Page 77 of Dirty Justice

“I’m going in, goddammit.”

“Wait for a team.”

His lip curled. “That’s you, dumbass!”

“I mean rescue teams. We’re not cut out for this—”

Apollo braced a hand on Sparrow’s chest and shoved him back. “I’m going in. If I don’t radio every three minutes, something went wrong.”

Several other members of Blackout ran up, getting in his face and trying to stop him.

“Goddammit, any one of you would go in after the person you love!”

Lena gripped his arm. He saw the pain etched on her face. She removed the comms device from her ear and shoved it into his hand.

He stuffed it into his own ear, twisted away and threw himself into the wreckage.

The entrance was skewed sideways under the weight of a collapsed building. He’d never encountered something like this before, and he’d seen a lot of disasters. Would he even be able to reach Indika’s floor to find her?

The outside of the building looked like boxes kicked over by a giant, toppled one on top of each other. It would be difficult, and he would find a lot of victims he wouldn’t be able to save. But he had no choice but to try to find the woman he loved.

He rushed inside. Swinging his head right and left, he assessed his surroundings. None of it looked the same as it had when he walked out an hour before. The elevators would be off-limits. The stairs might not be safe, but what other choice did he have?

He ran forward. Victims limped past him. Two men carried a woman between them. His heart flexed seeing the pain these people had endured and would continue to. Events like this devastated physically and emotionally. Those nightmares he experienced had been put on hold when he began sharing a bed with Indika again. Now he didn’t know if anything could keep them at bay.

Painstakingly, he took a flight of stairs, testing every step for solidity. When he reached the top and saw the next staircase was more broken than the first, he took them even faster.

Shouted orders sounded in his ear, ripping him out of his own head and into Blackout’s.

A sniper was on one of the nearby buildings taking potshots at them. The team was sent in all directions to scramble into the best position to take him out fast while rescue units were on the ground getting people to safety and seeing to the injured.

Those bastards had bombed the building because of what he’d done. His blood boiled with revenge. He’d see justice served even if he had to fight dirtier. If he had to invade every corner of every underworld to hunt those motherfuckers down, he would do it.

And this time, he’d take Indika along with him just to be sure she was safe.

His brain clouded with black fury, and he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him as he made his way up another flight. Where was she? God, he couldn’t make out where her floor even was.

Frost’s voice filled his head. “I got Amaya! In my sights. Taking the shot.”

The crack of gunfire was followed by a grunt of victory.

No cheering. No high-fives all around. Just the knowledge that one less terrorist would darken the world.

He took a step forward, then another. Something slammed into his jaw. He reared back and focused on the man standing in front of him, wobbling from the effort it took to sucker punch him.

Apollo narrowed his gaze on the pair of eyes he’d recognize even if he saw them in the fiery pits of hell. After all, he’d spent countless hours staring at them while he edited the video.

“Raheem.” His low rasp was lost in crashes as more of the building collapsed.

Why was the son of a bitch here? Then it hit him—his plan reallyhadworked. Amaya lured him here and set off the bomb. But Raheem was still alive, and that meant Indika might be too.

Even though everything inside him urged him to find her, he couldn’t let this asshole walk. He reached for his weapon.

A click sounded as Raheem pulled his first. “Put it down!” he demanded in his native language.

“You first!” Apollo responded in kind.

“Apollo, it’s been three minutes. Check in!” one of Blackout demanded.