Page 4 of Love Above Law

After another sleepless night hitting the gym at 4:00 am proved to be just what I needed this morning. Lucky for me I live in a building where my gym happens to be located on the first floor. I pay a ridiculous amount in rent every month for not only the little perks they offer but they also have top-notch security, and that was my top priority when I chose to relocate to downtown Seattle after completing FBI training a few years ago. I'm not that far from the famous Ferris Wheel down at Pier 57.

As I'm on my way to my third-floor apartment via the stairs my phone rings. Retrieving it from the pocket of my gym shorts, I swipe the screen answering the call. "Talk to me," I skip a stair between steps doing an extra workout with my ascent.

"We've got some new intel on Santino. Need you in the office in forty." Kurt, one of the agents on the Santino case, informs me.

"You got it." Not one for words he quickly ends the phone call. I've worked with Kurt before, and he is damn good at his job. Every breakthrough and bust our division has had Kurt has been a part of because of his intelligence experience along with his IT knowledge. Not to mention the guy is intimidating as hell.

Sprinting up the remaining stairs, I enter the hallway leading to my apartment. The bureau is roughly a twenty-minute commute from my building; another reason I chose this place, so shedding my sweaty clothes, I grab a quick shower. It doesn't take me long before I've dressed and back out the door.

The elevator doors slide open to reveal Mrs. Smith from the fourth floor. Since living here, she has continuously flirted with me. She isn't the least bit shy about doing so either. I'd been in the building for a couple of months before I ever met her husband. Yep. Married. She introduced me to her husband Clark, then proceeded to proposition me in front of him. The older man never batted an eye. He acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world for his wife to be doing such a thing. It turns out they have an open marriage.

Now that's a concept I can't wrap my head around. If and when you meet the one—the one person you can't live without—the one that keeps that fire in your soul burning; how or why would you want to share them with any other person is beyond me.

I now know mine and April's relationship wasn't meant to last forever. As hurtful as the betrayal was, her cheating on me didn't crush me. It didn't rip my heart out of my chest. Like Nonna said last night, there are reasons everything happens in life—good and bad. It's all preparing us for what's to come. April wasn't my future. And you can be damn sure once I find her I'm not sharing.

"Mr. Taylor," she adjusts her posture pushing her breasts out a bit further. I appreciate beautiful breasts of all sizes, but I happen to like them natural. Nothing against the women who choose to get them or the men who love them; it's just not what I prefer.

Tipping my head, I greet her. "Good morning, Mrs. Smith." Pushing the button for the garage, I step back against the left wall of the elevator.

"The offer still stands, Mr. Taylor. I promise you won't be disappointed." She slides to my side of the small area we share.

"I appreciate your determination, Mrs. Smith, but my answer is still no." I chuckle giving her a pleasant smile for her efforts. Luckily, she doesn't say another word, until the doors open, and she steps out into the lobby of the apartment building. Her eyes travel down my body. "You can't fault a woman for trying." I watch her saunter away with confidence knowing she will try again.

On my way to the office, I stop in at the coffee shop and pick up the order I called in a few minutes ago. Parking in the below-ground garage, I lock my car and make my way into the building and take yet another elevator up to the eighth floor. When I step out and into the room Kurt, along with Dean and Kai are sitting at their desks. Dean has been here almost a year longer than me. Kai was part of my graduating class and one of three people including myself the FBI offered a position to here at the Seattle division.

As soon as I take my seat at my desk, Kurt drops a new folder on top the pile already stacked in front of me. "Our brothers in Miami seized another drug shipment last night at the shipping yard. This bust was huge. We're talking seven digits worth of drugs along with some military grade artillery. They also snagged one of Santino's associates in the process. Unfortunately, as they were escorting our suspect from the loading dock to the back of one of their unmarked vehicles a bullet was put through the back of his head."

"Shit. Sniper shot?" I question him and take a large gulp of my coffee.

"You got it. An agent was hit as well. Fortunately, he is expected to make a full recovery."

This seems to be the way the man does things. From what I've learned since being handed this case, Santino, values no life but his own. Almost every man associated with him the law has gotten its hands on over the past three years has wound up dead. "Do we still have surveillance on his estate down there?" I ask while I scribble notes on the margins of the paperwork in front of me.

Dean flips open his laptop. "I'll pull up the latest images, but the most recent reports still say no signs of Santino. His staff has been the only people on the property for the past two weeks."

Kurt walks across the room and pours himself some coffee into a styrofoam cup. "Since we have been brought onto this case the department wants us to fly down to Florida and meet with the agents down there who've been working it for a while now." He takes his seat at his desk across from me. "These two agents have busted their asses on this case. If we get down there and they are a little pissed about us being there, ignore it. We don't need over inflated egos clouding judgment." Kurt looks directly toward Kai.

"I'm not anyone's bitch, Kurt. I'm there to do a job. As long as they remember that—." Kai leans back in his chair and runs his hand through his long hair pulling it back before securing it at the nape of his neck with a hair tie. Kai may be a little hot-headed, but he makes a good agent. When we were at the training academy together, he was the only guy who could give me a run for my money physically. I'm a competitive guy. I want to win and succeed at everything. Kai happens to be the same, and he would make everything a competition between us, which is why we got along so well and instantly became friends.

Giving Kai a hard stare, Kurt continues. "They believe they may have enough to gain a warrant to search Santino's home, and we need to be a part of that. Not to mention I want us to do some of our own snooping around Santino's stomping ground and see if we can dig up anything useful."

"When do we leave?" I ask.

Kurt scrubs a hand down his face then digs into his desk drawer, "noon." He holds out a ticket for each of us to take.

"The wife is not going to be happy," Dean announces and pulls out his phone. Dean has a wife and two kids.

Kai stands. "Does this mean we have the next couple of hours to ourselves?" he waits for an answer from Kurt.

"Just make sure your asses are at the airport before takeoff," Kurt tells us.

Dean walks off to make a call to his wife, and Kurt gathers his ticket and paperwork, drapes his jacket across his arm and heads toward the elevator leaving Kai and me behind.

"I'm headed over to Rumors. I'll catch you later," he grins. I know all about Rumors. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I have a few hours to head back to my place and pack a bag for the remainder of the week. I ride the elevator down to the garage with Dean. "How's the family?" I inquire. His wife's pregnancy hasn't been easy this go around. They put her on bed rest three months in.

"Good. We have six weeks to go. Despite the fact, she has a couple of small contractions every day the baby is strong. I hate leaving town. I don't know what we would have done without her mom these past few months. At least I can leave home knowing Hannah and the kids are in good hands." The elevator doors slide open, and we both step out.

"It will all work out. Take the next few hours to be with your family before you have to get your head back in the game." We stand in the middle of the parking garage for a second before he lets out a heavy sigh. "Fuck man, you're right, I need to leave my shit here when we get on that plane. For all we know Santino could have eyes and ears on us as well. I need to be focused," Dean states.