Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

“You’re Detective Daley?” Sloane still couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be the same guy Maddock was always talking about. Impossible.

“Agent Dexter J. Daley. You can call me Dex.” Dex put his hands on his hips and looked around the stupefied team with a broad grin. “So which one of you is my new partner?” Everyone turned to Sloane and the smile fell off Dex’s face. “This day just gets better and better.”

“Absolutely not.” Sloane shook his head, as if doing so would make the whole disturbing problem disappear. This was not acceptable. He understood he was going to be dealing with a rookie, but this, this…. No.

Dex turned to him, his expression sincere. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier. That was stupid, I know. I didn’t mean to panic. I’ve never had a Therian threaten my life over cheese snacks before. Well, except for Cael, but we’re family. Give me a chance.”

Damn it. It’s not like he had a choice in the matter. He’d already been warned by Lieutenant Sparks. He had to have a partner, and she was frustrated with him as it was for the half-dozen or so agents he’d scared off. In his defense, they had been absolute fuckwits. Okay, they hadn’t been. In fact, they’d been perfectly capable, but none of them had been a good fit for his team, and in the end, that was as important as competence. “You’re not what I expected.”

“Surpassed your expectations?” Dex asked with a hopeful smile.

Jesus, it was worse than he thought. Sloane narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“Right. So um, this is the team, huh?”

He was going to have a serious talk with Maddock about this. In the meantime, he turned to the rest of the team to make the introductions, starting with Ash—who Sloane refused to so much as make eye contact with. The only reason Ash wasn’t having a total shit fit about their newest recruit was out of respect for Cael. Thank God for small miracles. As soon as Cael was out of earshot, he was going to have to listen to Ash bitch. The thought alone exhausted him. “This is Ash Keeler, our entry tactics and CQC expert, and his partner, Julietta Guerrera, our weapons expert.”

“Letty,” the petite agent corrected with a serious nod.

Sloane motioned to the youngest agent on their team. “You know Cael. That’s his partner Rosa Santiago, our crisis negotiator and medic.”

“Rosa, nice to meet you,” Dex said, smiling pleasantly.

Rosa pursed her lips, her arms crossing over her chest. This was going to be fun. Sloane could feel it already. Turning to the next two members of their team, Sloane braced himself.

“This is Calvin Summers, our sniper and his partner, Ethan Hobbs, our demolitions expert.”

Dex pressed his lips together and Sloane knew what was coming next. Dex’s gaze went from the tall brooding Therian to his smaller, equally brooding, blond, spiky-haired partner and back.

“So….” Dex began, looking up at Hobbs whose Therian form was clearly marked as being a tiger. “Do they call you Ethan or….”

“They call him Hobbs,” Calvin said with a roll of his eyes. “Get it out of your system.”

Dex was bitin

g his bottom lip, trying his hardest not to laugh, but in the end gave in. “I’m sorry, I am. So they call you two Calvin and Hobbs? It’s just… that’s… so awesome.”

“It is awesome,” Calvin drawled as he turned to Hobbs. “Isn’t that what I was telling you this morning? How awesome it is? The cartoon jokes never get old, do they?” Dex’s gaze went to Ash’s Frosted Flakes T-shirt and Calvin let out a snort of disgust. “Christ. You and your fucking T-shirts, Ash.”

“What?” Ash shrugged innocently. “I happen to be a fan. Hey, how come you never wear that red and black striped T-shirt I got you for your birthday last year?”

Hobbs let out a low growl, and Calvin gestured rudely. “Blow me, Ash.”

“Grow a pair of tits and I’ll think about it.” Ash returned the lewd gesture and added his tongue into the mix.

Sloane didn’t need this right now. “Guys,” he pleaded. “Come on.”

“Don’t pay any attention to them,” Rosa told Dex. “They’re busting your balls because you’re the new guy.”

An evil grin came onto Ash’s face. “Speaking of balls, Rosa show you hers yet?”

Rosa gave Ash a rough push, which only made him laugh. “Pendejo, vete pa’l carajo. Puta.”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me.” Ash laughed, dodging her blows as she went after him. “I keep telling you, baby. One night with me, and I promise you, I’ll get you back onto beef. You can invite your girlfriend.”

“Fuck you, Ash. You—”

“All right that’s enough!” Sloane hissed, getting everyone’s attention. “Ash, go clean that shit up.” He jutted his thumb over his shoulder, and as expected, Ash turned a menacing glare on Dex before storming off, cursing under his breath. “Rosa, go help him.”