“Let me try this,” Andrei said.
Sven turned his head to see Andrei tap the phone in the holder attached to the main console. “Call Jude,” he said firmly. A moment later, the SUV was filled with the sound of a ringing phone.
Some of the tension trying to strangle Sven started to ease when the paramedic’s friendly voice came from the phone. He’d met Jude Torres and his boyfriend, Snow, on several occasions since he’d started working at Ward Security. Both were great men, and incredibly skilled at their jobs.
“Hey, Andrei! Hollis called earlier and said that you had to go into work tonight. We can all get together next week for drinks.”
“You still off tonight?” Andrei asked.
“Yeah, I’m off.”
“Snow?”
“He just got home. What’s going on?” Even over the phone, Sven could hear the man’s voice hardening, changing to a no-nonsense tone that indicated that he was ready to jump into whatever situation that Andrei was about to drop on them.
“Get him and have him pull up Facebook on his phone.”
There was a long minute where they could hear Jude’s quick footsteps on hardwood floors and his voice raised as he shouted for Snow. Sven winced when Jude’s phone was switched over to speaker so that both Jude and Snow’s voice came in loud and clear.
“What’s going on, Andrei?” Snow demanded. “Why am I bothering with Facebook?”
“Geoffrey was kidnapped this evening. The fucker is livestreaming him right now.”
Snow swore loudly, his voice drifting low and then louder as if he paced away from Jude’s phone and then back again. “Where do you need us?”
“On standby. Sven, Royce, Dominic, and I are heading to him now.”
“Can you look at the video?” Sven broke in. “He was shot about six hours ago with a tranquilizer dart. I don’t know what kind of tranq or the dose. Can you tell if he’s okay?”
There was a long pause and Sven just wanted to curl up into a ball in his chair. He knew it was a long shot. There wouldn’t be much that the paramedic and surgeon would be able to tell over the video, but he needed to know that Geoffrey wasn’t dying because of that fucking dart.
“His breathing is good, Sven,” Snow said. “It’s deep and even. That’s a very good sign. If six hours have passed since he was initially drugged, then it’s likely that most of it has passed through his system.”
“Thank you,” Sven said in a low, choked voice. Relief coursed through him so hard that it left his hands shaking.
“There’s not much I can tell with just this video,” Snow hedged. “But if you want, I’ll be waiting at UC hospital. I’ll personally check him over as soon as you get him free.”
A part of him didn’t want Dr. Ashton Frost anywhere near Geoffrey, considering the man had had such a huge crush on the surgeon at one time. But Geoffrey cared for him, Sven knew it. And Snow would be one of the few people that Geoffrey would trust after this ordeal.
“Yes, thank you,” Sven murmured.
“You need backup, Andrei?” Snow demanded and Sven was momentarily surprised that the surgeon was offering, until he remembered that Snow had served in the Army with Rowe. He’d also appeared a couple of times a month at Ward Security for some sparring with Rowe. The doc definitely had skills.
“No, we’re covered.”
There was a low, almost wicked chuckle that passed through the SUV before Snow spoke again. “Does Lucas know what you’re up to?”
Andrei snarled something that was definitely not in English. “Give me twenty fucking minutes before you call him.”
Jude snorted. “That would be a big no.”
“How far are you from the drop point?” Snow said.
“About ten minutes.”
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes.”
“Fine. While you’re at it, tell Lucas to wake Sarah.”
Snow’s loud snort filled the car before Andrei could end the call.
“Who’s Sarah?” Sven asked a couple of seconds later.
“Sarah Carlton, Lucas’s lawyer.” Andrei slowed the SUV to nearly a crawl as he turned onto a narrow road. The headlights splashed across a crooked street sign that read, Steep Creek Road. “I have a feeling that one or more of us is going to jail tonight.”
Sven tried twice to say thank you as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. Andrei was likely right. When they realized that Geoffrey had been kidnapped, they should have handed everything over to the cops to handle, but they hadn’t and every man rushing to this little farmhouse in the middle of nowhere knew it. Even if no one got hurt, they were probably looking at jail time for obstruction or something.
But they didn’t care.
Sven would have gone alone to save Geoffrey.
Andrei, Royce, and Dominic were there to save Geoffrey and protect Sven.
“Is Rowe going to be pissed?”
Andrei chuckled as he pulled the SUV off to the side of the road and killed the engine. “Only that he missed out on all the fun.”