Blood & Thunder (11 page)

Dex ran a hand over his face and sat back, his frown in full force. “I would have thought it was a trap, except it wasn’t. What the hell was the point? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely relieved it went that smoothly, but why bother? To taunt us? To piss us off?” He shook his head. “That dick. I can’t believe I was friends with the guy.”

“He fooled us all, Dex.” Sloane watched Dex lean over his desk and tap away, bringing up Morelli’s file for the hundredth time that week. “Obsessing over that file isn’t going to add any more information to it.” His partner was frustrated. Sloane understood that. He was too, but after many years of fieldwork, there was only so much you could do with the information you had until something new came up. Staring at the same files over and over wasn’t going to make the case move any quicker.

The majority of Unit Alpha was working on this case, but unfortunately, information trickled down to Defense agents last, unless they came across the info themselves. Intel and Recon did the brunt of the investigating while Defense provided support and waited to be called out. Their objective was to employ special tactics in an effort to preserve life and apprehend dangerous suspects, often resulting in the use of weapons and aggressive maneuvers. Yes, they collected information along the way, interrogated suspects, and kept a clear channel of communication open with Recon, but in the end, Defense agents were the muscle, following orders and procedure. It was an aspect of the job his partner was finding difficult to accept. Sloane could see Dex going into “detective mode” every time he opened a file. It made him once again question whether Dex would be happier in Recon. He quickly pushed that thought aside.

“You’re right,” Sloane said, focusing on the task at hand. “It’s good to talk through it. What have you got?”

“We know Morelli accessed his THIRDS file before he was killed, most likely under duress, since he signed in on his personal laptop. It’s clear Isaac didn’t get what he wanted and killed him. What was he looking for?”

“I don’t know. Morelli tried to log in to Themis, but he would have known he didn’t have access. Only Team Leaders and those with higher clearance levels have offsite access. Isaac wouldn’t have known that. Maybe Morelli was buying himself more time.”

Dex nodded somberly. “Other than that, I can’t come up with any other reason Isaac would have picked Morelli. According to his file, the guy was a regular Lupus Therian agent. He was single, had a few girlfriends, and worked Defense before he moved to Recon. Do you know why he was moved?”

There had been rumors, but Sloane never relied on hearsay. Like any other organization, the THIRDS wasn’t completely void of office politics or gossip. He gave Dex a shrug. “Something about his health. I think it got too stressful for him. That’s not the first time it’s happened to a Defense agent. Everyone wants to be on Defense until someone tries to blow them up.”

“Glamor comes with a hefty price, huh?”

“Yep. A hefty price, a load of flying bullets, and bears.”

Dex opened his mouth, and Sloane held a hand up. He knew his partner too well by now. “Not those kind of bears. Actual bears, with claws and sharp teeth.” Though now that he thought about it, some Bear Therians were probably uh, bears. Trent from Unit Beta certainly was.

“My kind of bears are more fun,” Dex replied with a wink, before his gaze shifted back to the file, his eyes widening. “Shit.”

Sloane straightened. “What is it?”

Dex swiped his hand across his desk’s surface, sending the file onto Sloane’s desk and his connected interface. “Obviously we wouldn’t have thought anything of it before, but look, under the ‘History’ section.”

“Shit.” Sloane stared at the familiar words. “No way in hell that’s a coincidence.” He tapped his earpiece. “Sarge, we found something.”

Seconds later, Maddock came storming into the office, his nostrils flaring. “Give me good news, Sloane. I get one more call from the Chief of Therian Defense asking me for an update on this case, I’m gonna get an ulcer. We had video conference twice in a span of twenty minutes. What the hell was he expecting to happen in twenty minutes while I’m at the goddamn office? Other than exacerbate my growing desire to take his tacky-ass paisley tie, roll it up, and shove it up his—”

“Whoa!” Dex sprang to his feet and gave Maddock a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Easy there, Sarge. Your blood pressure’s gonna go through the roof at this rate. Not to mention you’ve got a few new additions already,” Dex said, putting a finger to Maddock’s salt and pepper stubble. Sloane tried his hardest to keep himself from laughing when Maddock smacked Dex’s hand away, glaring at him.

“Boy, are you crazy? I am royally pissed off, and you’re telling me I’ve got more gray hair? Who the hell do you think gave them to me in the first place?”

Dex blinked at him innocently. “Cael?”

Maddock pressed his lips together and turned away to address Sloane. “Please, tell me you’ve got something before I strangle your partner.”

Sloane couldn’t help his chuckle. “Looks like you’re going to have to leave the strangling for some other time, because it was actually Dex who found it.”

Maddock glanced at Dex, groaning at his son’s dopey grin. When Dex wriggled his eyebrows, Maddock planted his hand on Dex’s face. Sloane cringed. Bad move. Maddock snapped his hand back as if he’d been burned by acid, clutching it to his broad chest. His frown deepened before he wiped his hand on his pants and shook his head at Dex who was still grinning. “There is something seriously wrong with you.”

With a laugh, Dex dropped down onto his seat behind his desk. “I love you too.”

An unintelligible growl later, Maddock nodded for Sloane to continue.

“As I was saying, Dex was looking over Morelli’s file, and noticed Morelli was registered at the same CDC registration office where Isaac planted the bomb. Before today, it wouldn’t have meant much, but now….”

“Now, it means he chose that office for a reason.” Maddock rubbed a hand over his stubble as he considered this new information. “Isaac planted the bomb in the elevator because he knew it didn’t have cameras. Could he have done something else while in there?”

Sloane brought up the footage of Isaac at the registration office. They watched him get into the elevator and emerge a few minutes later. “I know it’d take a while to get to the seventh floor, but either this elevator is really slow, or he stopped it.”

“Well, we know he was planting the bomb,” Dex offered.

Something still seemed off. “True, but considering the explosive he used, all he had to do was open the access panel, plant the bomb, and flip the switch. Sarge, you might be onto something. What if he’d been doing something else? We don’t even know he planted the bomb when he rode the elevator. There’s no security in there. For all we know, he could have planted the bomb earlier, or had someone else plant it, and then activated it. Or maybe he had time to plant it and do whatever else he went there to do.”

“Okay, all good theories,” Maddock said. “So now what? Hold on a second.” Maddock tapped the desk’s surface, pausing the video. “What’s he doing there on that tablet?”

“Cael already tried zooming in, but it’s too fuzzy. We can’t tell what he’s doing,” Dex replied with a frown. “Whatever it is, he removed the tablet from his bag after he got off from the elevator.”

Sloane tapped his earpiece. “Cael?”

“Yeah?”

“We need Allan Jeffrey to grant Themis access to their security system. I want an algorithm set up to see if there’s any additional footage of Isaac Pearce entering that building before today or anyone acting suspicious. It’s possible the bomb could have been planted beforehand, and if not, I want to know what else Isaac was doing in that elevator. I also want Themis to run a scan on their network for any unauthorized access to their files. If Isaac didn’t get what he wanted from Morelli’s file, and he was registered at that office, he might have been looking for something there. Find out if Morelli has a file at that CDC office.”

“Copy that.”

Maddock looked thoughtful. “You think Isaac went in there looking for more information on Morelli?”

Right now, they didn’t know much of anything, only that Morelli was somehow connected to all this. “We know he didn’t get anything from Morelli’s THIRDS file, and the guy was registered at that office. I don’t understand his obsession with Morelli.”

Cael’s voice came in over their earpieces. “Sloane? Dex?”

“Go ahead, Cael.”

“Allan says he’ll get right on it, but he won’t have anything before tomorrow morning. The place is crawling with CDC bigwigs. They’re freaking out about security after what happened today. Obviously, they’re looking to put someone’s head on the chopping block.”

“I appreciate that, but we really need him to get that info over to us as soon as he can, or at least grant us access so Intel can do it. If the bureaucrats are getting in the way, tell him to let us know, and I’ll send Ash down there to throw his weight around.”

“Will do.”

“In the meantime….” Sloane gave Maddock his most charming smile. “Can you send over a glowing letter of appreciation to Allan and his security team for their exceptional and invaluable help during today’s incident?”

Maddock was onto him, and he nodded with a knowing smile. “I’ll get on that now. As soon as you find anything else out, you let me know immediately.” He started to leave, then paused, jutting a finger at him. “And get a haircut.”

“Yes, sir.” Sloane gave him a salute. Damn. That meant he had at least another week before he had to get it cut. He hated getting his hair cut. His gaze went to Dex who was grinning at him.

“What?”

“You’re so cute, sending a letter so Allan and his team don’t get canned.”

Sloane hoped his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “Allan and his team did great. They don’t deserve to lose their jobs because a bunch of pencil pushers need someone to blame. I mean you saw how many guards there were for a building that size, and with everything else going on, it’s clear they’d made cutbacks. Security’s always the first department to suffer. While poor Allan joins the ranks of the unemployed, some asshole buys a second house on the coast of France.”

Dex leaned forward, his voice gruff and sexy. “Ooh, do I hear a little anti-establishment in your tone, Agent Brodie?”

With a chuckle, Sloane came to sit at the edge of Dex’s desk. He leaned forward to whisper, “Does that turn you on, Agent Daley?”

Dex gave a snort. “That would imply there are moments when I’m not turned on. Okay, well, in this job there actually are moments when I’m not, but if our lives aren’t in danger and you’re around, it’s a safe bet I’ve got a stiffy.”

Sloane arched an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, sometimes even when we are in danger.”

“That so?”

“You gripping an MP5 submachine gun, sweat dripping down your face, your tac pants pulled tight over your ass when you crouch down? Fuck, I’m getting hard thinking about it. Come on, man. I’m positioned behind you in formation, and you think my mind’s not going to go there? It’s your own fault.”

“Jesus, Dex. We’re at the office!” Sloane hissed.

“You asked.”

Sloane shifted uncomfortably, his pants tighter than they’d been a moment ago. “Yeah, but… now you’ve got me… you know.”

“So….”

“So what?” Sloane eyed him warily. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting? Because we’re in the middle of a case.”

Dex’s pale blue eyes clouded, the heat in them going straight to Sloane’s dick. “We are in the middle of a case. A case with intel that won’t come in until tomorrow morning, or tonight at the earliest.”

Sloane swallowed hard. “Ten minutes?”

Dex grinned wickedly. “Ten minutes.” He stood, his fingers brushing Sloane’s thigh as he walked past.

This was insane. Sloane couldn’t believe he was doing this at work. He’d never done anything with Gabe at work, not even sneak a kiss. Then again, Gabe had been a stickler for the rules, too afraid of what would happen if they’d been caught. Dex… well, Dex was a terrible, sexy—fuck, he was sexy—influence. Then again, the only time their sergeant ever suspected something was amiss was when Dex wasn’t up to his shenanigans.

If Dex wasn’t eating snacks when he shouldn’t be, or singing in the showers, or bugging Ash, or Cael, or anyone with a pulse, Rosa was whipping out her thermometer and taking his temperature, convinced he was coming down with something. Two days ago, Dex had been straining his little blond head trying to work out a riddle Sloane had given him, and the whole floor almost went into lockdown from panic due to his prolonged silence. Their Medical Chief, Hudson, had gone so far as to insist he examine Dex, though now that Sloane thought about it, he was pretty sure Hudson might have been taking advantage of the situation. The guy was always eyeing Dex’s ass.

Sloane waited five minutes then casually slipped out of the office, heading for the moderately sized lunchroom on their floor. After greeting the half a dozen or so agents who were in there, he tapped the blue numbers on one of the vending machine’s smart screens. A candy bar dropped down into the tray. Sloane swiped it up and tucked it into his front breast pocket. Exactly four minutes and thirty seconds later, he was using his keycard to access his personally assigned sleeping bay.

What the hell was he doing? This was insane. This was—

Two taps on the door exactly thirty-one seconds later.

Sloane opened the door, his abdomen tightening at the sight of Dex standing there, mischief and lust in his eyes.

“You’re late,” Sloane said, letting him in and locking the door behind him.

“Looks like you’ll have to discipline me.”

Okay. He could do this.
“Get on the bed and unzip.”

“Yes, sir.” Dex sat on the bed, kicked his feet up, unzipped his pants, whipped out his dick, and finished off by lying with his hands behind his head, a dopey grin on his face. The cocky bastard. Before Sloane could talk himself out of it, he crossed the room, and straddled Dex, their lips meeting together in a hot and needy kiss. Dex wriggling beneath him, hands on Sloane’s fly, nearly made him forget his concerns. Nearly. Sloane made certain to remain alert while kissing Dex, letting out a low groan when Dex pulled at Sloane’s hardening cock.