Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
SLOANE
"Well, that didn't go as planned."
I gave Beckett a “no shit” look. "Ya think?"
Hayes lay unconscious on the floor between us.
What was supposed to be a semi-friendly discussion turned to shit when my ex decided to pull some martial arts wizardry out of thin fucking air.
Hayes had gone from dead asleep to a kung fu ninja in a matter of seconds.
My only choice was to put him down as quickly as possible.
Hence our current predicament. "I wasn't aware he was studying Krav Maga.
Had I known, I would've approached things differently. "
There was nowhere in the research I did on him that hinted he was studying martial arts let alone one so intense. I was just lucky, in the years since I left him, I also studied Krav Maga. And based on the fact that I was able to put him down, I had more experience.
"So what do we do now?"
I let my head fall back and sighed. I wanted to find the answer to Beckett's question on the ceiling of Hayes’ bedroom but no such luck. I was on my own.
"We take him back to the compound." I had a strong suspicion it was going to take all four of us to get Hayes to talk. He was proving to be more complex than I gave him credit for.
"And how do you plan on explaining this to Anita?"
Anita wasn't officially our team leader, but most of the time, we deferred to her. "I figured I would leave that to you since she likes you so much."
"Oh no." Beckett held his hands up. "I'm not taking the fall for this one."
"What happened to taking one for the team?"
"I would need to be alive to continue doing that, and despite what you all think, Anita only tolerates me. That can change at any given moment."
I shook my head. "Grab his legs." Bending at the knees, I propped Hayes into a sitting position so I could hook my arms underneath his pits and heft him up. Beckett did as I asked and picked Hayes' legs up. "And you're wrong."
Beckett heightened his brow. "About what?" We shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hall to the garage. It was daytime, so it would take some maneuvering to ensure Hayes' neighbors didn't see us carrying out his unconscious body.
"Anita loves you. She might never say the words––at least I'm assuming she hasn't––but we all know that's how she feels when it comes to you."
Beckett didn't respond until after we set Hayes' body on the garage floor. "I know she does. But it doesn't mean I'm going to purposely piss her off more than I already have with this little stunt."
I thought about that for a hot second. "Fair enough. Now, go grab the Jeep. You're not the only one who's going to be shoved into the small spot behind the seats."
Beckett shuddered at the thought. Hayes was equal in size to Beckett, so he knew how tight that was going to be. "At least he's unconscious and won't have to think about how uncomfortable it is."
Small favors, I guess.
We managed to get Hayes into the Jeep and drove out of the neighborhood without any of his neighbors noticing.
If my calculations were correct, and they usually were, he would be out until we got to the compound.
Then I would need to give him something to make sure he stayed that way until we could get him tied up.
Knowing there was no way I could sneak Hayes onto the compound without my team realizing it, I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent out a quick text. The compound would go into a lockdown status until I explained what was going on.
The message was barely delivered before Beckett's phone started to ring.
I lifted my brow. "Anita?"
He nodded once before answering with a clipped hello. I did my best to focus on the road rather than the conversation on the other side of the vehicle. My efforts were futile because it didn't take long for my name to come up in conversation.
"Yes, I'm with Sloane." A brief pause. "Yes, we're on our way back." Another pause. "We'll talk about it more once I'm back." Beckett sighed and dropped his phone onto his lap.
"She hung up on you?"
"Yep." He popped the P.
"She's pissed, isn't she?"
"Her tone was cold and detached, so what do you think?"
Oh yeah. Anita was definitely pissed. "I'm sorry. I'll fix it when I get back."
Beckett waved me off. "It's fine. It was my choice to come along. I think her anger stems from the fact that she was worried, and we know that's not a feeling Anita's comfortable with."
Anita wasn't comfortable with feelings in general, so no, being worried wouldn't sit well with her. Hopefully the hour drive home would give her enough time to cool off.
Spoiler alert: It wasn't enough time.
I barely had the Jeep in park before Anita and the rest of the team were headed straight for us.
Anita looked pissed.
Lilith was her usual neutral self.
But Nyx had a smile on her face that screamed she was about to make shit worse for us.
"What the fuck?" Anita growled when she got a good look at Hayes squashed into the back seat. He was starting to stir, so time was of the essence.
"I promise I'll explain, but first I need to make sure he's completely out until we get him into the cell and tied up."
"I gotchu." Nyx took off and was back with a syringe just a few moments later. She jabbed Hayes in the neck before turning back to me with her sadistic smile. "Okay, now that we have that handled, give us the dirty details." She rubbed her hands together.
Before I could say anything, Beckett spoke up. "Well, you see. We had a plan, but during the execution phase, things went a little off the rails, so we decided to throw away the plan."
"Is that a Captain Cold reference?" Nyx’s lips twitched.
Beckett smirked. "It is. Did you like it?"
"I mean it could use some work. I'd give you a solid eight out of ten."
Beckett shrugged. "I'll take it."
"Are you two fucking done?" Anita snapped. Apparently, she didn't appreciate Nyx and Beckett's attempt to lighten the mood.
"Ah come on, Anita. Where's your sense of humor?"
"It went out the window when these two decided to sneak off together for a secret assignment." She pointed back and forth between Beckett and me.
"Technically, Sloane told you she was leaving. I'm the one who snuck off with her to try and keep her in line."
I shot Beckett a “what the fuck” look. That wasn't how he explained it to me. So much for morbid curiosity.
Nyx chuckled. "And how did that work out for you?"
He shrugged. "I mean she's still alive and not in police custody, so I say it went pretty well."
"Says the former FBI agent," I grumbled at him. Next time, I would kick his ass out of the Jeep.
"Enough!" Anita's command sliced through the conversation like a hot knife. "Get him to the cell so we can figure out how to handle this shitstorm." She shot Beckett a death glare. "You come with me. We need to talk."
We all winced. I sure as hell didn't envy the tongue-lashing he was about to get. Although the fact that Anita was doing it in private was a large step in the right direction. In the past, she would've aired her grievances for everyone to hear. A private conversation was good news for Beckett.
"Nyx, why don't you help Sloane move Hayes while I go let Krista out of the panic room. I'll let her know she needs to keep herself occupied while we deal with the problem."
Lilith clearly had a soft spot for Krista. She was always the first one jumping to help the young girl whenever she could. We all had panic rooms and a bedroom for Krista in our houses, but most of the time, Krista stayed with Lilith.
Nyx saluted Lilith's back. "You heard the woman. Let's go."
Same as last time, I took Hayes' upper body, and Nyx grabbed his legs.
My ex was no slouch. All of his weight came from muscle.
I was trying my hardest not to notice how nicely he filled out over the years.
Gone was the lanky, often hungry teen I used to know.
I hated seeing him like that in high school, but there was only so much he would let me do for him back then.
He had it in his head he needed to take care of me even though I had the means to take care of us both.
In high school, I was a trust-fund kid with a monthly allowance that was more than what he would make in a year at his part-time job.
Even so, any time we went out together, he insisted on paying.
According to him, it was the guy's responsibility.
The only way for me to counter that was to eat as little as possible and give him the rest because I always had a meal waiting for me at home. The same couldn't be said for him.
Looking at him now, it was clear things had changed. He no longer looked hungry, and his clothes were clean. I'm sure there were plenty of other changes, but I wouldn't know until we spoke to him.
"Where do you want him?"
The cell was versatile. I had the option to hang him from a hook, strap him down to a table, or a more humane way of doing things, tie him to a chair. Other options existed but those were the three main ones.
"Tie him to the chair for now. I just want to talk to him."
Nyx looked at me like I was an idiot. "You couldn't have done that back at his house?"
I rolled my eyes. "That was the plan, but then he woke up swinging, and I was forced to knock him out. I couldn't chance him alerting his neighbors, so we brought him here instead."
"Well, I hope you get the answers you seek because this mess isn't going to be easy to clean up."
Don't I know it.