Since it wouldn’t be long before this bozo caught the attention of innocent bystanders, Rocko had to move this along.Casually, he took a few steps closer, still twirling the keys.His body was nonthreatening, as if he didn’t give the slightest fuck that he was only a few feet away from the business end of a shaking gun.
It wasn’t the first time, and he doubted it’d be the last.Slowly, he moved the keys to his right, watching as asshat’s gaze followed them.Captivated by the movement and tinkling sound, his mind was too fucked up to look away.Hook, line, and sinker.How the hell did the rookie manage to get outmaneuvered by someone this baked?
With a simple flick of his hand, Rocko tossed the keys into the air, and as the guy turned to follow their flight, Rocko made his move.Grabbing the gun and the guy’s wrist, he twisted his arm, took the gun, and had the genius face-planted against the wall before his keys hit the pavement.
Rocko snapped the loose handcuff around the guy’s left wrist, then handed the gun back to the rookie.“You might want to consider another line of work,” Rocko told the rook.
He didn’t need to get involved, but here he was bending to retrieve his keys at the same time a cruiser pulled up.He needed to get on the road to Ticonderoga.He was already running late.
“Get on the ground,” the second cop ordered.
Rocko spun around to find another gun pointed in his direction.He looked over at the rookie, who was busy picking the drunk up off the ground.The fact that the guy wasn’t looking at Rocko told him everything he needed to know.
“Fucker,” Rocko growled before lowering to his knees and placing his hands on the back of his head.
This shit day kept getting better and better.
***
Apollo
“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me,” Apollo spat into the phone.“How the hell?Fine.Yep.Got it.”
He disconnected the call with Brick and looked up to find Griffin not-so-patiently waiting for the update.
His SEAL team member cocked an eyebrow.“What’s up?”
“The moron got himself arrested,” Apollo grunted.“He’ll be late.”
“The detective from Florida got arrested.How the fuck did he manage that?”Griffin asked, not bothering to hide his amusement.
“Apparently, he came to the aid of a wet-behind-the-ears rookie who neglected to inform his buddies that Rocko was the good guy.He’d disarmed a guy who was holding the cop at gunpoint with his own gun in the car rental parking lot.”
“Why the hell did he bother getting involved?”
“He’s a detective.It’s in his blood.Anyway, the situation got cleared up fast enough after they confirmed Rocko’s ID and got ahold of the security video.”
“Brick said he’s on his way, so we’ve got a couple of hours before meeting him in town.”
Brick Matthews was a former Navy SEAL lieutenant commander and the head of an elite investigative group based in Texas that Apollo had encountered during a recovery mission in New Orleans.From that point forward, the two teams kept each other in the loop.
“This proves my point.We shouldn’t have some fuckin’ stranger poking his nose into our business.He should take the hint from the local PD and go the hell back to Florida.Pansy-assed beach cop.”
“The only reason I agreed to any of this was as a favor to Brick.If the guy didn’t come with a tight background, he’d be out on his ass.”
“He still might be if I get the slightest hint Dee-tec-tive Rocko isn’t the real deal.If he’s not, he won’t have to worry about getting a return ticket.I’ll dump his ass in the lake, and I’d make sure the pieces would be small enough to feed the fish.”Griffin chuckled as he extended his canines and claws.
Apollo couldn’t help but grin.They’d been through hell and back over the years since they’d started fighting the Noah Group.A war with no end in sight, and more bodies piling up daily, meant they needed Dee-tec-tive Rocko’s help.
The Noah Group originated in the 1950s as a military operation aimed at creating the perfect warrior as a weapon to use against their enemies.Unfortunately, the lead scientists, including Isabelle Noah, who, thanks to Brick and his team, were deceased, and Dr.Frauste, currently missing, didn’t follow any kind of ethical guidelines.
It had resulted in extreme mutations that crossed the spectrum from physical to mental, and what could be best described as supernatural powers in the test subjects.
The Project had been discovered and shut down by the Navy, and in an effort to make the program disappear as quickly as possible, the survivors were shipped across the globe without any consideration for their futures.They’d been offered no help in assimilating into the non-mutant world and everyday society.
Apollo’s and Brick’s SEAL teams had encountered them and made it their mission to destroy the Project completely and intended to find the survivors and give them peace and a place to live.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Apollo said.“For now, we go forward as planned.Show him the basics, get a feel for who he really is, and go from there.We owe Brick that much.”
