Tori observed her husband, eating calmly and watching the group, seemingly oblivious as to what went on around him. Wow, he seems to be taking their arrival pretty well. Much better than I would have anticipated. “Ok, then we make a day of it,” she agreed to the plan. Won’t it be fun.
I Spy
Filled with nervous energy, Tori set out early the following morning, taking in a brief run down the block and back before returning to the gym. The crisp air felt good on her face, and she relished in the brief serenity of being alone, aware of being severely outnumbered with the addition of the two men to their group, and it would only get worse when Cody and Collin returned.
Michael, already using the equipment, smiled when she entered, allowing her to fall in easily beside him while they pushed their bodies to the limit. To her surprise, Enrique and Brett also came in before they were finished, and Michael greeted them warmly. Gaping at him suspiciously, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was up to.
The entire group assembled in the kitchen at 10:00 am for brunch, and Stella demonstrated why the band loved her. She produced the best omelets Tori had ever tasted, stuffed with cheese and generous bites of ham. Michael again seemed at ease, and it made Tori nervous to see her spouse and the two Scorpions exchanging conversation and banter, as if they were old friends.
Watching the trio, she poured over what she knew about them while she sipped her coffee. Brett was Henry’s age, which put him close to fifty, give or take. However, Enrique and Michael couldn’t have been more than a year difference in age, and perhaps that gave them more common ground. They were all three former SF as well.
She knew that Enrique had met with her husband previously, before they were married, but considering his story at the moment made her curious. Did her mate know Brett as well? Could there be more to their relationship than he had led her to believe? She didn’t like the feeling that her husband had secrets from her, especially if her former lovers were a part of them.
Ready to begin the day’s adventure, the five friends piled into the limo, the girl choosing to take the window seat, facing forward. Michael slid smoothly in beside her and placed his hand on her leg. Feeling her husband caress her thigh, she avoided looking at the two men seated across from her, facing the bar. She couldn’t help the feeling of being back in the midst of the crew, the tension palpable; almost as if they were each waiting for their turn, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
As soon as the actual shopping began, Tori began to relax and took over the two men, making suggestions and pulling out items for them to inspect or try on. Brett blew her off right away. She giggled at the stern expression he wore when he informed her that he knew what he needed and could dress himself.
Enrique, on the other hand, appeared eager to be close to her, and seemed quite willing to have her holding up shirts and pressing them against his broad chest. He liked the way her hands felt through the cloth, occasionally catching her fingers to toy with them, the two of them becoming comfortable to the point of being oblivious to the others in their search for his new attire.
Michael watched the pair warily, pretending to be shopping himself as his cover and maintaining outward acceptance. The two of them are awfully cozy, he noted, knowing better than to make a scene. Can’t push her about it, though. Throwing a fit won’t win me any points.
Taking in more than a dozen stores, the car had been stuffed with purchases for the two men, as well as a few items for the rest of them, and Tori found herself laughing out loud as they rode home, “So, when do we have enough?” she teased.
“Enough what?” her brother countered.
“Enough crap,” she stated evenly, “Every time we go out, we blow money on more stuff we don’t need.”
“We need it,” he returned her grin. “Think of it this way, we’re helping the economy.”
“What the fuck kind of excuse is that?” she continued to smile.
“A real one. Seriously, by spending money, we give people jobs. I’m not kidding, and I know it sounds wrong, but when you reach the point, you have more than you could spend in a normal lifetime… it’s time for you to spend more.” He stared at her, and she thought about his words carefully, still not sure the logic was sound.
“So what do we do when we can’t stuff anymore into the closet?” she gnawed at her lip while she considered the issue.
“We donate stuff, to homeless shelters or Goodwill stores,” he smiled again, “I’m telling you, we’re much more into community service than you probably realize.”
The girl nodded slowly, surprised at the simple, yet obvious solution. Giving her husband a quick glance, she saw that he watched her, his expression once again appearing compliant. Choosing German, she inquired quietly, “You ok?”
“Yeah,” he gave her a grin while returning his hand to her knee, “Getting there, anyways.”
As the car pulled up in front of the massive structure, Tori had a swarm of butterflies break loose inside her belly as she considered the changing dynamics within the group. Watching the men carry in the bags, she admonished herself firmly, calm down baby girl, this is a good thing. But her thoughts did little to bring her scattered emotions under control.
“That’s it; they’re back inside,” Eli spoke calmly. “Guess we should make the call.”
Nodding his agreement, Mason Hunt checked his messages. “Yeah, the other team is in position and ready to relieve us. Let’s get some coffee and take care of checking in.”
The two were seated in a plain, late model sedan, with Eli at the wheel. He had parked along the curb outside the front gate momentarily, and swung his gaze around one last time before pulling back out into the street, “Go ahead; you can put him on speaker. Get this over with,” he repositioned his hands anxiously.
Reaching for his phone, Mason pulled up the number and made the call. Touching the button to make it a community conversation, he waited patiently for James Godfry to pick up the line. “Hello, Jim. This is Hunt.”
“Yes, Hunt; you have something to report?” Godfry queried, all business.
“Yes, sir; we have an issue. It appears that Dominguez and Spears have rejoined our girl.” He paused for a moment, licking his lip as he chose his words carefully, “She took them shopping today, and from the looks of it, they are here to stay.”
The two men waited, hearing their commander inhale noisily as he considered the news. “Anything else?”
“No, sir. Only that they arrived and appear to be making themselves at home. Any advice?”
“None. Keep to the plan, and do not interfere. However, do keep me posted if anything else changes.”
“Roger that; thank you, sir.” Mason ended the call abruptly, returning the device to his inner pocket and squirming slightly in his seat.
“I have to say, I don’t like this,” Eli informed his partner. “Their arrival means something.”
“Yeah, I think so, too,” his counterpart reluctantly agreed, “But what, remains to be seen.” He cut his eyes over at the other man, “We informed Godfry, and he didn’t alter our orders. That means we continue our surveillance.”
“I don’t like spying on her. It isn’t right.” Eli pushed the issue, causing Mason to chuckle.
“You know, I’ve never met this girl, but I really am curious what she’s got that makes men go stupid,” he chided.
Keeping his eyes on the road, Agent Founder didn’t bother to respond. I don’t see caring about a woman as stupid; he consoled himself as he pulled up in front of their usual café.
Man to Man
As soon as the new purchases were safely tucked away in her closet, Tori set out to find Brian, eager to share the melody the day had inspired with him. Convincing him they needed to make some music, the pair made their way into the studio for a few hours of jamming out and putting their heads together.
Seeing that his wife and brother-in-law would be out of the way for the duration of the day, Michael quickly decided the time
had come for a man to man chat with the new arrivals. Making his way down the hall, he whistled to himself, arriving at the two rooms to find Enrique simply standing, staring at the assortment of packages, and not actually moving to put any of the items away.
“Pretty daunting, huh,” Michael commented as he eased his way through the door.
“Yeah, it is,” Enrique cut him a distrusted glare, Brett’s warning fresh in his mind as the snake slithered into the room.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” Michael kept up the friendly façade.
Enrique only nodded, reaching for a sack and allowing the contents to tumble out onto the king sized bed.
“How about some coffee instead? All this shit’ll still be here later. Or you could have Stella put it away.”
“Stella? The maid?” the other man scoffed. Pursing his lips, he lifted one of the garments, “Ya know, I gotta be honest with you. I never had anything. Growing up, we was dirt poor. This,” he cast his eyes around the room, “This’s some shit, man.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Michael smiled again, “So, how about that coffee? Let’s get Brett and go have a break.”
Nodding, Enrique made his way across the hall to find Brett had a large portion of his new wardrobe already stowed. “Woah, you don’t mess around.”
“Hell no, get this shit done, get settled,” he beamed, “We had fun today. Did ya see the look on ‘er face?”
Enrique placed his arm above his head on the wall next to him to lean on, “Yeah, I seen it. She was happy today.” He glanced over at her husband, checking his expression, “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her smile like that.”
Michael calmly leaned his rear end against the wall facing him, considering the man before him, “I guess you really do care about her after all.”
Instantly the other two men were on edge, Enrique pulling his arm down and standing up straight, “What the hell’s that supposed t’ mean?”
Throwing his arms up to fold them across his chest, Michael only grinned, “It means exactly what it says. You care about her. You want to take care of her. Of course, you realize that she’s my wife, or at least I hope that you do.” After seeing their familiarity during the day, he needed to evaluate its importance to the future.
Eyes shifting head to toes and back again, Enrique sized him up, “Yeah, I gets it. So you wantin’ to go have coffee is just a ruse. Why don’t you jus’ say what you gotta say already an’ be done with it.”
Brett grinned, “Oh, are we gonna go have coffee, get all chummy?”
Michael laughed, surprised by their easy going attitudes, “You know, you guys don’t strike me as the badass-wanna-be’s the Dragons always came across as.”
“That’s cause we’re not,” Brett offered readily, “Eddie Farrell was a mean son of a bitch, an’ his brother Red was right there with him. Or maybe it was th’ other way ‘round, who knows. The point is, we ain’t them.”
“Right,” Michael nodded, “Alright then, let’s go grab us some mugs. Discuss the particulars while Tori is busy in the studio with her brother.”
“You mean talks about her behind her back,” Enrique supplied.
Michael shrugged as he stood up straight, “I guess you could call it that. Let’s just say, she don’t need to know everything that goes on between us. Let’s call it… a gentleman’s agreement.”
“An’ what exactly is it we’re agreein’ to?” Brett eyed him warily.
“Oh, you know. Stuff that needs to be said,” Michael wafted a hand at the pair. “I’ll let you guys help decide that. I mean, if we’re going to be friends after all, we’re going to need to learn to trust each other, right?” Turning his back on them, he strutted down the hall, assuming they would follow.
“You believes that guy?” Enrique kept his voice low.
“Yeah,” Brett dropped the jeans he had been tending to on the bed. “He’s some piece o’ work,” and made his way out the door, headed for the stairs.
Finding Michael in the kitchen, working on the pot, Brett nonchalantly took a seat at the table to wait, Enrique following his lead. The trio didn’t bother talking while the java brewed, and used the time to evaluate.
When the cups were finally filled, Brett lifted his calmly and inquired if they actually had an agenda for the meeting, causing Michael to release a small laugh.
“I really like your sense of humor, Brett,” he stated slickly, “That’s good. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
Not bothering to take offense, the older man quickly agreed, “Yeah, it does come in handy. I guess you understand we didn’ come here t’ hangout in fancy clothes an’ sit around drinkin’ coffee.”
Michael took a sip of his steaming liquid before he replied, “No, I didn’t figure you did. And I guess the first thing I want to put out there is; it wasn’t really Tori’s fault, her being here, playing in the band. Don’t get me wrong, she wants it, and she loves the music, but I don’t think she would have chosen this if we hadn’t persuaded her a bit.”
Brett’s green eyes lit up, “Persuaded her? You mean you talked her int’ doin’ this shit? What kind o’ idiot are you?”
The other man didn’t flinch, “I didn’t see it as an issue. She is who she is. Either they will find her or they won’t. Living like she’s afraid, either way, isn’t any kind of life.”
Brett leaned back in his chair, watching his lips as he spoke. “Hmm, that’s one way o’ lookin’ at it. I guess that has somethin’ t’ do with the smile she wears a lot more, too.”
Brett voiced his opinion as Enrique nodded his understanding. “So we alls agree that she’s in danger then,” Enrique clarified the point.
“Yes,” Michael stated flatly, “But she doesn’t need to live like she’s scared. That’s what we’re here for. We got her back.” He lifted the cup in a small toast to the others having stated what he hoped would be the foundation of their friendship. Nodding, the other two men were quick to approve his opinion.
“So that’s it then,” Brett seemed eager to end the conversation.
“Well, not quite,” Michael stood for a refill before getting to the heart of the matter, “I had one other favor I needed to ask of you guys. Something more important I guess. See, protecting Tori from the bad guys is all well and good, but there’s someone closer to her that she needs a little help with.”
Enrique tossed his chin up, “Oh yeah, who?”
“Herself.”
Enrique’s jaw dropped wide open, “Herself? What the hells you mean by that?”
His fingers running around the lip of the warm glass, Michael took his time. “I know you guys are close to her.” He cut his eyes over at the younger of the two, “I know you may even have feelings for her. What I would like to do, is to ask you not to act on those feelings.”
“Are you asking me to not fuck your wife?” Enrique busted out laughing.
Michael’s features remained placid, even as Brett also began to snicker. “Yeah,” he replied after a tangible pause, “Look, you know how she was raised. She never had a normal life before she and I were married.” Pausing, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and then changed tactics. “Ok, let me ask you this… Why did you leave her with me?”
Enrique only stared at him, his laughter subsiding and his brown eyes sparkling while he considered the question.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to get an answer, Michael tossed out his theories, “Is it because you felt sorry for her? Because you really don’t care? Or because you really want what’s best for her?”
“Man, you’re a real son of a bitch! Ya know that?” Enrique exploded with a burst of anger, giving the table a violent shove to push his chair back to stand, taking the other men by surprise.
Moving over to the sink, he tossed the cup in, causing it to shatter, which he ignored. Leaning against the counter, he ran his fingers through his hair, drawing a noisy breath in through his nostrils and exhaling it through a relaxed jaw to calm hi
mself. “I ain’t gonna promise not to fuck her. Not if she’s willin’.”
Spinning around to lean his backside on the edge of the sink, he threw his arms across his chest and folded them. “Likes I said, she was mine before she was yours, and maybe I don’t likes your definition o’ normal. Maybe she don’t. If I had it to do over again… I can’t says that I’d do it the same. Not after the way things turned out.”
Rocking his jaw side to side, Michael tried not to let on how pleased getting the confession had made him. “I’ll keep that in mind,” being all that he said in reply. Standing, he placed his mug on the counter, using it to move right up next to the other man so he could look him in the eye before he turned his back and exited the room.
Dark Places
Special Agent Mason Hunt stood in the shadow of the tree; his black trench coat wrapped tightly to keep him warm. Peeking out, down the path that she regularly took when she ran, he hoped that today would be such an occasion, and he would get the chance to speak to her alone. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and leaning back into the corner formed between the tree and the wall of the estate he had had under surveillance for weeks.
Hope that jackass Founder stays put, he muttered to himself and popped the lighter closed, drawing a deep drag that produced a bright red cherry at the end of his smoke. Adjusting his toboggan to cover his ears more fully, he thought about his latest partner and their current case. The case he had invited himself in on at the request of Terral Huffman.
“Old Terry was right, you know,” he talked to himself aloud in a low gravelly voice, “This shit just don’t add up.” Relaxing into the darkness, he peeked through a small crack between bark and brick, watching the lighted path that she would take, leading to his hiding place. Somewhere in this tangled mess, there’s a connection. This girl’s in the middle, so do we trust her? He took another long drag. Have to trust her, he reminded himself again; we don’t have a choice.
A New Life Series - Finisher Set Page 40
