Justin Mallory was an idiot. That or he played a very convincing idiot. Gabriel couldn’t decide which was the case, but he was sure that he’d find out soon enough. In the meantime, he cursed himself for taking the job and Marilyn for contacting him in the first place. He even cursed the city itself. The sun had set more than an hour ago and yet the air remained disgustingly humid and thick, like walking through hot, damp cotton.

They separated long enough for Gabriel to change clothes in his hotel room—sneaking through a dead man’s house was not a place for an Armani suit—before meeting Justin back at Fountain Square. With his hands shoved in his pockets, Gabriel stared up at the bronze cast woman with water pouring down from her outstretched hands. Golden light gilded her and her companions as they watched over the city.

People strolled through the open square with children weaving and darting among them. The entire city had a relaxed, friendly feel to it, so unlike the great capitals of the world he briefly resided in over the years. Distant and cold, too self-aware of their place in history and the global economy, the cities were never truly home. Just a place to sleep, hide, and plan his next job.

No, Cincinnati still believed in being a home, a haven to her citizens.

Turning, Gabriel spotted Justin as he crossed the square, cutting through the crowds of people as they sought out entertainment to start their weekend. Gabriel couldn’t tear his eyes away. Justin was a couple inches taller with wider shoulders. His broad chest, now accentuated by a black T-shirt, tapered into a flat stomach and narrow hips. His every movement was powerful like a lion prowling his domain. He did not look like a man who spent his life behind a computer screen.

Justin Mallory was ex-special forces. Gabriel would bet a former SEAL or maybe Marine reconnaissance, but he couldn’t begin to guess what would send such a well-trained killing machine to hiding behind a keyboard. It didn’t make sense. Justin belonged in the field, all those barely concealed muscles flexing and straining as he hunted his prey.

For a second, the image of Justin pinning him down to the bed, his larger body covering his, hips thrusting, flashed through his mind. As Justin leaned down, that mocking smile on his lips, his light brown hair threatened to fall into his brown eyes. Gabriel nearly shivered as he forced the image aside.

Such a stupid thought! There was no way Justin was a gay and even if he was, nothing in this world could tempt Gabriel into pursuing a sexual encounter with the man no matter how fucking good looking he was.

He wasn’t the only one to notice. Woman turned and stopped as he walked by, making no attempt to hide the fact that they were ogling him as he passed. And Justin certainly wasn’t blind to it. He smirked and winked at the gawkers as he sauntered closer to Gabriel.

“I thought you were going to change,” Justin said the second he was standing in front of Gabriel.

He glanced down at his black button-down shirt and black slacks. The hard-soled dress shoes had been traded out for a pair of rubber-soled shoes. While not exactly fashionable, they were good for sneaking, climbing, and running. He hoped that they would need to do only one of those things. Gabriel preferred not to have to start running until he at least got a lay of the land.

“Who said that this outing was going to be my only entertainment for the evening?” Gabriel shot back. He pulled at his left shirt cuff and then his right, settling his shirt about him while trying to ignore sheen of sweat he could already feel forming. When the hell did this city cool off at last? He would have preferred a T-shirt like Justin, but he didn’t wear such things in public if he could help it.

“Really, Mr. Prescott? Bar-hopping on the schedule tonight after a little B&E?”

“I don’t expect this escapade to take long and I’m sure you’ll be eager to get to bed seeing as it will be past your bedtime.”

Justin flashed him a lopsided grin that lifted only the left side of his mouth. “Only if I’ve got someone joining me. Interested?” He spun on heel and started to walk back the way he came. Gabriel’s heart stuttered for a second before speeding up. Had Justin just flirted with him? What the fuck? Clenching his teeth, Gabriel squashed the unexpected rush as he followed the infuriating man.

Mallory wasn’t flirting with him. He was taunting. He was feeling him out to see if Gabriel was gay and he would betray him later. No, Justin wasn’t serious in the least. He was only trying to keep Gabriel off balance so that he could keep the upper hand in this partnership. It wasn’t going to work. Gabriel has survived far worse and more devious than the bastard strolling along the sidewalk beside him. And if the man continued to push, Gabriel would be more than happy to kill him when the job was over.

Two blocks over from Fountain Square, Justin stopped by an unmarked black sedan parked toward the back of a parking lot. He tapped the key fob in his hand and the lights flashed once.

“Don’t touch anything but the door handle,” he said, his voice unexpectedly serious. Actually, it was one of the few times Gabriel had heard him use the tone and it was very arresting. His voice dipped down, becoming little more than a growl.

Gabriel stood by the passenger door and looked down at the roof. “Just washed?”

“Not quite.” When Gabriel lifted his gaze back to his companion, he found the smirk had returned. “I’m testing out a new color coating tonight. It’s not supposed to rain, and I wanted to see how well it held up.”

Gabriel leaned closer, trying to inspect the quality of the temporary paint but there wasn’t much he could see in the low light. “Water based?”

“Nope. More of a powder. Goes on pretty damn even.”

Gabriel nodded and pulled the door handle, opening his door. “But you doubt the durability. Understandable.” He caught the somewhat surprised expression cross Justin’s face before he slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. While he hated to admit it, Gabriel knew the feeling. When was the last time he’d been able to talk a little shop with someone else in the same line of work?

Five years.

Something cold and hard sank into his stomach with the answer. Five years, three months. He hadn’t been there when Ivan was executed, but he’d watched the video that had been secretly recorded from a camera hidden in a vent. He’d heard the questions and accusations. Ivan didn’t lie and didn’t fight. He’d been tired of hiding the truth. Tired of layer after layer of lie until sometimes Gabriel wondered if Ivan even trusted him. But that night…some part of Gabriel still hated him for not lying one more time.

Closing his eyes for a second, Gabriel focused on pulling on his seatbelt. He needed to stay here in the moment, focus on the job at hand. Ivan was dead. That life was gone. And he was better off now.

On the drive out of the city, Justin tried a couple times to start a conversation, but Gabriel kept his replies to terse one-word responses, killing any further discussion before it could take off. He didn’t want to get to know this man. He didn’t want to be comfortable or friendly. They’d work together on this job for a couple months at most and then go their separate ways never to see each other again. And that was assuming they didn’t kill each other before the end of it.

“Where are we?” Gabriel demanded as they snaked down another dark road. Trees thick with leaves stretched above them, blotting out the sky, creating the feeling of going through a tunnel that steadily closed in on them. Justin had turned off the interstate more than twenty minutes ago.

“Loveland. Why?”

“Just good to know in case you decide to leave me for dead on the side of the road.”

A low rumble rose from Justin before he jerked the car to the side of the road and threw it into park. As he turned in his seat toward the passenger side, Gabriel couldn’t stop himself from reaching for the knife on his hip. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Justin braced the other on the side of the passenger seat. The low interior lights did little to illuminate his face, but Gabriel could make out heavy lines cutting across his brow.

“Can we just get a few things clear here?” Justin started. “I hate the idea of working with someone. I don’t trust people and considering your special skills, I really don’t trust you.”

Gabriel nodded when he paused. “That’s fair.”

“And I know you don’t want to work with me and you definitely don’t fucking trust me.”

“Also fair.”

“But it’s a lot of fucking money for not a lot of work.”

Some of the tension eased from Gabriel’s shoulders and he unclenched his jaw. “And we need each other.”

“A truce. We work together. We don’t try to kill each other or betray each other.”

“You want me to have your back,” Gabriel said softly, tearing his eyes from Justin’s intense stare to gaze out at the thick darkness that surrounded them. He didn’t want to examine too closely the twist in his stomach or the jump in his heart. To be a part of a team, to be trusted, even in some small way and to trust another—Gabriel never thought he’d have that again.

“Look, G. I’m not asking you to be my wingman next time I go trolling for a piece of ass,” Justin continued when the silence had stretched for too long. “I just want you to keep me from getting shot in the back.”

“Or the ass,” Gabriel muttered.

“Well, it is one of my best features.” Justin grinned wide, his white teeth catching some of the low ambient light.

“I’m sure plenty of men have told you so.” Gabriel smirked back, hiding his own surprise that he’d even said the words. Something about Justin seemed to drag the mocking, teasing words out of him. Hell, he’d already spoken more on this job than any other in the past three years.

“Ahhh…G, are you jealous? If I’d known you would come into my life one day, I would have saved myself for you.”

Gabriel turned his head, feeling both flustered and amused. The man was ridiculous—serious one second and utterly irreverent in the next.

“We’re good. I’ll watch your back and I won’t stick a knife in,” Gabriel said, pulling them back to the issue at hand.

“And I’ve got you, G. Ain’t nobody gonna get near your ass but me.” As Justin laughed as he threw the car back into drive and continued down the road. Gabriel closed his eyes, counting to ten. His body clenched at the image of being pinned down and pounded into by Justin. Blood rushed to his groin and he fought the urge to shift. He would not let Justin know how his words affected him. As far as he knew Justin was straight and baiting him. Gabriel was not ashamed of being gay or his attraction to Justin. He’d just learned the hard way that letting anyone know the truth about his sexual preference was a death sentence.

“Don’t call me that,” Gabriel said when he could speak evenly.

“What? G?”

“Yes.”

“How about G. Love and I can be Special Sauce?” he countered with a cheeky smile.

Horror filled Gabriel’s face and Justin cackled, causing the car to swerve slightly. He tapped a button on the steering wheel and issued a couple commands. The car accessed the music from Justin’s phone and soon a warm bluesy song filled the car.

Justin pointed to the radio. “G. Love and Special Sauce.”

“You’re a disturbing man.”

“It’s all part of my Special Sauce.”

Gabriel looked away, staring out the window, but there wasn’t much to see besides darkness, trees and the occasional house set back at the end of a long driveway. It was becoming harder to fight back a smile.

“Don’t hurt yourself over there, G. I don’t think they’ll revoke your bad-ass assassin card if you happen to laugh.”

“Don’t call me G.”

“How about Gabe?”

“It’s Gabriel or Prescott.”

“Well, that’s not going to work for me. Why don’t you just tell me your real name and we’ll go from there.”

Gabriel groaned and sunk into his seat. There was no point in denying his accusation. Gabriel wasn’t his real name, but there was nothing in the world that was going to convince him to tell Justin his birth name. No, that man was dead, and that name wouldn’t be uttered again.

Luckily, he was saved from having to answer as Justin slowed the car and pulled into a long driveway that curved in front of a single-story modern house full of large windows and sharp angles. The front porch light and some landscape lights glowed as if someone was home, but Gabriel suspected a timer was holding the illusion in place.

Justin led the way to the front door, pulling on a pair of latex gloves on. He handed a spare pair to Gabriel over his shoulder before withdrawing a lock pick from his other pocket. Gabriel watched the man as he pulled on the gloves, not bothering to hide his surprise. Gone was the teasing mocking person who seemed completely incapable of taking anything serious. Here was the trained specialist he believed him to be.

Reaching behind him, Gabriel palmed the gun that had been hidden under his shirt at the small of his back. With the weapon in his right hand, he carefully scanned the area, but his night vision had largely been destroyed by the front porch light. Trees blocked the view of the house from the road, but he’d feel better when they were inside.

Sweat trickled down from his temple to slide along his jaw. The heat was fading and a breeze stirred, bringing some relief. Cricket and toads serenaded them. Darting between the trees, little yellow lights flickered on and off. He hadn’t seen fireflies for the first time until he was well into his teens. He’d always summered with his family in cooler, drier climes that weren’t the preference of the little beetles. But even now, years later, he still found something magical about the little lights.

“We good?” Justin demanded, breaking into his thoughts.

“Good.”

The second Justin opened the door, a security alarm sounded. He rushed in and quickly tapped in a code, silencing in the alarm. Gabriel followed him inside, closing the door again. “You knew the code?”

“In the case file I pulled from the police database.”

Even in the low light leaking in through the front windows, they could clearly see the chaos that consumed the living room. Pictures had been knocked askew and pulled down from the walls. Stuffing exploded from torn sofa cushions. The coffee table had been broken, its pieces left scattered about the large blood stain the dominated the center of the carpet.

“It was staged,” Justin murmured, stepping into the room. “They say he was pulled from his office at the back of the house, dragged to the living room and then beaten, possibly for a few hours, before they killed him.”

“Do you think they got the information they wanted?”

Justin shook his head. “No idea, but he wasn’t the first and I doubt he’s going to be the last.”

Gabriel followed close behind Justin as he led the way through the house, his footsteps silent and unerring as he turned when he reached the kitchen and headed down the hallway past the master bedroom to the doctor’s study. The man had obviously studied the layout of the house before they’d arrived.

“Any guesses as to who is contracting these murders?”

“Potentially someone high up in Iaso, protecting their investment.”

The office didn’t look much better than the living room. The only thing missing was the blood stain. Pulling a small penlight out of his pocket, Gabriel flicked it on and handed it over to Justin as he quickly searched through the bits of paper and desk drawers. Gabriel moved to the open doorway, standing guard, straining to hear any noises that were out of place. Justin would know better what he was looking for and Gabriel’s strength lay in force.

“Any luck?” Gabriel demanded after five minutes.

“Couple scraps of paper with notes. A few names that might be co-workers. A portable hard drive.”

Gabriel pivoted on his right heel to look over at Justin. “How the fuck did someone miss that?”

Justin held it up a worn copy of Lord of the Rings. When he peeled back the cover, he revealed that the good doctor had cut out a section of the pages and slipped the small hard drive inside. “Seems like Dr. Weiss has seen one too many spy movies.”

Gabriel snorted and turned back to face the hallway. “Worked for him all the same.”

“Done? We’ve been here long enough.”

“Think the house is being watched?” Justin’s voice sounded closer even though Gabriel didn’t hear a single footstep across the carpet. The man moved like a ghost.

With his gun in front of him as he started down the hall, Gabriel led the way, sure that Justin was following. “If they didn’t get what they wanted out of the doctor, then it is.”

Slipping back through the house, Gabriel led the way, checking the exterior one last time before moving away so that Justin could follow him to the car. The sooner they were back into the city the better. The overwhelming darkness and the thick crowd of trees made it difficult to spot anyone who might be watching them. He preferred to operate in the city than in the middle of nowhere.

“Well, that was depressingly simple and uneventful,” Gabriel announced as they turned back onto the interstate half an hour later. “When you mentioned an outing, I had hoped for something more entertaining.”

Justin’s eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror before he shifted to the center lane. “You understand that I prefer to keep this a low-key operation. No explosions, car chases, or cross-town shoot outs that leave behind a pile of bodies.”

Gabriel lifted both brows at his companion’s surprisingly serious tone. “I can be discreet and still have fun.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Justin flashed him a wide grin. “Someone has been following us since we turned off the doctor’s street.”

“Where?” Gabriel demanded, turning in his seat to look out the rear window.

“Two back on your side. The dark sedan.”

“Police?”

“Possibly…but doubtful. I think our friends are waiting to see if we will lead them somewhere interesting.”

“And do you have somewhere interesting we can lead them? Preferably somewhere private.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a place.”

Gabriel didn’t bother asking where Justin was leading their newly acquired shadow. He didn’t know the city, not yet. Their meeting was just supposed to be an introduction and then he planned to spend a few days surveying the city, learning the major roads and landmarks while he waited for Justin to pull his shit together.

The truth was Gabriel felt out of sorts and edgy being the one utterly unprepared. He’d been in the business long enough to know that you were a dead man if you weren’t prepared when you walked onto a job. And yet he still did it. Was he getting bored? Restless? Careless? He didn’t let himself examine the potential answers too closely. Not one of them was good. And neither was the fact that for the first time in too long, his pulsed raced and he felt the urge to laugh. The thrill of the unknown put the excitement back into the job.

As they got closer to downtown, Justin chose an exit that ended up putting them in an area with squat buildings, rusting warehouses, sagging chain-link fences, and boarded up homes. The recession had taken a baseball bat to the neighborhood and then left it to die. At just after eleven, there were few cars on the road. The only stores with the lights on were fast food, liquor, and the occasional grab and go. It was the type of place they could slide through unnoticed.

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder, watching as the dark sedan made the left at the light to follow them down the block. The other car picked up speed, no longer trying to hide the fact that it was following them. “How do you want to handle this?”

Justin scratched his chin in thought for a moment. “Care to lay down some cover while I see if they want to talk?”

“I can do that.”

“Don’t shoot until they start.”

“Fine,” Gabriel grumbled.

“And leave someone alive to answer questions.”

“If these are police officers?”

Justin gave him a mocking smile. “Deny everything.”

“Brilliant.” Leaning forward, he pulled his gun free and slid out the magazine out of habit before chambering a round. This did not feel like cops.

At the end of the block, Justin pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse and drove toward the back where the shadows would be the heaviest. They were a good distance from any prying eyes, but the sound of gun shots would undoubtedly carry across the open air. As Justin started to turn the car to face the other that was approaching them, Gabriel jerked open the door and darted out, running toward deeper shadows. He ducked around the large warehouse and peered around the corner, watching as Justin turned the car and dropped it into park. He left the headlights on, illuminating the immediate area as much as possible. It would help Gabriel, but if the men who had been following them left their lights on as well, Justin would be at a distinct disadvantage.

Luckily, Gabriel could see just fine as the sedan entered their section of the parking lot and stopped several yards away, its lights still on. Justin opened the driver’s side door and stood, keeping his body blocked by the door. He placed one hand on the roof of the car and the other on the top of the door, clearly showing that he didn’t have a weapon.

All four doors of the dark sedan swung open and Gabriel lifted the gun in both hands, taking aim at the man closest to him. He breathed in slowly through his nose, held it, and pushed it out again through his parted lips. This was the easy part of the job, the part that he was most familiar with, and certainly most comfortable with. There were four men and they didn’t have any problem flashing about that they were armed, while not one of them made a comment about being cops.

That certainly answered their question about whether the attackers had gotten what they wanted out of Dr. Weiss. They were still watching the place, waiting to see if anyone showed up to pull out what they couldn’t get. Interesting.

Of course, these men didn’t have that computer hacker or even mad scientist vibe. No, these guys were more of the “didn’t finish high school” thug variety.

“You got it?” called the man standing on the front passenger side of the car. The man had no discernible accent. He just sounded like the average uneducated American to Gabriel. He kept his gun drawn on the man who had spoken, but he closely watched as the men from the back seat stepped forward, coming around their companions, their heavy footsteps echoing across the empty parking lot. All four men had a clear view of Justin, but Gabriel now had a clear shot at each of them.

They all wore jeans and dark shirts. Tattoos covered their necks and forearms, but Gabriel was too far away to make out anything important from the black ink.

“Got what?”

“The doctor’s research.”

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” Justin said with a little chuckle. “I’m just from the service.”

“The service? What fucking service?”

“The cleaning service. We’re scheduled to come by every Wednesday and Friday. I gotta tell you, I had a helluva time getting the blood out of the carpet. I mean, that shit really set in. And then trying to track down all the sofa stuffing and putting the right bits into the right cushion.”

“What the fuck?” the leader snarled.

“Hey! There was another guy in the car,” the driver interrupted before Justin could continue with his nonsense. “Where is he?”

A smirk lifted one corner of Justin’s mouth. “He’s around.”

“You know what…fuck this shit. Kill him. Find the other guy and kill him. We can just take the shit off their dead bodies.”

Gabriel growled low, squaring his shoulders, holding to Justin’s command to hold his fire until the other men fired first. His companion opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue, but he never got the chance to speak as all four men opened fire on Justin’s location. He twisted back, diving toward the interior of the car. Gabriel squeezed the trigger again and again, expertly placing one bullet the shoulder of the speaker, spinning him around before putting a bullet in the arm of the man closest to him. He glanced over to find Justin on his knees, his back to the rear door. One hand was pressed tightly to his abdomen, pain digging lines deep in his face.

Fuck. They got in a lucky shot and two men were moving closer to the car. This was what he got for listening to his partner in the first place. He should have just put a bullet into each of their heads as soon as they all stepped clear of the car.

Moving away from his cover, Gabriel pursed his lips together and sharply whistled. Like dogs, the two men approaching Justin stopped and looked up. As quick as a flash of lightning, Gabriel squeezed on two rounds, burying a bullet into each man’s forehead and dropping them in the middle of the parking lot. A shot fired, pinging off the side of the building, and Gabriel ducked back into hiding, peeking out to see that the man he’d hit in the arm was now trying to fire at him using his left arm. He waited, breathing in and out calmly, letting his irritation slide away, as he listened for the soft click of an empty chamber. Swinging out again, Gabriel exhaled and squeeze, sending the slug through the middle of the man’s chest.

“Fuck,” Justin groaned. A loud thud followed where he hit his head against the metal door. “Can you leave one of them alive, please?”

Gabriel walked over to Justin’s side, but he kept his eyes trained on the one man leaning against the side panel at the front of the opposite car, holding his shoulder and cursing. His gun lay at his feet, but Gabriel wasn’t letting his guard down.

“You good?”

“No, but I’ll live,” Justin grunted. He took the hand Gabriel extended to him and used ot to get to his feet with another round of swearing. “Let’s get this done.”

Gabriel took the lead, approaching the other man. He paled as they stood over him, his dark blue shirt soaked with blood.

“Who hired you?” Gabriel demanded.

“Fuck you. I don’t got to tell you anything.”

Gabriel lowered the end of the gun from the man’s head to his stomach and fired again. The man screamed, lurching and rolling to the side, only to scream again when he landed on his wounded shoulder. Blood smeared across the car and started to pool on the fractured concrete.

“What the hell?” Justin shouted. “I said not to kill him.”

“It’s just a little shot to the stomach,” Gabriel said softly, not bothering to look up at his partner. He squatted down, narrowing his eyes on the man panting unevenly in front of him. “Slow bleeder. It’ll take a while to die from that. Slow and painful.”

“Fuck!”

“And I can keep doing it.” He pressed the end of the gun into the knee closest to him. “One joint after another. All pain. Slow death.”

“Fuck, I don’t know! I don’t know!” their assailant spat, struggling to turn just enough onto his back so that he wasn’t putting his weight on his shoulder. “Just some suit. Paid us a few G’s to watch that house. Said some doc stole research. If anyone snuck into the house, we were to get back whatever they stole.”

“Fabulous,” Justin grumbled.

It was about what Gabriel had expected. He stood and aimed for the man’s forehead, but Justin grabbed his wrist, pulling his aim to the side.

“Don’t,” Justin growled.

“He can identify us.”

“He won’t.” Kneeling down, Justin pulled what appeared to be a white business card out of his back pocket and held it up. He roughly grabbed the hand the man was pressing to his stomach and lined up his three fingers before pressing the tips onto the white card he held in his left hand, leaving behind three perfect bloody fingerprints. Justin held it up, showing the man the card. “I’m going to bet that your fingerprints are on record somewhere and I promise you that I can locate them. I can locate it, your name, address, and the location of your entire family. One word to the cops and my friend will hunt down everyone you care about before he comes to finish you off.”

“Got it,” he whined.

Justin stood and turned back to the car, while Gabriel scooped up the gun at the wounded man’s feet before following his companion. He watched his steps slow, but Justin stubbornly held himself upright as if determined to hide how injured he was.

Catching him as he reached the driver’s side, Gabriel gave Justin a push to keep him walking around the car. “I’m driving.”

“Like I trust you to drive,” Justin muttered, but he kept walking to the passenger side. He slid into the car with groan, his face scrunched up in pain. He managed to pull the door closed behind him and then sat still, breathing heavily.

Dropping his gun into the cup holder, Gabriel reached across Justin, causing the other man to jerk in surprise, his eyes popping open wide.

“What are you doing?” he demanded on a gasp.

Gabriel bit back a smile, keeping his voice low. “Seatbelt.” He carefully pulled the restraint across the man, clicking it into place. “How bad is it?”

“Stomach wound. Lots of pain, but I think it’s mostly just in the meat.”

“Can you stay awake long enough to give me directions back to downtown? I can sew you up in my hotel room.”

“Yeah, I got it,” he sighed, his eyes falling shut again.

Gabriel glanced over at his companion, his face lined with pain. No smartass remarks or snarky remarks. He was in pain. This was not how he’d wanted their first outing to go. Gabriel pressed down the anger and sickening sense of failure that churned in his stomach. Justin had asked him to watch his back and now he was injured because Gabriel had failed to keep him safe.