Steel 7 (Multiple Love)

My phone begins to vibrate in my hand, and Mo's name flashes across the screen. "He's here. Look for the sign for Departure Gate, and you'll spot him."

Already breaking into a jog, I search frantically for the sign Mo referred to. "Is he going through?"

"No," Mo says. "He's sitting with his luggage. Waiting like we thought he'd be."

"Stay back," I say. "Don't let him see you."

"I'm watching from a safe distance," Mo says. "I know I wasn't a soldier like the rest of you guys, but I'm not an idiot."

"I can see you. Call Hudson," I say.

Mo begins to tap away on his phone as I jog around a large family, all dragging extra huge suitcases. I catch the tail end of Mo telling Hudson where Marcus is, and I'm already scanning to find him among all the tourists.

"Can you see him?" Mo says, his arm pointing further than the bank of chairs I'm looking at. When I raise my line of sight, I spot him immediately.

"Fucker," I mutter under my breath, and Mo places a hand on my arm as I go to stride forward.

"Just remember the point of this is getting Marcus out of this airport."

"I know," I say. "I just really want to kick the shit out of him before we hand him over. We're not going to get another chance."

"The man is disturbed," Mo says. "I know you're angry because I am too. I hate what he's done to our girl, but there is obviously something very mentally wrong with him. No sane man goes around stealing and slashing up people's underwear or lacing their water with chemicals."

Hearing Mo's point isn't easy. I'm raging, wanting to tear this man's arms off for scaring Luna and separate his head from his body for hurting her. But that isn't going to help anything. Getting him off the streets is what we need to do.

"I've called Connor to tell him we've found him," Hudson says as he comes to a standstill to the right of Mo. "He said there's a warrant out for Marcus’s arrest. We need to find a cop and notify them."

"No way. I want the pleasure of dealing with this asshole myself."

"And what are we going to do? Call a fucking Uber to deliver him to the police station?"

"Look, there's some armed police over there." Mo points to where two armed officers are patrolling, their huge weapons in their hand but pointed safely at the ground. "Asher, you go. If they see me running toward them, I'm likely to get a bullet through my head. Hudson, let’s go and grab Marcus. I’m ready to get my arm around this asshole’s neck and squeeze until his eyes bulge."

“I’m ready to make him squeal like a pig, but we need to act with reasonable force.”

I'm off before they can say anything else, jogging toward the cops, my eyes on Marcus in case he makes a move.

"Officer," I say.

Both cops pause and turn, their hands gripping their weapons. "There is a man in this terminal who has a warrant out for his arrest. He's over there." I point to Marcus, who's currently rooting around in his bag for something, completely unaware of what's going on. "He's responsible for stalking the singer, Luna Evans. I'm one of her bodyguards. I've come here to prevent him from getting on a plane and escaping justice.” I hold out my ID card for Steel 7 Security.

"What's his name?" the cop nearest me asks, eyeing me suspiciously. I don't blame him. I'm not dressed like a security guard. My clothes are crumpled from lying scrunched on Luna's carpet. My hair hasn't been brushed, and I have more than a little stubble on my cheeks.

"Marcus Johnson."

The cop begins to speak on his radio, asking for verification of the warrant. When it comes through, he nods at me. "Stay back," he says. "I'm going to call for backup." As the cop radios his colleagues, Marcus begins to glance around. Hudson and Mo have been careful, though. They remain out of sight until they’re on top of him, Hudson grabbing him in a headlock that squashes his throat so hard that his attempt to scream ends up a pathetic wheeze.

"My team have got him," I say, just as backup arrives. From then, things move fast. Hudson hauls Marcus toward the cops, getting a few hard digs into his ribs as on the way. Mo’s there too, kicking Marcus sharply in the knee when he struggles by flailing his legs.

The cops have Marcus in handcuffs so quickly, confirming his identity with his passport that Mo hands over.

The satisfaction is immense, particularly because Marcus’ pathetic attempts at struggle disappear at the sight of so many cops in bulletproof vests holding riffles. Not such a big man now.

Connor and Jax make it just in time to see Marcus being led away to a waiting car. When we're reunited, there is back-slapping and bro hugs as we deal with the relief that it's all over and Luna is safe.