Training Harder [Hard Hits 18] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Tatum Throne

  Malachi turned it up. “You get by with your wit and your charm and your talents. I want to know all of it.”

  “I bet you do.”

  Excitement moved through his eyes. “Please tell me you kept a journal?”

  She moved in close, letting her fingers move over the back of his hand. “I’ve kept everything safe and secure, but I’m not going to tell you where it is.”

  “Pity, I thought you were just starting to like me.”

  “Oh, I am. I just want to be sure before I tell you everything.”

  “How can I earn your trust? Is there anything I could do?” Malachi asked.

  “There is something…”

  “What?” Malachi asked.

  “Get me out of here.”

  Malachi inwardly cringed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I promise you that I’m worth waiting for.”

  “I bet you are.”

  Once the meeting was over, Malachi felt as though he needed a good, hot shower to wash the disgust from his body.

  She was obviously evil and thought she could get away with anything. He was going to make sure she didn’t. He was going to stop her from hurting anyone else.

  As he left the jail, Malachi tried to shake off the coldness of the interview as he drove back to District Two. Wade had another two hours left of his shift before he would be home for the night.

  That had Malachi hanging out longer at the police station, typing up his report from his meeting with their suspect. He had to make a call to the FBI to make sure that they were all on the same page. They needed this case to stick when it went to trial. There could be no mistakes. Malachi wondered who her accomplice could be.

  It was time to talk to her husband again.

  That had him reaching for his desk phone, putting a call into the man. He held it with his shoulder as he listened to it ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, this is Sgt. Malachi with District Two police. Is this John Parks?”

  “It is.”

  “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  The guy sighed. “Not really. I’m putting the kids to bed.”

  “I’d like to talk to you about your wife, Anna, if you got a minute. Would you like to come into the station?”

  “I’d prefer if you spoke to my lawyer.”

  “How about we have this conversation over the phone, then?”

  He seemed to hesitate but then said, “What do you want to know?”

  “Did you know?”

  He laughed ironically. “No, I had no idea what Anna was doing. She would mostly go crazy several times a month but nothing this extreme. I didn’t know she was out killing people.”

  “How are your children handling it?”

  “They’re not.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Malachi said.

  “They think their mother is a saint. She obviously had brainwashed them into thinking that I was the bad one. Now I’m picking up all the pieces.”

  Malachi could hear the bitterness in his voice. “Was your wife friends with anyone or close to anyone?”

  “She had one friend she used to hang out with about once a week.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Kelly Samson.”

  “Do you have her number?”

  “Yeah, I have it somewhere. Hold on.”

  The guy rattled off the number and Malachi wrote it down quickly. “Thanks, I’ll be in touch.”

  As Malachi hung up the phone, he had to make another call. He had to talk to this Kelly person to see what she was doing and how she was involved with all of this.

  Chapter Seven

  Wade felt an icy chill race down his spine. Cold rain dripped from the old oak tree above his head. He clicked on his flashlight, scanning it around. He’d been called to the scene for a possible break-in at the storage facility off Reading Road.

  He walked down the long walkway, trying to make sense of his gut feeling. It felt as though he was being watched. His radio buzzed to life as the dispatcher cut through his thoughts like a knife slicing through fog.

  He shined his flashlight around, but nothing looked disturbed. He went back to his patrol car and drove to District Two. It was shift change. He sat into his patrol car. He needed to get back to the station. Part of him couldn’t wait to see his Dom. He put the car in drive and headed back to the station, confused by the sudden desire to get back to his lover.

  As he sat in the conference room, Wade listened to the assistant chief give an update on the open case.

  “Sgt. Malachi is running down a lead with the Parks case. It seems that our killer is not working alone to target singles.”

  Another shiver raced over Wade’s skin at the possibility of the serial killer having an accomplice.

  Every nerve was strung tight.

  “Sgt. Malachi has some promising leads.”

  When shift change was over, Wade headed out to find Malachi.

  Wade was coming off of a long shift. He was walking through the corridor toward his Dom’s office when he froze. Malachi was standing with another guy. They were standing close together as though they knew each other.

  The guy was dressed in a suit that made him look like FBI. Annoyance flew through Wade’s system before he could do anything about it. Wade wasn’t supposed to be back at the station yet, but he had to check into the evidence locker before his shift technically ended.

  He wanted to stop and find out what was going on and what they were doing. It shouldn’t have bothered him that he didn’t know the guy but it did. Instead of heading to the evidence locker like he needed to, Wade headed down the hallway, hanging back just enough so he could eavesdrop on what they are saying.

  Wade knew it was wrong, but he had to know. Who was this guy and why was he so enamored with his Dom? Their voices turned hush and it was impossible to hear what they were saying. Annoyance continued to move up Wade’s spine as he tried to figure out how he was going to handle the situation.

  With the evidence in hand, he decided to go toward the evidence locker. Then there were the reports he needed to finish up. There was a lot he needed to do before he would be able to go home to his Dom.

  As he watched the two men head toward the stairwell, Wade saw the man in the suit lift his arm up, placing it on the wall to block Malachi in. The move was so fluid and completely perfect, but it could only be done by a man who knew what he was doing and how he was doing it.

  Jealousy stole his breath away. This guy was flirting with his Dom and Wade wanted to know how Malachi would respond. With that thought in mind, he peered around the corner, watching the pair for the briefest of seconds. Wade saw the guy lean in and lower his lips to Malachi’s.

  Fucking hell.

  Shock went through Wade’s system as he saw his Dom kissing another man. He couldn’t believe that the guy had the nerve to make a move on his Dom. Tears stung his eyes as he turned, heading toward the evidence room, locking himself inside as he burst into tears.

  He couldn’t believe that it was over. How had Malachi moved on so quickly? Why? What had he done wrong? He was trying to obey without question, giving Malachi everything he wanted when he wanted it.

  Now, he knew he wasn’t good enough. How was he supposed to be the man he needed for his Dom when he couldn’t be everything for him? Wade wiped his eyes, putting away the evidence and locking it up. He just hoped that Malachi was leaving for the day and that he wouldn’t have to see the two men together.

  He was wrong.

  When Wade left the evidence room, they were still down at the other end of the hallway but this time the tone of their situation had changed. Malachi was saying something to him and the guy was backing off, but it still wasn’t enough.

  Amusement danced within the man’s face as he came in close, whispering something only Malachi could here. Wade could feel the sexual chemistry wafting off of him. This was not good. This was not what Wade wanted. He wanted his Dom completely to himse
lf.

  On cue, Malachi looked over his shoulder, catching sight of Wade, giving him a hard stare. He stared him down to the very depths of his soul, trying to make him feel what he didn’t want to.

  When they started this thing, Malachi said that love would not be involved and Wade knew that. He just wasn’t ready to give up on his Dom. The fact that he was not allowed to love him meant that he had to let him go before he got his heart broken.

  Wade turned on his heel and headed down. He was not going to play witness to what was going on there. He almost made it to the back entrance when a strong hand locked down on the inside of his arm, swinging him around.

  Wade had been so lost in his thoughts that he never heard the sound of footsteps approaching, silent and stealthy.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Malachi asked.

  “Let go of me.”

  “It wasn’t what you thought it was.”

  “So, tell me, what was it? I think it was exactly what it was.”

  “He’s a friend. Nothing more. He likes to cross the line to see what I’ll do. He works with the FBI and likes to piss me off when he’s here. It’s nothing and it meant nothing. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I know I have nothing to worry about. This is over between us. I think it needs to be for both of us.”

  “Hold on here.”

  “I don’t think either one of us should keep doing this, because we work together. It’s only a matter of time before it blows up. It’s better to leave things as they are now and go our separate ways.”

  “Wade, just be reasonable and listen.”

  “Besides, you’re the one doing my SWAT testing. What if everyone knew that we were sleeping together, too?”

  “Wait a minute.”

  Wade held back tears. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if we do this anymore.”

  “You’re really going to do that to us? Throw it away based on a little misunderstanding?”

  “No. There is no confusion. I think we both know how this was going to end. Thanks for everything. I appreciate it. I really do. See you around.”

  Pain moved through Wade’s heart as he turned away from the man he absolutely loved but he couldn’t say the words to. Yes, he loved Malachi. He had broken his number one rule about not falling in love with his Dom.

  Now that he had, there was nothing he could do about it. They were not together. He would eventually pick up the pieces and maybe ask for a transfer. Maybe to District Five. Far enough away where he wouldn’t see Malachi anymore.

  Tears stung his eyes as he went out to his patrol car. He felt so foolish, so stupid, and so alone. How could Malachi betray him so deeply and tell him it was nothing? Wade had to get out of there. He just couldn’t risk seeing Malachi tonight. Not any night.

  * * * *

  What the actual fuck had just happened? He was living with his submissive. The fact that Kale butted into the situation burned far more than he wanted to admit. He needed Wade, and he needed to control Wade, but maybe he was not the Dom to do it.

  As he turned on his heel, he caught sight of Kale talking with Detective Strong. The task force was gathering to talk about what they had learned in Malachi’s interview today. The fact that Kale was there now pissed him off, but there was nothing he could do about it.

  FBI Agent Kale didn’t know about his relationship with Wade, and if he had, he wouldn’t have crossed the line. Part of it was Malachi’s fault for not advertising that he was in a committed relationship. They’d been friends for a long time, since college. They’d been through a lot together, but that didn’t give Kale the right to fuck everything up for him.

  How was he going to do this? How was he going to make it right with Wade? It was all off the table tonight. The task force had been convened at the last minute to go over the latest evidence he had. There was no way Malachi could get out of it. He was one of the lead investigators on the case working with FBI.

  “Tell us what you have?” Agent Kale asked.

  “Kelly Samson. She’s our next person to interview and a good friend to our suspect, Anna Parks. According to Anna’s husband, John, this was the only person she went out with on a regular basis. At least once or twice a week. They were like sisters.”

  “When was the last time they saw each other?” Kale asked.

  “He said that since her arrest they haven’t seen each other.”

  Kale flipped through the file. “I think this is our first point of contact for finding out what’s going on. What about the husband?”

  Malachi sighed, trying not to think about the way his submissive had stormed off. “I don’t have a good feel on him. I think he knows more than he’s letting on. He’s one to watch.”

  The assistant chief nodded. “Sounds good. We’re making forward progress.”

  “I’ll take the lead on the friend with Agent Kale,” Malachi said.

  Malachi wanted to put this day behind him. He wanted to find Wade to convince him it had all been a misunderstanding. As Malachi was heading out the door, Agent Kale grabbed his attention as he was walking by.

  “Hey, you ready to head out to talk to this girl, Kelly?” Kale asked.”

  Malachi knew he needed to find Wade, but maybe if he did some work on this case first it would give him time to clear his head and for Wade to cool down.

  “Sounds good.” Malachi grumbled, “I’m driving.”

  Kale chuckled. “As always.”

  They headed toward his unmarked car.

  “What’s wrong? You seem off,” Kale said.

  “It’s nothing. It’s not your fault.” He sighed as Kale stared at him, giving in to what he was asking. “Someone saw us kissing in the hallway.”

  Laughter spilled from his lips. “Oh, that’s perfect. Did you tell them I’m not even gay?”

  Malachi gave him a hard stare. “The way you play it, everyone thinks you are.”

  “You know I don’t kiss and tell as it is.”

  Malachi glanced at his friend. He’d never officially come out. Maybe he wasn’t even gay, but still the man was playing with fire. “Well, it was the wrong person who saw us kissing.”

  “Oh?”

  “It was my sub.”

  “Not good.”

  “You’re telling me. He’s not happy with me right now.”

  Kale’s gaze turned serious. “Maybe you’ll have to punish him later.”

  “If he’ll give me a chance later. There’s a good chance he won’t.”

  “All because of one fleeting kiss you didn’t even reciprocate?”

  “Yes. You were playing with fire when you kissed me in the hallway. Anyone could have seen.”

  “I’m sorry I messed up your life. Maybe it’ll shake things up…give you some direction and set your priorities straight.”

  Malachi gave him another hard stare. “That’s the worst advice anybody’s ever given me.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  The friend, Kelly, ended up working for a private agency right across from the FBI building. It shouldn’t have unnerved him, but it did. She was sitting in her cubicle when they came to talk to her. She had thick glasses on a short nose with dark hair hanging to her shoulders.

  “Can help you?” she asked.

  “Yes, is there some place where we can speak privately?” Malachi replied.

  “Sure, there’s a conference room down the hall. What can I help you with?”

  “You know about the arrest of your friend, right?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a nervous twitch to her eye that Malachi took note of. “We’re not friends anymore, if you’re asking.”

  “Did she ever give you any indication that she was a murderer?”

  “No, if she was, I wouldn’t be hanging out with her.”

  The defensive tone was ratcheting up a notch. She was hiding something, but wasn’t going to tell them.

  “Well, if you can think of anything else, be sure to let us know.”
>
  Surprise moved through Kale’s eyes but he kept it cool.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Malachi said.

  “What was that about?” Kale asked as they walked away and out of earshot.

  When they were alone in the elevator going down to the parking garage, Malachi said, “I didn’t want to scare her off. I think we need to put a tail on her and see where this takes us.”

  “You think it’s going to go anywhere?”

  “I have a good feeling that it will. I just want to be there when she makes her move.”

  “And I want to be there, too.”

  After dropping Kale back off at his car at District Two, Malachi knew that he needed to find out how Wade was doing. He knew that he was getting the cold shoulder and he had to try to reach out. That had him dialing his cell and listening as it rang through the line. On the fourth ring, Wade answered.

  “I thought you weren’t going to pick up,” Malachi said.

  “I wasn’t going to but I figured you would just keep calling me.”

  He probably would have, but he didn’t want to tell his submissive that. “Agent Kale is a friend of mine from college. It was a misunderstanding. That’s all. You just happened to be a witness to his antics.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think we should do this anymore. Thanks for calling.”

  “Wait a minute.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I’ve broken one of the rules already.”

  A sinking sensation spiraled through Malachi’s gut as his heart started to race. “Which one?”

  “It doesn’t matter which one. It’s over now.”

  As the line went dead, Malachi felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Wade was serious. He wanted this thing done, and that crushed him.

  Chapter Eight

  Doubt moved through Wade as he hung up the phone. He shouldn’t have done that to his Dom, but he knew this thing was over. Instead of sleeping, Wade decided to head toward the gym. He needed to work out a few hours to get his head straight.

  As he got into his patrol car, he drove across town to the out of the way gym. It wasn’t too busy this late at night. He went inside and started to work out. After an hour of lifting weights, he was done. He wanted to get home to sleep off the rest of the night.