Ex locked his case and set the alarm he’d built into it. “Let me deal with the semantics on this one. I want you to focus on convincing these tight-mouthed witnesses that it’ll be in their best interest to cooperate with the police.”
“My specialty,” Meridian answered gruffly. “We need to get out of that hotel—where I don’t have to constantly scramble their cameras—and to a place where I can really set up shop. We’ll need some gear.”
“Closest place is Langley. I have an associate there. He’ll help, no questions asked, and should be able to get us enough.”
“And a secured location?” Meridian asked.
Ex wiped his hand over his mouth and released a long breath. “I know a place. Somewhere close, secured... and mine.”
Meridian licked his lips and shifted upwards in his seat.
“You like the sound of this. I can tell.”
“It’s dangerous. We could be exposed,” Meridian said.
Ex could practically hear the rapid acceleration of Meridian’s pulse, see the quick rise and fall of his broad chest before he reined it in under tight control.
“Again. You like this. It’s exciting you.”
Meridian
Meridian didn’t do excited. He didn’t change his facial expression, but he was working overtime to calm himself on the inside. The two of them defying the rules beyond anything he thought Ex capable of was causing an unusual stirring in his gut. They were the best for a reason. It was because they were disciplined and they didn’t do fuckups. This was either going to be quite an adventure for them or completely disastrous. And he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather take that gamble with.
Meridian wanted to help his partner get closure for his brother’s death, because Ex hadn’t been the same since he’d gotten the news. Doing this would be the only way they could move on and get back to their jobs. He’d keep to his private thoughts what he really wanted. Like wanting Ex to be indebted to him. To look at him as if he truly was dependent on him and not because the program had trained him to be that way.
Being in Ex’s hometown, a place he held secret and sacred to his heart, was doing other things to Meridian that he wasn’t sure how to label. It made him react, and that was something he didn’t do. He’d been given small glimpses into the childhood Ex couldn’t let go of. Now he was about to become engrossed in it.
Slade pulled into the parking garage of the West Atlanta Downtown hotel and killed the engine. Ex tapped on the soundproof divider and waited for it to retract.
Slade met and held Meridian’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Will you be needing my services anymore tonight?”
“Actually.” Ex answered. “We have a business proposition for you if you’re interested. Can you meet us in the bar on the first floor at eleven?”
“Yes. I’ll be there.” Slade nodded.
Ex and Meridian moved through the lobby, never facing the cameras head-on as they made their way to the elevators. Ex was quiet until they got to their adjoining rooms. Meridian didn’t bother going to his own door, instead he followed his partner. When he was inside he positioned himself in front of the grandiose floor-to-ceiling windows in the living area. He didn’t have to watch his partner to know where his silent footsteps led him. After a few seconds he heard the tapping on keys as Ex woke his monitors. Meridian waited while Ex checked the video cameras he had around his mother’s home.
“What do you wanna do about the ones outside her house the other night?” Meridian asked, staring at the lights of downtown Atlanta. He wondered briefly what it’d be like to live back here in the United States. To have a real home, and a normal nine-to-five job. Blinking and turning his back, he wouldn’t let his mind linger on inconsequential wants for long.
“Eliminate them,” Ex said easily.
“They’re flunkies. They won’t have any useful information,” Meridian said as he stood in front of the cedar bar and added a couple cubes of ice into two tumblers then poured a miniature bottle of Skyy vodka into one glass and a VSOP cognac in the other. He set the vodka in front of Ex.
“No women or children, Mere. They should be grateful their deaths will be swift.” His partner pulled his gray eyes from the image of his mother’s dark home as she slept fitfully in her bedroom.
Meridian sipped the honey-colored liquid until there was nothing left, relishing the fire that worked its way down his chest and settled into his stomach. The burn was just as welcoming as Ex’s piercing glare which remained on him as he stood from the desk. Ex took his glass and shot the alcohol back in one gulp instead of sipping it like he did. They were opposites and the same in almost all ways.