11
Finn swept his gaze around the area as he patrolled outside the conference center near the rear exits, keeping his pace slow and steady. The conference was on its third day, and so far, everything had gone smoothly. There had been a couple of times when they’d checked out alleged suspicious activity. In fact, Joe had left Finn to patrol alone for a few minutes while he joined Tailor and Thunder to investigate a report. But every incident had turned out to be nothing of note, and Finn expected this one to be the same.
A small part of Finn wished Joe would be held up until their shift ended, which he knew was unkind, but things had been tense between them lately. Finn was trying to balance his schedule fairly between Joe and Drew by planning two nights per week each, which gave them an equal amount of time and gave him some downtime as well. He loved them both, but sometimes, he needed to decompress and spend an evening doing nothing but catching up on the magazines he subscribed to or playingRed Dead Redemption 2by himself.
Last night, he was supposed to hang out with Joe. Rarely did he make concrete plans with either of them. Like him, Drew preferred to be spontaneous and do whatever they were in the mood for, whether that was going out to eat or to a movie, binging a show on Netflix, or tumbling into bed. Joe was also easy-going, although he preferred activities that allowed them to stay in. But last night, Joe had asked if they could postpone their night together, which was unexpected.
Finn agreed without asking any questions. Poking Joe about something tended to make him close up even tighter. Joe would talk about it if and when he was ready, and while part of Finn was afraid it meant Joe was starting to pull away from him, he reminded himself that Joe had stuck by Finn for eight years and would continue to do so. Joe always said what he meant and meant what he said. Finn was counting on that now.
He also suspected the situation with Drew wasn’t the only factor behind Joe’s behavior. The recent mission to Pakistan had affected Joe in ways Finn hadn’t seen before, and he was starting to think Joe was dealing with PTSD in the aftermath of whatever he’d experienced. After the conference was over, Finn was going to suggest that they hold off on taking another mission and that Joe talk to one of the company therapists. Pixel had vouched for Dr. Matthews, giving him credit for helping Pixel through the grieving process when he lost everything he owned in a fire and was stuck in a safe house.
Finn was also considering whether he ought to put his relationship with Drew on hold for a while. He didn’t want to break up—that thought was too painful—but having to accept the presence of another man in Finn’s life might be a complication Joe didn’t need right now. The problem was, he didn’t know how Drew might react to that. Drew might see it as a sign that Joe was Finn’s priority and opt out of the relationship because he didn’t want to feel like he was always in the back seat.
Blowing out a frustrated huff, Finn tried to push aside the tumultuous thoughts roiling around in his head. He needed to focus on the task at hand, not on his screwed-up love life. In theory, having two men was exactly what he’d always wanted, but the reality was far more complicated than he’d imagined it would be. He never realized how conflicted he’d feel about being in the middle, for one thing. It would probably be easier if all three of them took the same approach to relationships, but no, Finn had to fall in love with Mr. White Picket Fence.
Maybe he ought to give monogamy a try. He’d been with Joe for eight years, after all. Surely that meant something. Would it be so bad if he couldn’t roam once in a while? That level of commitment would make Joe happy.
But his heart wrenched at the thought of never feeling Drew’s arms around him, of never again experiencing their easy connection and explosive chemistry. Giving up Drew would hurt on levels Finn didn’t want to think about, and he knew he’d risk growing to resent Joe even if he broke up with Drew voluntarily.
He didn’t know what the right thing to do was, and that was driving him crazy.
“Excuse me? You’re one of the Hercules Security people?”
Finn turned around to find a young man looking at him hopefully, and he was almost grateful for the distraction from his thoughts.
“Can I help you?”
The young man smiled and stepped closer, holding up a piece of paper. “I have a message for you.”
“From who?” Finn asked as he took the paper. No one on the team would send a written message, and he couldn’t think of why anyone would need to pass him a note. Frowning, he glanced down at the paper, but the words weren’t English, and his spidey senses started tingling. “What is this?”
The young man was still smiling, and Finn didn’t notice anyone else until another man—this one much bigger—was suddenly behind him. He felt a quick, sharp sting against his neck, and as he drew in a breath, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
“This is what you Americans call payback,” a harsh, deep voice murmured close to his ear.
Finn tried to fight back, to shout—anything that would give him some time and maybe get his teammates’ attention—but his arms were weak and unresponsive, and he couldn’t get any words out.
“Oh, you are feeling ill!” The big man put an arm around Finn’s waist, while the younger man came to his other side. “Here, let us help you to your friends. They are outside, we saw them.”
Somehow the tone of the man’s voice wasn’t at all reassuring, but Finn couldn’t even turn his head to get a good look at the big man. They started walking him toward the rear exit of the building—which wasnotwhere Pixel was with the Hercules Security van. He struggled to shrug them off, but his muscles grew weaker with every passing moment, and he could barely pick his feet off the ground as he shambled along between them.
Maybe Joe would return, he thought with a little flare of hope. If Joe showed up in time, he’d take care of these two assholes.
There was a man waiting by the rear exit, but he was obviously with Finn’s captors, because he smiled nastily and opened the door for the others.
“You got one. I thought they’d never split their teams,” he said. “Let’s get him into the van.”
Finn could see a big black van parked in the loading dock—a van not unlike the one Pixel was in out front—and as he watched, yet another man slid the door open from the inside. The two guys supporting him hurried faster now, letting Finn’s feet drag on the pavement.
Just before they reached the van, there was a shout from behind them, and Finn recognized Joe’s voice.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!”
The younger man glanced behind them, but Finn’s captors didn’t halt. There were cracks of gunfire, and then the big guy on Finn’s right let out a cry of pain as at least one of the bullets impacted on him. But it was too late; the man inside the van grabbed his injured teammate, while the younger guy and the man who had been at the door pushed Finn into the van. Finn could hear footsteps pounding toward the van, which had to be Joe in pursuit.
Finn found himself dropped onto the cold metal floor of the van, his head bouncing painfully. But he was turned in the right way to catch sight of Joe running toward him, a look of desperate determination on his face. Joe had his gun up, and as the door to the van closed and the driver took off with a squeal of tires, Finn heard the impact of more bullets, shattering the windows of the van. The vehicle didn’t stop, but over the roar of the engine he heard Joe bellowing in rage, a sound of pure, visceral fury unlike anything Finn had heard from his lover before.
Finn’s last thought before darkness overwhelmed him was,you guys are so fucked.
