Page 4 of Soul of Discretion

The sooner Simon arrived in Toronto the better. Things were starting to smell decidedly fishier than he’d thought.

CHAPTER TWO

Sergeant Nick Cooper took his green canvas bag out of the backseat of his old grey Silverado, and then went to the check-in to the Four Points Hotel near Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. He’d been scheduled to attend a three-day workshop and conference with fellow Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers from across Canada; this year’s topics centred on the increased incidents of drugs and weapons being smuggled in and out of Canada.

His hotel sat across the road from Terminal Three, resembling every other part of the airport in the immediate area. But to Nick, this place seemed like a paradise. He’d treat this as a vacation of sorts, or as close as he could get to an all-expenses-paid three-day getaway.

Nick couldn’t help but be concerned about wasting RCMP funds, which were paying for this conference, the hotel, and the meals. Considering he lived only a bit over half an hour away, and worked at the RCMP Etobicoke “O” Division, he considered it an unnecessary expense. It wasn’t until Inspector McKenzie had ordered Nick to take a few days off to relax while at the hotel during the conference that he’d even considered it.

During his last case, which lasted for two long years, Nick had been working alongside his FBI counterparts to uncover those responsible for cross-border human trafficking. Deep cover investigation yielded repeated rescues of frightened, abused women who barely spoke a word of English who were being forced into the life of an escort. To say it had taken a toll on Nick was an understatement.

Check-in took only a moment, and within minutes Nick was lying on the bed in his room flicking aimlessly through the channels on the flat-screen television. He picked up his cell phone for the second time and confirmed he still had no text messages, emails, or calls. He didn’t understand why he even bothered looking, perhaps to fool himself into believing he had a life outside of work.

After he turned nineteen, Nick had joined the Canadian Armed Forces and had decided to become an officer. After five years of service to his country, Nick had transferred that knowledge to his new career in the RCMP and was now an officer in the Drugs and Organized Crime Investigations Division.

The danger in committing his life completely toward that goal was missing the amazing adventure life was intended to be. After a decade of dedicating his professional life to the service and protection of others, Nick’s personal life had suffered. The time for change had come.

The glow of the streetlights outside brought him out of his gloomy thoughts. In the distance, Nick heard a plane warming up its engines. Hell, how long have I been lying here? He looked over at the digital clock on the bedside table and sure enough, it read 7 p.m. The sun had set. The weather might be getting warmer, but April was still early spring, and when the sun went down, the nights became cold.

Nick threw the remote control onto the bed and stood, stretched out his tall frame, and walked into the bathroom. After one look at the glass-encased shower, he heaved a sigh of relief. Spacious, tiled, it even had a large showerhead high on the wall. There’d be no need to cram himself in or slouch over to wash his head. Most of the showers he’d run into over his years of deployment around the world appeared to be designed for people under five foot ten. Not comfortable for men his size. He’d always been the tallest and more muscled of his friends, which helped when playing hockey. He’d also put on more mass during his time in the service, something that served him well during hand-to-hand combat.

The stream of hot water beat down on his sore shoulder as he dug his fingers deep into the muscles to loosen them. He tried to remember the last time he’d simply stood in a shower and relaxed and came up with nothing. Lately, the more he noticed about himself, the more he realized that it was well past time for him to have more of a life, and maybe even get laid.

He got out of the fabulous shower, towelled off with a thick bath sheet, and dressed before looking at himself in the mirror. Clean T-shirt—check. Stain-free jeans—check. No mud on his boots—check. It seemed he was presentable enough to go to dinner and have a few drinks to unwind. He grabbed his wallet, key card for the room, and cell phone before leaving and took the elevator down ten stories to the lobby.

When the doors opened, the wave of voices washed over him from the lobby full of men and women from various RCMP divisions across the country. No one wore their uniform, but even dressed casually his fellow officers were easy to pick out. Nick waved at a few people he recognized from other areas he’d worked with over the years. There was no personal connection to any of these people; they were his law enforcement family, but he’d come to a point in his life where he needed more than that.

He sat down on a stool at the end of the bar and couldn’t help but think about his late Aunt Rose, and how much he missed her. She’d been gone a long time now and would kick him in his sorry ass for spending any time missing her instead of living.

He ordered a beer and sat back watching the room. People mingled and laughed, a few paired up and made their way toward the elevators, while others enjoyed their meals. A few colleagues came by to say hello. They had a few laughs then left. Nick preferred to stay behind the scenes, happy to watch everything carry on around him.

Once, while on deployment in Afghanistan, he’d sat waiting in a large outcropping of rocks for two days before taking “the shot,” ridding the world of a nasty bastard who’d rigged bombs to explode in a mosque during prayers, killing hundreds a pop. Canada had a proud history of producing some of the world’s best snipers, who continued to break records in war zones around the world. Sometimes being a patient man with a knack for being able to hide in plain sight came in handy.

Nick pulled out his cell phone and opened the new crUIzer app. He’d joined two weeks ago but had yet to use it. He logged in, checked that the location feature had the right hotel highlighted, set the distance at two kilometres and waited. If he said he wasn’t nervous, he’d be lying, considering he’d never used this particular hook-up app before. The need for intimate human contact drove him on. Though he had a few regular hook-ups when the need struck, he was now branching out, trying crUIzer. First steps and all.

Nick was a red-blooded, thirty-year-old gay man, with desires like any other man. The need to be held in strong arms as soft lips explored his skin, and thick fingers opened him up to unbelievable pleasure, was foremost in his thoughts. He became half-hard thinking about the possibilities. Between his position as an RCMP investigator and trying to keep Aunt Rose’s old house from falling in on him, it didn’t leave much time to go out to bars and meet men. The irony wasn’t lost on Nick as he sat in a bar hoping to find someone on a hook-up app.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up; he scanned the room and easily found the person who was watching him. Five-inch heels clicked on the polished wood floor as her hips swayed suggestively with every step she took in Nick’s direction. Curly blonde hair bounced in time with her double Ds, and red lipstick highlighted her dazzling, white smile. She’d zeroed in on Nick; too bad her particular assets were wasted on him. Now, give Nick a strong, confident man in a tailored suit striding toward him with hunger in his eyes and you’d find Nick in a puddle on the floor.

“Aren’t you a big fella?” she purred and ran a sharp, hot pink nail up his arm and over his bicep. “I’m Stephanie. Wanna buy a lady a drink?”

“Sorry, but not if I don’t want your jealous-as-shit husband ripping my balls off,” Nick grumbled before taking another swig of his beer.

The woman let out a dramatic huff and then plopped down in the chair beside him. “You used to be more fun, Nick.”

“And your husband wasn’t as crazy.” Nick laughed and took her into his arms. “How are you, Steph?”

“Good, honey. It’ll be nice to have you back in the office on Monday. Get everything finished up over in Vancouver?” she asked.

Steph was one of the best assistants their division had ever had. For the last five years, she’d been whipping their offices into functional spaces while keeping the officers in line. Nick thought of her as the sister he’d never had.

“Yes, it’s been put to rest,” Nick replied while raising his hand to get the bartender’s attention. He ordered her a Caesar, extra hot with a pickle. “Not planning on making another trip out there anytime soon.”

“I saw the reports, just happy you’re back.” Steph smiled as she picked up her drink and took a sip. Nick was glad as well. They’d saved hundreds of women and children from this particular trafficking ring, but for every one they took down, it seemed another two popped up in its place.

“So tell me about that love life of yours. Anything juicy?” Steph asked as she sat forward.

“There’s nothing to tell.” Nick wasn’t going out of his way to find someone permanent. He looked down at the flashing light on his cell phone, indicating a message.