Camden had counted to ten so much he’d probably reached five hundred, and he’d only arrived at Trenton Security an hour ago. Liv was all smug and smirky. Linus kept grinning at him. Pure at least had the decency to act normal because the man was the only normal one in the bunch.

Gage was dressed in his finest suit, but the bastard was barely holding in his laughter.

“Break any more beds lately?” Gage asked without looking up from the file folder in front of him.

“It was one fucking bed, and dammit, it was old.” Things had gotten a little too energetic the night they’d left the bed and breakfast. Now everyone fucking knew, and he wasn’t living that shit down.

Eric, Ellison and him found it funny when it happened after a few minutes of shock. He was there with Ellison on his cock and the mattress suddenly on the floor. Just because he found it funny didn’t mean he wanted everyone else to know.

“Break a hip, you know—”

“I’d arrest your ass if I didn’t need you, Linus.”

“No, you wouldn’t. I’m like your best friend.”

“That doesn’t say much about my sad existence. Can we get to work now?”

“We’ve been working, you’ve been counting and trying not to murder us since you got here,” Raul stated from his spot beside Pure at the conference table.

“I don’t think anyone needs to know about my sex life, that’s between me and my boys.”

“Did you forget who your friends are?”

“You’re not my friends. You’re annoying people I can’t get rid of.”

“We’re fucking hurt, but not as hurt as your boys’ asses if you broke the bed pounding one out. Nice one, man.” Little snorted, then chugged an energy drink.

That kid didn’t need caffeine. “Quit thinking about my boys’ asses. What is it with y’all and your obsession with sex?”

“Aw, come on, man, most of us except Linus ain’t getting any. We live vicariously through the erotic exploits of our friends.”

“We’re getting plenty, Little. We don’t scare, well, except Pure he’s—”

Raul cut Liv off with a growl, “Can we get back to fucking work?”

Raul’s obsession with the innocent Pure was weird. The man wasn’t going to do shit about it, but anyone made one comment about Pure, and the man went homicidal. The man needed to man up or just fucking let it go.

“Since Pure’s boyfriend is ruining our fun…” Linus appeared disgusted by their ruined fun. “Little, what have you found out?”

“Shipments—”

“People,” Gage corrected.

“People are being shipped about once a month, been no sign of activity the last three weeks. The reports that I’ve found and what Hunter came up with, there’re sightings last Sunday of every month. Kinda weird if you ask me. A venture as profitable as what they have going on. Shit, the numbers are staggering.”

“Hunter said that it’s a small operation based out of Atlanta and New Orleans. Seems when Thorpe went down, his partners scaled back, possibly to cover their asses. The names in the files are the main players that we could find. There’re several dirty cops on the payroll. From small-town deputies to state police.” Gage pointed to the flat screen TV. “I talked to King.”

“What did he have to say about it?” he asked as he studied the faces on screen. A few he recognized from his days with the state police. No one he’d worked with directly but that didn’t mean anything.

“Same as when we were dealing with Thorpe. Truckers make extra cash with shipments. Weights are fucked with to make it passed weigh stations. Sometimes they pick up runaways, contact someone and turn them over for a hefty fee. Enough coordination and the same Troopers are on duty, and they wave the identified transport through.”

Linus sat on the long table in front of the window. He observed as the man lost the amusement of minutes before.

“What you thinking, Linus?”

“Pelter, I’m thinking these people fucked up when they thought to use Powers. But with this amount of corruption? It has to go a lot higher than some Troopers. Did anyone hit your radar?”

He nodded to Gage and the man pulled up the pictures he’d emailed him earlier.

“This was my team, most good guys, a lot with ex-wives or kids in college. They pocketed cash but left the drugs. Not enough evidence to indict. There was one guy, in particular, I had my eyes on. But the problem was, I couldn’t take it higher up the command.” He walked toward the screen and pointed at the bastard in particular. “He disappeared quite a bit during our operation here to take Thorpe down. He’s closeted, so I thought he was just meeting a trick while out of his territory.”

“What makes you suspect him?” Liv drew his attention.

“He worked on the Louisiana State Police. Why he left was a mystery. Just one day he was transferred into my unit. He didn’t meet the profile. Most of the guys I worked with worked their way up. I wasn’t given a choice about his assignment. For a while, I thought he was a plant, since I already suspected some of my team of being dirty. I couldn’t go to anyone, so I contacted a friend at the FBI. I trusted him.”

“What he have to say?”

“Gage, it was the same bullshit. The amount of human traffickers is fucking ridiculous. They deal in runaways. Women smuggled in from other countries who have no one who’s going to miss them. We don’t find out shit until we find bodies or we luck into finding where they’re being shipped in from. Gallen took a lot of personal time on the clock. I had my friend check his financials. Nothing seemed odd. Which didn’t surprise me.”

“Dirty cops stay hidden so fucking long because they know what not to do unless they get greedy. But with your former team—”

“We were trained to find the clues. Yeah, Liv, I tried my damnedest to find out who was who and all I had was speculation and no real evidence. Except for one thing, a witness. She wasn’t going to talk and sure as fuck wasn’t going to stand up in court and point him out. She went off grid about two months before I moved here.

“I thought with me gone, they’d slip up, but again nothing. They froze me out. When I got the reports of activity out at Thorpe’s place, I went out a few times. Always missed whoever it was, but fresh tracks meant someone was out there. It’s out of the way.”

“Yeah, in this town, you gotta know the spots. Thorpe’s place, even the kids don’t go out there to drink or party.” Little stood and grabbed another energy drink from the fridge.

“How do you not have a heart attack?”

“It’s the only thing that keeps me going.” Little took the spot beside Linus. “I had a friend hack into aerial photos, maybe track down times. The best I can tell, its monthly. Quick in and out trips, off-load the merchandise and head out again. Next weigh station they pull out the correct paperwork with the right info. Free and clear.”

He tugged at his goatee in frustration. “If it is Gallen, then he knows this is my town.”

“He thinks you’re getting too close and he’s going after yours.”

He didn't need Linus to point out his greatest fear. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that Gallen hadn’t done his homework.

“That’s the biggest worry I got right now. Eric and Ellison are staying out at my place. I don’t know. I don’t want to freak them out, but—”

“You don’t got a choice, man. We’ll set up a guard,” Livingston offered.

“Me and Raul can split the shifts. When Pelter’s with them they’re good,” Pure spoke up. “Besides, Sin and Saint know us, and they’ll be more comfortable instead of bringing in outside contractors. I could call some of my old teammates who owe me a favor or two, but strangers in town draw attention.”

“Yeah, I’ll go home tonight and talk to them.”

“We’ll set up a rotating watch. Wren wouldn’t mind pitching in when he’s not on duty. My team is single, most of us don’t have a family to target. I’ll meet with the Crews and tell them to keep an eye out. The partners are pretty observant, and they rarely go anywhere alone. We’re a pretty paranoid group.” Linus poured himself another cup of coffee.

“Man, if I brought this shit to y’all doorsteps—”

Linus cursed and shook his head. “Pelter, this ain’t your fault. Thorpe set this place up with his years of running dirty out at his place. We set an example. You might not think you made much of an impact around here, but this place is hundred times better with you protecting this town. We sure as fuck don’t want to go back.”

“We’ll take care of this. I got the PR covered, and Peaches will handle any unpleasantness of possible jail time.” Gage leaned back in his chair.

He knew Linus was right, but it didn’t help the fact he felt guilty. He’d possibly put his boys in danger, and that was something he couldn’t accept.

“I better get going, Layla’s out at my place with Eric and Ellison.”

“Meeting the future mother-in-law.”

“Don’t sound so fucking amused, Linus. I’ve never met parents before.”

“About fucking time, and don’t even think about having anyone perform the ceremony or Lily will kill you.”

“Who said anything about marriage?”

“You know you’re marrying those boys of yours. I’m just surprised you didn’t do it after the first night they stayed at your place.”

“Shut up, Linus, I have to survive meeting their mom, and then I’ll think about rings.”

“Whatever you say. We got this handled. I’ll call when we set up mission planning.”

“Thanks, Linus, everyone. I hate that I brought this here.”

“Ain’t your fault, don’t know how many times gotta tell you that. I’ll have Hunter take care of a few things.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you.”

“I’m already so far off the books with this one.”

“You’re Sheriff around here. Your operation. As long as it’s on your book, doesn’t matter. Your investigation, your rules.”

They took care of a few more details and then he left, not feeling much lighter. As the weeks passed and his investigation stalled, he hadn’t had a choice but to contact Linus. The situation had to end, and he didn’t want to deal with the bullshit. He was ready for a nice, quiet life with his boys and this situation was fucking with his plans. If it was Gallen, that fucker would regret being anywhere near Eric and Ellison. His family came first, and their safety was the only thing that mattered to him.