Chapter Fourteen
NO TURNING BACK
The radio chirped, and Boone split them up before they left Daniel’s.
“Grady, take Grant and Knox. Follow up on another Paisley address. Seems there’s a second sighting. Tauber, Bain—you’ve got Sissy Haskins.”
“Figures,” he muttered and ran a hand over his face.
“Why?” Whip tossed him a quick glance.
“It’s already after 3. I’m hungry,” he groused. “And tired.”
“Of course you are,” Whip soothed and reached into the center console to pull out and hand him a protein bar.
He tore the wrapper, his first bite was half the bar.
See? Whip got it.
Nobody got him the way Whip did. Not even his own brother.
Whip pulled out of the parking lot.
“We should take Highway 31.”
“Is there another one?” Whip cocked that brow at him.
“Smart ass,” he snorted.
Whip just smiled.
Sissy’s place sat at the end of a road off of Hwy 31.
The gravel crunched beneath the tires as Whip eased the SUV to a stop. Blackberry vines had swallowed most of the fence line. If somebody ran into that mess, they’d come out looking like they’d fought a bobcat.
“I’ll take the back,” Axel said.
“No, you won’t.”
Axel looked over.
“I’ll take the back.”
Axel huffed a short laugh but gave a quick nod.
They split automatically.
He hated letting Whip out of his sight.
But splitting up did have its advantages.
Axel climbed the porch steps and knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked harder.
Still nothing.
The knob didn’t turn.
Locked.
“Sissy? U.S. Marshals. We have some questions for you,” Axel called through the door.
Nothing.
He circled the trailer, checking windows as Whip emerged from the opposite side.
“Nothing on my end,” Whip said.
“Same. Locked up tight.”
No movement.
No vehicle matching the truck’s description.
Across the road, an older woman stepped onto her porch, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
“You boys looking for Sissy?”
“Yes ma’am,” Whip said and eased the jacket aside to show her the tin star clipped to his belt.
“Have you seen her?” Axel asked.
“Couple hours ago.”
“Know where she went?”
The woman shook her head. “She said she had errands. That’s all I know.”
“When do you expect her back?”
Another shrug.
“Could be tonight. Could be tomorrow. Depends on what she’s into.”
“Was she alone?”
“Yeah, just her and the little dog of hers.”
Axel looked at Whip.
Whip gave a slight shake of his head.
Another dead end.
“Appreciate it, ma’am,” Axel said.
She nodded and disappeared back inside.
Axel headed for the SUV.
“So much for an easy day.”
Whip climbed behind the wheel.
“Didn’t think we had one of those yet.”
The engine rumbled to life as they pulled back onto the gravel road.
The SUV bounced over another pothole before Whip steered them back onto Highway 31.
Axel grunted, “That was a waste of time.”
“We got confirmation she was there.”
“A couple hours too late.”
Whip tapped fingers on the wheel.
“She’ll surface.”
Silence settled between them.
Comfortable.
Too comfortable.
The radio crackled with traffic from the other teams before fading back into static.
Axel tore open a second protein bar from the box in the center console.
“When’d you restock these?”
“This morning.”
“You’re feeding my bad habits.”
“I prefer calling it being prepared.”
Axel made a sound. “That what we’re calling it now?”
Whip smiled and kept his eyes on the road.
Outside, miles of pasture rolled by beneath a sky that couldn’t decide whether it wanted sunshine or rain.
Axel watched it for all of three seconds before looking back at Whip.
His hands rested easily on the steering wheel, still occasionally tapping.
The window was down an inch just to let the breeze inside.
One of his elbows was propped against the door.
Good. Whip looked relaxed.
This was a side of Whip that Daniel would never see.
The guy’s words floated back for a second.
Can’t ever find one without the other.
So the fuck what?
They worked together.
Lived together.
Ate most of their meals together.
The guy wasn’t wrong.
Anybody would’ve gotten used to that.
So why the hell did that crack still bother him?
It wasn’t the words.
It was Whip stepping between him and that stupid relationship joke.
That had felt…
Hell if he knew.
He wiggled his back against the seat, still feeling Whip’s hand pressed against his lower back.
Nothing was there anymore.
Didn’t stop him from feeling it.
He glanced out the windshield.
“…Huh.”
“What?” Whip tossed him a glance.
“I didn’t say nuthin’.”
“Yes, you did.”
“It was a grunt.”
“Was it?” Whip’s brow quirked.
“Fact.”
The rest of the drive passed in comfortable silence.
Boone checked in twice over the radio. Grady’s team hadn’t found anything.
Another dead end.
Typical.
The closer they got to Fern, the more traffic disappeared until it was just them again.
Whip turned onto the familiar county road leading toward his place.
Home.
Funny how quickly it’d started feeling like that.
The Jeep rolled to a stop beside the porch.
Axel reached for the door handle.
Didn’t pull it.
The engine ticked quietly beneath the hood.
Neither of them said anything.
They had sat like this after plenty of long days.
Talking.
Arguing.
Eating takeout.
Listening to Boone chew somebody’s ass over the radio.
Today felt…
Different.
Whip reached for the keys.
“You coming?”
Axel looked over.
The late afternoon sun spilled through the windshield, catching strands of Whip’s blond hair. He looked tired.
Content.
Safe.
Axel’s chest tightened.
“In a minute.”
Except he didn’t move.
Whip didn’t question it.
Of course he didn’t.
The man had spent the better part of a year learning his moods. Half the time, Whip recognized them before he did.
Shit.
That wasn’t helping.
Axel scrubbed a hand over the stubble along his jaw.
It was one damn touch.
One hand against the small of his back.
Partners did that.
Hell, he’d done it himself.
Pushed deputies behind cover.
Grabbed suspects.
Moved teammates out of doorways.
It was just a touch.
So why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?
He rubbed the heel of his hand against the place again.
Nothing.
Still…
Something.
“What’re you doing?”
Axel glanced over.
“What?”
“You’ve been rubbing your back for the last five minutes.”
Had he?
“…Back’s stiff.”
“Mmm.”
Whip didn’t sound convinced.
He climbed out anyway.
Axel watched him disappear around the front of the Jeep.
“Dammit.”
Axel climbed out, slammed the door, and stood there for a second.
The cool afternoon air should’ve cleared his head.
Didn’t.
Whip strode down the walkway, keys in hand.
Everything about him was familiar.
The easy stride.
The shoulder-length blond hair stirring in the breeze.
The way he automatically glanced around the yard before heading up the porch.
Normal.
It was all so damn normal.
Until it wasn’t.
Axel grabbed both of their go bags and followed him up the steps.
His mind kept circling back to Daniel.
Can’t ever find one without the other.
So what?
Then Whip’s hand.
Warm.
Steady.
Like it belonged there.
So what?
Hell if he knew why that one touch refused to leave him alone.
Whip unlocked the door and stepped inside.
Axel followed, closing the door behind him.
The familiar click echoed through the house.
Whip tossed his keys into the bowl by the entryway and started toward the kitchen.
Axel watched him go.
Something in his chest tightened.
Too tight.
His pulse kicked.
The thoughts he’d been trying to organize all afternoon scattered in every direction.
He was tired of thinking.
Before he could second-guess himself, he reached out and caught Whip’s wrist.
Whip stopped and turned.
“What—”
Axel closed the distance in two strides, spun him toward the wall, and kissed him.
The force of it rattled the framed photos hanging beside the front door.
So did every coherent thought he had left.
The instant their lips met, Axel gripped the back of Whip’s neck, holding him there.
Heat exploded between them.
He angled his head and claimed Whip’s mouth harder, deeper, like he’d been trying to reach it for months without realizing it.
Their lips crashed together amid silent groans, harsh breaths, and the slide of tongues.
Whip tasted like coffee and mint.
Familiar.
Dangerously familiar.
Axel raked his fingers through the long blond hair he’d imagined touching more times than he cared to admit, keeping Whip close as though letting go wasn’t an option anymore.
The kiss only grew hotter.
A low groan escaped him as he instinctively pressed closer, his hips brushing Whip’s.
The answering hardness stole what little common sense he had left.
Whip answered the pressure immediately, one hand fisting in the front of his shirt while he sucked gently on his tongue.
Jesus.
Their cell phones buzzed at the same time.
Reality crashed back into the room.
Breaking apart, Axel couldn’t drag his gaze from Whip’s, pupils blown wide, lips wet from his kiss.
They broke apart at the same time.
Neither one spoke.
Axel dragged his phone from his pocket.
A team-wide message from Boone.
“Take the night off. Resume at 0700.”
Axel let out a short, strangled huff that might’ve been a laugh.
“Of all the damn timing,” he muttered, staring at the screen another second before finally looking up.
Whip was already watching him.
Blue eyes.
Swollen lips.
Hair slightly mussed from his hands.
“That was a hell of a kiss, Bain.”
“Testing a theory.”
“Oh?”
Whip’s fingers brushed across his own lower lip, never taking his eyes off Axel.
“You going to need further research?”
“Yeah,” Axel said, his voice rough.
He definitely needed more research.