by Tatum Throne
TJ shoved him hard again. This time Parker let him wail by letting him stumble forward toward the ground. Parker caught him at the last second before he gave the sidewalk a high five with his face.
Parker grabbed TJ, holding him close under the street lamp. They kissed hard with Parker taking ownership of TJ’s sweet mouth, not caring that they were in public and could be caught by anyone that knew them. He flicked his tongue inside, twisting it erotically with TJ’s. When he pulled away, Parker was breathless and off balance. He needed TJ.
“Why are you running from me?” Parker asked.
“I don’t want you to be hurt by my shit.”
Parker cursed. “You have to stop judging yourself. You are better than that. You are a good detective.” Suddenly it hit Parker. Why hadn’t he seen it before? TJ blamed himself for not cracking the case on Jason sooner. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know it was Jason.”
Pain echoed through TJ’s eyes. “We went to high school together. I never told you that he called me. That he asked me questions about the missing persons.”
Oh, fuck. “You couldn’t have known.”
“He tried pumping me for information. It wasn’t just him, though. Everyone asked me about the cases. I never thought it was someone I grew up with and that it was someone I knew.”
Parker held TJ’s face. “It’s not your fault. Do you understand me?”
“I get it.”
“Then let it go. Let it go for me.”
All the fight left TJ in a whoosh. “I will.”
Parker eased him into the passenger side of the Jeep. His eyes were closing heavily as he buckled him in. Instead of heading back to his place, Parker drove across town to TJ’s townhouse. Parker shut off the Jeep in the driveway. With TJ passed out in the passenger seat, Parker dug out TJ’s keys from his pocket and went to unlock the front door. He punched in the alarm code deactivating the alarm. He came around to the passenger side and roused TJ.
They staggered inside with Parker using his foot to close the front door. Parker hit the foyer lights and headed to the stairs on the right. TJ’s head rested on Parker’s shoulder as they went up. Parker found his bedroom, eased him back onto the bed, and went to take off his shoes. He unsnapped his jeans and pulled them down off his legs. TJ snored softly in his sleep. Parker smoothed the blanket up over TJ.
Emotionally spent, Parker kicked off his shoes and eased down next to TJ, holding him tight. TJ mumbled in his sleep.
“What?” Parker asked.
“I love you, Parker. I always will.”
A slow smile lifted the corners of Parker’s lips. Too bad TJ wouldn’t remember a damn thing about tonight. Perhaps it was a good thing that TJ wouldn’t remember his confession. The knowledge was more important than TJ’s memory of having said it. Parker tightened his hold. There was no way he was going to let TJ go now that he knew the truth. TJ loved him.
Parker kissed the nape of his neck, leaving a soft trail to his ear. “Me, too, babe.”
Chapter Eleven
TJ’s head pounded. The scent of extra-crispy bacon clung tightly to the air and nearly carried him out of bed. Memories of the night before flashed through his head like a silent black-and-white movie. TJ went to the bathroom to scrub the last twelve hours out of his mouth. He shouldn’t drink, considering his family history of alcoholism. He vowed never to go around the bend so hard again. Alcohol didn’t solve problems, it created them. He rinsed his mouth and slogged downstairs, all the while thinking about what Parker had said to him. It was time for things to change. He needed to let go of trying to control everything.
Bacon was frying up in the pan but Parker wasn’t in the kitchen. TJ stood in the bright morning sunshine streaming through the windows and across the blue tile. TJ poured a cup of coffee. The cup was halfway to his mouth when he realized where Parker could’ve been. He cursed, lowering the cup to the counter.
He went down the hall to his study. The door was open and Parker was standing inside, staring at the corkboard. It was a montage of Jason’s victims. Pictures of all the victims in order of their disappearance were tacked to the board. Beneath each picture, there was a list of evidence on the case. Another board held a map with circles and X’s where TJ had searched the area for the missing.
“Have you told the FBI about these areas you searched?” Parker asked.
TJ went to stand next to Parker, trying to see the information through his eyes. “Yeah. I put a call in to them two weeks ago. They’ve been focusing outside the state.”
“Do you think they’re looking in the wrong place?” Parker asked. “Yeah, I do. I think he stayed local with everyone.”
“You need to take all of this down so that you can move on,” Parker said.
Parker was right. He needed to move on from this case, but could he? “I don’t feel ready to. I want everyone brought home first.”
Parker met his gaze. “Let the FBI do their job.”
“This thing would be solved if the FBI was doing their job,” TJ said.
“Obsessing over your cases is not healthy.”
Surprise flashed fast and hard through TJ’s body, but he tempered it with an icy calm that he often used in the field. Parker was right about letting the FBI do their job. He needed to let this go. He spent far too many hours working a case that wasn’t even his. “I am obsessing.”
“Box this one up and move on to the next. The FBI has a task force looking at this one. You’ll be better served working on the small cases people forget about.”
“I think I’m ready to.”
Parker paced over to TJ’s side. TJ leaned into his open arms and enjoyed being held by his lover. Together they looked over all the evidence. “You probably have twenty more cold cases waiting in the pipe.”
“I do.” TJ ran a hand through Parker’s hair, giving Parker a sheepish grin. “The bacon is probably burning,” TJ said.
“Fuck.”
Parker headed for the door. TJ stood for a moment looking at the hours and hours of work he’d done on the case. He couldn’t imagine letting it go. A sharp pang of fear spiraled through his heart when he thought about letting it go without solving the case. He trusted Parker, He knew moving on was the right thing to do. It was starting to affect his job performance and it was beginning to change who he was. It was time to take all this down.
An empty evidence box sat on the floor beneath the windows. TJ flipped the lid open and started taking the evidence he gathered over the years down from the board. He didn’t look at it. He just let it all go. Time would eventually reveal the answers that the FBI was seeking. TJ didn’t need to hold on to all of this until that day. Ten minutes later, the board was empty. Years of work cataloged away. Would he ever open the box again? Probably not. Parker was right. Sometimes you had to let the bad stuff go to have the life you were meant to have.
TJ shut the door to his office and went upstairs to get dressed. He was going in to work for a little while. He wanted to be on the job. He dressed in cargo pants and a dress shirt, putting on his shoulder holster. He checked his Glock before putting it into the holster.
“What are you doing?” Parker asked.
“I’m going in to work for a few hours. I just want to square some open paperwork away. Promise. It won’t be a big deal.”
TJ could see that Parker didn’t completely approve, but that he wasn’t going to argue with him.
“You’ll come over to my place after work then?” Parker asked.
A shiver of lust vibrated through TJ as he slowly lifted his gaze to Parker. A possessive heat lingered in his blue eyes that left TJ feeling breathless. It was then that he wondered if Parker would always look at him that way. His heart raced with fear. What if things didn’t work out between them? “Maybe.”
Silence echoed.
“You’re pushing me out.”
TJ wasn’t. He smiled and said, “I’m not pushing you away. I just have some things I need to do.”
Par
ker came in close, resting his hands on TJ’s hips. TJ leaned into his lover as their lips met. He wanted this one erotic kiss to go on forever, but TJ knew if he did, he’d never get the balls to head into work today. Their tongues dueled passionately. Parker angled TJ’s head, taking control. Heart pounding, TJ broke his lips away. “Breakfast?” TJ asked.
“We should, shouldn’t we?”
TJ’s lips were wet and swollen from their kiss. He licked them, tasting Parker on them. He reluctantly pulled away. Parker led the way back downstairs and into the kitchen. Breakfast was still warm on the stove. Parker played domestic God by fixing plates. Sunlight hit the black silk strands in Parker’s hair, turning them momentarily blue. TJ smiled. For once in his life, he felt as though everything was going to be okay. Things were far from perfect, but they were on the right track.
Doubt lit another cigarette within TJ’s mind. The fucker was still parked in his cerebrum. TJ’s career was on a downward spiral. Parker didn’t need that dirt.
“Maybe we should cool things off for a while. Take things slow,” TJ said.
Parker glared. “Is that what you really want?”
No, it wasn’t, but it made sense for right now. TJ’s heart squeezed tight as he thought about letting Parker go. “Yes.”
Parker shook his head and cursed. “You’re afraid to come out.”
TJ blushed. He was afraid of coming out. Things changed when your coworkers found out you didn’t like the opposite sex. “It’s complicated.”
“You don’t need to tell me how complicated it is. I get it.”
TJ couldn’t deny that he was terrified of his bad reputation rubbing off on Parker’s pristine good-guy image. TJ could see that he pissed Parker off by pulling away. “Parker.”
“No. We’re not going to talk about this right now.”
The heat of Parker’s words were like a paddle to his ass that had TJ’s cock filling with heat. Yeah, if they had time, Parker would’ve had him tied up and dealing with how he truly felt. Lucky for TJ, they didn’t have that much time this morning. TJ’s cell phone buzzed on the table. He picked up the phone. It was Jones from the cold case unit. He answered. The spark in Parker’s eyes dimmed and hardened into resignation. TJ listened as Jones talked about one of their new cases. He needed TJ to come in to discuss some new evidence.
“I’m on my way.” TJ hung up his cell. “I have to go.”
He stood, giving Parker a quick kiss that could’ve easily lingered into more if they weren’t crunched on time or fighting.
“Anything I need to know about?” Parker asked.
TJ picked up his coffee to down it. “A lead on one of my cold cases. Do you have to work at the hospital today?”
“Nope. I’m off for the next few days.”
“What are you going to do then?”
“Just errands. I have to run to the bank. I’ll see you later?”
TJ put his empty coffee cup in the sink. “Dinner. I’ll meet you at your place.”
“Sounds good.”
TJ glanced back at his house as he stood next to his car.
Sunlight shot rays through the kitchen window, striking Parker across the chest. A shiver of fear rolled through TJ’s chest, causing his heart to skip a necessary beat. He wanted to run back to Parker and protect him, but he couldn’t. Dark clouds were rolling through the city. It wouldn’t be long before it was raining again. He wanted to stay, but he had a job to do.
Chapter Twelve
The bad feeling that settled into the pit of TJ’s gut never left as he drove to work. He tried calling Parker but got voicemail. TJ hung up the phone and popped a mint into his mouth. He was obviously too busy to pick up. Maybe he decided to shower before he left? TJ frowned as he headed into district headquarters.
As an afterthought, he made a quick call to the chief. He promised to keep his head on straight and talk to Andrea in the near future. The chief gave him the go-ahead to come back in to work on the cold cases. All was right in TJ’s world, but it didn’t feel that way.
TJ swung into the operations room just as his cell phone buzzed. TJ’s heart seized in his chest. It was Parker. It had to be. He knew something was wrong even before he reached for his cell phone. He grabbed his cell and read the text.
Parker was at the bank on Main Street and it was being held up. Everything slowed down as he read the text again. Cold fear turned his blood icy cold. Five armed. Six hostages. Four bank employees. I’m a hostage inside. Death slid his fingertips down the back of TJ’s neck. Parker was inside the bank. Parker was a doctor. Despite being part of the SWAT team, he wasn’t meant to be on the inside of these types of situations.
TJ didn’t need to call in the situation. The text had gone out to the department. Everyone had cell phone in hand as they got to work. TJ was part of the SWAT negotiation team.
As long as Parker kept his head down, everything would be okay. Icy fear washed through his body as he pictured Parker with the sunlight streaming through the windows, turning his body golden. TJ knew without a doubt something bad was going to happen to his lover. There was nothing he could do to stop it. Fate was in charge now.
Everything had to be okay. They met in the briefing room as SWAT was dispatched. They would be on the ground running minutes before negotiators came on the scene. They got through tactics five minutes later. They had prepared for this. TJ suited up with his bulletproof vest at a run as he went to his unmarked.
TJ drove fast through the pouring rain to the scene. The wiper blades worked overtime to keep up with his police-issued unmarked. TJ came to a quick stop outside of the taped-off area. Through the windows, TJ saw the hostages flat on the ground. TJ reached for his handheld radio.
“Forty-two, fifteen to dispatch, SWAT negotiator on scene,” TJ said.
“Copy, forty-two, fifteen. SWAT negotiator on scene.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance as TJ opened the car door. Lightning splintered across the ominous sky. Men dressed in black, with Halloween masks on, walked back and forth in front of the windows. They were heavily armed with semi-automatics. They were professional. They knew to hit just after the bank opened and the safe was unlocked.
TJ looked up at the neighboring buildings. Sharpshooters were positioned on the rooftops of the two buildings across from the bank. No one would be coming in and out of the bank without a fight. TJ went to his trunk and got out his tactical jacket to keep out the driving rain. He grabbed the binoculars out of the trunk. TJ lifted his binoculars and zeroed in on the front windows. Through the glass, he caught sight of Parker on his belly with the other hostages.
“Play it cool, my man,” TJ whispered.
TJ took his own advice as he headed over to the mobile crisis van now parked on the far side of the bank. Tim Miller was in charge of negotiations and TJ was his second. TJ nodded at him as he came into the van. Two other officers were with him.
“I heard Doc Woods is inside,” Miller said.
“He is. Anything?” TJ asked.
“Not yet,” Miller said. “I’m calling in now.”
TJ kept his eyes focused on the hostages, through the van’s side window, as Miller dialed into the bank. Rain hammered the metal roof of the van. TJ listened to the drone of the phone that was on speaker. He counted the rings. After twenty rings, someone finally picked up.
“Hostages will be killed if anyone comes near the door.” The voice was distorted as though a device had been put on the phone. “You will send SWAT away or we start killing hostages.”
“Let one hostage go and I’ll pull them back,” Tim said.
“You’re not in position to call the shots. Call off your dogs or I send the first one out in a body bag.”
“Anything else?” Tim asked.
“I want the armored truck. You have five minutes.”
The line went dead. “Fuck!” Tim growled.
Through the fogged windshield of the van, TJ saw the armored truck slowing down one block away. That was their in. TJ
was going to go in with that truck.
“The armored truck. That’s our in,” TJ said.
Tim looked down the block and shook his head. “TJ, you go in with another member of SWAT.”
“No SWAT. I want Evans,” TJ said.
“Done.”
Tim got on the radio calling SWAT back but keeping them on site. Lt. Evans wasn’t new to this type of situation. She worked closely with the team when going through training with homeland security. TJ was out the door, heading for the armored truck before he heard anything else. The plan formed rapidly in his mind. Get in there with the money and get out with all the hostages. To do all of that, he was going to plead insanity and stupidity. The Risk Assessment Team was going to fry his ass when this was over, but he didn’t care. Lives often depended on bold moves.
TJ lifted the yellow crime tape blocking off the scene. He jogged the two blocks down. He flashed his badge to the guard behind the wheel. He rolled down the window. “I need your uniform and truck. The bank is being robbed. I need to use your truck to get inside.”
Surprise made the armed guard’s face go pale. “Do you think they were after us? We’re running late.”
“That’s a possibility.”
The guards hopped out and moved with TJ to the back of the truck where they wouldn’t be visible to the robbers. “How much do you have in here?”
“Two-hundred fifty thousand.”
“Empty money bags?” TJ asked.
“Hooked on the wall inside.”
TJ took off his police-issued jacket just as Lt. Evans jogged his way. The guard handed over his jacket. The jacket was big but not noticeable. “Give me your hat, too.”
TJ pulled it down low on his head. Evans did the same with the other guard’s jacket and hat. She pulled her long brown hair through the back of the ball cap.
“Are we going in hot?” Evans asked.
Going in armed was suicide. Going in unarmed wasn’t the brightest idea either. “No. Are you okay with that, Evans?”
