Rack & Ruin (THIRDS 3)

“Sloane, I saw him. Before I could say anything, I got knocked out. When I woke up, I heard him arguing with some guy. I think it was the main guy’s second-in-command. A true asshole.” Dex relayed everything he’d heard, and when he finished, he watched his partner closely. After a good few minutes where Sloane didn’t say a word, didn’t so much as blink, he finally spoke. His tone was hushed, and he sounded less certain.

“It has to be a mistake.”

“I saw and heard him,” Dex replied gently.

“Look, I understand how you feel about him, but this is serious—”

“You think I’d make something like this up?” Dex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“No, I’m not saying that.”

“But you are. Or that I’m delusional, or mistaken, or whatever equals to you not believing me.” How could Sloane dismiss him so quickly? Dex had just been kidnapped, threatened, and had the biggest fucking shock of his career, and Sloane didn’t believe him?

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” Sloane sat back with a heavy sigh, and Dex felt the anger melt away. He hated seeing his partner looking so… heartbroken.

“Then what is it?”

“Ash is the only family I’ve had since I was a kid. We’ve stuck by each other through everything. Through the First Gen Recruitment Program, college, the THIRDS. After Dr. Shultzon patched me up, I was so scared. Thinking back, I know Ash was too. He just never showed it. He did it to take care of me. He’s the only reason I hung in there. He’s my best friend. I can’t….” Sloane closed his eyes, his brow creased with worry. Dex felt like a complete asshole.

How could he have been so callous? Ash had been Sloane’s whole world at one point. His only reason to get through the pain and fear of another day at the facility. A place where two young boys had been tested, studied, poked, and prodded. All for the “greater good” of their species. Dex remembered how terrified he’d been after he’d lost his parents. He might have been younger than Sloane, but he’d been much luckier. He’d ended up in a loving family with a great dad and awesome little brother. Dex leaned over and put his hand to Sloane’s cheek, hating the pain he saw on his lover’s face. Sloane had already had enough pain in his life.

“I know what I saw. But we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s not jump the gun. We should find out what the hell’s going on before taking this to the lieutenant.”

Sloane opened his eyes and sat forward. “No. It’s my job to report it in. I’ve been on your ass from the start about not letting your emotions cloud your judgment, and it’s exactly what I’m doing now. I won’t be one of those do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do Team Leaders.”

“This is different. If it had been Cael, I would have asked you for the same chance.” His partner looked uncertain, so Dex leaned in to give him a kiss. “We’re not holding back information, just looking for more evidence. Like we’d do with any other case. Except instead of handing the reins over to Recon, we sort it out ourselves. Okay?”

Sloane appeared to think about it for a moment. “Okay.” He let his head rest against Dex’s with a soft sigh. “Thank you, Dex. If we get any shit for this, I’m taking responsibility.”

“What? No—” Sloane’s lips cut off Dex’s protest, and at that point, Dex didn’t care. He opened himself willingly, allowing Sloane to pull him close and deepen the kiss. Whatever Sloane needed, Dex was happy to give. Sloane unclipped his rifle and dropped it onto the carpet beside the couch before leaning into Dex and crushing him down against the couch cushions. His lover’s kisses grew ardent and desperate. If this was what Sloane needed right now, Dex would do everything he could. He gripped Sloane’s tac vest and pulled him down against him, craving the feel of Sloane’s weight on him. They were both hard, their erections rubbing against each other.

Dex groaned and reached down to unzip Sloane. He pulled his partner’s dick out of his pants and pushed Sloane onto his back so Dex could get between his knees. He swallowed Sloane’s cock, his hand squeezing the base as he came back up. He sucked Sloane off, licking and nipping, pressing his tongue to the slit. Sloane moaned and writhed, hi

s hand clutching the couch in a fierce grip. Dex doubled his efforts, determined to make Sloane lose himself even if it was just for a little while. Not long after, he heard Sloane gasp, felt his body stiffen before releasing himself inside Dex’s mouth. Dex swallowed around Sloane’s cock, drawing out his lover’s orgasm. Once Sloane had gone tender, Dex pulled off him. He lay half-on, half-off Sloane, his arm around Sloane’s chest. Sloane reached down to cup Dex, but Dex moved Sloane’s hand up to wrap around his waist.

“It’s okay,” Dex said softly. “Just lie here with me.”

Sloane nuzzled Dex’s temple, a small huff ruffling Dex’s hair and making him smile. He closed his eyes and shortly after felt the steady rise and fall of Sloane’s chest. Dex told himself it was too soon. Too soon to be feeling like this. He pushed those thoughts aside, feeling his pulse beat wildly. Eyes closed, he concentrated on Sloane’s breathing, telling himself everything would turn out fine. They’d find out what was going on with Ash, and everything would go back to normal.

Chapter 8

DEX WAS on his third cup of coffee, and it wasn’t even 10 a.m. He had training in a few hours and somehow had to find the energy for it. He’d barely slept last night. How could he knowing what he knew? He couldn’t stop worrying about Sloane, Cael, and this whole business with Ash. Had he made the right decision? Regardless, he couldn’t turn Ash in. He had to find out more. Ash might be a jerk, but could he really be working with the Coalition after serving the THIRDS as long as Sloane? Did he think he could get away with it? Was it worth risking his career and friends over? Even if Ash truly believed that what he was doing was for the greater good, how could he allow innocent people to get hurt in the process? Of course, not everyone who they believed to be innocent was.

That morning the intel on Alberto Cristo came in. Cristo hadn’t been at the wrong place at the wrong time as they’d originally believed, and the theory a ricochet had killed him was looking very unlikely. Cristo had been a member of the Order. The algorithms Themis had run on him pulled up surveillance video of Cristo among fellow members of the Order at rallies and protests held by the Order, one in particular resulting in aggravated assault against a Therian citizen. There was a warrant out on Cristo, but the guy had disappeared. It looked like the Coalition had found him. There was no doubt in Dex’s mind that Cristo had been in exactly the right place at the right time, and how convenient that no witnesses had come forward to explain how Cristo had ended up with a bullet in the head.

Sloane’s voice snapped Dex out of his thoughts, and he watched his partner tapping away at his desk’s interface. He scrolled through panels, bringing up glowing blue windows and high-level access screens. He swiped his hand across his desk, and everything slid over to Dex’s. Man, he loved THIRDS technology.

“It’s all set up. Anything Ash accesses on Themis will send me an encrypted alert. Once I access the file I can delete my log-in activity, so if he goes back, he won’t know I’m on to him.”

“Great. So can we do a scan to see if he’s accessed anything so far?” Dex looked through the open windows of Ash’s activity on Themis. There was a log file of all his reports, web searches, incoming and outgoing phone calls, texts, connections on his earpiece, offsite connections to Themis, even what snacks he purchased from the vending machines, which were also connected to Themis. Dex wasn’t sure how he felt about the government monitoring his snack preferences. “That sneaky bastard!”

“What is it?” Sloane stood and ran over to Dex’s side. “Did I miss something?”

“He gives me shit for eating gummy bears, and he buys a pack nearly every day.”

Sloane stared at him. “Seriously? Do you ever not think about food?”

“Of course I do,” Dex replied with a smirk. “When I’m thinking about sex. Though sometimes I like to think of both at the same time.” He wriggled his eyebrows, but his partner remained unimpressed.