Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(3)

“No idea.”

Something about Jax’s quick answer made Owen question everything about him. If Jax weren’t in as bad a shape as Owen, it would have been easy to believe his old friend was in with the Omnis. Owen also found it hard to believe that Edwards didn’t know where his funding came from. Sure, it was funneled through a couple of dummy corporations, but not so deeply hidden that a patient and persistent investigator couldn’t figure out Jax’s dad and Val were his partners—especially an investigator with deep Omni pockets and plenty of time.

At Owen’s continued stare, Jax’s eyes narrowed. “You think I had something to do with it? Like I like getting pulverized?”

Owen sighed. Fuck. Edwards was sneaky as hell. The Omnis probably had someone watching Winchester’s, since it was a popular hangout with Owen’s crew. They were likely tracked leaving the bar that night.

“You hear that?” Jax asked.

Owen tried, but couldn’t hear anything. “No. My ears are still ringing.”

“It’s a highway. Or at least a paved road.”

“Where?”

Jax listened for a minute then pointed in the direction they were headed. “Let’s stay headed west.”

They got back into the SUV. Owen didn’t press Jax for answers. He needed to rehydrate, sleep, and eat something before anything Jax said would make sense. They found the road Jax had heard. It wasn’t a highway, just a two-lane country road. But there was heavy truck traffic, which made Owen fairly certain at one end or the other they’d hit a gas station. Eventually, they pulled into a little town that didn’t have a single traffic light but did have a gas station.

Owen used Jax’s cash to get them some food and water while he filled up. The girl behind the counter stared at him in horror.

“You want me to call an ambulance, mister?” she asked.

“No.” He managed a laugh. “My buddy and I were off-roading at a friend’s place. Guess helmets shouldn’t have been optional.”

An older lady joined the convo, eyeing Owen like he was trouble. “Little old to be learning that, doncha think?”

Owen laughed again as he set the money on the counter. “Was a helluva weekend.”

“It’s Thursday.” The clerk punched in his purchase and gave him change.

Fucking Thursday. They’d been questioned for four days. He took his case of water and sandwiches and returned to the SUV.

“It’s Thursday,” he said to Jax as he handed him a water bottle.

“Yeah, I saw the date on the pump.” They guzzled down a bottle each, then took a couple more before heading back down the road. This time, Jax was driving. He turned south out of town.

“Where are we going?” Owen asked.

“I know where we are now. I got a place we can lay low for a bit.”

“I don’t want to lay low. I want to see Addy.”

“In time.”

“No. Now.”

“You go see her like you are right now, you’ll scare the shit out of her. She’s safe, but we aren’t. I need to dump this vehicle, get a phone, and sleep for about a week.”

“A night. Not a week. We’ve already lost four days.”

“I’ll take it.”

Owen dozed off. The day was well into the afternoon when he woke again. They made another pit stop, then ate the sandwiches he’d bought at the last gas station.

“So where are we headed?” Owen asked when they got back in the SUV.

“I have a place an hour west of Denver.”

“What’s your status with the Red Team?” Owen asked.

“I’m on a special assignment for the senator.”

“You were Ace’s handler.”

Jax nodded.

“You gave her Adelaide’s picture.”

Jax neither confirmed nor denied that statement.

“What happened to the boys Ace recovered? The watcher groups.”

“I’ll show you soon.”

“Why did you direct Ace to find them?”

“Because King was using them as his private lab rats. I had to get them away from him. That’s why I got Lion’s group vaccinated. And it’s why the Friends kids and others from his various cults were targeted with the smallpox; King had no one else to test it on.”

Owen’s eyes narrowed. Jax had sent Ace to Wolf Creek Bend well after he’d already found Lion’s pride himself. He’d had them inoculated at least a month before she got there. “You already knew about Lion before Ace got to town. You didn’t send her there because of the watchers.”

Jax looked Owen in the eye. “So I passed one of my operatives off to you. What of it?”

“Why?”

“You were close to finding the tunnels. She needed justice. It was all coming to a head.” Jax shrugged. “It was time.”

Owen doubted that line of reasoning, but let it go for now. “Is it true that I have a son?”

“It’s true.”

“Where is he?”

“He was with Lion’s watchers. I don’t know where he is now—I don’t know where Lion’s pride is now. They were moved before I could get them out.”

“What’s his name in the pride?”