Simon felt a bullet burn past his left shoulder and dropped to one knee, aiming where the bullet had come from. Breathing past the pain, he reacted on pure ingrained instinct. He popped two quick shots and managed to take out his attacker with a direct chest hit.
How many more?
He ran until he was behind the front of Jesse’s Jeep. The remaining attackers seemed to be huddled behind their SUV.
How many bodies had he counted? There had been four that came out of the SUV, but they must have come from somewhere else, too, since there had been a fifth man who tried to sneak around to take them out from the side.
The parking lot fell silent, only the sounds of Jesse and his attacker fighting. Simon looked over and Jesse had blood dripping from his mouth, but he managed to get the man off him. It looked like he spat a chunk of arm out. Simon was going to have to talk to him about that. Very unsanitary. Jesse punched out, catching the taller man on the jaw and putting him to the floor.
Simon laid out a line of suppressive fire just as one of the remaining men started to take a shot at Jesse’s back.
Return fire hit the Jeep and just inches away from Simon’s head. He had to pray they didn’t call in reinforcements. He was just about spent. His extra clip was in his go bag. What the hell was he going to do? He prayed Chelsea had run.
And then he saw him. Six foot five, with a square jaw that could have been cut from granite. Ian Taggart was dressed in black sweat pants and a black T-shirt, stalking his prey from behind. Simon couldn’t see him clearly, but there was no mistaking that jawline. He was wearing a ball cap that covered the majority of his face as he moved more silently than any big man should. He popped a quick round into the man who had tried to kill Jesse and then faded back behind the opposite wall.
A deep wave of relief sank into Simon’s system. The lads were here. If Ian was here then so were Jake and Li and Alex. Adam would be somewhere close, working his mojo to keep the police off them.
There was one last pop and then the lot fell utterly silent except for the sound of Jesse pounding on his victim. Simon took a look around and realized every single human who had tried to take them down was dead on the ground. Tag was going to have his ass, but he was glad for the save.
Now he just had to save Jesse from himself. He got to his feet. He needed to get control of his partner before Tag and the team came out. They were likely doing a sweep to make sure they were completely safe. If he could spare Jesse the rest of the team seeing him like this, he would. He also had no idea what Tag would do if he thought Jesse was threatening the rest of the team. It was up to him to fix this. He’d fucked up and gotten them into this situation in the first place. Jesse should be waking up next to Phoebe and worrying about breakfast, not fighting demons only he could see.
“Hey, partner, it’s time to come back to earth. Listen to the sound of my voice.” He kept his distance and didn’t holster his gun, but he wasn’t pointing it either. There had only been the one time he’d been almost certain he would have to put a bullet in Jesse. He never wanted to come that close again. “The rest of the team is here and we’re safe. Time isn’t on our side. Adam can only keep the police at bay for so long. We need to go.”
Jesse straddled the other, his fist moving in a rhythmic fashion, and he was speaking under his breath. The same words over and over again. Farsi. He was saying something in Farsi each time he planted his fist in the man’s face.
The dead man’s face. There was no way that bloke got off the cement again without the aid of a body bag. Jesse’s T-shirt was covered in blood.
“Come on, listen to this accent, brother. You know me, Jesse. It’s Simon and it’s time for you to stop. He’s dead. You did your job. Now come back to reality and we’ll collect Chelsea and get out of here.”
Jesse’s eyes came up as a man in dark pants and a black jacket stepped out from the hallway that led to the office.
“Stand down,” the man said. He was built like a brick shithouse and armed to the teeth. Where the hell had Tag gone? “Weston, I don’t want to hurt the kid, but I have my orders. I’ll put him down if I need to. Get him to back off now.”
Jesse got to his feet and turned on the new guy. Something was off. Something wasn’t right.
“Jesse? Jesse? Can you come back?” Chelsea stepped out from behind the wall.
“You’re supposed to be gone,” Simon hissed as the new guy got a good look at Chelsea.
He touched his earpiece and Simon heard him speaking. “Target acquired. Do I have a go?”
This guy was from a different fucking team. This man was military where the others had behaved like hired thugs. Simon looked around and spotted two snipers on the roof. Fucking hell.
A “go” likely meant to put down everyone but his target. Where the hell had Taggart gotten to and why hadn’t his team swooped in yet?
Simon held his position, praying no one was coming up on his back. He was fucked and hard if Tag didn’t show his bloody face. And he had to deal with the fact that Chelsea was walking toward the crazy killer. She stepped toward Jesse, who had stopped when he heard her voice.
“Chelsea, you can’t be close to him when he gets this way. Get behind me now. He will kill you. He’ll kill anyone who gets close to him.” Pain and nausea threatened to take him out. His arm was killing him, but he kept up a two-fisted hold on the handle. He just wasn’t sure who he would have to shoot, the new guy or Jesse.
She just kept walking. “No, he won’t. There was a woman with him in that prison. She was the only woman there, and I think he cared about her. He can hear that I’m female. Jesse, it’s Chelsea and you need to help me. I need you. Please, Jesse.”
Jesse looked back down at the body next to him and kicked it once and then again. He started speaking in Farsi again.
“He’s too far gone, ma’am. Please step back,” the new guy said. “I’m required to take you in and get rid of any impediments to doing so. Step back. I don’t want you in my line of fire.”
“Step back right now, Chelsea.” Simon took a step forward and Jesse growled his way.
Chelsea put the gun down and held her hands up. She ignored everyone except Jesse. “Jesse, I’m in danger. Please help me.” Her voice was softer than he’d ever heard it before. Was she crying? “Please. I don’t want them to kill you. Please, help me.”