Chapter Seventeen #2
“Yeah…but that’s a whole other story.” We both laughed and sat back, full and sated. I rubbed my belly, looking at him affectionately. “Thank you for the food, Joshua. It was so good.”
He visibly puffed up at the praise. “My pleasure. I make it for the kids all the time.”
The longing expression on his face made me push back from the table and stand up. I grabbed the phone off the counter and held it out. “Why don’t you call them? You’ll feel better.”
He smiled, taking the phone. “Thank you. I’ll give them a call.”
He walked into the bedroom as I washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. When I was satisfied our space was once again livable, I picked up my own phone and called Patsy.
“Oi!”
I chuckled. “I have no idea what that means but whatever you said…right back at you, jackass.”
Patsy chuckled. “Interpret it anyway you like but for the purposes of this conversation, it means, hey, eejit, what do you want? We were just there. You can’t be missin’ my sweet arse so soon.”
I smiled. “Definitely not. I’m calling to make sure you and the big guy are going over to water my plants.”
The huff coming straight through the phone line was indignant. “I’ll have you know, Napoleon and I went to your stupid arsed apartment and watered your stupid arsed plants before we even went to the office today, mate.”
I smiled at his description of my plants. “They’re my babies, and really, thanks, Patsy. Give Napoleon a kiss for me.”
“Sure, it’s no bother, but I won’t risk a punch in the nose. Mine is way too delicate and pretty to take a tap on the snoz from him. Have you seen the size of the man’s fist?”
I snorted. “Seriously, thanks again, Patsy.”
“You’re right as rain. By the way, the Captain’s standin’ here and he wanted me to remind you that he’s sendin’ two more from the team. They’ll be there any minute.”
I’d completely forgotten, putting it out of my mind, focused only on dragging Joshua back to bed. “Thanks for the reminder, Patsy.”
“My pleasure. You be lookin’ after yourself while you’re takin care of him.”
“I will. Bye for now, kiddo.”
“Stay safe, Nash.” With that, he hung up just as someone knocked on the door.
I grabbed my gun off the counter, holding it at my side as I walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, I was surprised by who was standing on the stoop. I unlocked the door and yanked it open, grinning at the two men who wore big smiles of their own.
“Come on in. I didn’t know you guys were back from vacation,” I said, ushering them in.
“Just got back late last night,” the taller of the two said.
Miguel Huerta was taller than me by several inches. The large, former RECON Marine like me, had joined the team only a few months ago. Dark haired and brown eyed, the man was, in a word, handsome. The dark stubble on his jaw matched the thick hair on his head, giving him a rakish look.
“I knew I should have stopped Miguel when he told me he was checking in with Candy to see what was going on,” Raven grumbled. “A few more days of rest and relaxation is always a bonus…especially when this is supposed to be the continuation of our honeymoon.”
Raven Mathis looked like a cross between Native American and white, with raven black hair and dark eyebrows.
His long, straight nose and cobalt blue eyes, made him very easy on the eyes.
He was the only man on our team who didn’t have a military background, but he’d been hired for not only his tracking skills as an ex-insurance investigator, but his tech skills.
He was nearly as good with a keyboard as Judy, who had worked for him.
It was rumored that she’d once broken into Langley’s computers to locate a missing Marine, so I knew Raven had a great teacher.
I slung an arm around his broad shoulders, leading him into the living area. “Well, I for one, am very glad that you’re here to help.”
“I was just teasing,” Raven said, flashing me a big smile. “When any one of you are in danger, you know we’re here for you. I know you’d all stand in front of Miguel out in the field.” He glanced fondly at Miguel who’d followed us.
“Thank you, guys.” I waved at the set of couches. “Have a seat.”
“I could stand here and look at the gorgeous view forever.”
I glanced over at Miguel who was looking through the French doors leading to the deck out back.
The ocean view in the distance was spectacular, though, not quite as good as the one from the deck itself.
He turned away from it and smiled at me as he walked over and sat on the couch beside his new husband.
“Where’s your protectee?” Miguel asked.
“In the bedroom talking to his brother and sisters.” I sat on the couch facing them. “It was nice of Candy to give him a secure phone so he could do that. The separation from his family is killing him.”
Miguel nodded as Raven looked pensive. “Well, hopefully it won’t be for long,” Raven said.
“I hope not.”
“Candy filled us in on what’s been going on,” Miguel said. “You guys have really been through it, huh?”
I nodded. “It’s been hard on him.”
The two men exchanged a glance, as if having a silent conversation, before they looked back at me with a knowing gaze.
“Hard on him but not on you, Hampstead?” Miguel asked. “From what I understand, this kind of job isn’t run of the mill for you. It seems like you’ve been in a few tough scrapes over the last few days while having to keep your protectee safe.”
No, it was far from run of the mill for me.
I’d gotten close to Joshua damned fast, to the point of sleeping with him, and though, it had seemed natural that it would happen to us in such close quarters at the time, it was still not the way things should’ve gone.
But that’s not what Miguel was talking about.
He was talking about the near-death component.
“The danger is something we all deal with on the job and you know it. As far as our current living situation—” I glanced over in the direction of the bedroom doors and smiled before returning to my thoughts.
“You know I live alone, so this is definitely different,” I said, hoping they’d accept my dismissal on the subject, and leave it at that.
I breathed out a sigh of relief when Marvin came charging down the hallway and ran right over to Miguel.
He immediately jumped into his lap and lifted his face to rub at the whiskers under his chin.
I had to chuckle. Miguel had been over to my apartment a few times since we all switched off houses when we wanted to get together to watch football or play cards, and from the very first, Marvin had fallen in love with him.
I’d actually been jealous of my cat’s love for my buddy until Miguel explained that he had a cat of his own called Stanley.
He dismissed the attention as Marvin scent marked him, probably just to piss Stanley off.
It was equivalent to the cat version of the middle finger.
Joshua walked into the room and stopped short. “Oh…hi. I must have missed the doorbell.”
I waved him into the room as we all stood up. “These are the two members of my team who you haven’t met. Joshua Calder, this is Miguel Huerta, and Raven Mathis.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Joshua said, smiling broadly as he walked over to shake their hands.
“Nice to meet you, Joshua,” Raven said. “We were just saying hi to Marvin.” We all looked down at the cat who was currently curled up in the spot where Miguel’s ass had rested only moments before.
I laughed as Miguel leaned down and transferred Marvin back to his lap as he retook his seat. Joshua settled onto the couch beside me; the temptation to reach over and take his hand was almost overwhelming. “Miguel was just saying that Candy brought them up to date on what’s been happening.”
Joshua nodded and turned to look at them. “He told you about the cartel and everything?”
“Yes,” Raven replied. “It must be scary for you.”
Joshua nodded. “It’s been terrible.”
He glanced over at me and if I hadn’t been sitting, the look of devotion in his expression would have knocked me on my ass.
I cleared my throat and dragged my gaze back to Raven and Miguel who were watching the two of us with interest. I had no idea what they’d seen pass between us, but I really wished they’d stop staring like that. It was time to change the subject.
“So, you know Judy came over with Candy this morning to explain what she’d found?”
“Yes, he called us to come over to”—Miguel looked at Joshua before clearing his throat— “enhance your protection.”
I didn’t know what word he was going to use, but whatever it was, he’d thought better of it. “I take it she shared what she’s learned about the burner phones when we conducted the operation in Gomez’ apartment?” I wanted to clarify that they had the whole picture.
Both men nodded. “Yeah, and I can believe it,” Miguel said.
“I’m not sure about Turley because I don’t know the first thing about him, but the other guys said he’d been highhanded with the way he’d made a big deal about our team being backup.
Sibley was the one who got killed but it could just as easily have been one of us, assuming Agent Sibley was killed by one of the cartel.
And I haven’t trusted the DEA as far as I can throw them ever since the operation in the Caymans.
You know what we went through with the DEA and SAC Bannister during that operation. ”
“What happened?” Joshua asked.
I turned my attention to him. “The DEA was very difficult to work with overall. There was a learning curve with their Special Agent in Charge, Hope Bannister…a learning curve on her end, not ours. I honestly don’t think she trusted our suggestions about how we wanted to conduct the operation.
In the end it came off like clockwork and she was okay by the time it was all over.
We took down some seriously bad people, including a drug cartel leader and an international smuggling ring.
Before we were brought into the operation, it’s our understanding that she was initially hostile to one of the agents in our office along with the men and women he works with. ”
“Hampstead’s right,” Miguel said, “and if you ever meet Lincoln Snow, you’d be shocked at what a capable and decent guy he is. It’s rare to meet a man who’s trusted by his entire team the way he is.”
Raven was nodding as his husband described Lincoln. “Snow is one of the most trustworthy people I know and he surrounds himself with others just like himself.”
“That’s because he handpicked them,” Miguel said. He turned to Joshua. “All we’re saying about the DEA here, is that we’re not surprised that someone—more than one someone actually—is up to their eyeballs in bed with the cartel.”
“Okay, so give me the bottom line here,” Joshua said. “When Captain Sorensen was here earlier, he said to just stay put until a decision has been made about whether to move Nash and me. I suppose that still applies?”
I looked at him and this time, did reach for his hand. His fingers immediately wrapped around mine. “Candy said he’d let us know about that. Please stop worrying about it.”
Joshua stared into my eyes, seeming to search for the truth until he must have seen what he needed.
When he nodded, I blew out a long breath, feeling better.
When I turned back to Miguel and Raven, I wasn’t surprised they were looking at our clasped hands.
While I wouldn’t have been caught dead holding Joshua’s hand only a few days ago, for some godforsaken reason right now, I didn’t care what anyone thought.
“I’m glad you’re up to speed,” I said.
“Yeah,” Raven replied. He glanced over at Joshua. “It must be very hard being separated from your family. Why didn’t you go into witness protection with them? Candy never explained.”
Joshua turned to me. There was something in his eyes which was hard to identify…trust, maybe, affection, definitely. He looked back at Raven as he squeezed my hand.
“Because Nash has been with me throughout this whole horrible experience and I trust him completely. He’s saved my life numerous times.”
“I thought it was so you could continue with your teaching job,” Miguel said. He glanced over at Raven and shrugged. “One of the other guys mentioned it in passing when Candy was explaining this assignment.”
Joshua nodded. “That was one of the reasons, and I completely accept that my other full-time job is located in a place that can’t be protected by one person,” he said.
“But Captain Sorensen thought I could still teach. I hope so, because I have a class tonight and it’s going to be hard to find a permanent substitute.
Have you heard anything about that now Judy has that information about the DEA? ”
Miguel and Raven both shook their heads. “Like Candy told you, that decision hasn’t been made yet,” Miguel said. “I hope we’ll hear something today, though. He’s aware of your schedule.”
“At least we have two more guns at hand,” Nash said. “We’re both really glad you’re here and I’m really sorry it interfered with your honeymoon, guys.” They looked at each other and smiled. I inhaled sharply and realized I wanted to be that deeply in love too.
“It’s okay, Nash,” Raven said. I thought he’d read my mind but he said, “Honestly, we got to spend a fantastic, romantic week in Hawaii, so being here with you guys isn’t a problem. I hope you didn’t take what I said earlier seriously.”
“Thank you,” Joshua added. And I exhaled slowly, pushing the earlier thought away.
Miguel looked down at Marvin who sprawled in his lap. “Well, little guy, you’ll have to move since I’m going to ask Nash and Joshua to show us the layout of the house just in case someone hostile decides to disturb our peace.”
Marvin looked up at him and blinked, letting out an annoyed meow when Miguel moved him to the floor.
He stood up and rubbed his thighs making cat hair take to the air and dance in a bright sunbeam streaming in through the French doors.
“My legs fell asleep.” He was grumbling, but I could detect clear affection in his tone.
I chuckled as the rest of us got to our feet. “Well, come on, guys…let me show you around.”