“I think he’s hiding something. He was caught in a sweep of human traffickers and rolled over on some pretty heavy players. I believe he held back, merely giving up his enemies. There’s evidence that he’s got a slave business that’s quite profitable. That makes taking him out more complicated, and I’d want to do a helluva lot more due diligence before going in on him.”
Thane and DB exchange a look.
“What?”
Thane speaks up. “If you think this one is that complex, we might need to bring in Wimberley.”
“I’m never gonna say no to help, but this guy runs a skeleton crew, and I don’t think they’ll be a problem for our team. But we might need some help with security for the young women afterward.”
DB nods. “Good call out. So, that’s next up after this first asshole. We’ll go in, get the easy win, get our stride back, then go and kick some ass.”
DB calls the team back in, and we put together a plan of action for my first official op with the Guardians.
4
Thane
It’s a few days after the debrief, and we’re scheduled to meet again to get more details on Ro’s first project. I go directly to the PTN, the last to arrive since it was my turn to get the Round Rock donuts.Completely out of the way and totally worth it.
Our sharpshooter, Rafi, jumps up and grabs two donuts, then pivots and sits on Everett’s lap. That would be highly inappropriate in an actual military installation, but since we are the furthest thing from official, and since Everett owns the shop that houses the PTN, nobody says anything.
Meanwhile, Omar is sitting next to Anders, caressing the back of his neck. It was the East Texas op that produced that unlikely duo. Anders is a joker, and Omar is a super-serious dude, and I really thought he would have killed Anders at some point. I guess they decided to fuck it out and then stupidly went and fell for each other.
I’m not jealous.
The next person at the table is Ronan. He got his hair trimmed, and it’s a different style than I’m used to seeing on him. Whoever he went to gave him a gorgeous fade and then left a good amount of length on top, highlighting the sexily disheveled curl of his shiny black hair. He’s wearing a navy-blue button-down that makes his eyes pop, and he’s chatting with Odd, Anders’ twin brother.
“Hey, Odd. What’s with the glasses?” I ask, not even remotely concerned about his decision to ditch the contacts today.
Odd turns away from Ronan, facing me, and I figure it out pretty quickly. He’s got a deep scratch across his eyelid and the eye itself is red and irritated.
“Dude! What happened to your eye?”
“Had an experiment go a little sideways.”
The experimental work he does is out of Wimberley, and he’s some kind of engineer. What’s weird is that he also has some of the same scratches on his arm, but I know better than to ask questions after Wimberley has been invoked.
DB, who’s been standing off to the side, texting someone, looks up sharply when he hears our conversation.
“Odd? What the hell happened?” DB walks up to him and gently touches his chin, angling it up for him to get a better look. “You need to go to the hospital.”
Anders rolls his eyes and points at himself. “I’m his doctor, and I’ve already examined him. He’s got a small scratch on his cornea, but he’s fine.”
DB grips his cane tightly. “He should at least be wearing an eyepatch.”
Shaking his head, Anders says, “It looks worse than it is. He’s fine.”
Odd puts his hand on DB’s arm, drawing his attention like a magnet. “DeShaun, it’s fine. Really.”
I catch Everett’s eye and we exchange awhat was thatlook. I’ve never heard anyone call DB by his given name.
Working his jaw, DB nods and steps back, only moderately mollified.
I really do wish my friend would just go for it. Every single person on our team has been injured in some form or fashion, but DB only gets really upset when it’s Odd. If he thinks he’s being subtle, he isnot.
At least it diverted Odd’s attention from Ronan.
I’m not even sorry.
