Inferno (SKALS)

by Adriana Noir

  Vince nodded. His left leg bounced in an uneasy beat. An audible swallow filled the room as he searched for the right things to say.

  “We have to stop him,” Sebastian mused to himself. “Now.”

  “I know this is none of my business, sir, and it’s certainly not my place to ask, but when are you going to fill the others in?”

  Sebastian tilted his head. His eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. “Is the burden becoming too much for you, Agent Pellagreeni?”

  The stocky blond shook his head in adamant denial. “No, sir. Not at all. It’s just we can’t do this on our own, and quite honestly, every time I look at Agent Reevers, I feel guilty. It’s almost like I’m sneaking around his back or something.”

  The laugh that escaped him was quiet and humorless. “We aren’t lovers, Vincent. Josh is my partner.”

  “I know that, sir. That’s why I feel bad. He should be in on these things as well, and I swear to Christ, it’s like the man knows. The looks he’s been giving me lately are far from friendly.”

  “He’s not the warm and cuddly sort,” Sebastian quipped, his patience starting to waver. “All those years spent as my partner have sucked the joy right out of him.”

  “Understandable, sir.”

  Sebastian’s head snapped up. A heavy flush settled over Vince’s cheeks and his pained expression said he immediately wished he could take the words back. Feeling generous, he decided to let the small quip slide with a warning.

  “We aren’t here to make friends, Vincent. If that’s what you are looking for I suggest you reevaluate the situation and take a good look around. I’ve discussed my suspicions with Josh before and it’s my impression that he’s not ready to hear how far this has gone. Not yet. When it’s time, I will let him know. We can’t afford to lose him or anyone else for that matter.”

  “And if he does switch sides, sir? What then?”

  Sebastian’s jaw jutted as he pursed his lips and cocked his head with a grim shake. “Then we are in for one hell of a difficult fight.”

  A sullen look crawled over Vince’s face. His eyes darted to the crystal decanter perched on the desk and lingered long enough that Sebastian decided to put the poor man out of his misery. Snaring a tumbler, he poured his teammate a tall one. His expression remained neutral as he slid it across the smooth surface. Engulfing the glass in his hands, Vincent mumbled a quiet word of thanks before downing its contents in a single gulp.

  A knock drew both men’s attention. Swiping the back of his hand across his mouth, Vincent turned in his seat as the door swung open. Not waiting for the guard to announce his arrival or his purpose, Josh strode into the room. His steely gaze settled on the man seated across from Sebastian’s desk before narrowing ever so slightly.

  He was hard pressed to contain his amusement when Vince swiveled back to face him with a look of blatant suffering.

  “Sorry to interrupt your little powwow,” Josh stated dryly, “but Marx is calling a meeting. He’s got some new recruits he’d like to introduce.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Sebastian said. “Thank you for your time, Agent Pellagreeni. You’re free to go. Take your reports with you.”

  Vince snatched the mock files he’d brought with him off the corner of the desk and scooted past Josh, careful to give the man a wide berth on his way past.

  “What’s with him?”

  Sebastian shrugged as his partner jutted a thumb toward the door. “He’s under the impression you think we’re having an affair.”

  Josh blinked. A stupefied look crawled across his face as he tried to process that claim. “Wait. Do what now?”

  “Nothing. It’s not important.”

  “Uh…I’d say it’s pretty damn important if the man thinks I’m…” he trailed off with a mute shake of his head. “At least tell me he thinks I’m the top in this relationship.”

  Sebastian leveled him with a pointed look.

  Snorting, Josh nodded. “Right. I’ll set him straight later. If he needs a little cuddle from you now and then, I’m okay with that as long as it doesn’t cut into our time.”

  “Fuck off.”

  “See. There’s the Baas we all know and love. How could anyone resist that?” Josh asked, delivering a needling elbow to his side as they started to make their way down the hall toward the conference room. “Speaking of, how’s Tay holding up?”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Yeah? You don’t embellish much, do you?”

  “There’s nothing to tell. She’s got a concussion and she’s a little banged up, but she’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. Sorry I asked,” Josh said, his voice taking on a defensive edge. “How about you, Baas? How are you doing?”

  “Tired. I haven’t slept worth a damn in two days and this is the last place I want to be.”

  “Yeah. I get that,” Josh muttered.

  They let the conversation die as they came to a stop outside the conference room doors. Sucking in a deep breath, Sebastian pushed the heavy barriers open and let his gaze roam across the room. A wave of unease rippled through him as he took in the familiar faces of his teammates along with several new ones belonging to men he’d never met. It was bad enough wondering where each man was going to land before. Now Marx had added several new ones to the fray. It was an unsettling feeling to know that might have been the kind of security the director was banking on.

  Marx sat at the head of the table with his arms folded and a stern look of impatience stamped across his features. He offered little more than a curt nod of acknowledgement as Sebastian and Josh took their seats.

  “Good. Now that we are all here, we can get this meeting underway. As some of you may have heard, our security crew took a few hits yesterday. I will be bringing in replacements for those men soon, but until then things are going to be tight. To compensate for this strain, I’ve limited the number of people we will be allowing in and out of this building. All necessary inquisitions are to be made at one of our desert facilities.”

  A quiet rumble of acceptance rose around the table. Marx rocked back in his chair. His thick fingers tented beneath his chin. The heavy silver rings between his knuckles glinted beneath the dim, golden light.

  “As of now, we still have no word on Patrick James or his whereabouts. Would someone care to explain to me why that is?”

  “It’s not that we haven’t been trying, Marx. The guy is just slippery as shit.”

  The director’s dark gaze landed on Josh. “I don’t care about your excuses, Reevers. I want results. That brings me to you, Sebastian. Whatever efforts your team is making, I expect them doubled. I don’t care if that means you are living, breathing, eating, sleeping, and shitting SKALS twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Track him down and bring him to me.”

  Sebastian’s fists knotted beneath the table. More time away from home. Away from Taylor, at a time when she needed him the most. The short crescents of his nails sank deep into his palms. The time for being nice was quickly ending. Patrick James was starting to become more than a minor annoyance in his life. If the man had any brains at all, he would book one of those tickets to Mars people were raffling off and take his ex-wife with him.

  “Is that understood, Agent Baas?”

  He glanced up. The tone of Marx’s voice clearly indicated this was a repeated question. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he nodded. “You will have him.”

  “Let’s hope so,” the director said flatly. “I’m sure you’ve all noticed the new faces joining us today. You can get introductions out of the way later. For now, all you need to know is I am in the process of putting together a second team. After their training, they will be working in tandem with your efforts to locate Mr. James. Perhaps they will find something you gentlemen missed.”

  “Poor fuckers,” Josh muttered beneath his breath.

  Marx raised a brow in their direction. “Is there something you wish to share with the room, Agent Reevers?”

  “No, sir. Not really. I mean
, unless they’d like to spend some time with Baas. I’m more than willing to share him with someone else for a while.”

  “If you want to keep making jokes, you can spend some time alone in a reconditioning cell. Perhaps that will give you the liberation you need,” Marx retorted.

  “Uh…no. No thanks, boss. I’m good.” Lips pressed together in a grim line, he offered a comical farce of a smile to the newcomers seated at the table as he lifted his hands in an open spread. “Welcome to the team, boys. I hope you enjoy your stay as much as we have.”

  The comment drew several quiet snickers. Even Jackson, who was still relatively wet behind the ears, fought to hide a knowing smile. Seeing that, Sebastian tilted his head in interest. Maybe the new kid would prove himself useful after all. He swung his gaze back to Marx as the director shifted in his seat. Tension thrummed through him, as their commander pinned his partner with a calculating stare. There was a strong measure of truth to the saying “no good deed goes unpunished.” That was the standard with Marx rather than the exception, and the look he leveled on the man seated beside Sebastian warned his attempts to add a little humor and levity to their lives would not go unanswered.

  “Are you finished yet?”

  Sebastian winced, unable to help wondering how much of Josh’s ribbing was going to blow back on him. Marx was riding his ass hard enough about his team’s performance lately as it was.

  Josh sobered in an instant. “Yes, sir, Marx. Very.”

  “Good to know.” He cleared his throat, as if the action could somehow erase his momentary loss of control over the room. “That brings us to the final item of discussion. This organization will be going through some critical changes in the next few weeks. As you are all aware, SKALS has great potential. It’s time we stop contenting ourselves with comfortable and start reaching for the heights we are capable of, gentlemen.”

  Sebastian’s eyes locked with Vince’s across the table. His heartbeat throbbed in his temples and his stomach clenched. It took a vast amount of effort to still the tremble of anxiety racing through him as he listened to Marx’s deep voice drone in his ears.

  “Our field operations and outdoor training will expand. I realize this means more time and energy on your behalves, but the end results will be worth the cost. We have new equipment coming in that will aid in this process and perhaps add some enjoyment and variety to the experience as well.”

  “What do you mean by expansion?” Bradley asked.

  Sebastian studied the man. It wasn’t often his stocky teammate spoke up, and he couldn’t help but wonder about the sudden show of interest. Bradley’s usual M.O. was to lay low and cling to the adage that out of sight meant out of mind. Until now, that course of action had worked fairly well. Unfortunately, all traces of anonymity had just faded. As far as Sebastian was concerned, the man had just painted a glaring bull’s eye on his back. His eyes narrowed.

  “For starters, we will be branching out more within your local communities. There’s been some new rules and regulations passed regarding the Patriot Act, and I see no reason why we can’t lend our local agencies a hand in seeing that these laws are being enforced.”

  The bacon and egg croissant he’d scarfed down for breakfast threatened to reemerge. So did the steady stream of coffee he’d been ingesting all morning. Clenching his jaw, Sebastian fought against the rise of gorge in the base of his throat. Community action was a swift and decisive step in the wrong direction, and he couldn’t help but wonder what that would mean for the unsuspecting civilians around them. It was all happening too fast. The entire situation was spiraling completely out of control.

  His troubled gaze swung to Marx as the director stood. His bulk cast a looming shadow across the table and the bold details of the skull and cross bone insignia burnt into the wood. Sebastian swallowed, not missing the ironic symbolism in the moment.

  “Keep me updated, gentlemen. Enjoy your weekends.”

  The thought almost made him laugh. Rising to his feet took effort. Catching his eyes, Josh offered an amenable shrug.

  “Could have been worse,” he stated.

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Come on, Baas. Expansion. New shit. A stronger community awareness and presence. What’s not to like? Maybe our pay will bump up a few scales as well.”

  He studied his partner for a long moment as the rest of the team filed through the doors. The dread that settled over his chest was almost suffocating. Pushing his chair back in, he searched his partner’s eyes.

  “We make more than enough as it is, Josh,” he stated softly.

  “Yeah. I know that, Baas. I was just trying to look at the bright side of things here.”

  He nodded and trailed a finger over the stitching adorning the back of the leather chair. “Do you really see SKALS branching through the community and doing door to door sweeps as a good thing?” he asked, without lifting his gaze.

  A hesitant pause lingered between them as Josh thought things over. Sighing, he raked a hand through his dark hair and shrugged. “Look. I don’t know what the right answer here is, Baas. What I do know is we’ve been trained to follow orders without raising questions. Going against that now isn’t going to do either one of us any good.”

  “You know what we are, Josh. You know what we do.”

  “Yeah…I get that. But this isn’t about everyone else. It’s about protecting ourselves and our families.” Backing toward the door, Josh cast his arms open. “It seems like a pretty simple choice if you ask me.”

  He stared after his partner for a long moment before lowering his head with a sorrowful shake. Josh was right. It should have been a simple choice—but in the end—it really wasn’t.

  ~*~*~*~

  Taylor stirred, sensing she was no longer alone. Struggling to sit up, she smoothed her hands over her hair and straightened the blanket as her eyes darted around the room, trying to assess how long she’d been sleeping. The day had been as boring as it was long. There was only so much daytime television a person could stomach before they wanted to gouge their eyes out or stuff their ears full of cotton. By three, she’d opted to shut off the madness and lose herself between the pages of a book, but the small print made her head throb and the hours had continued to creep by.

  She glanced up as Sebastian’s broad shoulders and lean form filled the doorway. The soft golden light spilling from the hall fell across his shoulders and played on the damp auburn highlights of his curls as he leaned against the archway and studied her. Gone was the long scruff that had covered his cheeks. A respectable five o’clock shadow stretched across his upper lip and chin in its stead, and the warm, chocolaty scent of his body spray lingered in the room between them. The sight of him filled her with an instant longing to close the distance and ease the loneliness that had consumed her for most of the day.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re home.” Smiling, she patted the seat beside her. He didn’t budge.

  “Did you eat yet?”

  Picking at the corner of the blanket, she lowered her eyes and shrugged. “Not yet. I was going to call something in, but I must’ve nodded off.”

  His stare grew heavy and scrutinizing, but he said nothing. Searching for a way to break the silence, Taylor slowly released the breath she’d been holding.

  “How was work?”

  It seemed rhetorical given his mood, but it was all she had.

  “It was a day,” he said, crossing the room.

  Her wide eyes swung up to his as he settled onto the edge of the chaise lounge beside her. The muscles along his jawline twitched as he traced a finger over the top of her hand.

  “Please, don’t ask about work right now, baby. We can talk about anything. Anything else at all, just not Marx and SKALS. I need somewhere, where even if just for a minute, I don’t have to think about them.”

  He looked so lost and alone. Deep lines creased his forehead, and there was a lingering fear in his e
yes that scared the hell out of her. Her throat tightened with her nod. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Wrapping her hands around his, she gave them an affectionate squeeze. “Okay.”

  Open relief washed over him, softening his handsome features. Leaning in, he caught her chin and stole a slow, drugging kiss. When he pulled back, he managed a trace of the dimpled smile that she’d come to crave.

  “I don’t know about you,” he murmured, “but I’m starving.”

  His stomach rumbled loudly, as if on cue, prompting them both to laugh.

  “Nice one, Seb,” she teased, nudging his hip.

  His expression hardened, but there was a definite sparkle in his eye as he leaned over her and rested his forehead against hers. “Watch it, darling. Sooner or later, you will be feeling better and there will be no baby between us acting as a buffer.”

  She shivered at the husky menace in his voice. “That sounded an awful lot like a threat, Agent Baas.”

  Releasing a low chuckle, he tipped her face toward his. “Have you learned nothing in our time together? I don’t make threats, Taylor. Only promises.”

  Flushing a little, she hung her head.

  “Get up,” he said, patting her thigh. “If nothing else, you can keep me company while I whip us up something to eat.”

  A small niggling of guilt haunted her as she padded into the kitchen after him. It wasn’t so much that he was cooking; Sebastian often shared in the meal prep and clean up if he was home. It was more the feeling of uselessness hanging over her head. Lingering uncertainly in the broad arch between the kitchen and the hall leading to the dining room, she watched the play of the muscles in his back as he rummaged through the refrigerator.

  “Sebastian, let me help. Let me do something. Please?”