“That’s you, bro.” Green nodded at the desk. “Tech will hook all that up for you. Get all the programs running… ya know. All the smart shit we can’t do.”
Steele shot his new partners a look. “I can do some smart stuff.”
“Compared to him… no, you can’t.” Green laughed.
Well, there were probably only ten people on the planet that could do what Tech could with a computer. Didn’t mean Steele couldn’t set up a standard desktop. But it wasn’t enough for him to concern himself with so he tucked his backpack inside the deep drawer of his desk and sat down.
“God went down to get your badge since you were in the cave so long.” Ruxs smirked. “You guys kiss and make up?”
Steele swiveled around and leveled a hard look at him and replied with a clipped, “Yep.”
Before either could retort, God walked back in with Day close behind him. He saw Steele and tossed the badge all the way across the room, and Steele shot his hand up at the last minute, swiping it out the air before it sailed over his head.
“Show off,” he heard Day mumble.
Steele smirked, flipping the gold badge over. He didn’t think he’d ever have one again. Not after leaving Oakland the way he did. He pulled out his wallet and clipped it to the first flap.
“Pick up your ID on the way out. I told them you’d be down in a bit.”
“On my way out?” Steele frowned.
God opened a file and stood just a few feet from their cluster of desks. “Need y’all to go to Peoplestown. Artist’s thug is still in the hospital but the DA was able to question him last night. He gave us the name of a dockworker that’s been helping with the smuggling. The addresses to his house and job are in here. The guy frequents a tavern off Pulliam in the evenings. I’ll have Tech sync the addresses to your GPS, Ruxs. Come back when you got something for me.”
Steele got up and pulled his jacket off the back of his chair, watching God watch him. “Just gonna toss me into the deep end, huh lieutenant.”
“Right in with the goddamn sharks,” Ruxs added, throwing Steele a “you’re screwed” look.
“Jumping in’s the best way to learn how to swim.” God shrugged.
“Do you make up this ass backwards logic off the top of your head, God?” Green shook his head, walking past them.
“God is all-knowing,” their lieutenant responded with pride, ignoring the combinations of “like hell,” and “bullshit” from his team. Throwing on his thigh-length leather coat, God yelled over his shoulder before walking out the door, “Sink or fight, Steele. Show me what you got.”
After Steele got his new Atlanta PD identification, he met his new partners at Ruxs’ truck and hopped up in the backseat. Ruxs stomped on the gas and sped out of the precinct’s parking lot. He looked between the seats to the front and saw that quite a bit of technology had been added that he was sure didn’t come with this vehicle – even fully loaded. Green was leaning over, tapping on the large display screen, pulling up a map and what he assumed was the route to where they were headed.
“That looks, pretty hi-tech, man. Who did that?” Steele asked, still looking at the screen.
“Put Tech and Furious together and there’s nothing they can’t put in a car.” Ruxs smiled at him in the rearview mirror.
“Who’s Furious?”
“That’s Syn’s partner,” Green answered. “Probably one of the hottest guys you’ll ever see.”
Steele doubted that, an image of styled preppy hair and glasses popping into his head.
“He owns a garage in Midtown with his best friend, Doug. They do all of our vehicles, and even most of the officers’ in the precinct. He does maintenance, custom jobs, oh, and custom bikes are his specialty.”
That perked up Steele’s ears. “Really.” His baby could definitely use an overhaul.
“You’ll meet him, eventually. He’ll breeze in every now and then. Or if you see a long-haired man riding one of the baddest bikes you’ve ever seen… that’s him.”
Steele sat there, chewing on a toothpick – since he couldn’t smoke – watching Atlanta go by. He wondered if Tech liked bikes. He had to pull at his pants leg for more groin room when he thought about Tech riding behind him on his Suzuki GSX. It was strictly for going fast, and boy did it ever. Sometimes Steele had to feed the energy of his need to fly. He’d have to check in with this Furious and see where he could open his bike up here. Atlanta really was a nice city – from what he’d seen – and he hoped he could call it home. The entire four years he spent in Oakland, it had never felt permanent to him.