Hector shook his head frantic. “I don’t know where she is…” he kept repeating what he said in Spanish and Josh, Spanish being one language he knew fluently, waited until he was done before he asked another question.
“Tell me then what you were supposed to do once they grabbed her. Were you the getaway driver?” he asked in Spanish.
Hector nodded…
“Okay, and where were you supposed to take them after they got into the van?” Josh asked him, still speaking in Hector’s native tongue.
Hector started whimpering again, and Josh, losing patience, went for the blowtorch. Hector’s eyes went wide.
Josh yelled in English, “You think I’m fucking playing with you?!”
Josh flipped the chair and watched Hector go down, leaving his feet in the air. He removed the man’s shoes and socks in one swift movement and turned on the torch.
“You’re going to tell me everything I fucking want to know. I don’t care how trivial it is. You’re going to talk.”
Josh moved the torch toward Hector’s foot as screams and cries in rapid Spanish bellowed from Hector.
“Fuck, man. What the hell are you doing?”
Josh turned and found Jacks and Misty walking into the room. Josh turned off the torch, placed it down on the tray and walked out of the room. Jacks followed.
“You are fucking out of your mind, do you know that? This isn’t a terrorist, and we aren’t in Kazakhstan. You can’t do that shit.”
Josh turned on him and walked up to him. “The hell I can’t. I can do whatever the fuck I want to do to get what I want.”
“You’re a fucking fool, do you hear me? You don’t do it that way man, you just don’t.”
Josh scoffed and turned his back. He knew and felt he was out of control, but he got what he needed and…
“You’re going to risk everything for some lying rich bitch because you think her pussy is…”
Jacks didn’t finish the last statement; he was stumbling back from a right fist that connected to his jaw.
Jacks fell over a desk behind him, and Josh moved to throw another punch and was met with kick in the stomach. Jacks finally got to his feet but was instantly hit with a blow to his face again, stomach then under his jaw. Jacks had no choice but to grab Josh and grapple him to the ground. Josh, feeling all the frustration and fury grip him strong, took every feeling and emotion out on Jacks. They wrestled and threw punches at each other until five men pulled them away.
Misty stormed up to Josh, who was still fighting to get to Jacks.
“That’s enough. Damn it, Josh. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Misty, frowning was up in Josh’s space.
Josh looked down at her and shook out of the arms of the three men trying desperately to hold him back. Jacks did the same to the two men holding him back.
He pointed to Josh. “That’s it. I’m fucking out of here.”
Jacks walked out, and Josh said nothing.
“Josh,” Misty called, trying to use a calming voice. Josh looked back at her. “We are all doing everything we can to find her. You have to trust that. We have your back, okay. We know she is important to you. We get that. But you acting out of control isn’t helping anything. Go home!”
“What?!” Josh said.
“I said go home. There’s nothing more you can do here. I’ll clean up the mess you made, but you need to go and now. I’ll call you… Hey, I’ll call you when I have something alright?”
Josh, finally tired of running, turned off the machine. Sweat drenched his body, but still riled up, he grabbed his towel and headed for the elevator in the basement of his building. The moment he came home he needed to do something, and punching the wall wasn’t what he had in mind. So he made his way down to the gym in his building to take out the frustration, anger, and what he didn’t want to admit out loud; fear.
He was afraid he wouldn’t make it in time to save her. He was more afraid, however, what would happen if he didn’t. Shaking that thought from his mind, he pressed the button to his floor. It was that moment a thought came to him then was gone. There was something that was crucial to finding Kenya, and for the life of him he couldn’t grab it.
“Fuck!” he said exhaustedly.
Misty was right, he was losing control. If he had his wits about him, no doubt he wouldn’t be behind the eight ball. He needed to call his brothers. Shane and Malcolm both currently worked for military intelligence. Most of his cases he used Intel from his brothers in order to locate someone he was searching for or was pointed in the right direction. He knew he could use all the help he could get, and most of all, he needed them to make sure he didn’t lose it completely. Shane and Malcolm usually knew how to handle Josh when he was out of control. Shane was the one to calm him as best he could, and Malcolm was the one to knock him up side his head to bring him back to reality.
Josh opened his door and found he didn’t have to make the call after all.
“Finally, we thought we had to come down there and get you,” Malcolm replied.
He was sitting on his couch, and as Josh walked further into his apartment, he saw his brother, Shane, was sitting at his table along with Misty and Junior.
Shane got up and walked to his brother.
“How you doing, bro?”
Shane hugged him tight, ignoring his sweat soaked shirt.
Josh nodded but didn’t reply. He was trying to figure out how they got here and so fast. Malcolm was the next to hug him.
“Why don’t you take a shower and come fill us in on what’s going on, yeah?”
Josh nodded again and walked into his bedroom. He took a quick shower, knowing that Malcolm would probably be waiting in his bedroom to talk to him. Malcolm was the oldest, and he took his job as older brother serious. He was six–five, two–eighty and a mean son of a bitch when it came to his family. He was all muscle with the same bronze complexion, eye color and hair color as Josh.
When Josh walked out of the bathroom in his towel, his brother was sitting on his bed.
“You are completely out of control, you know that, right?”
Josh took a deep breath and went to his dresser to get a pair of underwear and a t–shirt.
“I gave the son of a bitch an ultimatum, he didn’t take it.”
Malcolm frowned. “I’m not talking about that bastard; I’m talking about that bruise on your face.”
Josh grunted but didn’t reply.
“Is this woman worth it, Josh?” Malcolm asked.
“What do you think?” was all Josh could say.
“Hey, Josh, look at me, little brother,” Malcolm demanded, and Josh reluctantly obeyed.
Malcolm stood and walked to his brother. Shane walked in the room at that moment, and both brothers stood in front of Josh.
Malcolm said again looking deep in Josh’s eyes, “Is she worth it?”
Without hesitation Josh answered, “Yes.”
Josh kept eye contact with both of his brothers. Shane was around the same height as Malcolm and just as large in body mass. All three of the brothers looked alike and used to get teased that they could have passed as triplets.
“Then you better get your shit together and quick. You can’t afford to not be focused.” Malcolm said to him.
“I know,” Josh replied.
“You need your team, Josh,” Malcolm added.
“Damn it, I know, Malc.”
“Yeah, you know, then what the fuck, Josh? You getting into it with Jacks.”
Josh rolled his eyes as Shane added, “Bro, your team depends on you to keep your shit. The people that have your back the most need to know without a doubt that you have your shit together, and you don’t.”
“Yeah, and I also depend on my team doing what they’re told instead of questioning me every second about shit they know nothing about,” Josh snapped back.
Shane said, “Oh, so you want them to follow you blindly?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I mean, they normally do when we are in the field. I don’t think this is any different.”
Malcolm placed his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “This is different because of your past.”
Josh moved away from his brothers and went in his closet. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a short sleeve t–shirt. When he emerged, he leaned against the wall and looked at his brothers. He took a deep breath before speaking.
“Look, I get what you’re saying. I’m not stupid or blind or whatever you think I am. This isn’t like Emily, and I’m not going to repeat shit from my past. Kenya, she’s different… I’m different when I’m with her. I just…I can’t lose her, man… If I do…” Josh shook his head and looked down at his bare feet. He ran his hands through his drying hair. “I just can’t lose her.”
Josh remained silent, closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. Shane and Malcolm looked at each other and then at their brother. They both had to admit this was the first time Josh had ever been this way about a woman, or anyone else that wasn’t family. They’d seen him lose it after a mission because of bad intel or because someone made bad decisions that put his team in harm’s way, but they had never seen him this way over someone that wasn’t their immediate family.
Malcolm said, “Alright then, Josh. Let’s get out there and see what we can come up with. We have lost precious time, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”