Seth
The house was a wreck. Just getting to the front door took some work, stepping over a large spare tire and wading through tall weeds with all kinds of garbage on the ground. With relief, he finally reached the front door. He knocked and waited. He kept an eye on the front gate of the chain link fence he’d come through. No answer, so he knocked again, this time louder and longer.
“Hold yer fuckin’ horses,” someone shouted from inside.
His surprise at finding the address was fifteen minutes from Oakland had been staggering. He was still trying to wrap his head around it when the door rattled as if locks were being worked open.
The door barely cracked open and beady eyes stared at him through the gap. Seth settled his hand on the butt of the gun tucked in the holster hidden beneath his jacket.
“Stanley Starr. I don’t know if you remember me.”
The guy cracked the door open wider. “I know who ya are. I got eyes,” Starr said, and then shoved the door wide. “Seth O’Leary. Been a long fuckin’ time. You here to give me what your old man stole from me?”
“No.” He stayed where he was even though Starr gestured him inside. “I met with my dad, he doesn’t have what was taken. The cops have it. You’ll need to get it from them.” He cut right to the point of his visit.
“That’s a fuckin’ lie! The cops didn’t even have time to get that stash of jewels. Finn was in there a good ten minutes before the cops arrived, and he came out empty.”
“Of course he came out empty, you idiot. He was in fucking handcuffs.”
“You got my stuff?” Starr peered suspiciously at him. “You got it hidden away, waiting for your old man to get out?”
“Is that why you’re living in this area?” He narrowed his gaze at Starr. “I wasn’t even there that day.”
“Your old man was.”
“He came out in cuffs. The jewels are probably back on the store shelves by now.” He threw up his hands. “Fuck, man, use your head.”
Starr looked at him with a deadly gleam. “Who the fuck you think you are? Don’t forget who gave you a walloping when you was a snot nosed kid.” Spittle flew from Starr’s mouth.
“Yeah? Well, I’m not a kid anymore.” He stood to his full height even though it was still an inch shorter than Starr.
“Is that right?” Starr barreled out the door and took a swing at him.
He stepped back out of Starr’s reach so quickly, the guy went tumbling forward. Clamping a hand to the back of Starr’s neck, he kept the man stooped over, facing the chipped porch floor.
“Yeah, that’s right.” He squeezed his hand and the guy winced. He released the fucker with a shove, and Starr stumbled until he regained his balance.
“Come after me again and I’ll do more than bend you over, old man.” He held Starr’s hate-filled gaze. “And if I find out anything has happened to my dad inside, I’ll come back for you and nobody will be able to find your body.”
“You fuckin sissy,” Starr sputtered. “You always was a pussy ass kid hanging out with boys. Get the fuck off my property.”
Seth pointed at Starr. “I’m not fucking around. Anything happens to Finn and you are history. I’d seriously suggest you pack your shit up and move on.” With that, Seth jumped off the porch and made his way through the junk in the yard and back out the gate. Starr’s curses followed him.
He eased behind the wheel of his car and didn’t take a breath until he was back on the freeway and headed toward Noah and Mac’s place.
It was laughable, really, that Stanley Starr had moved here in hopes that he knew where the jewels were. What a loser. He had a pretty good idea of how Starr had found him. Finn had buckled under pressure. Starr had changed. The guy he remembered had been a leader, feared and respected among criminals, and had had an army at his disposal. This guy was old, unclean, unhealthy, and his place looked a pigsty. Seth hoped the guy took his warning to heart. Although, he wouldn’t mind putting a bullet in Starr’s head, but he’d prefer not to if he didn’t need to. Yet, one less dirt bag in the world couldn’t hurt.
He pulled onto the freeway just as his phone rang. He put it on speaker. “O’Leary.”
“Seth? You turned your GPS off, where the hell are you?” Stefano roared into the phone.
“I had something personal to take care of, why?” Seth frowned.
“Are you close to Manchester and Fifth?”
“About ten minutes away.”
“Shots fired at Frost and Wild. I need you there now! The team is about twenty minutes out.” Stefano sounded out of breath, as if he were running.
“Shit! I’m on my way.” Wait, shots fired? He punched the gas. “Are they still under fire?”
“I don’t know. The details are sketchy.” Keys jangled in the background.
Seth disconnected the call and floored it, whipping in and around slower traffic. If the cops chased him, all the better. In fact, he hoped they did. The sirens would let Asher know help was coming. If anything happened to Asher… He tried to keep his anxiety under control, but his unease increased the closer he got to the address. Squeezing the wheel, he fought down the desire to make a rookie move and panic. Bad shit always happened when people panicked.
Pulse pounding and heart racing, he pulled into the diner’s parking lot and hit a pot hole. That was gonna leave a mark. He didn’t give a shit. All he cared about was finding that dark-haired head and wide shoulders above all others. Suddenly, he spotted Asher standing near his jeep talking to an officer and Wild. A strangled sound escaped in the confines of his car.
Not stopping to think, he shoved the car in park and barreled out of the seat. He broke into a run across the lot, and when Asher turned, Seth launched himself into the man’s arms. He could feel Asher’s momentary shock of surprise before the man’s arms closed tightly around him.
“I’m okay,” Asher breathed against his hair.
“I know,” he said, his voice muffled against Asher’s shirt. He finally looked up into the man’s face. Jesus fuck. If anything happened to Asher, he would die. Embarrassed at the stares they were collecting, he pulled from the operative’s arms.
A black SUV barreled into the parking lot, signaling the commander’s arrival. Noah, behind the wheel, parked the vehicle. Seconds later, they exited. Allison and Noah started walking the perimeter. After talking to a cop, the pair headed down the street.
“What the hell happened?” He turned back to Asher, rubbing his sweating palms down his jeans. When the hell had he fallen so hard for this man?
“Came out of the diner and a sharp shooter took a few shots at us.”
“How’d you know they were aiming for you?”
“They shot up my jeep and pinned us down,” Asher told him.
“What the hell were you doing here?” He looked at the dive.
“Hey, don’t knock it,” Wild answered with a cocky grin. “The food is great.”
Screeching tires drew his gaze around. Two more black Phoenix SUVs barreled into the parking lot. The unit took this shit serious. Nobody messed with one of their own.
Storm literally stepped out of the rear door of the still rolling SUV. The sniper looked like he wanted to kill someone. The man’s long strides ate up the distance between them. Storm kept moving until he was up in Wild’s space. His large, rough hands reached to cup the man’s face. One hand gently brushed the hair back from Wild’s neck. Seth couldn’t ever remember a time he’d seen Storm be so gentle.
“What the ever living fuck happened?” Storm growled menacingly as he traced fingers down a scratch on Wild’s cheek.
“I rolled beneath the jeep.” The tracker shrugged, reaching up to touch his own cheek with the tips of his fingers.
As if just now realizing how he’d come off, Storm abruptly dropped his hands and stepped back.
“Sir, I can treat that,” an EMT said from nearby and Wild turned to follow the guy.
Storm’s gaze tracked Wild until he reached the ambulance. Then, Storm turned his raging gaze on Asher.
“Before you go all postal,” Asher held up his hand, “We did meet up with Yakov. They left, we ate, and when we came out, someone shot at us from over there.” Asher pointed to a building down the street.
“What made you think this was Yakov’s place?” Stefano asked, joining them.
Seth ground his teeth when Asher filled Stefano in on the napkin he’d found in the shipping container. He should have put off seeing Starr until another day, damn it!
“Seriously, boss, I knew he’d show, but I certainly didn’t think he’d try and kill us,” Asher finished.
“Rookie move!” Storm growled, advancing.
“Tell me you’d have done it differently!” Asher snarled right back, not budging.
Storm’s eyes narrowed.
“Stop it,” Seth cut in before the pair got going. “I have to agree with Asher. In this case, less was better.” He placed a hand on each of their chests and shoved them back a bit. “If the whole unit had come to the diner, I doubt that Yakov would have shown his hand inside. He might have just waited and picked one of us off when we came out.”
Storm grunted and crossed his arms against his chest. Asher shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels.
“What a fucking shit show,” Allison told them, having walked over from where the police stood grouped together. “Boat tail, hollow round.” She held up the bullet casings in an evidence bag before handing it off to the anxiously hovering CSI.
“Sniper shot from there,” Noah stated as he approached with Mac at his side. At some point, US Marshal Mackenzie had joined his lover.
Mac pointed to a spot on the roof of an apartment building about an eighth of a mile away. “You both were lucky,” the rugged marshal told them.
“One thing’s for sure, Yakov’s not liking the heat,” Seth declared.
“No,” Asher agreed. “No he’s not.”
The office was quiet when they walked in and Asher motioned him over to his desk.
“I have a hunch.”
“Aren’t you done with hunches for the day?” Seth blew out an exasperated breath. Still a bit lightheaded from relief that Asher was unharmed, he dropped into the chair next to the man’s desk.
“Hear me out,” Asher snorted and settled into the chair at the desk.
“I also found out something, but you go first.” Seth leaned an elbow on the desk and cupped his chin in his hand.
“I want to go back and question the owner of the diner. The guy wasn’t in when Wild and I were there earlier. I just have a feeling that Yakov is up to no good and that diner might play a part.”
“Alright. Let me know when you’re going back and I’ll tag along.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer. Thankfully, Asher didn’t argue.
“What did you find?” Asher broke into his thoughts.
“That our Jagger Miller is not really Jagger Miller. His name is Wyatt Jagger Hughes.”
“He probably goes by another name because of the shit he’s mixed up in.”
“Maybe. I was able to find out his real name but nothing further. With his history, you’d think his prints would at least be with the DMV, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Nope,” Seth said. “They’re not. He’s wiped them clean.”
“Well, he is a hacker.”
“Yeah, but he might have some trouble wiping all data bases. I didn’t check the FBI.”
“I’ll call Roscoe and have him look into it,” Asher said.
The front door opened and a slight breeze followed Noah, Allison, Wild, and Stefano into the office. Storm was nowhere to be found.
Seth quirked a brow at Wild.
“He’ll be back. Just needs to cool off,” the tracker said with a shrug.
Asher frowned. “As long as he doesn’t fuck with the investigation.”
Wild shrugged again. “He’ll do what he needs to do.”
Which could add up the bodies. “Call his cell phone,” Seth said.
“I’m not calling.” Wild walked away.
“Damn it.” Seth glared after Wild and pulled his phone from his pocket.
You better not fuck up the investigation, he sent in a text to Storm.
Seth shivered when Asher moved closer and looked at his phone with his chin resting on his shoulder. He could feel the man’s breath against his ear.
Asher snorted and moved away. “Yeah, like that will work.”
I’m not doing shit to the investigation, so fucking chill, Storm replied.
Seth smirked, holding up his phone. “See?”
“All I see is Storm placating you.”
Seth worried that Asher might be right. Storm was unpredictable.
Frost
He could still feel Seth in his arms and his firm body pressed against his. To say he had been surprised when Seth had thrown himself into his arms was a fucking understatement.
He could have held Seth indefinitely, except for some reason, the man had become embarrassed and pulled away. Frost wasn’t one for PDA either, but with Seth, he’d make an exception.
“Still no word from Storm?” Frost asked Wild when the tracker approached the bull pen and settled behind his desk.
“No,” Wild said briskly and buried his head in his laptop.
“He overreacted out there,” Frost poked verbally.
Wild’s head jerked up, his eyes flashed. “He did not.”
Frost smirked. “Why are you defending him?”
“He reacted like any of us would have.” Wild scowled.
“Ah, no. He didn’t walk up to me and cup my face and get all fuckin’ growly and shit.” Frost took a sip of the coffee he’d grabbed in the kitchen on his way to his desk.
“That’s because you had your arms full of Seth!” Wild snapped.
“So?” Frost kept his tone smug. “He was worried about me.”
“So, I rest my case.”
“Wild, there is no case. Just face it, Storm has a thing for you.”
The man’s pupils expanded and his lips parted. Wild then heaved a breath. “No, Frost. Trust me. There is no ‘thing’ between us.” The guy’s eyes narrowed and he turned away.
“Wild?” Frost frowned and rolled his chair closer to Wild’s desk.
“Everyone, gather around.” Stefano’s voice pulled his attention from the stubbornly silent Wild.
Their commander came out from his office with his cell on speaker phone.
“Listen up, men.” Stefano placed the phone on Frost’s desk.
Seth, Reggie, and Noah came from the kitchen and gathered around. Allison stood and walked over. Wild turned from his desk, angling his chair toward Frost’s desk.
“Chief, all but Storm is here.”
“Stefano filled me in on what happened today,” the chief’s robotic voice stated over the phone. “It sounds like you’re making waves and someone doesn’t like it. I’ll say this, keep doing what you’re doing. People who are guilty react when you put pressure on them. The noose is getting tighter. That means Yakov and his henchmen are going to react. Watch your backs out there and watch each other’s. Keep Stefano abreast of everything. And I mean everything. That includes you, Frost.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” he said.
“Apology accepted. Now let’s tighten this shit up and get some god damned evidence to pin on Yakov,” the chief finished, and then told Stefano to take the phone off speaker. Once their commander went back into his office and shut the door, Frost let out a deep breath.
“Hey,” Wild told him, “I could have said something too.”
“I know,” he acknowledged, rubbing at his chin.
Wild clamped a hand on his shoulder before heading after Reggie and Noah.
“If you don’t want to fill in Stefano for some reason, you could at least talk to the rest of the team. Or me.” Seth dropped into one of the vacant chairs next to his desk.
Frost grimaced. “You had an errand to run.”
“Well, I could have put that off.”
“Where did you go?”
“No place important.” Seth seemed to shake himself. Frost didn’t pry. Seth would share if and when he was ready. “Um, about earlier.” The man rubbed a hand at the back of his neck and looked away.
“Yeah?” He held his breath.
“I overreacted.” Seth’s throat moved as if he had difficulty swallowing.
“Overreacted which time?” he baited, and dodged the small paperclip Seth tossed at him.
“When I, um, hugged you at the crime scene.” Seth wrinkled his nose, clearing up any doubts. Hugged was putting it mildly, Seth had practically thrown himself into his arms. Not that he was complaining.
“I didn’t mind.” He tried to put Seth at ease.
‘You didn’t?” Large, green eyes lifted to his and those silky, dark curls dropped over Seth’s brow.
Frost itched to touch. “No,” he replied gruffly. “You know I want you.”
Seth’s pupils expanded and his lips parted. “I want you too.”
Frost shoved a hand through his hair. “I know. Now stop looking at me like that or I’ll find an empty back room and fuck you silly.”
Seth grinned. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“Stop it,” he ordered to the cheeky little menace.
“Have dinner with me tonight,” Seth said, taking him by surprise and sliding closer.
“If I say yes, will you go back to work?” he grumbled, but didn’t mean a word of it. Seth had him hard. Seth made it impossible to think. That last part had never happened to him before. No matter what, he always kept a cool head.
“I’m going, I’m going. Meet me at that new place in Jack London Square.” Seth rattled off an address.
“I’ll be there.”
“Seven!”
“Get,” he grumbled, hiding a smile. Dinner? What the fuck? He never had dinner with a potential fuck. Sure, they’d eaten lunch together the other day during work hours, but dinner? Although Seth wasn’t just a potential fuck, he was a coworker, a friend, and a fellow Phoenix. The look in Seth’s eyes was nothing close to casual, but he wasn’t going to think about that when he might get lucky tonight.
The restaurant had a four star review on Yelp and Frost loved their cream-filled pancakes. The place had an old century vibe to it. The bartender was dressed in a white shirt with a royal blue vest, sleeves rolled up his arms. A low wall separated the dining room from the bar area, and the tables sat in the center of booths. Old-time looking booths with red velvet and large rivets separating the fabric to give it diamond shapes. The lighting was dark, the bulbs casting a yellow glow.
Frost wasn’t a fan of the lighting because he couldn’t see Seth’s expressive green eyes. But the breakfast plate he ordered was almost worth the denial of seeing Seth’s eyes… almost. The pancake was moist, custardy, and mouthwatering. Flavors exploded on his tongue and when he looked up from his plate, he noticed Seth smiling as if he had found him funny.
“What?” he moaned around a mouthful.
“You do love your food,” Seth teased him.
“Breakfast food. I love breakfast food.”
“How do you survive on that?” Seth asked, and then took a large bite of burger.
“Ever hear of bacon, ham, and eggs? Lots of protein there. Spinach and veggie omelet.”
Seth looked at the separate plate that held a hearty portion of bacon and eggs and shook his head. “You should save the best for last and eat your protein.”
“No can do.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have to eat the pancake, waffle, or French toast first while it’s still hot.”
Seth’s laugh made him smile.
“Come on, tell me you don’t have one strange habit.”
“Um…” Seth’s brow pinched before he looked away.
“What?”
“Nope.”
“Nope? What does that mean? I told you mine,” he argued.
Seth huffed. “Okay. I spend extra time on my hair every morning. Even on weekends.”
Frost eyed Seth’s hair. It was a mess of gleaming curls. Mouthwatering, if he were being honest.
“You mean that doesn’t just happen?” Frost pointed his fork at Seth’s curls.
Seth shook his head. “Nope…when my hair gets wet, it frizzes as it dries. It takes time to get it looking like this. If I don’t have time to fix it, I wear a baseball hat.”
Frost grinned. “There, see? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Seth laughed and Frost dodged a piece of napkin thrown his way.
The conversation became lighter, fun. Frost couldn’t remember a time when he’d laughed so much with someone. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d just hung out with a man he was interested in having sex with. Usually, he hooked up, scratched an itch, and bailed. Seth was different. The guy was funny, smart, and intense all mixed together and Frost liked it.
Seth insisted on picking up the tab, and he didn’t argue. He was more interested in an after dinner delight. When Seth paused outside on the sidewalk, he backed the man up against the side of his borrowed SUV. After an initial start of surprise, Seth wrapped his arms around him. Returning the tight squeeze, Frost dipped his head and buried his nose in Seth’s curls.
For all the boasting Seth did about spending time on his hair, his curls were soft and subtle, not hard with product. And they smelled like citrus and heaven.
“Come home with me,” he murmured.
“Yes,” Seth simply said, and Frost’s heart just about punched through his sternum. “I took an Uber, you’ll need to drive.”
“That’s fine.”
He tucked Seth into the passenger side and started the engine before he pulled out his ringing cell phone. Just as he answered it, Seth’s phone rang. They both groaned simultaneously.
“Frost, is Seth with you?” Stefano asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good. I have Noah calling him on the other line. I have a job for the both of you.”
Frost sighed. There went his idea of hot sex tonight. Seth looked just as disappointed as he did, so he was somewhat mollified.
“We just got the details on an establishment that Yakov owns in Russia. I need two men on the ground over there to check it out. I want to know who the hell lives there. Are they victims or is it his family? Is it a holding place or a home?” Stefano ordered.
“Russia,” he stated flatly and put the phone on speaker. It wasn’t on his list of favorite places.
“Is there something wrong?” Stefano’s voice came clearly over the vehicle’s speakers.
“No, boss. I would love to go to Russia in the dead of winter,” Frost answered sarcastically.
Stefano chuckled. “It’s always winter there.”
“No it’s not,” Seth chimed in, having ended his call with Noah.
“Yeah, yeah. I made reservations at a hotel in a little out of the way town. Your flight leaves at one A.M. It was the soonest I could get. Go home, pack your bags, and catch that flight.”
Frost didn’t reply, he simply hung up.
“So… Russia, huh?” Seth rubbed his hands together, smiling.
Frost squeezed the steering wheel. “Fuck.”