Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
RONAN
At Sinclair’s words, a wave of silence covered the room. He gave us all wide-eyed stares as he tucked himself closer to Memphis.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Not at all, sweetheart. We didn’t order anything yet. It’s strange to find out there was a bag at the desk is all,” Memphis tells him in a somewhat calm tone.
Unfortunately for him, Sinclair was not new to all this. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Wait a damn minute! I carried that in here. What if it’s a bomb or something? Or like a body part someone sent as a threat?”
“You’ve been watching too many crime shows again, Sinclair,” I told him as I approach the bag. “I doubt it’s a bomb. Besides, if it was, we’re likely out of time. Let’s just take a look.”
Opening the bag, I leaned over to check things out. I frowned when I noticed it was actually food inside instead of anything nefarious.
Skittles.
Like a fuckton of them. All the flavors too.
The bags rained down on the table when I tilted the paper sack over. “What the fuck?” I mumbled to no one in particular.
Orion stepped forward, shifting the bags around. Takeshi joined him, though he didn’t touch anything. Archie was more curious and waded into the pile.
“This doesn’t make sense.” Godric’s voice cut through the sound of crinkling paper.
Cohen added, “He’s right. Why would someone leave Skittles?”
“Maybe it has some kind of meaning we don’t know about. Could it be a hint about something that’s coming?” I suggested.
The men made various noises. Some sounded like they agreed, while others were more skeptical. I couldn’t decide which side of the line I was on just yet.
It wasn’t until Chance came forward that I realized how quiet he’d been. I watched him pick up a bag. His eyes traced over the package with a sort of reluctant acceptance.
“This is Tank’s favorite candy,” he said softly.
The rest of us waited him out. It wasn’t because we were upset about not knowing this simple fact about our boss. More like we needed to know what all he did in order to figure out this riddle.
“What do you know?” I said when Chance didn’t continue. His gaze met mine. “Give us something. We’re walking around blind right now.”
It was tough to admit. None of us particularly liked feeling as if we were two steps behind our target.
Just like with Mordecai when we discovered her hidden surveillance, I wanted to fight against the pull this brought forth. I’d sworn to protect these men, they were my family. And now someone was playing games with us all over again.
Part of me wished Damari hadn’t volunteered to go sit with Tank. I could have used his presence to ground myself. He was always the one person to keep me from completely losing it.
“As a kid, Tank was obsessed with Skittles. He rarely got to have them before moving into the foster home. That one year he was there, it was as if they gave them to him every week or something like that. He basically told me he was addicted to them by the time he was on the street.” Chance shook his head, a smirk gracing his features.
“Why have we never seen him eating them then?” Cohen pressed.
Chance shrugged in reply. “I’m not sure. He’s eaten them around me before, though it’s rare. Usually close to Halloween since he can find the small bags on sale. I can’t tell you how many times he’s left a pile in my office after he’s come to visit me.”
The reminder of their secret relationship felt like a blow to the kidneys. I was angry at myself for never noticing. Angry at Tank for not trusting me with something so important. Angry at the world for making him live in secret for so long.
Why the fuck did it matter if either of them were gay? Who cared who they loved?
“Anyway, it’s not a big help since there’s nothing to tell us who it’s from. There’s not a note or anything in there?” Chance added.
I shook my head, lifting the bag again as I showed them it was empty. Godric reached forward, snatching the paper from my hands. The scowl I sent his way quickly morphed into surprise when he inverted the bag to reveal writing on the inside.
He said, “Saw it right when you tilted the bag. Wouldn’t have caught it otherwise.”
It felt like he was placating me for missing such a big hint. I’d allowed it for now since we had other things to worry about.
“What does it say?” I asked him.
Memphis was already striding away, his fingers on his keyboard when Cohen read out, “Local station. Channel 12 News.”
The screen behind us lit up to show the channel in question. A breaking news bulletin alert ran across the bottom of the screen. But it was the image in the background that had my attention.
“Is that — ?” Arick asked softly.
“It is,” Chance said, far calmer than I would expect. “That’s the city offices.”
The volume of the broadcast rose, the reporters voice formal as they told viewers, “We’re here with breaking news. There’s been a fire downtown. It’s contained to the City Council building for now, however, crews are working to maintain things. We’re not sure what started the fire, only that it originated in Councilman Chance Sheppard’s office. Thankfully, Sheppard was not there. His assistant was rescued and is receiving treatment for smoke inhalation. As you may know, Councilman Sheppard is currently running for mayor. That makes us wonder if this is a direct attack or a chance encounter. We’ll update with more when we have the story.”
Memphis muted the rest of the program. “Fuck,” he grunted.
“Chance? You ok over there?” Orion asked the question carefully, like he was worried the other man was about to blow.
When I looked his way, there weren’t any outward signs of anything to signal such. But I wasn’t the best at reading people all the time. We were all trained to do it at some degree, however, Orion was the expert. He could always sense feelings and emotions even when someone had an amazing poker face.
If he thought Chance was upset, then he likely was.
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I’m fucking furious. How could they do this?!”
“Oh shit! The good councilman is cursing,” Cohen teased.
Chance shot him an irritated look, to which Cohen raised his hands. I stepped between the two, careful to block Chance’s line of sight for our most annoying team member. I loved Cohen like a brother. Didn’t mean I didn’t want to knock him around sometimes.
“You have every right to be pissed right now. Thankfully you were already here, or else things could be worse off. You could have been in the building with the fire. Your safety trumps all else.”
“I know that. Rationally, I do. Doesn’t mean I can ignore the more irrational thoughts I have.”
Orion decided to jump in again. “Irrational how?”
“Like I really want to help you find this Lune guy and give him a piece of my mind. How dare he attack my office? Hurt my friends? Come after the man I love? He’s goading us, all of us. And we’re running in circles.” Chance tugged his hair as he spun away to pace towards the door.
I shared a look with Orion. Neither of us had to say a word to know what we needed to do.
“Why don’t we go check on Tank?” Arick offered, as if he were reading our silent communication. Maybe being in a relationship with Orion lent him some of that mind reading my friend always seemed able to do.
Either way, I appreciated his choice when he led Chance out of the room so the rest of us could talk freely. The second the door closed, I spun to Memphis.
“What do we know about the foster parents? Are they a part of this? Still alive at all?”
He nodded. “Both alive. They’re up there in age, but seemed to have settled into retirement. Tank donated funds to their pension accounts, so they’re living in peace from what we can tell.”
“And the records about the other kids who were there at the time?” Godric asked.
Memphis shook his head. “From the little I could unearth, there’s nothing suspicious of note. Especially not at the time they were all in the same home. It looks like they were the perfect parents with the perfect siblings for him. I’m kind of at a loss.”
Godric leaned over the table, his fingers tracing over the candy. “Just because something looks perfect on the outside doesn’t mean it is. We need to go talk to the parents. Ask them questions to help get some answers. Something more than a file can tell us.”
“He’s right.” Tank’s voice drew our attention to the open doorway.
I groaned and threw my hands up. “What the fuck are you doing out of bed? You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Well, I was until my boyfriend came in all upset and shit. I was able to get him to tell me the issue, and now I’m here where I should have been all along. This problem is mine too. Let me help,” he argued.
Chance covered his face with his hands as he let out a frustrated growl. It would have been hilarious any other day besides now. I couldn’t imagine what the man was feeling.
Speaking of which… “Why hasn’t anyone called you about the fire? How did they know you weren’t there?”
“I emailed everyone that I was taking time off. I’m sure someone else told the media I was out of office. As for the calls, my phone was on silent. I refuse to even glance at it right now considering there’s more to focus on than the fire itself. It’s only part of the problem. The only person I’m truly worried about is Marten, my assistant. He would have likely been in the office working despite me telling him he didn’t need to.”
We all marveled at how easily he took all this in. It was clear he fit into this life better than most. Others would be losing their cool knowing their office full of belongings was set on fire. Instead, Chance seemed more bothered at the way his staff was affected rather than the property itself.
This definitely earned him even more points in his favor.
I nodded toward the door. “We can get Jared to check on Marten. Maybe even put a body at his door to give us updates on his condition, if you want.”
“That would be amazing. Thanks, Ronan.” Chance’s shoulders dropped a bit at the offer.
Tank cleared his throat. “As you were suggesting, we need to go see them. If nothing else, we need to make sure they don’t know anything I can’t remember. It could fill in the blanks, and they’re likely more inclined to talk if I’m there.”
The room broke into a flurry of arguments, each man talking over the other. I couldn’t make much sense of it all, though I could tell we were all against the idea of dragging him around when he still needed to heal.
Our boss raised his hand and whistled sharply. We quieted, waiting for what he had to say.
“I know I’m not in the best shape to do this, however, we don’t have much choice. The pair of them were never technologically advanced enough to be up-to-date on things so a video call won’t do. And since we need to evaluate their body language, we need to be there in person. Chance, Arick, Godric, Orion, and I will all go. Arick will have his computer to do any computer work we need. Godric will act at the muscle and look out. And Orion can gauge how much is true about what they share. Understood?”
While I could have fought him on this, I felt it best to nod along. There was a time and place for certain battles. The look of determination in Tank’s gaze told me this was one I’d lose every time.
Whatever answers we needed, he was going to get them himself.