Rack & Ruin (THIRDS 3)

Happy. That was something Sloane hadn’t thought he’d ever feel again after Gabe. It was true that Dex did make him happy, even if at times Sloane felt their relationship was moving a little too fast. Of course, he wasn’t about to discuss it with Shultzon. “Lieutenant Sparks said the facility’s been closed for good. Is that true?”

“What’s your gut telling you?”

Sloane cursed under his breath. He’d come to trust his instincts and listen to his gut. The THIRDS was hiding something regarding the facility. They might not be using the same building, but that didn’t mean they’d stopped doing whatever the hell they’d been doing.

“We both know how these things work, Sloane.”

“And the drug? You saw what it did to Dex. He would have killed you and then—” Sloane cut himself off, unable to even say the words. He closed his eyes in an attempt to get the image out of his mind, but that only made it worse. It hit him like a Mack truck just then. He’d told Dex he would do everything he could to preserve civilian life, even if it meant losing Dex. Now he wasn’t so sure about that, and it scared the hell out of him. He’d never felt this nervous about his relationship with Gabe. Being with Dex was certainly an adventure. Except sometimes he felt as if it were an adventure he was ill-equipped for.

“Sloane, look at me.”

Sloane wanted to refuse on principle, but some part of him still felt like that scared little kid when Shultzon spoke to him. He did as asked.

“Right now, there is no need for concern. Should that change, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Why would you tell me?” Shultzon had no reason to ca

re about Sloane or what happened in his life now. Had he really come to care about Sloane, or was it something else? Could he really trust the man? As if reading his thoughts, Shultzon nodded.

“I trust you. The moment I laid eyes on you, I saw all the potential you possessed. You started out a frightened child and turned into an extraordinary young man. You’re an exceptional Team Leader, and I have no doubt that you’ll continue to achieve great things. You’re stronger than you think, Sloane. You always have been.”

Sloane stood, feeling awkward at Shultzon’s kind words. He remembered how much the man’s praise had meant to him once. How he’d put himself through so much just to have Shultzon smile at him and tell him how good he was.

“I should go.”

Shultzon extended a hand, the look in his eyes genuine. His tone was sincere when he spoke. “Please say you’ll visit again. Maybe you can even bring Dex along. I’d love to meet him.”

“I’ll tell him.” Sloane took Shultzon’s hand and thanked him for the coffee and the chat. He left the house and stood for a moment out on the sidewalk. It was so peaceful. He barely even heard the traffic. The evening was breezy. Sloane walked to his car, glad he’d listened to Dex about coming here. He’d been incredibly uncertain at first, almost sure he’d be making a mistake, but he’d trusted Dex. The thought of his partner made him smile. He climbed in behind the wheel thinking about how understanding Dex had been since the very beginning and how every time Sloane felt unsure about anything, his partner was there to help him figure things out. For all of Dex’s joking around, the guy was incredibly astute.

As he drove toward Dex’s house, he decided he’d take a little detour. He wanted to get something for Dex. He drove around for a while trying to figure out what, exactly. Whatever little token he got, he knew his partner would love it. Dex was definitely one of those it’s-the-thought-that-counts kind of guys. He was also easy to please. But Sloane didn’t want to get him just anything. He wanted to get something that would make Dex smile that brilliant smile of his. The one that reached his sparkling blue eyes. He thought about what Dex went crazy over, even if it was silly or something that drove Sloane crazy. A thought popped into his head, and he smiled at himself. His partner was in for a treat.

DEX TAPPED his foot along to the electric guitar and beating drums while Asia sang about the heat of the moment and teenage ambitions. Only moments ago, Dex had been on a video chat with his little brother, and now he was attempting to make sense of the Coalition case file in front of him. Although he didn’t have the clearance to access Themis offsite, he could access his desk’s interface and its files. Sloane had sent him a text while at Shultzon’s to let Dex know he wouldn’t be getting home in time for dinner so to go ahead and order the pizza he knew Dex wanted. He also reminded Dex he’d be working it off during their next training. Silly Sloane. Like that would deter Dex from gorging out on New York’s finest slices loaded with extra cheesy goodness and a crunchy crust. He patted his full belly and let out a contented sigh. Next training session would suck, but it had been so worth it.

He propped his sock-covered feet on the coffee table in front of him and scrolled through his tablet. According to Cael, Themis had raised no flags on any unauthorized access. Although algorithms had been set up in the hopes of catching any agents attempting to access information they had no business accessing, it was proving almost impossible. Thousands of agents accessed Themis from HQ alone. Recon agents had more access to classified information than Defense. They could also make amendments and deletions that Defense couldn’t do. Hence why Dex and the rest of his team’s Defense agents were always bugging Cael or Rosa when files needed altering. Intel agents had access to high-level clearance information that even Recon didn’t have access to. What Dex couldn’t understand was why Sparks seemed so chill.

The THIRDS had a mole in their organization. One that was feeding intel to a vigilante group, and other than Unit Alpha looking into it, there had been no briefings regarding it, no visits from the higher ups, no assemblies or discussions. As if every day was like any other. That sent Dex’s curiosity into high alert. What was going on behind the scenes? What were they not being told? It was the THIRDS damned “need to know” policy that frustrated the hell out of him.

Information trickled down, and Dex wasn’t the type to sit around waiting to accept what morsels he was given. As much as he loved his brother, whenever he heard the words “Recon’s working on it,” Dex wanted to smack someone over the head. Recon could work on it all they wanted. That wasn’t going to stop Dex from trying to work things out on his end. Which was why he was sitting on his couch with his tablet and a digital map of New York City. There were scores of color-coded dots and pins scattered about, each one pertaining to an unconfirmed or confirmed Coalition sighting as well as Coalition activities.

From what he could see, there was definitely more activity in Brooklyn and Queens than there was in Manhattan. That wasn’t surprising, considering Isaac had been operating from his base somewhere in Brooklyn. Austen was working on getting them the location since THIRDS priority had shifted from the Order to the Coalition. They’d also received intel stating most of Isaac’s followers who’d been stationed with him had jumped ship after his death.

Dex stared at the dots on the map until his eyes hurt. There was absolutely no pattern in the locations. So far, the Coalition had sent over half a dozen members of the Order to the hospital with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones. How long before they had another corpse on their hands? When the Ikelos Coalition hit the headlines, the Order decided they needed to be armed and ready. Now whenever the two sides clashed, there was gunfire with no consideration for innocent bystanders. Dex turned off his tablet and put it on the coffee table. He sure hoped Austen was as good as everyone said he was, because they needed some kind of lead soon.

There was a knock on the door, and Dex let out a yawn before shuffling over. It was almost 9 p.m. He’d had dinner, showered, changed, and was ready to veg on the couch.

Dex couldn’t help his dopey grin at seeing Sloane. “Hey—” He was cut off when Sloane stepped inside, kicked the door closed behind him, and then grabbed Dex in a fierce hug. Dex didn’t question it. He slipped his arms around his partner and held him, smiling when Sloane nuzzled his face against Dex’s neck. Sloane pulled back, and he was smiling.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” His partner certainly seemed to be in a good mood, considering he’d had his hair chopped off, though the sexy new cut he was sporting sent tingles through Dex just the same. He’d also gone to meet with a man who wasn’t exactly on his Christmas card list.

“Just because.” Sloane kissed Dex, and when he pulled back, Dex’s heart did a flip at Sloane’s shy smile. He handed Dex a small white paper bag. “I bought you something. I know I’m going to be paying for it later, but I just wanted to get you something to say thank you.”

Dex took the bag. He could barely contain his smile. “You bought me something?” If only Sloane knew how much his tiny gestures meant to him. Man, he was turning into such a sap.

“I know I could have gotten you flowers or I don’t know.” Sloane shrugged looking embarrassed. “Truth is, I’m not exactly sure what makes an appropriate

boyfriend gift. So instead I thought about what would make an appropriate Dex gift, and this is what I came up with.”