I.N.E.T.
International Narcotics
Enforcement & Tracking
Book 4
Brenda Cothern
By Brenda Cothern © 2018
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1-943949-29-8
ISBN-10: 1-943949-29-8
First Printing March 2018
No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, altered, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, in any way, without prior, written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages within the review for publication in a newspaper, magazine, journal, or on a website.
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, (some) places, and situations are the products of the author’s imagination and intended to be fictional. Any resemblances to actual events, situations, or persons, alive or dead, are entirely coincidental.
This book contains M/M sexual situations and is intended for readers of legal age in the country in which they reside. Please store your adult literature responsibly.
Wench Publishing, Inc.
136 E. 145th Avenue
Tampa, Florida, 33613 USA
Dedication
To all my fans who love Knight & Slade, this one is for you.
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to my new “office”, JT’s Roadhouse, for letting me take up space in order to set the guys free!
Of course, I have to once again thank my beta team, both those who have been with me for several books and all of the new members who have joined me for this one.
Lora, Shirley, Danielle, Melissa, Lori, & Virginia. I would be lost without you guys! Thanks for all your hard work
One
Boom! … Boom!
Every head in the North American, Southeastern Division of the International Narcotics Enforcement and Tracking agency looked through the glass doors of their office. The five agents present were all on their feet, weapons in hand, and moving into position to cover the elevator and stairs by the time the fire sprinklers kicked on.
“Shit!” Hunt hollered the moment water started to fall from the ceiling. He lowered his weapon, but didn’t holster it before he was grabbing his coworkers’ suit jackets to cover their workstations.
At least this time it’s not red glittery shit raining down on us, Hunt briefly thought after he joined Payne behind one of their sections of hell.
The phones on every desk began to ring at the same time, but none of the agents moved to answer them. The annoying noise was not a priority at the moment. The explosives that shook their floor were, even if it was doubtful they were actually under attack. Abruptly, the screeching of the phones cut off. Seconds later, the director stormed out of his office.
“I am going to fucking kill him!”
All five agents groaned. Anytime Jonathan Chadwick Fisher, Jr. uttered those words there was only one agent he could be referring to and it wasn’t anyone present.
“Hunt, kill these fucking sprinklers,” Fish ordered. “The rest of you put those weapons away before I am tempted to order you to shoot Slade’s ass on sight.”
The whole mess was like déjà vu since Slade pulled the same shit six months ago, minus the explosion, because he was going bat shit crazy being stuck in the office. Zep shook his head and joined Hunt to kill the sprinklers. Payne stood with them and it really felt like the three agents were experiencing a do over. They had just killed the sprinklers when the elevator dinged.
The five INET agents didn’t even bother to look in the direction of the elevator. They looked at their boss instead. A vein was throbbing at Fish’s temple and his face was flushed in fury. The shit was about to hit the fan and when Fish drew his weapon, they all turned to see their two fellow agents who had just stepped through the glass door to the office.
Slade was grinning like a fool and it was obvious Knight wanted to kill him. He was pinching the bridge of his nose so hard that he would likely have finger bruises. Both agents smelled of smoke, but only Knight’s suit was a rumpled mess as was his hair.
The unexpected sound of gunfire had every person in the room except the shooter, hit the deck and scramble to get their weapons out again while scanning for the threat.
“Fuck Fish!” Slade cursed before the sounds of a fist hitting a body filled the silence of the office.
“I am going to fucking beat the ever living hell out of you!” Knight’s angry voice roared at the same time Slade grunted.
The grunts and groans of a punch up wrestling match grew louder and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Slade’s partner was beating the hell out of him. No one moved to intervene. Hell, as far as every agent in the room was concerned, Slade deserved every bruise Knight gave him. They couldn’t see their fellow agents, but they could see their boss. So, they watched as Fish stormed toward where Knight was pummeling away on Slade by the sound of it, but he never reached his employees before another shot was fired.
They, Fish included, had all been so focused on the sounds of Knight and Slade fighting that not a single agent, trained to be situationally aware, noticed the new arrival before he fired.
Several things happen at once. The five agents hit the floor again. The sounds of Knight beating the shit out of his partner stopped. Fish ducked behind a cubicle wall and cursed. And, the shooter yelled.
“I am so fucking tempted to put the next bullet in your fucking ass Slade.”
“Don’t!” Lita and Spider yelled at the same time when they recognized the shooter’s voice.
“Let me get out of the way first,” Knight growled at the same time Fish roared “God dammit, Dietrich!” Fish stood and glared at his inventory and acquisitions agent.
“Nobody fires their weapon in my office!” Fish stormed toward Deat. “Hand it over.”
Deat matched Fish’s glare with one of his own. He held out his weapon, but didn’t release it when Fish went to take it from him.
“Who are you handing yours over to, boss?” Deat’s tone was totally serious and he raised a questioning brow at Fish.
Slade’s muffled chuckle opened the floodgates of amusement over Deat’s question. Lita laughed at Deat’s genuinely curious expression and the stupidity of yet another one of Slade’s stunts. The others joined in and they received a death glare from Fish. They all ignored him because they weren’t going to be the target of Fish’s wrath.
“Shut the fuck up,” Fish growled. “You,” Fish pointed to Deat, “Put that fucking thing away.” Fish indicated Deat’s gun before he turned toward where he was sure Knight and Slade were still lying behind the cubicle wall. “You two dipshits get in my office.” Fish turned back to Deat. “You, too.”
Fish was halfway to his office when roars of laughter exploded behind him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look and see what the cause was. It had something to do with Slade, no doubt. Fish bowed his head, pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned. He was still pinching his nose when he looked back at his three agents who were following him to his office. If he wasn’t still royally pissed off, he would’ve laughed along with his agents. Even while still seeing red, Fish couldn’t prevent the corners of his mouth from twitching.
Slade looked like he had gone five rounds in the ring. He did with Knight, minus the ring. It was obvious that both men had been brawling judging from the various bruises that were starting to form and the state of their suits. However, that wasn’t the cause for the laughter that echoed off the office walls.
No, the cause was over how Knight restrained his partner. Slade was handcuffed in one of the most uncomfortable positions and was one suspects wouldn’t get out of without dislocating a shoulder. One arm was bent so that his hand was behind his head while the other was bent behind his back. The position wa
s only obtainable if the suspect was very flexible or two sets of handcuffs were used.
Fish had no doubt Knight used two sets. Slade was just too muscular to be that flexible. Each agent only carried one set of cuffs normally, so Fish knew Knight had to have used Slade’s own cuffs on him along with his issued set. Once more Fish felt his lips pull into a smile that he barely caught and turned into a smirk.
“Shut it,” Slade growled out at his coworkers when he walked by Fish.
Applause for Knight joined the laughter, but all he did was push Slade toward Fish’s office. Fish ignored Slade’s angry glare when he walked by. His employee had no idea what angry really was, but he was about to find out. Knight followed Slade and Deat brought up the rear.
The smell of smoke that wafted off of Knight and Deat was strong and only made its absence on Slade more pronounced. Fish groaned again and resisted pinching his nose. God only knew what Slade tried to blow up this time that made his coworkers reek while he still smelled shower fresh. God only knew, but Fish was about to find out.
“Okay, you fuckwits.”
Fish glared at all three agents. He once again fought a smile at seeing Slade in the uncomfortable position which was surely worse now that his ass was planted in a chair. Knight stood next to his pain in the ass partner as if expecting Slade to either break free of the cuffs or try to bolt in order to avoid the ass chewing that was incoming. Deat sat on the chair next to Slade and Fish had never before seen their usually easy going and mellow agent so furious.
“Who wants to start?”
“That mother fucker,” Deat jabbed a pointing finger at Slade. “Is a God damn menace and going to get all of us fucking killed.”
“I know that. What I don’t know is what the hell he did this time.” Fish continued to glare.
“Why do you always assume it’s my fault, Fish? I’m the only one who is still semi presentable.”
“What he did was almost get me fucking killed!” Deat yelled.
Slade smirked and Fish tensed for the reaction he knew Knight would have to his partner’s expression. However, it wasn’t Knight who reacted. It was Deat. The left hook came out of nowhere and connected solidly with Slade’s jaw. His head snapped to the side and the force behind Deat’s punch caused Slade’s body to lean into Knight.
“Jesus Christ,” Slade cursed.
“I’m sure you deserved that,” Fish commented calmly. “And it usually is you who causes any mayhem around here.”
“It’s not…” Slade started, but Fish held up a hand to shut him the hell up.
“Knight, tell me what the hell happened and you two,” Fish pointed at Slade and Deat. “Keep your traps shut.”
“We went down to see Deat about getting some more rounds so we could tutor a few recruits on the firing range.”
“And give Slade something to shoot,” Fish added knowingly.
“Deat was doing inventory and had just received a shipment of a new type of grenade,” Knight continued.
“The ones with the concussion, light, and sleeping smoke?” Fish asked because he knew Deat was waiting on the new grenade prototype.
Deat was about to confirm those were the ones, but Fish’s glare warning him to keep his mouth shut was enough to stop him. Fish looked at Knight to indicate he should continue.
“Those were the ones,” Knight confirmed. “Deat explained them to us and my idiot partner grabbed two and started juggling them.
Fish grimaced. “Tell me he didn’t blow up the requisition area.”
“No. We left and were just outside the door on our way to the range when Deat came barreling after us. He was yelling at Slade to give the grenades back. Neither of us had noticed Slade pocket two of them after he seemed to return them to the box before we left. I turned to demand Slade give them back and by then Deat had reached us.
“Deat was still yelling at Slade and of course the ass just thought it was amusing. So, I grabbed him and gave him a few shakes before he broke free of me. My shit head partner put about ten feet between us and the building before he pulled those damn grenades from his pocket and started juggling them again.”
Fish groaned because he had a pretty clear mental picture of what his insane agent did next. He pinched his nose again and casually waved at Knight for the man to finish explaining this fiasco.
“He accidentally.” Knight used air quotes around the word accidentally. “Pulled a pin. His “oh shit” was the only warning before he tossed it into the air. Deat went to knock me to the ground at the same time I went for him and this one,” Knight smacked Slade upside the head none too gently.
“Hey,” Slade tried to move away so his partner couldn’t smack his head again.
“Shut it,” Fish growled without lowering his fingers from the bridge of his nose.
“The damn thing went off twenty feet from us. We had just lifted our heads when he yelled “incoming” and the second grenade landed the same distance away on the other side of us.”
Fish didn’t need to hear the rest. He knew Slade was insane, but usually his addiction to blowing shit up was reserved for when he was out in the field on a case. He’d never tried to blow up anything up on campus and Fish already had a headache that was sure to only get worse once his boss demanded an explanation.
“Deat, go get a shower and get back to work.” The look Fish leveled on Deat dared him to argue the order. “Knight, go do the same and Slade, put your fucking arms down.”
Both Deat and Knight glared at Slade when he did as ordered. The smirk Slade leveled on them earned him another smack upside the head from his partner.
“What are you two waiting for?” Fish looked at Deat and Knight. “Get the hell out of my office.”
They did as told and as soon as Fish had Slade alone he sighed as if he were tired beyond measure. He hated what he was about to do because Slade was his best agent. However, he had no choice though, since Slade somehow thought he was untouchable at INET.
“You are suspended without pay until further notice.”
“Ah, come on, Fish.” Slade leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees while he picked the locks on the two remaining cuffs around his wrists. “They needed to be tested and it’s not that bad.” Slade grinned. “It’s actually kind of funny.” The look Fish leveled on Slade made him think his last comment likely went too far.
“Out.” Fish pointed toward the door of his office. “Don’t come back until I call you.”
Slade knew his expression was one of shock. After all the stunts he’d pulled while he was trapped in the office, Fish had never suspended him without pay. Usually, Fish would send them out into the field even if it was only to do surveillance. He hated surveillance, but he hated being stuck in the office even more. Apparently, he underestimated Fish’s response this time. Then again he had never caused an explosion at HQ before.
Slade left Fish’s office and none of his coworkers spared him a glance. They must have heard Fish suspend him because they all seemed engrossed in the work they all hated when trapped in the office. Knight and Deat were nowhere to be seen since they were in the showers for sure.
Slade cringed at the thought as he stepped into the elevator. His cringe had nothing to do with Deat and everything to do with Knight. His partner and lover was beyond pissed over his latest stunt. He would be even more furious over his custom tailored suit being ruined. Slade wasn’t looking forward to seeing Knight when his lover returned home from work.
An hour after leaving Fish’s office, Knight returned to his workstation. He was still pissed off at Slade, but not nearly as furious as before his shower. Knight couldn’t say the same for Deat. The requisitions agent was still enraged over Slade’s stunt and beyond angry at the man if the repeated curses attached to Slade’s name while they showered were any indication of how he really felt.
“Lita, Knight, my office, now.”
Knight’s ass hadn’t even settled into his chair before Fish called him and Lita. Just the fact
that Fish called Lita with him told Knight that whatever his boss wanted had nothing to do with Slade’s shit.
“I’m sending you to South Carolina,” Fish informed them once their asses planted in the chairs across from his desk. “The restaurant is called Midnight’s and you start work in two days, Knight.”
“Please tell me I’m not doing anything with cooking because there’s no way in hell I can become a chef in two days.”
“Sure you can,” Fish said seriously.
“Fish, I...” Fish’s grin stopped Knight from finishing. “Asshole,” Knight mumbled and ignored Lita’s chuckle.
“You’re joining the wait staff,” Fish informed. “That way you can track anyone coming and going.”
“And me?” Lita remained relaxed in his chair. “Wait, let me guess. Dishwasher.”
“And that,” Fish deadpanned and pointed sarcastically at Lita. “Is why you’re an INET agent.”
“So, who is the suspect? The owner, an employee, or both?” Knight inquired and accepted the folder Fish held out.
“All of the above.” Fish handed Knight the op folder and leaned back in his chair before folding his hands on his stomach. “Chris Harrison has been under since we busted the Blades. He is posing as an international businessman. Doug Maxim, his partner, is currently the host at the restaurant which is how he had influence to get you both hired.”
“Is he the guy you brought with you that Lita was flirting with?” Knight grinned at his fellow agent.
“I wasn’t flirting, you ass.” Lita shoved Knight’s shoulder. “I knew Chris in high school, but had no idea he’d joined the FBI.”
“What the hell are FBI agents doing undercover posing as buyers for drugs?” Knight looked at Fish curiously.
“The FBI is tracking Charles Harn, who is wanted for money laundering for the New York mob,” Fish explained. “They knew drugs were involved before they sent in Harrison.”
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