Blue Moon: Too Good to Be True (28 page)

“Yeah, I know. I spoke to her on our way in,” David said. “Sebastian, you know how my wife feels about Angel, if anything happens to him I don’t know if she’d ever get over it. So I brought the best with me so we can bring

him back safely. Fox has skills like no other agent I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you will be able to find use for him. We aren’t here to take it over, just help.”

“We appreciate all the help we can get. I’m going to go and check on Angel’s partner. My second-in-command will get you up to speed with all we have so far. We still have nineteen hours before the ransom call comes in.

Excuse me.” Bass left without waiting for their response.

Bass went in Angel’s office. His boy was still sitting next to his brother.

He gave Ryker a strong hug and filled him in with the latest update. Bass told him about Jazz’s husband and his partner coming from D.C. to provide federal police assistance.

It looked like Max might have had a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but he was still very pale. One of the waitresses was trying to get him to drink a little water, but Max didn’t look like he appreciated it. Ryker took the glass from the waitress and thrust it into Max’s hand.

“Drink it…now.” Ryker was back into his protective-brother role. Max put the bottle to his lips and took a few small sips, before placing his head in Ryker’s lap. Ryker stroked Max’s hair gently and stared out of Angel’s office window at the busy activity below.

Bass was unsure how he felt about it. He felt part pride and part jealousy, which was absurd of course. Bass was a Master Dom, he didn’t want his boy being the protective force for another, but Ryker’s brother would always come first to him…and that’s what Bass was slightly nervous of.
Stop worrying
over stupid shit and stay focused on what’s real y important.

“Who the fuck is that?” Ryker whispered, looking downstairs. There were seven men standing in the middle of the dance floor looking up at him.

Ryker’s eyes were on the man in the front. His hands were on his lean hips, his feet shoulder-width apart. He wore black cargo pants and a dark gray Tshirt tucked in tight. There was a pearl gun handle sticking out of the man’s shoulder holster. “Holy fuck, that’s a custom made Desert Eagle,” he whispered in awe.

Bass moved to the window to see what all the commotion was about. He watched Ryker’s reaction as he took in the man’s defined arms with thick veins running along his large biceps. Bass saw dark eyes lock in on Ryker’s

and heard him suck in a sharp breath. The man looked fucking hot, intense.

When he turned to speak with the man at his right, Bass noticed the long braid down his back.

“Dammit. That’s Angel’s father and his uncles. And fuck me, he brought them all.
The Beastmasters.
Well it was nice living here while it lasted.” Bass kissed Ryker’s forehead and left Angel’s office. Time to face the jury. Might as well not delay his fate. Bass had had several run-ins with Shot and his team before and after their tours in the Special Forces. Their meetings were always semi-pleasant at best. He’d put Bass through several tests to be sure that he was the right man to be head of security for Angel. Bass understood a concerned father would always want his one and only son protected from danger. However, Angel was a grown man and very competent. Most of all he was responsible for his own actions.

Meeting the other men of Shot’s team was about as pleasurable as meeting Shot. It was like all their personalities meshed together, and they were all just a little too extreme for Bass to stomach. They functioned so efficiently as a team it was like seven deadly venoms combined to make one lethal killing beast. Bass approached the menacing group and breathed a couple of even breaths before speaking.

“Shot, I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to—”

“Shut the fuck up, Bagatelli,” Angel’s dad cut him off mid-sentence and stepped into Bass’s personal space, his fierce gaze exactly like his son’s. His eyes never flinched. “You had one fucking job to do, and that was to protect my boy. Tell me where the fuck you were when an amateur gang of thugs jumped him and threw him in the back of a fucking van?”

Bass sucked in a deep breath and held it in, fighting not to curse back at his boss’s father. He understood that Angel’s dad was speaking out of worry more so than disrespect.

“DeLucca, I was inside the club in the process of assigning him a security detail. He went outside to have a private conversation with Max. He was only outside for a few minutes.” Bass spoke confidently and stared back into those serious eyes. No matter how anyone tried to twist it he knew he didn’t

do anything wrong. He was in charge of security but Angel should’ve told him about the threat he’d received way sooner than he did.

Hawk moved a little closer as he spoke to Bass. “Tell me, Bass. Were you in here getting your rocks off with your new boy up there while Angel was defending himself alone against ten men? He’s been well trained, but no man can beat those odds. We’re not gonna blame you, Sebastian, really we’re not, but once we get Angie back you better damn well believe you will be responsible then.”

Bass never liked Hawk. The guy was really annoying with his know-it-all demeanor. They’d just walked in the door, how the hell did he know how many men it was that attacked Angel, and especially how did he know about his sub?

“Are you really trying to figure out how I know these things, Bass?”

Hawk asked with a raised eyebrow. “Well for starters: we all know you are a Dom, your posture and leather cuffs scream that to whoever you meet. You didn’t have a sub when we saw you a few months ago stag at Angel’s party, so that would make your boy new and fun…right? I’m pretty sure your new plaything is the very fine specimen up in that window because hasn’t taken his eyes off you yet. He’s also fingering a very fine piece of jewelry around his neck, which I would say is safe to assume is your collar. No man would buy himself a piece of jewelry like that.

“As far as knowing it was at least ten men that took him, well I know that because that’s how many it would take to bring him down, minus a weapon.” Hawk stopped speaking, leaving Bass to take in what he’d just said as the handsome man moved on to survey the club. “I think I’ll have a look upstairs.” Mischief danced in Hawk’s eyes.

All Bass could do was bristle with anger. He didn’t want Hawk talking, touching, or looking anywhere near his boy.

He felt a hard slap on his shoulder. “I’m gonna go check on Max. Good to see you Bass.”

“Yeah you too, Toad.”

Bass nodded to the other Beastmasters that were looking around the club at the numerous uniformed officers. They were probably trying to figure out

how to bring down the city without causing too much attention. The two special agents approached from the left, boldly eyeing the men accompanying Angel’s father.

“So you’re Angel’s father. I’m Special Agent Fox, and this is my partner Special Agent Monroe, we are here unofficially as friends of Angel’s.”

“Angie doesn’t need any more goddamn friends right now, he needs proficient men that are ready to put a few thugs six feet deep in the ground.”

Angel’s dad sneered nastily at the tall Agent, not bothering to shake his hand.

“Shot, let’s hear them out. We are going to have to form an alliance or two to pull off what we’re getting ready to do.” Bass was glad Shade was there. He’d always been the voice of reason in their group, the one to shade over the heat, and the only one who could talk sense into Angel’s dad.

“You have a plan,” Agent Fox said, stepping in closer to Angel’s father as if he was about to listen to a secret. Bass knew it stubbed Shot when the hot Agent came into his personal space because he narrowed his eyes and looked the tall man up and down.

“I know all of you are Seals. I did quite a bit of research on my way here.

There’s a lot of classified shit regarding you and your men Mr. DeLucca, so my knowledge is limited, but I believe my associate and I could be of use to you,” Fox stated confidently, his massive chest jutting out a little more. “First thing I want to know is how’d you know Angel was taken if no one here claims to have notified the family?” Fox questioned.

“Call.” Angel’s dad looked to his left where Call always stood. Call simply nodded once in the affirmative and went back to his hand-held gadget. Shot set his mouth in a firm line, and began to speak in a controlled tone.

“Viper put a microchip implant inside of my son at my instruction when he was younger. Because of our jobs, sometimes families can be targeted in retaliation by our enemies. The transponder is encased in silicate glass and is located underneath the skin on his right shoulder. It can also act as a panic button to alert us if he’s in imminent danger. All he’d have to do is apply steady pressure to it to turn it on. Angel activated it two hours ago.”

Viper stepped forward holding a small electronic tablet. There was a red light beeping on it marking Angel’s specific location. There were also other

flashing lights and codes on the device that informed them of Angel’s heart rate, pulse, and other vital information.

“Well how very smart and paranoid of you Mr.—can I call you Shot?”

Fox questioned Angel’s father, his eyes never leaving his.

“My friends call me Shot, you Special Agent Fox can call me Mr.

DeLucca.” A tight expression crossed over the smooth agent’s face.

“All right men, lets cease fire and get on task here, we need to get Angel the hell out of there before the ransom call comes in. We know that he is alive and for the most part unharmed. His heart rate and pulse are fairly normal, but his stress levels are through the roof. We’re not sure what but something has him very upset,” Viper said.

Call looked at Viper and stuck his hand out. The sharp man handed him the GPS tablet and Call began to assign the men their duties. “Viper, I want you to start working on the surroundings of where Angel’s being held. Get full diagrams of any and everything within a twenty-mile radius of his location. I’ll need drawings printed up of the landscape. Also, detailed maps of all the roads, byways, highways, side streets, and alleys that intersect with his location. We’ll need complete schematic drawings of the local power companies, too. Lucky.” The small Irish man stepped forward. “After Viper gets you details on the surroundings of Angel’s location, I want you and Agent Monroe getting surveillance of the place. Stay at a safe distance for now. I need to know exactly how many men are watching Angie, how many men are on the perimeter, and how many men are assigned to other areas.”

Special Agent Monroe stopped Call in the middle of his delegations.

“Wait. How did you know my specialty was surveillance?”

Call gave the Agent a look that said “really,” as he resumed his assignments. “Hawk I want you to look over all the surveillance and tell me what you see. I want to know of every entry point and even potential entry points. You will pick your seeing nest once we are on location.” Call looked up briefly. Hawk was nowhere in sight. “Shot you’re on weapons detail. Were going in guns blazing, and I mean full fucking power. We’re gonna wreck shit like a seven-forty-seven, they won’t know what the fuck hit ’em. They think no one’s gonna move until after their ransom call, they’ll never expect the

ambush. The element of surprise will be our best weapon. When we get on location, Shot and Fox will take a perch up high and provide cover fire.”

Call turned to Agent Fox. “Fox, I know that you are considered the FBI’s most decorated marksmen, so I’m excited to see what you and Shot can do.”

He turned and looked in Bass’s direction. “Are you in Bass?”

“Of course.” Bass growled. He’d do everything in his power to bring his friend home. And getting Angel back greatly affected Max, and Max greatly affected his boy.

Call continued. “Bass. You, Shade, and Toad will be the groundsmen. We won’t know what type of shape Angie’s in. There may be a possibility he can’t walk or run out of there so we’ll need you both to cover Toad if he has to use brute strength to move him.”

“You got it, Call.” Toad was back in the group, standing in a typical military stance, his massive tattooed biceps on full display. Bass hadn’t heard him approach. For such a big guy he was awfully quiet.

Call turned toward Toad. “How’s Ace holding up?”

“We gotta get Angie back here fast,” Toad responded grimly. “He may be our Ace, but he doesn’t have a trick in him right now. With his brother by his side we got a little time, he seems to respond well to him. Ace’s brother seems like a pretty solid guy.” Toad looked at Bass and gave him a hard pat on his back, sending him forward a few steps. “Good pick, Bass. He’s a hottie too.” Toad winked at him.

Bass was barely able to restrain his rage. He didn’t like anyone looking or commenting on what was his. If they were in a BDSM club, Bass would’ve kicked Toad in his nuts for talking to his boy without his permission. Bass took steady breaths to calm himself.

A low whistle rang out in the air. “You better stay away from Bass’s boy, Toad, if you value your nuts,” Hawk called down from the second-level balcony. His eyes were trained on Bass. Bass flicked him off and turned back to the group.
Damn, I fucking hate that guy,
Bass thought…again.

A dry throat cleared loudly to their right, making Bass turn his attention from Call’s instructions.

“Good evening, gentlemen. Sorry to interrupt your little powwow. I don’t think I or my team have been properly introduced. I’m the lead detective assigned to the case. I’m Detective Richard and my partner Detective Jones, who has secondary jurisdiction, will be the negotiator on the case.”

Bass watched the lead detective pull out his wallet and boldly flash his gold badge with the word
Lieutenant
prominently displayed in black lettering for everyone to see.

“Well this should be entertaining,” Bass groaned quietly.

Bass knew that Angel’s father and his team had the highest level of national security clearance and were ten times above any law, and that neither Shot nor his squad cared for or gave a damn about local law enforcement.