come for and joined in Jack’s hunt, no questions asked.
Jack wrapped fingers in his hair and yanked until his eyes watered. The effortless fluency with which he and Gareth worked together after all these years should amaze him or at the very least comfort him. It did neither. Instead it left him downright irritated.
He’d worked so hard to stand on his own feet after he left the army that interacting with Gareth as if they’d never been apart upset his equilibrium.
As did the fact that Gareth had watched him screw up.
Again.
Jack wasn’t proud about losing his temper mid-op, though he was honest enough to admit that it had felt damn good to let rip. He might have gone one better if his opponent had been the guard with the wandering hands. But maybe then the repercussions for his actions would be impossible to avoid.
“Thanks for going after the two boys,” Jack said, voice gruff. “At least one of us didn’t screw up.”
“I couldn’t let you mash that idiot into the road,” Gareth answered as if he’d spent the last ten minutes listening to Jack’s thoughts rather than the car’s engine.
“S’pose not,” Jack mumbled, turning his face to hide his sudden flush. “I bet you’d have done the same had you been in my shoes.”
“Sure. But I was in a hurry, so the other bouncer got off with a broken jaw and a sore head.”
Jack’s head snapped around, and he gaped while his mind played catch-up.
“That kid really got to you, didn’t he?”
Gareth’s voice was soft and laced with concern. It loosened the tight knot in Jack’s chest and sent a wave of warmth through him. Gareth didn’t just understand his need for violence; he also remembered Jack’s need to analyze the events to see what he’d missed. Jack leaned against the headrest and exhaled slowly.
“I should have rushed him to the ambulance.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because he asked to walk.”
“You could have ignored that.”
“After what he’d been through?”
“Right. So how did you screw up if you did exactly what Ricky needed?”
“Because he needed an ambulance more!” Jack couldn’t keep the frustration from his voice. He remembered similar discussions—Gareth providing the voice of reason until Jack’s mind accepted what was—and marveled at how well Gareth still knew him, even after all this time. The thought scared him… and comforted like a warm blanket, or the smell of baking bread.
“You can’t know that,” Gareth replied calmly, and Jack finally believed him, clung to the words as if they were a lifeline. “All you know is that Ricky asked you to let him walk. You could have ignored what he wanted—just like everyone else—and he still might have died. You based your decision on Ricky’s choices and needs—and that’s not wrong.”
Silence reigned in the car for a time. Jack watched streetlights twinkle on dark water while they crossed the river. He counted the seconds between oncoming cars, then switched to counting cars parked illegally on the pavement and calculated an accumulating total of parking fines. His breathing slowed and deepened, and the pain in the back of his head eased to a mere memory.
“Now let it go, and tell me something else,” Gareth ordered in the calm, deep tone that could carry through mortar fire.
“What do you want to know?”
“Why this particular crusade?”
Jack wondered how to phrase his answer. The words he’d said to Ricky came back to him, and he spoke them aloud before he could filter. “Been there. Got out. Returning the favor.”
“I thought so,” Gareth said after another long silence. Jack frowned. He’d never told the whole story to anyone. A few people knew snatches. Rio Palmer, the dreadlocked hacker who had offered him a home when Jack had had nowhere to go, might know more than most, but even while living with Rio, Jack had kept the details well under wraps. The sudden urge to confide in Gareth made him squirm in his seat, and he
Jack wrapped fingers in his hair and yanked until his eyes watered. The effortless fluency with which he and Gareth worked together after all these years should amaze him or at the very least comfort him. It did neither. Instead it left him downright irritated.
He’d worked so hard to stand on his own feet after he left the army that interacting with Gareth as if they’d never been apart upset his equilibrium.
As did the fact that Gareth had watched him screw up.
Again.
Jack wasn’t proud about losing his temper mid-op, though he was honest enough to admit that it had felt damn good to let rip. He might have gone one better if his opponent had been the guard with the wandering hands. But maybe then the repercussions for his actions would be impossible to avoid.
“Thanks for going after the two boys,” Jack said, voice gruff. “At least one of us didn’t screw up.”
“I couldn’t let you mash that idiot into the road,” Gareth answered as if he’d spent the last ten minutes listening to Jack’s thoughts rather than the car’s engine.
“S’pose not,” Jack mumbled, turning his face to hide his sudden flush. “I bet you’d have done the same had you been in my shoes.”
“Sure. But I was in a hurry, so the other bouncer got off with a broken jaw and a sore head.”
Jack’s head snapped around, and he gaped while his mind played catch-up.
“That kid really got to you, didn’t he?”
Gareth’s voice was soft and laced with concern. It loosened the tight knot in Jack’s chest and sent a wave of warmth through him. Gareth didn’t just understand his need for violence; he also remembered Jack’s need to analyze the events to see what he’d missed. Jack leaned against the headrest and exhaled slowly.
“I should have rushed him to the ambulance.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because he asked to walk.”
“You could have ignored that.”
“After what he’d been through?”
“Right. So how did you screw up if you did exactly what Ricky needed?”
“Because he needed an ambulance more!” Jack couldn’t keep the frustration from his voice. He remembered similar discussions—Gareth providing the voice of reason until Jack’s mind accepted what was—and marveled at how well Gareth still knew him, even after all this time. The thought scared him… and comforted like a warm blanket, or the smell of baking bread.
“You can’t know that,” Gareth replied calmly, and Jack finally believed him, clung to the words as if they were a lifeline. “All you know is that Ricky asked you to let him walk. You could have ignored what he wanted—just like everyone else—and he still might have died. You based your decision on Ricky’s choices and needs—and that’s not wrong.”
Silence reigned in the car for a time. Jack watched streetlights twinkle on dark water while they crossed the river. He counted the seconds between oncoming cars, then switched to counting cars parked illegally on the pavement and calculated an accumulating total of parking fines. His breathing slowed and deepened, and the pain in the back of his head eased to a mere memory.
“Now let it go, and tell me something else,” Gareth ordered in the calm, deep tone that could carry through mortar fire.
“What do you want to know?”
“Why this particular crusade?”
Jack wondered how to phrase his answer. The words he’d said to Ricky came back to him, and he spoke them aloud before he could filter. “Been there. Got out. Returning the favor.”
“I thought so,” Gareth said after another long silence. Jack frowned. He’d never told the whole story to anyone. A few people knew snatches. Rio Palmer, the dreadlocked hacker who had offered him a home when Jack had had nowhere to go, might know more than most, but even while living with Rio, Jack had kept the details well under wraps. The sudden urge to confide in Gareth made him squirm in his seat, and he
Similar Books
