And maybe Ace himself. Though Ace had started to lose hope on that front.
“That’s it. Enough, Jordan. I’m going. You can give me more specific directions on the way, but I refuse to sit on my hands while someone is laying theirs on her. Fuck this.” Liam shifted his blistering gaze to Ace. “You with me?”
“Always.” Ace hopped up and matched Liam’s stride as they snatched the comms James tossed to them out of midair. He wouldn’t have cared if Jordan ordered them to sit this time, nor would he have given a fuck if he’d been fired for going after the woman he was in hardcore lust with. But this time their boss didn’t object.
“Bring her home.” Jordan nodded to them. “Take Tavish and Legend since the four of you fit so well in James’s car. What it lacks in discretion it makes up for in speed and tactical modifications I hadn’t fully appreciated until today. We’re going to need to talk to the Hot Rods guys after this is over. Sola, Aarav, Marcus, Knox, and Kennedy will follow in one of our unmarked vehicles as backup. Nolan, Ransom, and Levi will take an alternate route in case you all hit another roadblock.”
Tavish groaned but didn’t argue. It would probably be funny later that they’d gotten stuck in the spinach can. But for now, the entire team focused on one thing, rescuing Ruby before those fuckers could harm another one of the beautiful hairs on her head.
At the last second, Ace swerved and dashed to Ruby’s station to grab her holographic unicorn stuffie. He had a feeling she was going to appreciate having it to cling towhenthey found her. He wouldn’t blame her if she never trusted him to hold her and stave off her fear again.
If he’d had time, he’d have dashed upstairs and grabbed her poop emoji pillow instead. After all, the situation had turned into one hell of a shit show.
In the car, they tapped into both the headset audio stream and the video feed from Shields, which played on the dash display. As much as Ace wished he didn’t have to witness Ruby’s torture, he couldn’t peel his eyes away from her.
“You’re going to get on that computer now?” the man in the mask asked as he pointed at a mismatched system, cobbled together from equipment nowhere near as impressive, sleek or organized as Ruby’s own workstation. Nor as colorful without her rainbow gradient mechanical gaming keyboard. She loved that damn thing,
When the other asshole who’d taken her from them pulled out his gun, Ace shuddered. Liam revved the engine and tore out of their parking lot, heading toward campus on the fastest possible route, avoiding downtown and congestion and definitely trains.
Ruby wasn’t a fool. With a weapon aimed at her, she raised her hands. “Fine. Fucking whatever. You want me to work on this piece of shit? I will. But don’t expect miracles.”
The truth was, their resident genius already had the solution to the puzzle they’d laid out for her. Ace didn’t believe for a second she was going to reveal it to the bastards holding her, though.
Still, she made a great show of tapping around on the keyboard while one of the dweebs breathed down her neck and Liam raced toward her, eliminating the miles between them one by one. They’d be there in less than fifteen minutes, ten if Liam kept smashing the speed limit like he was.
“We’re coming, Ruby. I hope you know that we’d never let them have you without a fight.” Ace wished she had her own headset so she could hear his reassurances. But if she did, he’d already have been begging for forgiveness and promising he wasn’t ever going to take a risk with her again. Not on the job, and not in their love lives.
If Ace had to end whatever the hell messy situation he had with Liam in order to move forward with her, he would do it. She wasn’t playing mind games. She’d been honest about her attraction and receptive to not only his passion, but also his affection.
“Quit fucking glaring at me,” Liam rumbled. “That didn’t do us any good earlier. We need to be partners. United. For Ruby.”
“Only for her.” Ace swung his gaze back to the video. She was a true hero. Standing her ground against the evil fucks who had her, refusing to cave. Not for money or to save herself.
He felt himself fall a little harder for her in that moment.
He hadn’t even really had time to process everything he’d learned in the past few days. Ruby didn’t need their paycheck. She took potshots at bad guys when she could have been lying on a beach in front of her dream home instead. And now she was in the thick of it. Still causing havoc in her quiet, determined, ultra-intelligent way.
Not only was she screwing around pretending to fix the virus code, she must have been using her time at that computer wisely. They’d been fools to hand Ruby her weapon of choice.
It didn’t take too long before Ace figured out what exactly she was doing since it obviously wasn’t helping out the bad guys. She wasn’t typing a love letter or her shopping list.
“Guys. Hurry.” JRad’s voice held cautious excitement. “She’s doing it. I told you. Ruby’s saving her fucking self.”
“What do you mean?” Liam barked.
“She’s sending me an encoded address. One.” Pause. “One.” Pause. “Three.” Pause. “R…e…d….r…i…
“Redridge!” James shouted. “I’m looking at a picture of a lecture hall at 113 Redridge Avenue. It looks as boring and dead inside as that architectural shithole. On a Sunday during break it will be deserted.”
Liam didn’t hesitate—he floored the boogermobile, which had far more oomph than it should. Their acceleration plastered Ace to the custom leather bucket seat. What the hell had the Hot Rods done to the thing?
They rocketed toward the coordinates that popped onto the onboard display. A 3D model of the building’s blueprint appeared after it, temporarily obscuring Ruby from Ace’s sight. He studied it, memorizing every detail he could. He might not have been Ruby’s level of smart, but he had warrior skills.
“Another present from Ruby?” Jordan asked as the same diagram was likely broadcast on the command center screen and in the other two vehicles in pursuit, which couldn’t quite keep up with James’s supercar.
“Yeah.” JRad confirmed before snorting as a circle appeared in the basement followed by a few slightly shaky lines.
Ruby drew a pink stick figure in the basement, as Ace had suspected, on the south side of the building with a cartoon speech bubble that contained the wordHELP!
“Tell her we’re coming,” Ace begged JRad.
“Too risky to send a response the people over her shoulder could spot.” He grunted. “Don’t worry. She knows.Everyoneknows the two of you would be hot on her tail no matter where in the world these bastards had taken her. Now don’t fuck it up.”
Shame sat heavy in Ace’s gut. He deserved that. And he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. This time, he was going to focus on protecting her, even if that meant from himself.