Axel drove like a demon, hitting the siren whenever he had to, but other than the brief wails and the GPS instructions, the inside of the car was an uncomfortable silence.

He knew what Fox had wanted to say. The man’s soft flushed cheeks and widened eyes gave it all away, and the way he shifted in his seat was nothing more than emphasis.

Axel tried not to think the exact same thing. They’d fucked, and that was supposed to be the end of it, but it wasn’t.

Jesus, what a mess.

“Destination is on the left,” said the GPS.

Axel swung the car off the road and down the long dirt track the GPS didn’t know existed. The property’s rusty old mailbox was on the corner, but then there was a bone-shaking drive which went over a cattle-grid, even though Axel saw no cattle.

“This isn’t creepy at all,” Fox muttered.

“Right?” Axel pulled up outside a single-story farmhouse which had seen better days. He doubted the roof had been replaced in years, and in tornado country that was just asking for trouble. If Harvey hadn’t overwhelmed it, the next storm probably would.

The walls were half-covered with peeling paint. What grass grew around the edges of the house was wild and chaotic. The windows were blacked out with trash bags, most of which were torn, and the air conditioning units were thick with grime.

Axel unhooked his seatbelt and looked to Fox. “You ready for this?”

“Yeah. Let’s nail the asshole,” Fox replied with a stern nod.

Goddamn stupid hot bastard.

Axel threw his door open and pulled his pistol, readying it as he stormed the front door. “FBI,” he called as he thumped on it with one fist. “Open up!”

“It ain’t locked,” Marsters—Kennedy—shouted back at him.

Axel grit his teeth and glanced to Fox. “Any chance it could be booby-trapped?” he asked quietly.

Fox frowned faintly. “No way to tell from this side,” he whispered back.

Axel nodded to him, then eyed the door. Just like in Syria, it all came down to whether he wanted to lose a leg or an arm, but the leg provided more chance of survival.

He stepped back and motioned for Fox to do the same, then kicked the door in.

Nothing exploded.

Axel let out his breath as the door slammed inward with a crash, wrecking the screen door with it, and he flowed inside with his gun steadied by both hands.

The door led into a living room and kitchen area, with a corridor stretching beyond both.

Kennedy was waiting.

Axel trained his gun on Kennedy as he moved further into the room. He had to trust that Fox would sweep the corridor at his back.

“Again, Agent Ford.” Kennedy grinned at him. “I’m starting to think you like me.”

“You’d be wrong.” Axel glanced around the room in brief snatches, building an image of it one split second at a time. Like the previous house, this one just didn’t seem the kind of place he’d expect to find a super-smart hacker living.

It felt off, though. Far too easy. Kennedy was just waiting for them when he could have hauled ass out of town way before they even arrived.

Axel stopped five meters from Kennedy and kept the gun trained on his chest. “Taylor Kennedy, you are under arrest—”

“Naw, I’m not,” Kennedy cut in. At Axel’s raised eyebrow he glanced past Axel and added, “It has to be him.”

Axel kept his features neutral, but he looked toward Fox.

There was the strangest undercurrent flowing between Fox and Kennedy. Something bound them, and the energy was almost tangible.

Electric.

Fox’s eyes were dark. His gun was pointing at the floor, and his breath was shallow.

“Everything I say may be used in court, right?” Taylor’s voice was smug. “Then sure. I’ll talk. I waive my right to not incriminate myself.”

Axel turned back to him. “Are you sure about that?”

“Uh huh.” Kennedy shrugged faintly, but he kept his hands on the arms of his chair, right where Axel could see them. “I’ll even happily incriminate my co-conspirators. I paid them, I know who they all are.” His gaze shot to Fox, then straight back at Axel. “Every last one.”

Axel’s gut twisted sharply.

Fox had a gun, and it wasn’t aimed at Kennedy.

“Yeah,” Kennedy snorted. “You can’t seriously wonder how I was always ahead of you guys, right? You knew you had a mole. You’re a smart guy. Did Tenko ever tell you how much I loved him?”

He heard a hiss from his left, but he didn’t look.

He didn’t dare look.

“Don’t talk crap, Spike,” Fox spat. “You never loved me! You stalked me!”

“How much he loved me? It went both ways. Hell, it still goes both ways. Look at you now, Fox, chasing me all around like you’re just so desperate to catch me. You’re such a good liar I bet sometimes you even convince yourself, right?” Kennedy nodded toward Axel. “You’ve sure got him hoodwinked.”

Axel’s thumb rested on his safety. “Just arrest him, Agent Walker,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen,” Kennedy said. “You know, back when Tenko and I were a thing, he was super good at social engineering, and he’s only got better with it over time. He’ll even sleep with people to get them on his side, if he has to.”

Axel felt his gut turn to ice as his cheeks burned.

“Oh,” Kennedy crowed. “That’s so precious! Did you fuck him? Do you think that makes you special now?”

“He’s talking shit,” Fox hissed. “Ford, I swear to God, it wasn’t like that!”

“What was it like?” Kennedy smirked. “Juicy deets, come on boys. Oh, no, wait. I was telling you all about my co-conspirators. Well, you already arrested most of them, Agent Ford, so you have all their names. Apart from Rodriguez, because that’s obviously not his real name. He’s a local gopher, you know? His real name’s Anthony Waltz. Rap sheet as long as your leg. You do have seriously long legs, man. What’s it like being that far from the ground?” Kennedy carried on without so much as a pause for air. “Look him up, you’ll find he’s extra tasty. But my favorite resource has always been Fox Walker. He’s amazing. Worth your weight in gold, never mind his own. Smart, quick, and so good at covering his tracks. The Company think he’s theirs, but he’s mine. Isn’t that awesome?”

Axel tore his eyes from Kennedy and stared at Fox.

It couldn’t be true.

Fox looked shellshocked. “It’s a lie,” he breathed. His gun still pointed to the floor, for now. “Axel, I swear, he is lying to you. I’ve chased this asshole around for what feels like forever. Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know,” Axel said.

It didn’t make sense. Kennedy had to be lying. But how had he got the jump on them every single time?

How did he know that Axel spent the night at Fox’s motel?

Why hadn’t Fox arrested Kennedy yet?

Axel backed up slowly so that he could cover them both with the same firing arc. It meant aiming half-way between them, but as Fox had a gun and Kennedy was unarmed he needed to be able to cover either in a flash.

He tried to work out a plan. Jones would be a while, and Axel was outnumbered until Jones got here. That meant Axel had to hold this situation down alone when he’d thought Fox had his back. And maybe he still did, but he’d be a total fool to not at least consider Kennedy’s words to be true, just in case they were.

Though if they were, Axel couldn’t think of anything that would hurt more. He’d been shot. Thrown out of a vehicle that was hit by a grenade. Been on the fringes of an IED explosion. And none of that compared to the emptiness that threatened to consume him at the thought of Fox betraying his trust.

Of the idea that Fox had lured him into bed, encouraged Axel to fuck him, as a way of manipulating him.

His first time with another guy and this was what it led to. The classic honey trap. The hackers called it “social engineering,” but that didn’t scratch the surface on just how heartless that was. Axel had seen some pretty nasty shit from criminals and enemy soldiers in his time, but this?

This was a whole new level of low.

“Arrest him,” he said. He did his damnedest to keep the hurt out of his voice.

Fox’s gun moved.

Axel intuitively swung his own toward the only other armed party in the room.

If Fox’s gun so much as twitched toward him, Axel would have to shoot. There wasn’t any way around that.

So all he could do was pray that it didn’t.

Please.

Please don’t make me shoot you.

Please don’t break my heart.

Time stood still.