Smoke & Mirrors (7 page)

“How about a nice warm shower, huh?”

Dex nodded, his voice distant when he spoke. “Can you fix it?”

Sloane blinked, and it took a second for him to realize Dex meant the drawer. “First chance I get. I promise.”

“Okay.”

Dex didn’t move, so Sloane took the initiative. He carefully lifted Dex up with him, then slipped his arms over Dex. With ease, he lifted Dex, a lump forming in his throat when Dex wrapped himself around Sloane, his ankles crossed at Sloane’s lower back and his head resting on Sloane’s shoulder. Sloane ran his hand in soothing circles on Dex’s back as he carried him upstairs. Dex was so dazed, he didn’t notice when Sloane removed his clothes or helped him into the shower. Sloane stepped in behind him and took Dex’s soft sponge from the small white shelf.

“I’m okay,” Dex said, staring off at nothing in particular.

Sloane tipped Dex’s head back and searched his gaze. If anyone could see past the brave front, it was Sloane. Dex was resilient, the one everyone leaned on and turned to when they needed help. He was the shoulder they cried on. The white knight ready to charge into battle.

“Let me take care of you,” Sloane pleaded softly, placing a kiss to Dex’s brow.

Dex closed his eyes and nodded. His body visibly relaxed as Sloane began to wash him. First his hair, which was getting a little long, falling roguishly over one side of his brow when he didn’t run gel through it, then his neck and shoulders. Sloane worked his way down Dex’s body, making sure to soap him up good yet very tenderly. His beautiful skin was marred by ugly bruises, scrapes, and cuts. When he reached Dex’s fingers, Sloane was especially careful. The bandages came off, and Sloane was forced to bite down on his bottom lip to keep himself from cursing. The dark splotches under his nails would take time to disappear. Once he was done soaping Dex up, he led him under the shower to rinse him off. Dex opened his eyes but didn’t look at Sloane. He was lost somewhere in his thoughts. Sloane placed a kiss to Dex’s shoulder before he quickly showered, then got them both out of the tub. He dried them off, wrapping Dex in a big fluffy towel afterward.

In the bedroom, Sloane got dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. He made sure to find Dex’s softest, most comfortable T-shirt and pajama bottoms to dress him in.

“My feet are cold.”

Dex’s voice was so quiet, Sloane wouldn’t have heard him if he hadn’t been a Therian and standing so close.

“No problem,” Sloane replied with a smile. He kissed the tip of Dex’s nose and grabbed a few pairs of socks and presented them to Dex. “Okay, we’ve got rubber duckies, cheeseburgers, happy toast, sushi, the Mona Lisa, or Superman.”

Dex pointed to one of the pairs.

“Duckies it is.”

With a smile, Sloane returned the rest of the socks to the drawer exactly where he’d found them and then slipped Dex’s rubber-ducky socks onto his feet. Dex stared at his socks. He was still for so long, Sloane was worried something had happened. He reached for Dex’s shoulder when Dex shook himself and slipped off the bed.

“I’m hungry.”

It was music to Sloane’s ears. He followed Dex downstairs to the kitchen, keeping a close eye on him just in case. It was still surprisingly early. Barely seven in the evening. He was relieved to see Dex still had an appetite.

Sloane moved with Dex around the kitchen as they prepared themselves some sandwiches, and they ate them in the living room in front of the TV. The sense of normalcy felt good and was clearly what Dex needed right now. Maybe Sloane’s luck was changing for the better, because one of the TV stations was running a marathon of
Back to the Future
, one of Dex’s favorites. No matter how many times he watched it, Dex never tired of it. He loved quoting the movie yet laughed as if he were watching it for the first time. Sloane was about to return their empty plates to the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Dex flinched, and Sloane placed his hand to Dex’s shoulder.

“I’ll get it.” Shit. What now?

Sloane answered the door, stumbling back so as not to get whacked by it when it swung open. Maddock marched in, looking more pissed than Sloane had ever seen him.

“Where is he?” Maddock barked.

Sloane held his hands up in front of him in the hopes of getting Maddock to calm down.

“Sarge, now’s not a good time. Please. He’s—”

Maddock shoved Sloane hard against the wall. His fingers curled around Sloane’s T-shirt, and his gaze bore into Sloane’s, nostrils flaring. When he spoke it was a low, fierce growl.

“Boy, you will stay the hell out of my way if you know what’s good for you, or I swear on my daddy’s grave I will beat the shit out of you.”

Sloane swallowed hard. There was no doubt in his mind that if he even hinted at getting between Maddock and Dex he would be on the floor and in pain within seconds.

“I’m in here,” Dex croaked out, and Sloane gave Maddock a nod, his hands still up by his shoulders.

Maddock stormed into the living room and came to an abrupt stop. His emotions seemed at war with each other as he stared at Dex. Anger, pain, worry all flashed through their sergeant’s deep brown eyes.

“What the hell happened?” Maddock took a seat on the coffee table in front of Dex. He looked him over and reached for Dex, then seemed to think better of it. “And don’t you for a second think I’m going to believe that bullshit about bad intel.”

“You’re right. That’s bullshit. But I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

“Dex—”

“Dad, I swear to you, when I can say more, I will. Right now, I need you to trust me on this, okay?”

Maddock exploded. “Are you fucking joking? Look at you!” He began to pace, his hands going to his head. “Someone did this to you, and all you have to say is
trust me
?” He shook his head. “No. Abso-fucking-lutely not, Dexter. From day one, you’ve asked me repeatedly to stand on the sidelines and do nothing but watch you as you get beat up, shot, kidnapped, and who the hell knows what else. And I have,
because
I trust you. But now? You’re asking too much of me.” He flexed his fingers as he paced, his lips pursed. The longer he paced, the angrier he seemed to get. He stopped and faced Dex. “I am not going to fucking stand here doing fuck all while you sit in front of me after having God knows what done to you. Enough is enough.”

“Dad, please.”

“Dex, you tell me right fucking now what the hell is going on. I don’t give a shit about the parties involved.” Maddock resumed his seat on the coffee table across from Dex. He gently took hold of Dex’s wrists, but his eyes were hard. “You are my son. I don’t give a shit how old you get, how tough, how trained. Someone hurt you, and I sure as shit deserve to know the truth. This isn’t about me trusting you. This is about
you
trusting
me
, and you haven’t trusted me in a long time.”

“That’s bullshit,” Dex spat out. “How can you say I don’t trust you?”

Maddock pulled away, his hand going to his knees as he leaned in with a growl. “Then why are you constantly keeping me in the goddamn dark!”

“Because I have to!”

Sloane watched the shouting match with growing unease. The two had fought before, but this time it was different. Whatever was going on with Maddock, it was clear it had been bubbling up for a while now. Sloane hated to admit it, but Maddock was right. How long had Dex expected to keep his dad in the dark? He’d been doing it since he’d joined the THIRDS. Their sergeant had always been a patient man, but everyone had their limit. It looked like Maddock had reached his.

“Now who’s bullshitting? Talk to me, Dexter,” Maddock pleaded.

“No,” Dex replied through his teeth.

“Why the fuck not?”

Dex held his ground. “Because I won’t lose you too.”

That seemed to ebb Maddock’s bluster. He stared at Dex, his jaw muscles working. Dex reached out and put his hand on his father’s arm.

“I swear, it’s not because I don’t trust you or don’t want to tell you, but right now, I’m barely holding it together, and I can’t—” His voice broke, and he took a deep breath. “I can’t be worried about you right now. I know that’s a shitty thing to say, to do, but I really need you to do this for me. Just for now.”

Maddock let out a heavy sigh. He nodded before hesitantly putting his hand to Dex’s cheek. “Are you okay? I mean, despite the obvious?”

Dex swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll be okay.”

Maddock didn’t look too convinced, but he accepted Dex’s assurances for now. “Promise me you’ll do what you can to stay safe.”

“I promise.”

Dex gave his dad a wobbly smile as Maddock kissed the top of his head. He looked as if he wanted to say more but instead headed for the door, glancing at Sloane on his way there. Sloane followed, bracing himself when Maddock turned to face him, his voice quiet.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m disappointed in you. You promised me you’d keep him safe.”

Guilt bubbled up inside Sloane, and he found it difficult to meet Maddock’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I let you down. I let him down. I should have protected him.”

Maddock studied him. “Was there anything you could have done different?”

“It was out of my hands.” It was the truth. Sloane had been out. Whether it had been Wolf himself or someone else, they’d been skilled. Sloane hadn’t heard a thing.

“In his defense,” Sloane added, “he never went out looking for this. It found him.”

Maddock seemed to think about that for a moment before walking out the door. Sloane watched him go, waiting until he climbed into his car and drove off before closing the door. He found Dex staring down at the floor, a frown on his face.

“Hey.” Sloane stopped in front of him and held his hand out. “How about we go to bed?”

Dex smiled at him but didn’t reply. He took Sloane’s hand and followed him upstairs. Tomorrow Sloane would call Sparks and find out what the situation was at work. Right now Dex needed him, and that mattered more to Sloane than anything else.

DEX FELT
numb.

He kept spacing out, getting lost in what had happened. His brain kept replaying snippets of his conversation with Wolf. If his head wasn’t torturing him with his kidnapping, it was thinking back to his parents, trying his hardest to remember the last time he saw them. He’d been in the small backyard playing with his dad. He remembered his Doc Brown visor, remembered showing Tony the toy DeLorean his dad had gotten him. They’d gone to see the movie recently, and Dex had loved it. At the time he hadn’t understood a lot of what was happening, but the music, Doc’s funny hair, the time machine, the action all had Dex enthralled.

Dex prided himself on his memory, even if at times it could be selective. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall any conversations that last day he’d seen his parents. He remembered his mom looking upset. She’d hugged him when she got home from work, her worry melting into a big beautiful smile for him.

“Dex?”

Dex gave a start. He lifted his head, his eyes meeting bright amber ones filled with love and concern.

“Sorry.”

“There’s no reason to apologize. What were you thinking about?” Sloane took a seat on the edge of the bed beside him and reached out. He wiped his thumb over Dex’s cheek, and Dex realized his face was wet.

“My mom. I was thinking about the last day I saw her and my dad. Tony had come over to babysit. They were going on their date night.” Dex shook his head. “I can’t get my brain to stop. I keep thinking about my parents, what happened with Wolf, why this is all happening now. I just want it to stop for a while.”

Sloane stood and crouched down in front of him, his hands on Dex’s thighs. Dex instinctively straightened.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, it’s just… uh, it’s stupid.” He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. No. He wasn’t doing this. He was
not
going to let that son of a bitch take Sloane’s touch from him. Dex wouldn’t let him. He placed his hands on Sloane’s and met his gaze.

“Talk to me.”

“Wolf did that. When he was trying to get me to talk.”

Sloane didn’t reply, but Dex could see Sloane’s inner Felid stir behind those bright amber eyes. He could see its fury, the way Sloane fought to maintain a firm grip on his feral half.

“We’ll work through this together, all right? Just keep talking to me. Don’t shut me out. Please.”

Dex nodded. “He kissed me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He told me he liked me.” Dex stared down at his bruised fingers. “He pushed needles under my fingernails.” Why was he telling Sloane something he already knew? Maybe Dex just needed to hear himself say it out loud.

Sloane’s anger appeared to melt away, and he brushed his lips over Dex’s fingers. He discreetly made to move his hands off Dex’s thighs, but Dex held them there. Telling Sloane what happened might help, but he didn’t know where to start. What if Sloane didn’t want to hear it? What if it was too painful for him?

“Sparks said you broke through the zip ties,” Sloane prompted gently, and Dex was relieved. It was as if he knew.

“Yeah. Maybe it was whatever Wolf injected me with, or maybe he just messed up. I don’t know. It all happened pretty fast,” Dex muttered, pulling Sloane back up so he could sit beside Dex. He turned to face the man he loved, drawing from his love and support, knowing that whatever happened Sloane was there with him. It would be okay.

“Hmm.”

Dex cocked his head to one side, studying Sloane’s thoughtful expression. “What?”

“Sparks seems pretty sure Wolf isn’t the kind to make mistakes. Apparently he’s hot shit.”

“He’s different. That’s for sure.”

“What do you mean?”

Dex took hold of Sloane’s hand. He needed to touch him, to feel his warm skin. “He’s not some hired thug. The guy’s sharp, patient, and he knew a hell of a lot about me.” Dex swallowed hard. “And about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. About your time at the First Gen Research Facility, about what you went through.”

Sloane seemed to think about it for a moment. “Sparks says the guy’s a freelancer. Works for government agencies. It would explain how he knows so much about us. He did his research. Can you tell me what happened?”