?”

“Pearce.” Dex did his best to control his voice. He wanted to lose his shit, to beat the ever-living hell out of Isaac Pearce and show him what real pain was, to make him suffer the way he’d made Sloane suffer. Instead, he took a steady breath. “Where’s my partner?”

“Sloane and I are reminiscing about the good old days. You’re welcome to join us, but your friends will have to stay behind. If I see them, the next you’ll see of you partner is a viral video of him bleeding to death after I slit his throat.”

Dex refused to play into Pearce’s game. He replied calmly. “Where?”

“The only love I have left. See you soon.”

The line went dead, and Dex tapped his earpiece then remembered Pearce had called him on there. Shit. He pulled out his cell phone and called his dad. “Sarge, I got a call from Pearce.”

“I know. We all heard it. Our line’s been compromised. Get your team out here.”

Dex hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket to address his team. “Let’s go. Sarge wants us outside.” They left and reported their find to the Recon agents who took off toward the basement to collect all the evidence. Outside, Tony waited by the BearCat. He climbed in when they approached and they followed.

“Dex, do you know where he is?” Tony asked, manning the surveillance console.

“Yeah, he’s at his workshop in Brooklyn. The place is a minefield.” He tapped the address into the system and a 3-D street map popped up. Dex pointed to the right of the building. “There. It’s filled with self-storage units and a garden supply center. It’s completely visible from the fourth floor windows, which are the only side windows of the building.”

“Ash,” Tony prompted.

Ash stepped up to the 3-D map, dragging and turning it on screen as he studied it. “We can get snipers on the shipping department across the street. It’ll be easy access, since all the roofs connect. The workshop building is another story. We can park the BearCat here next to the kitchen stone tile company. It leads to the Indoor Lumber Yard parking lot, but the scaffolding all around that area will conceal us. There’s scaffolding here next to the building where they’re working on the girders, we could put some guys—”

Dex shook his head. “No guys across the street or girders. If Pearce gets wind there’s anyone remotely near him who isn’t me, he’ll kill Sloane.”

Ash rubbed a hand over his face, and Dex could feel the guy’s frustration. “You know he’s going to try and kill him anyway. He’s always blamed Sloane for Gabe’s death.”

“I know.” Dex was determined to do whatever it took to get Sloane back in one piece. “But I also know he wants to talk. He’s been trying to get me on his side from the beginning. If I can make him believe I’m coming around to his way of

seeing things, I might be able to distract him long enough to take him down, or at the very least, get Sloane out of there.”

“He’s a cop, Dex. He’s not stupid,” Ash argued. “The second you walk in there, he’s going to disarm you. Then we’ve got two hostages.”

Dex turned to his dad. “I don’t need to be armed to take him down. I can do this.”

Ash shook his head. “You can’t send in a rookie to take down Pearce. Best case scenario, he gets himself caught. Worst, he gets himself and Sloane killed.”

“I can do this,” Dex repeated adamantly, meeting his dad’s gaze. “You know I can.”

Tony leaned an elbow on the chair’s armrest, his gaze on Dex as he mulled it over. “Okay, you’re going in, but we’re going to be close by. Cael, I want you to set up a second line of communication and hide the signal. Keep the first line open to the rest of Unit Alpha’s Defense agents stationed on Tenth and Second. Hobbs, get us over there.”

The ride over took mere minutes, though it seemed like a lifetime to Dex. As soon as the BearCat pulled up to the Indoor Lumber Yard parking lot, Tony stood and put a hand to Dex’s shoulder. “You get yourself killed, and I will find a way to bring you back so I can kick your ass. You understand me?”

Dex swallowed hard and threw his arms around his dad, talking in his ear. “I’ll be careful.” Tony gave him a squeeze before releasing him.

“Get going.”

With good luck wishes from his team, Dex climbed out of the truck when Ash stepped in his way.

Seriously? They were going to do this now? The guy really needed to learn when to give it a rest. “What is it Ash? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

Ash loomed over him, his expression guarded and his face set in grim lines. He poked Dex in the vest. “You bring him back alive, Rookie. You got me?” His brows drew together, and he avoided Dex’s gaze. “And don’t get dead.”

Dex stood speechless. Was Ash actually worried about him? He opened his mouth but before he could utter a word, Ash stormed off, disappearing inside the BearCat. Shaking himself out of it, Dex ran through the parking lot onto a narrow road that ran along the back of Pearce’s workshop. Two lefts, and he was there. He tried to peek inside the front window, but besides all the grime, dirt, and rust, most of the window was boarded up on the inside. At least he knew Pearce was the only tenant in the building. Still, he was going in blind. His worst nightmare. Opening the front door, he held his rifle up with one hand as he made his way through the foyer when Pearce called out.

“In here.”