Page 24 of Jack

Reid bent and cut the ties that kept Iago’s feet together, and the man scrambled to stand, putting space between them. The next second Iago did what Jack had expected and lunged for him. He let him get in a couple of hits, feeding off the pain, welcoming it even as he thumbed the blood from his lip and smiled.

Then he took Iago to the ground, kneeling on his arms as he used his body weight to pin the man down. His next punch was to the man’s jaw, and he heard the bone crunch as he wailed in pain.

“You’re gonna break my jaw.”

Reid stepped in and looked over Jack’s shoulder. “Nah, he’s gonna break both.”

Iago screamed and tried to get free, bucking his hips to knock Jack off, but he’d spent years in hand-to-hand combat, and nobody beat him. He made it his mission to lead by example and made sure he never expected anything from his men that he couldn’t do himself. It was why he spent extra time training with Sensei Dave on new techniques and perfecting the old so they were as natural as breathing now.

Jack kept going until the screaming stopped, and Iago had passed out. He sat back, his shirt soaked with blood and his knuckles raw from the power of the punches he’d rained down on the weak human being who only preyed on women, it seemed. Iago hadn’t even put up much of a fight, but Jack felt better knowing he’d wake up in agony.

He turned to Alex and Reid, who were leaning against the wall watching him. “You had enough?”

Jack stood. “For now.” He peered at the man at his feet. “Hang him back up.”

Jack walked away as Alex tipped his head at Reid. Jack headed upstairs, where there were two bedrooms with spare clothes and weapons. He tossed the ruined shirt and tux trousers in the bin and dressed in full tactical black, which was all that was available. He should shower, but he needed to get back, and he had two calls to make that couldn’t wait.

He sat at the desk and made the first call, smiling when the man picked up on the first ring.

“Wondered how long it would take before you called in the cavalry.”

Jack shook his head with a smile. “Cavalry my ass, Zack.”

“What do you need, Jack?”

“I have a situation.” He explained the basics of it, wanting Astrid to be able to share her story if she wanted.

“Shit, that just made things tricky with the tour.”

“Tell me about it. So, can you send me some backup?”

“Jack, Eidolon paid Fortis to be on retainer for the next eight weeks. We have nothing but time. I can have Jace and Zin there by morning, and the rest of us can meet you in Canada.”

Jack felt a wave of relief wash over him knowing he had back up he could trust, and there was nobody better than Fortis. “Thank you. Any news from Kanan on Frederick?”

“No, but he’s checking in with us regularly and thinks he has a lead. As soon as we have something more than smoke, we’ll let you know.”

Jack trusted Zack to do that and Kanan was an excellent spy, one of the best MI6 had ever had in fact.

“What about Will? You want him on this too?”

Jack gave it some thought, and while he did want his help, he didn’t need him there in person as his work was remote and Lopez could handle the stuff they needed on site. He also wanted someone watching his mother. There was a good chance his father would use his absence to try and reach out to his wife, and Jack wouldn’t allow his mother to be hurt any more than she already had been. “Yes, but he can stay there. I want someone to watch Mum, and he and Aubrey can do that.”

“Good idea. I’ll ask Lucy to help out with that. Maybe see if the oldies can get her to come and visit the estate and help out.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, she’ll like that. I’ll let her know.”

“See you in Canada, Jack.”

“Yeah, see you soon.”

His next call was to Roz who was almost halfway out the door to come to Astrid’s aide until he calmed her down. “Roz, wait. She told me what happened and about her sister. I won’t let anyone hurt her, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jack. Those motherfuckers almost killed her before. She was in a coma for three weeks and had months in rehab after what they did, and those are the scars we can see.”

“I know and believe me, they’ll all pay for what they did to her.” He heard the pause on the line and wondered if Roz had hung up on him. “Roz?”

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“No.” He had no intention of answering to Roz about his actions or plans.

“But you want to?”

“Astrid and I, and what we do, are none of your business, Roz.”

“Wrong answer, asshole. I’ll have one of my girls on a flight tonight to provide my employee and friend back up. If I find out you’ve stuck your dick where it shouldn’t be, I’ll snap it off and feed it to you.”

The line went dead, and while he felt the slightest irritation, he was thankful that Roz cared enough about Astrid to want to warn him off.