Rule Breaker (Project ROOT Book 1)

by Michele, Ryan

  “What about Rae?”

  “Doc?”

  “Yeah. She’s a doctor.”

  “Yeah, but she’s not a pathologist or a forensic scientist,” O’Malley stated the obvious.

  “Do you have a better idea?” he snapped.

  “No.”

  “That’s what I thought. I’ll ask her. She might be able to help.”

  “Fine. I just don’t want anything screwed up,” O’Malley stated. “What’s gotten into you?”

  Maybe he was being paranoid. “Nothing. She won’t mess it up. It’ll be fine.” However, she was walking away from him after they’d had the best sex he’d ever had. “Meet me in holding in ten minutes.”

  Without waiting for a reply, he reached up and disconnected the two-way connection as Rae stepped out of the Franks’ room.

  “Hold up, Rae,” he called when she strode down the hall farther from him.

  “I’m busy, Asher,” she answered as she made a beeline for the bank of elevators at the end of the hall.

  As luck would have it, the elevator dinged as soon as she pressed the call button. The doors opened and Rae stepped in, pressing the floor button she needed. She looked everywhere but at him while waiting for the lift to engage, taking her from him.

  Asher reached out in time, engaging the sensors to keep the car from moving and the doors closed. Her hazel eyes widened, and she took a step back, meeting the metal railing of the car.

  It couldn’t get any more perfect than that.

  “We weren’t done,” he said.

  “Yeah, we were,” she huffed.

  He bit back a groan when she crossed her arms under her breasts and he regretted not taking the time to taste her supple flesh when he had the chance.

  “Why the fuck did you leave?” he snapped.

  “I have patients and you” —she put her hand on his chest. If she was trying to get him to move, she had no shot in hell. He wasn’t going to budge— “obviously have work. Listen, what happened in the office, it was great and all, but it doesn’t make a relationship.”

  “What happened was sex. I had my dick in you, and if memory serves me correctly, you liked it. In fact, you got off so hard, you had me in a stranglehold.” Her cheeks flushed bright red at his bluntness.

  “Do you even have a filter?”

  “Nope.”

  “Get one,” she grumbled.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He caressed her cheek and tipped it up so he could see her face.

  “Can we not talk about this? You have pressing matters to deal with and I have two patients who need me.” Her gaze refused to meet his and it worried him. It had been fast and furious. All he had been thinking about was getting inside her, feeling her warmth around him.

  “Answer me, Rae. Did I hurt you?” he demanded.

  “No,” she whispered, “you were a perfect gentleman.”

  He snorted. “If I was a gentleman, I wouldn’t have fucked you on a desk. I apologize for that. Not for the fucking part, but for doing it on a desk. Next time, I promise it’ll be in a bed and a lot longer.” He bent his face to hers and nipped at her lower lip. “Next time, I’ll eat you out till you beg me to take you.”

  Her pupils dilated, her lips parted on a gasp. He’d bet his next paycheck if he sought out her pussy right now, it’d be soaked.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Me between your legs, my mouth making you come,” he continued, groaning when her pink tongue peeked out, licking at her lips. His dick pulsed with need. “I’ll lay on my back and you can ride my face.”

  Someone cleared their throat behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, O’Malley stood in the open elevator doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

  Fuck. I didn’t even hear the damn door open.

  “Come on, Romeo, we have work to do.” O’Malley smirked.

  Rae groaned in embarrassment.

  How much had O’Malley heard? He narrowed his eyes at his 2IC, who just shrugged and cocked an eyebrow back at him.

  Turning back to Rae, he found her with both hands over her face, her head shaking back and forth.

  “Give us a minute,” he snarled.

  O’Malley didn’t respond. He simply reached in and smacked the button to hold the door open.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for him to overhear.” He reached for her hands, gently pulling them away from her beet red face. “Or embarrass you.”

  “I want to die. How will I look him in the eye the next time I see him!” she cried.

  He shrugged. “He won’t give you any shit. If he does, remind him of the time we all heard him jerkin’ it in the rack during a mission. Shuts him up every damn time.”

  “I can’t even…”

  “Yeah, you can. You’ll get used to it. In a month, we’ll have you thinking and speaking like a seasoned military man.”

  O’Malley, the asshole, cleared his throat again. Loudly.

  “You need to go,” she announced, ducking around him to scamper out the door.

  Asher wrapped his hand around her upper arm. “Believe it or not, I had another reason for following you.”

  She snorted.

  He ignored it. “Security found one of Barclay’s men dead in his cell.”

  “Do you think someone got to him?” She stopped, fear flashing through those hazel eyes of hers.

  “No. Command is secure. No one gets in or out without high level access, which requires a shit ton of in-depth background checks,” he assured her.

  “What do you need from me, exactly?”

  “We don’t have anyone on site to perform an autopsy. You’re a doctor—”

  “I’m not that kind of doctor, Asher. Performing an autopsy requires special training.”

  “I’m not asking you to cut the guy open and dig around in his organs. I’m asking you to do a physical exam, make observations, and inform me. Can you do it?” he pressed. “I need someone I can trust.”

  She sighed, her gaze fixed on O’Malley, who waited outside the elevator. “Yes, I can do it. I need to check on Gabby and Sydney first.”

  “They’re several floors down. I’m guessing you forgot about them when you scurried away.”

  “I wasn’t scurrying.”

  He cocked a brow at her lie.

  “I wasn’t. I was simply heading to the cafeteria to get Gabby a snack.”

  “Go get her snack. I’ll have one of my guys get you in thirty,” he ordered, walking out of the elevator.

  “I’m not one of your men, Asher. You can’t command me to do anything,” she said, sharply.

  “And yet, I just did.”

  “Ugh. Jackass,” she mumbled.

  “I heard you, you know,” he replied.

  O’Malley, who had been patiently waiting for him across from the elevator bay, pushed off the wall, his gaze on her ass as she walked away.

  “Avert your eyes, damn it,” he snarled. “She’s mine and I don’t share.”

  Jake laughed. “Leash your crazy. I’m not interested in your woman. I’ve got one of my own.”

  Jake didn’t, though. His ex-wife, Ginger, divorced him years ago, and Jake had been closed lipped as to the reason why. The team had speculated it had to do with how dangerous their jobs were.

  “If you’re done fucking around, we’ve got a body with rigor in holding,” Jake reminded him. The minute rigor mortis sat in, they’d have a hard damn time moving the body.

  Sentries stood on either side of the entrance to holding when they arrived, preventing anyone from entering. They moved to the side as he approached. He swiped his key card through the reader, and when it blinked green the door slid open.

  “Sir,” the man from inside said as he stood. “As per your order, everyone who had been assigned to holding is still here. He’s in cell three.”

  “Thank you,” Asher responded.

  “Do you have the feeds?” O’Malley asked behind him.

  “Yes, sir,” the young man held out a small flash driv
e. “It’s all there.”

  Jake took the flash, slipping it into his pocket before they walked down the hallway to door numbered three.

  James lay on his cot, arms hanging down, white foam covering his mouth while his eyes were open, fixed on the ceiling.

  “Don’t matter how many times I see a dead body, still freaks me the fuck out,” Jake muttered.

  “Agreed,” Asher gazed around the entire room. Like he told Rae, he didn’t suspect foul play. Seeing him lying on the bed threw him. He had expected to see the poor bastard hanging from something. He approached the bed, taking in James’s blue lips, the foam at his mouth, and his lifeless eyes.

  A foul smell reached his nose as he crouched. Bitter almonds. It could only mean one thing, cyanide poisoning. How the hell had they missed it.

  “Smell it?” he inquired.

  “Yeah. I do,” O’Malley admitted.

  “Son of a bitch. Wasn’t he searched?” Asher stood.

  “You know he was, Commander.”

  “How the fuck did we miss this, then?” All his personal belongings would be in an evidence box marked with his name. If he had it on him when they brought him in, someone would have seen it and told him.

  “Honestly, I don’t think we gave Barclay enough credit. You still want Rae to look him over?”

  He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. “We need it confirmed. I want eyes on Tinsman all the time. I need to speak with Franks again.”

  “Boss, his wife just gave birth,” Jake reminded him.

  Like he needed a reminder; he’d been in the damn room when it happened. “I have to find out if he knew about the poison. If he did, he never said jack shit about it when Hanover interviewed him.” He glanced at his second-in-command. “Have James moved to the morgue. I’m going to start the report while I wait for Rae.”

  “We have a report for something like this?”

  “We have a report for everything,” he replied.

  “Lucky you.”

  * * * *

  Forty minutes later, he stood inside the morgue watching as Rae examined Anthony James’ body. She was efficient and thorough. She made notes as she examined the body while also hesitantly touching the body.

  “Asher.” She glanced up, their gazes clashing. “Could you come here, please?”

  Reaching for a pair of gloves, he slipped them on as he approached the body. Rae had James’ mouth open and her latex-covered fingers were searching his mouth.

  “He’s missing a molar on his lower left jaw. It’s not a fresh pulling, although there does appear to be some gum irritation there. I can draw blood, but I believe this is where a capsule of cyanide was placed. He died within five minutes of exposure. When an autopsy is performed, I’ll bet they will find the remains of a hollow tooth and shards of glass in his stomach,” she advised.

  “Document everything you find, Rae. We’re going to need it.”

  She tapped the clipboard resting on James’s chest. “It’s pretty straightforward. Once I got the whiff of bitter almonds on his breath, I knew the cause. It was just figuring out the how.”

  “It’s always better when it comes from a doctor. Even though I smelled it when I got close enough, I’m not the one with MD behind my name.” He winked at her, trying to relieve some of the tension in her form. From the minute she stepped into the morgue, she’d been on edge. No one ever gets used to seeing a dead body.

  “Even with my credentials, Barclay will shred my findings. They’re going to claim you or your team murdered him.” She picked up the clipboard, jotted down more notes before she placed it on the desk across from the table. Rae then grabbed a needle and a vial before drawing James’s blood for analysis. “This should help.” She jotted down his name, date, and time on the vial.

  “Barclay can kiss my ass. Innocent men don’t resort to suicide.”

  “I agree. You need to be prepared.” Worry filled her voice. “You should check Tinsman and Franks.”

  “I’m always prepared. It’s part of my job,” he proclaimed as she removed her gloves and tossed them in the trash before washing her hands. He followed suit. “I’ll get a man on Tinsman and we’ll go talk with Franks.”

  “Sounds good. If they have them, I can get it out.”

  “Great.” He turned to her. “The more I think I’m getting a handle on this; more shit comes to light.” They stepped out of the cell to where O’Malley and Hanover lounged outside. “She confirmed it.”

  “By the way, boss. I won the bet,” Hanover piped up.

  “What bet?” Asher inquired.

  “The bet we had going to see how long it was till you snuggled up to the good doctor. I had within five days. O’Malley here,” Hanover nudged O’Malley, “had you doing the deed before we even got on the plane.”

  “Jesus, don’t you guys have enough shit to do than take bets on my sex life? Who says we fucked anyway?” he barked.

  “You did. I can tell, boss. I can always tell. Your face looks relaxed, mostly around your eyes and the muscles in your shoulders aren’t as stiff. You look how you always look after you blow your load,” Hanover said.

  “Fuck. I’m not sure if I should be disgusted or amused that you’ve taken this much notice.”

  “Amused. I know when all you motherfuckers have nutted. O’Malley tends to not grunt for a day or two. He’ll actually hold a conversation with you. Callahan whistles a little ditty, and Schoell, his crazy ass cleans all his weapons. Like deep cleans those bitches,” Hanover stated with a big ass grin on his face.

  “I’m not amused.” If he could throttle all of them, he would. His sex life had nothing to do with the damn mission.

  “Neither am I,” Rae announced behind him. “Do any of you have a concept of privacy?”

  Asher glanced over his shoulder, and frowned. She was pissed. Her lips pinched together, and she was giving Hanover a death glare.

  “No, ma’am, I sure don’t. Not when we’re forced to live on top of each other for weeks on end. Sometimes, we’re forced to piss right next to each other because of the complexity of the missions. It becomes a level of closeness most civilians have no concept of. It makes you know your teammates better than their own friends or family. You learn their tells, especially those tells that say your teammates have fucked,” Hanover stated smugly.

  For someone so smart, his sniper could be so damn stupid sometimes. He glared at Hanover, willing him to shut the hell up.

  “I’m not one of your teammates, and my sex life is none of your damn business,” Rae replied tartly.

  “No disrespect, Doc. But Asher is my business. What affects him, affects us. His mood can set the tone for our team. When he’s stressed, we’re stressed. When he’s happy, we’re happy. You’re going to need to adapt to us if you plan on staying.”

  “I don’t have to adapt to anyone. When this is done, I’m going back to my life and my job.”

  Hanover snorted. “I’d be willing to bet a year’s pay your ass isn’t going anywhere. Commander is willing to break his hard ass rules for you. To be a rule breaker for the first time in his adult life means something. In less than a week’s time, you’ll be on the family level. Mark my words.”

  “Ugh. You’re all crude, rude men and if I knew it would do a bit of good, I’d have every one of you written up for sexual harassment.” Rae threw her hands up in frustration when none of them said anything to her. “I’m not going to stand here and argue with stupid. I have patients who need me.”

  “Hold up, Rae. I’ll walk back with you. I need to speak to Franks again anyway,” Asher stated.

  “Sydney just gave birth, and his daughter just had a procedure. He needs to be with his family,” she argued.

  “I’m aware, Rae. I was there,” he reminded her. “James’ cause of death has opened the door to more questions. Questions only Franks can answer.”

  Instead of responding to him, she pulled off the white lab coat she was wearing, tossed it into the chute and storm
ed from the room.

  “Son of a bitch,” Hanover grunted through the comm. “I’m with Tinsman. Tell me what I need to look for?”

  “Hold on, Rae will tell you.” He hustled down the hall toward her. “Rae.” She stilled then faced him as he pulled the comm from his ear and handed it her. “Tell him what to look for.”

  She sighed, grabbing his earpiece, then ran through the exam. “Look for anything off. Too white of a tooth. Looks plastic. Out of place. Yeah…I’ll wait.”

  Each minute that passed was another that Tinsman could kill himself. “Anything?”

  She shook her head.

  Impatient, he began to pace. No way in hell they’d take the chance of Tinsman biting the big one. If he disappeared, so did the case Asher was building against Senator Lincoln.

  She winced. “Great. Good to know.” She handed him the comm. “Hanover wants to talk to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She headed for her room.

  Every bit of him wanted to go after her and fix this shit, instead he stood there like a dumbass. “Yeah, go ahead.”

  “The son of a bitch bit me. I think I need a rabies shot and a tetanus,” the man groused. “Why don’t people have good manners anymore?”

  He gave Hanover a minute longer to bitch then stopped his tirade. “Did he have one?”

  “Yeah, Tinsman has one,” Hanover replied. “What do you want us to do with him. He’s out cold.”

  “Hold him until Rae can get there. I’m going to talk to Joseph to see what information he might have.” There had to be a reason for James and Tinsman to have the capsule. Did Franks and if he did, why? First thing that came to his mind was expendability.

  “Will do.”

  He pushed the button to his comm while hurrying down the hall. Business first, everything else later. When he got to her room, he knocked. “Rae, I hate to do this, but I need you to pull Tinsman’s tooth.”

  She opened the door. In the short time they’d been apart, she’d changed. “I’m dead tired. You owe me.”

  “Anything. Promise.” He held up his hands.

  “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Eleven