All Bets Are Off

by Marguerite Labbe

The way Ash phrased it made Eli think of Wayne, and he winced. Unfortunately, Ash noticed. “Okay, out with it.”

  “You really don’t want to know.” Eli began stuffing his books in his satchel, but Ash put a hand on his, stopping him.

  “You got another blackmail note.”

  “Christ, no, and I won’t be getting another one.” Eli met Ash’s gaze. “I spoke with Wayne several nights ago. It’s over with.”

  Ash’s brows leapt up. “You confronted a man you suspected of breaking into your house by yourself? I know you think he’s your friend, but friends don’t do what he did.”

  “I’m only half an imbecile, not a complete one. I met with him at Dingers.”

  Ash gave him an exasperated look, and Eli waited for him to go off on him, but instead Ash rubbed a hand over his short hair as if he were trying not to strangle him instead. “Okay, I’ll give you that. I know I’m coming across as overbearing, but I’ve learned too much about people not being what they seemed. It comes back to bite you in the ass.”

  Eli relaxed. He hadn’t liked keeping that from Ash; it had just seemed wrong to him. “You were right; he was behind it. He didn’t come out and admit it, but he made it clear that he feels my family owes his family. And since he couldn’t go after who he really wanted to go after, I was the next logical target.”

  He explained the whole fucked-up situation, from the bet their dads had made to his confrontation with his dad on the phone, as Ash listened with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. At least he didn’t try to rub it in Eli’s face that he’d been right.

  “I thought you were dead set against him being guilty. What made you decide to confront him?”

  “I started giving it a lot of thought when you pointed out how desperate his situation was and how he’d have the skills and opportunity.” Eli had to admit Ash had been patient with him when he’d been so hardheaded about the whole thing. “Then, after the bet, I wanted to give him a chance to tell me before you ended up going to the sheriff, so I had planned on talking with him anyway.”

  “You’re still leaving something out.”

  “You know, you’re really good at that. God help whoever faces you across the interrogating table.” Ash would make a good federal agent. He certainly had all the right instincts.

  “God help me if they’re as stubborn as you. Now stop avoiding the question.”

  “Wayne pissed me off. So the confrontation didn’t go as smoothly I wanted.” Eli hesitated and then decided to come out with the whole story. Keeping things from Ash was uncomfortable, and Eli was surprised he hadn’t already heard. “Wayne broke in again Saturday night. I guess he thought I was still out of town. Jabbers took advantage of that and ran outside and ended up getting hurt pretty bad.”

  “Is he okay?” Ash’s face darkened.

  “He’s bouncing back faster than I am.” Eli sighed and stuffed the rest of his books away. “I could’ve handled it better than I did. And maybe I should’ve come to you before confronting him. I admit, I let my pride get in the way. The whole bet really did piss me off.”

  “And Wayne is a friend and I’m an outsider you just met a couple months ago. I get it.”

  “Wayne was a friend. I don’t consider him one anymore.” Eli turned to Ash, frustrated by his inability to read Ash’s tight expression when he seemed to read Eli’s face just fine. “And you’re far more than an outsider. That’s not why it pissed me off.”

  Whatever Ash was going to say to that was lost at the sound of someone trying the knob on Eli’s office door. They both tensed as Eli wondered if they’d be catching Wayne in the act, but then there came a firm knock and the sound of Britton’s testy voice. “Hollister, you’d better be in there.”

  Eli stifled a groan as Ash moved to snatch up his coat. A dozen things he could say came to his lips and not one of them was appropriate. Britton couldn’t have decided to show his ugly face at a worse time. Unless, of course, Ash had gotten his way and they’d been half naked blowing each others’ minds like Eli wanted.

  “I’m meeting with a student.” Now go the fuck away. Eli still had things that he needed to say to Ash.

  “With the door locked?”

  Eli winced, but before he could respond, Ash opened it up. “That was my fault, sir. My hand must’ve slipped when I shut it.”

  “Probably a good thing, since people have a tendency to walk right in when I’m conducting meetings,” Eli said, with a hard look at Britton.

  “I thought your office hours were on Wednesdays?”

  Eli really fucking hated how the other man questioned everything he did. Especially since it wasn’t at all out of the ordinary for any professor to schedule student meetings outside of their regular office hours. “My hearing is perfectly fine, thank you. There’s no need to have everything you say come out in a bull roar.”

  Ash shot him an incredulous look, and Eli supposed that Ash had never been stupid enough to mouth off to a superior officer. Britton seemed entirely too pleased to take offense; there was a faint, supercilious smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. “I received a complaint about you, Hollister.”

  Eli’s insides turned to ice. Please not Whitney, not after he gave her another chance. He really was a trusting fool. And what the hell did Britton think he was doing, bringing up a complaint about him in front of Ash, or any other student, for that matter?

  “What kind of a complaint?” Ash demanded, and Britton turned to him, his eyes widening as if he’d forgotten Ash was there. “Sir.”

  “Who are you again?” His bushy brows came together in a fierce frown. “Are you a friend of Hollister’s or are you on the janitorial crew?”

  Eli bristled. Britton’s grasp of politeness got worse every year. And the younger a person was compared to him, the worse his rudeness. Eli pitied his students. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to sit back and let Britton belittle Ash.

  “Sergeant Gallagher served in the Marines and was wounded in action. He joined the Reserves and enrolled at Amwich only to have his studies interrupted when his unit was activated. He returned and continued with his studies and will be graduating in the spring. And if you’ll recall, I told you when you came in that I was meeting with a student.”

  “Please, Doc, don’t make me out to be some kind of hero. I was just doing my duty. We’ve met once before, sir,” Ash said with a slight edge to his voice. Eli could’ve told him that Britton wouldn’t have remembered. Unless Ash was a troublemaker in his class or a rare prized student, Britton didn’t remember most of the students who came through the department.

  “He is in my Historic Letters class, and we’re discussing his paper. So, as you can see, he has every right to be here. Ash, would you mind stepping outside for a minute? I apologize for the interruption.”

  “Sure, Doc.” Ash gave Britton a hard look. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  Eli waited until the door shut before turning on Britton. “You shouldn’t have brought that up in front of a student. What is the complaint about?” Eli asked, unable to bear the suspense any longer.

  “Favoritism, in your freshman comp class. A young man claims you’re not grading him fairly.”

  Eli bit back a sigh of relief. He’d gotten bullshit complaints like that on occasion. Almost all of the professors did, and Britton usually didn’t take it seriously. There always seemed to be one student who resented having to take the requirement or who was entitlement happy and shocked to realize that college was a whole different ball game from high school.

  Britton’s behavior completely confused him. It was almost as if he’d forgotten all the departmental rules and procedures. And Britton was an absolute stickler for rules. Eli frowned and looked closer at him. He didn’t seem like he had a head cold or any other illness that would impair his judgment.

  “I’m sorry that a student took a complaint directly to you. Did you suggest that he come speak to me so we could work this out?”

  “No, I tol
d him to come back to me with the papers in question.” Britton couldn’t hide his pleasure at that statement. Eli counted to ten in his head and told himself that losing his temper again wouldn’t solve anything.

  “Fine, if that’s the way you want to do it, go ahead.” At least it wasn’t Whitney trying to claim that he’d come on to her. Let Britton do the extra work if he wanted. Eli knew he graded fairly, and soon the other man would realize it too.

  Britton left, leaving Eli staring after him in confusion and exasperation. Ash popped back into the room and shut the door behind him. “He’s going to try to nail you to the wall with that complaint.”

  “Trying is not succeeding, my friend. I stand by everything I’ve graded, and even though Britton has an asinine attitude, he tends to stick by the professors in situations like this. He hates students that try to take the easy route or who whine even more than he hates me.”

  “Eli, he despises you,” Ash said bluntly. “A student he can put out of his mind, you he faces every day, and it’s eating him alive.”

  “Well, I’m definitely not one of his ass kissers, that’s for sure.” Eli met Ash’s worried gaze. “I’ve got enough going on right now to waste time worrying about him. As much as Britton would love to pin any wrongdoing on me so he can justify to the dean why he fired me, he can’t. I haven’t done anything wrong, and no amount of digging through my work is going to change that.” The concern in Ash’s eyes touched him even as it made him wonder what Ash was going to do next. “Are you going to try to fight all of my battles for me?”

  “I’d rather fight your battles with you.”

  Those words tore down all of Eli’s walls as his heart lurched. Dammit, Ash made it so easy to fall in love with him. How could Eli summon up any kind of a defense against that? “I….” Eli stopped himself before those words could fall from his lips and change everything. That’s what happened the last time he’d admitted to being in love. “Thank you, Ash.”

  Some of the tension left Ash as he grinned. “I was half afraid you were going to get defensive and tell me that you can take care of yourself.”

  “I can, but I guess that’s not the point.” Eli came around the desk and cupped Ash’s face in his hands. “You are amazing.”

  “One of these days I’m going to predict what you’re going to do correctly.”

  Eli laughed and kissed him. “Maybe, but where’s the fun in that?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I see you’re still looking as ugly as usual, Kurtis,” Ash said to the image of his friend on the screen. In truth, Kurtis was looking better. The lines of exhaustion remained on his face, but Ash was pleased to see the light had returned to his eyes. Two more weeks, and Kurtis would be reunited with his wife and twins.

  “You’re one to talk, did you make any boys cry today?”

  “Very funny. How’s the rest of the crew?” Ash could see them over Kurtis’s shoulder, the other men who had made up their little family when he’d still been with the battalion. Lewis and Mike were sitting on the ground in front of a TV, looking like they were playing video games. Knowing Jamison, he was probably off somewhere reading or napping.

  There were times when he really missed those guys. There were so many things soldiers didn’t talk about, the fear, the homesickness, but they still shared those emotions even if they remained unspoken.

  “They haven’t changed. Jamison still sucks at poker, Mike’s still a geek, and all Lewis talks about is getting laid.”

  Ash grinned. Boy, did that bring back memories. “Speaking of poker, I’ve got a new group going.”

  “You do, huh?” Kurtis leaned back away from the screen and took a swig from a bottle of water.

  “It’s an interesting group of characters. You’d like them. That’s what’s cool about small towns, you hear the best stories about everybody. Cooper is the sheriff, Neil owns a bar, and Robert has worked at the so-called adult store for the last thirty years. My campus tales cannot compare.”

  “You gossip worse than a girl.”

  “Not half as much as some of the people in this town. How about you, big guy, pull any good pranks lately?”

  “Hell no. I’m just counting down the days, man. Going home cannot come soon enough. So, I thought you weren’t looking to settle down?” Kurtis leaned toward the screen with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I thought the whole plan was to remain unattached when you moved to Amwich. Starting a poker group sounds like you’re disobeying your own rules. And this is after you got an apartment there. Are you looking at possibly sticking around after graduation?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. The year’s not over with yet.”

  “Good God, who would’ve thought you would’ve found a home in a little podunk town in New Hampshire? Wait till I tell Jamie.”

  “You do and I’ll kill you myself. Jamie will tell Melanie, who’ll call Mom and Katie, and next thing I know the phone will be ringing nonstop.” His sisters would be the worst, but they all were angling for him to come back to Georgia. Katie might even feel justified in popping up for a visit since she was the closest, just to snoop.

  “I thought Dennis was looking to get you a position at DCIS?”

  “I know. I haven’t taken that off the table. I still have time to decide. To be honest, I really like it here.” Something about this town had quieted that restlessness inside Ash.

  “So the FBI isn’t your number one choice anymore? Amwich is a little far from Boston. How are you going to be a big super-agent in a small town like that?”

  Ash had given it a lot of thought lately. He could drive down to Durham and take the train, but that was one hell of a commute and he wasn’t all that fond of the idea. It just seemed like too much wasted time. He could move closer to Boston, but he’d gotten rather attached to this town and most of the people in it during the past six months. It had been easy to leave Concord, but it would be much harder to leave Amwich.

  “With my luck, I wouldn’t get Boston. I’d probably end up in the Midwest somewhere. Besides, I’ve bumped up another job option to the number one spot.”

  A knowing smile crossed Kurtis’s lips, almost a smirk, and if he didn’t wipe it off his face Ash would find a way to make him squirm come Thanksgiving. “Uh huh, okay, you’ve intrigued me. What’s this other career you’ve planned, Fish and Game Warden? Hey, guys, Ash is turning into a tree hugger on us.”

  “Fuck all of you,” Ash said, laughing as the others joined in ragging on him. “Seriously, Cooper has been talking to me about joining the State Police when I graduate. He’s got some good selling points.” One of them was being able to stay put in Amwich. Another one was that he’d really feel like he was working for a community, in a place he loved, even if it was on a state level.

  “And this decision to stay would have nothing to do with one of your professors, would it?” Kurtis asked, lowering his voice as he leaned closer to the screen.

  “He is definitely a factor. I’m not sure how much of one, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say so. Still, Kurtis, you should come up and visit, bring Jamie and the twins. I think you’d like it up here too.”

  “Don’t even think you’re going to be able to convince me to stay. I’ve heard you bitch about the winter.”

  “No more than you’ve heard me bitch about the heat. And you bitch even louder than I do,” Ash said with a laugh.

  “Maybe I’ll be able to convince Jamie to come up to go skiing, or maybe in the summer. We could use a family vacation.” For a brief moment those shadows once again flickered in Kurtis’s eyes, and Ash vowed that he would get Kurtis and his family up to Amwich for the most relaxing trip they’d ever had.

  “I don’t think it would be too hard to convince Jamie if Melanie and Bruce come. We can have a reunion.”

  “I do like the sound of that,” Kurtis said with a sigh, before a grin broke out on his face. “Even if I would have to put up with your ugly face making gaga eyes.”

  “I do not make gaga eyes.
I may occasionally leer. I’ve been accused of ogling, but never gaga eyes.”

  “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see you. Hey, why don’t you bring your professor down for Thanksgiving?” Kurtis’s grin widened. “I know you haven’t told me half the stories you could have. I want to meet this guy.”

  Tempting. Very tempting, but Ash was sure Eli wouldn’t agree to another trip during the semester. “I don’t think so. Things are a little tricky right now, but who knows if things keep going maybe you’ll get your chance.”

  “Tricky?”

  “Mostly just the whole professor/student thing. To be honest, I did piss him off when I told him that the bet was still on. The one I told you about the last time we talked.”

  Kurtis’s brows furrowed, and he glanced over his shoulder at the others in the room, but no one was paying any attention. “Have there been any more blackmail attempts?”