“What the fuck?”

  Oh shit. He was suddenly nauseous and dizzy.

  “You fucking shot me with a tranq gun?” Saint could hear his slurred words as the world around him spun. He aimed the gun in his hand, but suddenly multiple figures appeared before him. Had more men appeared, or was it his vision? Screw this. He fired and ran as best he could, forcing himself to push through the haze. It didn’t matter if he hit anything as he fired. He just needed a chance to get somewhere he could hide and maybe make a call.

  A few feet away was a small parking garage, and next to it was a small shop. Saint dove behind the large tree surrounded by bushes and greenery. He remained perfectly still, the gun resting against his leg. Fuck, whatever they shot him with was determined to knock him out.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” someone whispered hoarsely.

  “Shut the fuck up. You owe me. After what you did? I should have put a bullet in your fucking head.”

  “This has gone too far.”

  “Why the fuck didn’t he go down?” The man hissed at his friend.

  “I don’t know. The guy was a Navy SEAL. Adrian, you have to stop. Please. Let my family go. They had nothing to do with this.”

  So, whoever was working with the man—Adrian—wasn’t doing so willingly.

  “Shut up,” Adrian snapped.

  Saint was fading fast, but he couldn’t just sit here waiting for Adrian to find him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and, despite his blurred vision, managed to unlock it. Thank goodness for facial recognition. Somehow he managed to get to his setting and turn his location tracking on. Returning his phone to his pocket, he did his best to stay awake, but his body was heavy, and darkness crept into his vision.

  “There you are,” Adrian growled.

  Saint tried to lift his arm but couldn’t manage it in time. Adrian grabbed the gun from his friend and shot Saint again. Saint couldn’t fight it this time, and as he slipped into unconsciousness, his last thought was of Val and how much he loved him.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Please, pick up.”

  Val lost count of how many times he’d called Saint, but it went to voicemail. Regardless he kept doing it, each time hoping that would be the call Saint picked up. In his gut, he knew Saint was in trouble, but he refused to believe worse. The man he loved was fucking smart and resilient. He’d been through so much and survived. Val wasn’t going to lose him, not at the hands of that asshole.

  Adrian Floyde.

  Never in a million years would Val have thought one of his firefighters would go to such lengths to get rid of him. Adrian had never warmed up to him, but before Val had come out, he’d at least been respectful, taking orders and doing his job. Everything went to shit with him after Val came out, but he never would have thought the guy was capable of murder.

  What Adrian had done back then had been bad enough, but something must have happened to send him over the edge like this. Val’s phone, connected to the car’s Bluetooth, rang, and he hit the answer button.

  “Mason.”

  “Dammit, Serrano. I’ve been calling your ass for the last twenty minutes!”

  “Sorry, I’ve been trying to get a hold of Saint.”

  “I’m guessing you’ve had no luck?”

  “No. You know what’s going on?”

  “Ryden brought us up to speed. Me and the guys are almost there. Where are you?”

  “About to turn onto 16th Street.”

  “We’ll see you soon.”

  Val hung up, his stomach feeling like it was full of lead at the sight of the black smoke filling the sky, a glow coming from Saint’s apartment building. He turned on Atlantis Circle and into the parking lot. It was filled with flashing lights from the various first responder vehicles. It was all hands on deck as they tried to put the fire out, but it would take at least another hour or two for a three-story apartment building of this size.

  Quickly parking, Val jumped out of his SUV and cursed. Flames shot up into the night sky, and the entire top floor of the building was engulfed. Adrian had used an accelerant. There would be no saving the building. As he got closer, he saw a large group of people outside near the second apartment building, some talking to officers. They had to be the building’s residents.

  Police tape had been set up across the lot, keeping pedestrians and neighbors from getting any closer. Val moved through the crowd that had gathered, most likely from the apartment building across the lot, along with neighboring homes. He excused himself as he pushed through, looking for Saint. Damn it. Saint wasn’t there, but then he hadn’t expected him to be. When he reached the police officer near the tape, he was thankful he recognized the man.

  “Hey, Carter.”

  “Hey, Chief. Sorry, I mean, Val. Still getting used to that.”

  “I need to get through.”

  Carter worried his bottom lip. “I don’t know. You’re a civilian now. I don’t think the new chief would—”

  “Please, Carter. This is my boyfriend’s apartment building, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Shit.” Carter hesitated but lifted the tape, and Val thanked him as he ducked under it. He spotted his former lieutenant and ran over.

  “Martinez!”

  Martinez flipped his visor up, his frown deep. “Chi—I mean, Val. What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here. The building isn’t safe.”

  “This is my boyfriend’s apartment building. Talk to me. Please.”

  “We believe the fire was caused by an explosion in one of the apartments on the top floor. We have no idea if there are any more devices, but my guess is they would have gone off by now if there were. There was a second smaller explosion, but we don’t believe an incendiary device caused it. An accelerant was likely used from what the tenants described and how fast the fire spread.”

  Val ran a hand over his face. “Okay, um, my boyfriend. Have you seen him? He’s over six feet tall, brown hair, wearing a black T-shirt and gray cargo pants.”

  “I haven’t seen him, but the building was cleared before we arrived. One of the tenants said her neighbor helped everyone out. Former military?”

  “That’s him. Who did you speak to?”

  Martinez turned and pointed into the crowd. “The lady with the white hair and gray shawl.”

  “Thanks.” Val hurried over, stopping in front of the older woman. “Hi. I was told you saw Saint.”

  She blinked at him.

  “Santos?”

  “Oh, yes! Such a good boy. He helped everyone get out of the building.”

  Val had no doubt Saint had risked his life to get everyone to safety. He just hoped he’d managed to do the same for himself.

  “Are you Mrs. Alvarez?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “After Santos helped us, he moved us here, away from the building. He said it was not safe. Then he told us to wait for the police and left.”

  “Do you know where he went?”

  She pointed to the side of the burning building. There was a small pond and lots of greenery, shrubs, and trees. He could just about make out a white fence at the back.

  “Thank you.” He took off in the same direction Saint had gone in. If he’d run off and left his neighbors, it had to be because Adrian had been here. Had he stayed to admire his handy work? To make sure Saint had died? The bomb had most likely been placed in Saint’s apartment since it was on the third floor. Val had no idea how Saint knew or how he’d managed to get out when he did, but Val was extremely grateful.

  As much as Val knew Saint could handle himself, Adrian was dangerous and unpredictable. Who knew what else he had planned? He’d put so many lives in danger, and for what?

  When Val arrived at the fence, he frowned. Well, shit. He’d bet his tavern that Saint had jumped over. Val grabbed the top of the fence and one of the fence posts. He propped his foot on a horizontal slat and pulled himself up with a groan.

  “I’m too fucking old for this bullshit.”

  “Hey there, Chief. Need help?”

  Val blinked at Joker and Jack standing on the other side of the fence. What the…?

  “You know the fence ends over there, right?” Joker pointed to Val’s right, and from his position at the top, he could see that, sure enough, the damned fence stopped because of some trees.

  “Son of a bitch.” Val glared at Joker. “How long have you two assholes been standing there?” He finished climbing over the fence and jumped down, landing on the grass.

  “Long enough to hear you questioning your life choices,” Jack replied with a big grin.

  “Fuck you,” Val growled. “I’m not questioning my life choices, but I might be questioning my choice in friends.”

  The pair of mischief-makers laughed when a shadow sped out from the trees, scaring the shit out of Val. That made Joker laugh even harder.

  “Holy shit! You jumped so high I thought you were going to end up back on the other side of the fence.”

  “Can’t you put reflectors or something on your demon dog?” Val asked, a hand over his heart. “Fucking hell.”

  “If I did, then you’d see him coming.”

  Chip was practically invisible. With his all-black fur and dark eyes, he almost vanished in the shadows. He sat perfectly still, his gaze on Joker. It looked like Chip was in work mode because he was waiting for orders. With Chip here, their chances of finding Saint faster had vastly improved. Chip was a bomb-sniffing dog, and Val would guess that either Saint or Adrian reeked of smoke and chemicals.

  “Hey.”

  Val turned at the familiar drawl, glad to see Mason. He wasn’t surprised Ace and Lucky were with him; he was surprised to see King. But then, after what Adrian had done, he should have known. The guys were dressed in all black. Black T-shirts with black tactical pants and boots. If they were armed, their weapons were concealed.

  “What are we dealing with?” King asked, right to the point.

  “His name is Adrian Floyde, and he was one of my pipemen.”

  Jack shook his head. “That can’t be right. He was one of the guys I looked into. He moved into his mother’s house in South Carolina shortly after he was fired. He hasn’t left the state since. There’s a digital paper trail of him working at the local grocery store.”

  “Was there footage? Did you actually see him working at the store?” Mason asked.

  Jack frowned. “The town is so small, the only building that has any surveillance is the bank, and it’s nowhere near the grocery store. I checked his credit card statements and bank records. There were no charges made outside of his town.”

  “He could have paid cash,” Ace said. “That’s what I would do if I didn’t want someone keeping tabs on me.”

  “I thought of that, so I called the store, and the manager said Adrian was in the back stocking shelves. Son of a bitch lied to me.” Jack shook his head, frustrated.

  “Don’t beat yourself up. Adrian is smart. He’s either been planning this for a while or thinking about it.”

  “Who is he?” Mason asked.

  “He was behind the sexual assault charges several years ago. The big court case.”

  “I remember,” Mason pitched in. “It was before I made detective. The case was dismissed after another firefighter submitted evidence showing the whole thing had been a set-up.”

  “Yeah. Pete wasn’t a bad guy,” Val said. “He let his best friend rope him into that mess, convincing him it was for the good of the firehouse, but in the end, Pete couldn’t go through with it. The recording that was supposed to have incriminated me ended up showing the truth and getting the case dismissed.”

  “Recording?” Jack asked, confused.

  Val sighed. “Yeah, Adrian thought if he came onto me that I would incriminate myself, Pete would get it on film, and I’d get fired. When I didn’t take the bait, he accused me of sexually assaulting him. He pressed charges, convinced they’d take his word over mine. He’d thought the accusation alone would be enough to get me to step down, but I fought it, and Pete had a change of heart. The case was dismissed, the charges dropped, and Adrian got fired.”

  “Why?” Joker asked. “Wait, you said Adrian came onto you.”

  “He wasn’t gay. Just disgusted that I was.”

  Jack stared at him. “This guy did all that just to get rid of you because you were gay?”

  Joker threw an arm up. “The fuck? Unbelievable. If those assholes put in half as much effort into shit that matters, the world would be different.”

  “Given,” King growled. “But that’s a conversation for another day. Jack checked the cameras in the area. A couple of doorbell cameras caught a guy dressed in a black hoodie running and, shortly after, another guy who was clearly Saint. There were no signs of any cars leaving the neighborhood, so they’re likely still in the area.”

  Ace pointed to his left. “There are some businesses over there. That’s where I would start. If this guy is hiding somewhere, it won’t be in a residential neighborhood. None of these houses back here have fencing, so you can see straight into the backyards.”

  Val agreed. “The problem is, if he’s hiding, then Saint is in trouble because if Saint lost him, he’d have called.”

  “Let’s start looking,” King said. “Everyone, watch your sixes and keep in communication. Ace, you go with Lucky; you’ve got the hotel and surrounding businesses. Jack, you’re with Joker and Chip; you’ve got the resort and the buildings around that. Val, you’re with Mason. You take the inn and the buildings around it. If we don’t find anything, we’ll meet back here in an hour.”

  “What about you?” Val asked King.

  “I’m fine.”

  Val and Mason exchanged glances. Mason’s lips were pressed together in a thin line, but he didn’t respond.

  “Let’s go.” King took off and disappeared into the shadows.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Val asked the guys.

  “King?” Joker waved a hand. “Of course.”

  Ace sighed. “No, he means is King going to be okay if he finds Adrian first.”

  “Oh.” Joker wrinkled his nose. “That I don’t know. I suggest we find Adrian first.”

  They all agreed though Val’s priority was Saint. He’d leave Adrian to the rest of the guys. Everyone agreed to stay in communication and meet back in an hour if they didn’t find anything. With that, they split up in pairs as King ordered. Val joined Mason as they hurried off toward the small inn.

  The night was cool, with a slight breeze since they were near the beach. It was still early evening, so local restaurants and tourist shops were pretty busy. They needed to make sure they kept a low profile. The last thing they needed was to get arrested or for some asshat to take matters into their own hands because Welcome to Florida.

  “You okay to hop on over another fence?” Mason asked Val.

  “Sure, why not. That’s what health insurance is for.”

  Mason chuckled as they neared the fence between the hotel and the adjacent property.

  “We can cut through the parking lot of the seafood place to the inn. Otherwise, we’ll have to climb a bunch more fences because walking down A1A is out of the question.” He laced his fingers together to hoist Val up. As soon as he was on the other side, he reached up to help Mason, but the cowboy didn’t need help. He dropped down with ease and grinned at Val. “Just like on the ranch back home,” Mason drawled.

  “Of course it is,” Val said, amused.

  They hurried through the parking lot of the seafood place. It was a weekday, so it wasn’t too busy. They walked through the lot casually, like they were taking a stroll, and keeping their faces turned away in case the restaurant had security cameras. When they reached the lot of the inn, they used the trees and the shadows to hide themselves as they made their way toward the back of the lot.

  “You think he has Saint in a motel room?’ Mason asked as they stopped across from the inn.

  Val hated the thought of Adrian having Saint at all. But if he did, what was he doing with him? The only reason he would keep Saint would be to use him against Val, but he’d yet to receive any word from Adrian.

  “I highly doubt it. It would mean getting caught on camera, and even if he got inside through the back, there’s no way Saint would have gone along quietly. My bet is he’s in one of the closed businesses. No witnesses, no one to get in the way.”

  “Okay, but which one?”

  That was the million-dollar question. Seeing as no one had yet to call, Val would guess none of the others had found anything. They kept to the shadows, listening for any indication that either Adrian or Saint might be nearby. There were over a dozen cars parked in the lot of the inn.

  “Don’t worry,” Mason assured him. “If anyone can find him, it’s us and the guys.”

  Val just hoped Saint was alive and well when they found him.

  They swiftly headed for the end of the lot and were about to jump the fence when Val heard something. He threw a hand out to stop Mason.

  “Did you hear that?”

  Mason stilled and listened. “Did that…did that sound like glass breaking?”

  “Sounded like someone using something to break glass, like a shirt or something.”

  “They’re breaking into a building,” Mason said. “Shit, but which one?”

  There were several small structures around them, businesses that looked like houses.

  “It came from somewhere that way,” Val said, motioning to their left and the general vicinity. “What have we got over there?”

  Mason climbed partway up the fence and peeked over. “Looks like some storage units and a few other small buildings. I can’t see what’s over to the right.”

  “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  They climbed over the fence, landing behind one of the self-storage structures across from what looked like a house and, most likely, the main office area for the self-storage place. The two units behind them had closed doors secured with locks.