Chapter Six
“You lost. Your turn to buy a round,” Bear said through a cocky grin. He was undefeated in darts and liked to rub it in their faces any chance he got. It was the simple things in life and all. For as long as he knew the Texas Heat team they’d been trying to outdo each other.
“Fine. I’ll win the next round,” Sin said less than confidently as he strode off to get their beers.
Checking the bar, Bear saw that Echo was talking to a blonde. Taking a seat at the high top, Bear saw Zane cracking shells then dropping the peanuts into a plastic cup.
“How are you, Zane?”
“Peachy. Sounds like you’ve got some serious problems, dude?”
“Like?”
“Dark hair. Baby blue eyes. And a heart-pounding smile. Ring a bell?”
“I don’t need to hear it from you too.” Bear realized how rough his words sounded, but he also didn’t want to talk about Aasia. He couldn’t understand why his friendship with Aasia seemed to be important to every team member. If Bear had to guess he’d say they were all a bit on edge.
“I’m not trying to bust your balls.” Zane shook the peanuts out of the cup into his mouth, chomping loudly. “Think you can handle it?”
Bear swallowed against the pressure in his throat. “I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?” Zane said in a lowered voice. “Should one of the team step in—”
“Fuck no. I said I can handle it and I meant it.”
Some of the tension around Zanes’ eyes relaxed. “Dude, I understand sometimes we start to have forbidden feelings, but if this is too much—”
“I don’t have feelings.” He lied. “I got this covered.”
“We’re close to the end of this, Bear. I think we’re all feeling the frustration.”
He squinted. “I realize that.”
Zane looked a bit uncomfortable. “Some of the men…well, they’re saying you can’t balance your balls from your head, brother.”
Bear shook his head, chuckling. “I know who’s saying that shit.” Seeing Zane’s narrowed gaze, Bear snapped the word, “What?” This was weighing on his patience.
“I’m not your enemy, buddy.” Zane held up his hands in surrender. “I’m only pointing out that you’ve been, well, different lately.”
“It’s a waste of time, Zane. Can’t tell him anything.”
Bear glanced over at Grimes. He stood in a defensive pose, his feet apart and his arms crossed over his chest. Once upon a time, the two men were tight, but since the ambush…
“Hell, I’m not one to judge,” Zane muttered.
Grimes continued, “You uncovered the fraud, among other things, at MedLabOne. You’ve had to ask yourself how she’s worked there so long without knowing that they are neck deep in illegal activities?”
“Aasia and Fletcher are two different things,” Bear grumbled.
He guessed Sharp had confided in Arrow about what Bear learned about Fletcher.
It wasn’t like Bear had told Sharp in confidence, but what was happening, with the team questioning Bear’s abilities, made him a bit uncomfortable.
These were his buddies, more like kin than friends, and when a team member started getting questioned it could get ugly fast.
“Is it though? This seems like a pretty cozy set up if you ask me.” Grimes lifted his Stetson, pushed a hand through his hair, then deposited the hat back.
“You really think she could be part of the scheme?” Bear had the strong urge to protect Aasia.
Although the details were a bit murky, he’d also learned a lot about her, and he didn’t see her as the no scruples criminal that it would take to con people.
In fact, he’d stand by her and say that she had more scruples than any of the men in the room all put together.
Through each of their journeys they’d had to do questionable things, not only to stay alive and follow orders, but to save others.
“It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. It only matters what the truth is.” Zane seemed to want to evade the discussion any further, and the chance of things escalating. “Anyway, we trust your judgement.”
“I think Zane is being too diplomatic.” Grimes didn’t want to let anything go. Never had.
“I think we should agree to disagree.” Bear knew it wasn’t worth his breath.
“I’ll just say it out loud.” Grimes had an unapologetic, unfiltered way of saying exactly what he was thinking. He and Bear often rubbed each other the wrong way, probably because they were a lot alike. “We’re too close for any of us to fuck up the mission.”
“You’re taking this too far.” Bear downed the rest of his beer in one swallow. Where the hell was Echo with more? Bear leaned sideways to scan the outer room and just as he suspected, Echo and Sin were still consumed with a handful of women.
“This ain’t just about you.” Grimes shrugged. “Zane’s right. You’re preoccupied these days. You could do us all a favor and keep your dick in your pants for a while longer.”
“Stay in your lane.” Bear gritted through clenched teeth. Tension clung to the air.
“You don’t need me to tell you to keep your focus, man.”
“I think we should remember what the hell we’re doing here tonight. To cool our heels. Why don’t you both have another beer and sit or a spell?” Zane’s mouth fell into a frown.
Bear clamped his fingers at the back of his neck, rubbing out the kinks. They’d been on this power struggle for too long. “If you’ve got something to say, why don’t you just say it?”
One corner of Grimes’ mouth turned up into a grin. “I already said it.”
“The night of the ambush. You think it’s my fault that Echo was shot.” They were overdue in having this conversation instead of ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious. I’ve already said that things were fucked up that night. I didn’t say it was all your fault. Truth is, you and that chick took a ride under the same blanket while some of our men got drilled.”
“What were you doing that night of the ambush? No one has accounted for your whereabouts. In fact, where have you been keeping yourself these days? You’ve been the magician in a disappearing act for the last few months. Maybe we should start questioning where your head is, buddy,” Bear gritted.
Zane swiped his gaze from Bear to Grimes and shook his head. “Fellows, time and place for everything. This isn’t it.”
“I’ve kept the peace,” Grimes said.
“No, you haven’t. I’ve known you a long time,” Bear said. “You can either lay it to rest or speak the fuck up and get it out of your system for good because I’m tired of the back and forth.” Bear pushed the bottle away before he broke it in his grip.
Grimes dropped onto a stool, his gaze narrowing. “How about we take our frustrations out on the dart board.”
Neither Bear nor Grimes gave Zane any consideration.
“Fine, no darts.” He stood and stepped over to the pool table instead. He racked the balls then grabbed a stick.
Grimes settled his stool back on two feet.
“We all know Bear that you were supposed to be with Echo that day he was gunned down. You were both supposed to be watching Silver’s six.
You were sidetracked by a smoke show and Echo went solo.
He should never have gone alone, those weren’t the orders, but it was your job to be there as point agent.
Echo’s instincts were all over the place.
He knew something was up and he couldn’t pull out. ”
“Fuck, are we still retreading that story?” Echo muttered as he strolled in bringing with him a tray of bottles of beer.
“Wait a minute, Echo,” Bear said. “So, what you’re saying is that Echo and I both should have been blasted by a bullet?
” Bear cut through clenched teeth. “Have you lost your gawddamned mind? I’d never put anyone on the team at risk.
” When he’d learned Echo had been shot during the ambush, Bear had been crushed.
He ate, bled, breathed Texas Heat. He was a man of honor and would take a bullet for any man on the team, even Grimes.
They’d never seen eye-to-eye, but after the ambush things progressively got worse.
Bear would never live down that day when Echo was hit.
What made the situation worse was that Bear had been sidetracked by the pretty blonde he’d met the night before—the same woman that disappeared into thin air the morning after—after she’d drugged him.
Although he’d looked back on camera footage taken at the hotel, the bar where they’d been the night before, and every damn camera in between, he couldn’t find her on any of the recordings.
It was like she’d been an illusion. It was easy to believe she’d been involved in the ambush scheme.
How was she supposed to take him out? Why didn’t it happen?
That night he and the woman, who called herself Desirea, had poured him a drink and the next thing he knew he woke up to an empty room with Zane pounding on the door.
Bear had been groggy for hours and would have had the glass he’d drank out of tested, but the woman had been smart enough to wash away any trace.
He doubted he’d ever know what happened that night after he passed out.
“If you two would have been together things could have been different.” The last part of the sentence Grimes said in a lowered voice.
“I made the decision to go alone,” Echo said as he handed the beers out. “No one can judge Bear. We’ve all been distracted a time or two by a beauty in heels.”
Sin strode in, looking from each of the men with a narrowed gaze. “What did I miss?”
Arrow tossed a pool stick to Sin. “Best to not ask. Let’s play a game.”
“I would take a bullet for him any day of the week—for anyone on the team,” Bear said directly at Grimes.
“I think you enjoy reminding me of the past but fail to forget that I was sidetracked.” Thankfully the loud music streaming over the speakers drowned out their voices from others in the room next door.