“Ah…" she popped up on her elbow. “Awesome sex dot com? Best bang for your buck dot net? Hung Well-Tongued Well dot org?” He laughed and snaked an arm, pulling her onto his muscled chest. She ran her fingers through the hair that lightly covered his pecs. “Oh, I know! International Orgasm Rating dot net. Hell, I’ll wax poetic over all the platforms. You’ll be in demand when you go back to…” She frowned, trying to recall if she knew where he’d come from, but nothing came to mind. “Where do you live?”
“Working for Guardian, I live where they send me. Currently I’m working in Nevada.”
“As a doctor.”
“Correct.”
“Is there a huge need for a doctor in this Nevada location?”
“Not really, and we have two, which is why I can be here.”
“You’re visiting who?”
He chuckled and pushed her hair away from her face. “You are definitely a cop. Questions, questions, questions.”
“What can I say? I’m naturally curious.”
“And a risk taker.” He leaned up and kissed her.
"You know us adrenaline junkies, we need to stick together, but for future edification, I enjoy jumping out of planes. I love rock climbing. I'm all about living, but I don't do snakes or spiders. A girl has to draw the line somewhere." She dropped her head onto his chest. God, it felt good to be held by someone this strong.
"And your line in the sand is snakes and spiders?" His voice rumbled under her ear.
"As of this moment, yes, but I reserve the right to change my mind." She lifted her head and rested her chin on her hands as she looked up at him. "You didn't answer my question. You're really good at diverting."
He smiled. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome, and you still didn't answer." She lifted her eyebrows up and down.
"Yes, I'm here to visit my parents."
"The Boswells?"
"Yes."
"For a week."
"Or so. My mother needs some support dealing with a few issues."
She popped up on her elbows. "Oh. Just FYI, Jim said something about going to see your father to make sure you weren't here causing problems."
Maliki followed suit and pushed up on to his elbows, lifting them both easily. "Excuse me?"
"Yep. Is that going to cause problems for you or your mom?"
Maliki shook his head, but the carefree easiness that had surrounded them after the great sex disappeared quickly. "Shouldn't." He glanced at the clock and then back at her. "What time do you have to be at work in the morning?"
"I'm usually there by six. Why?"
He wrapped his arm around her and flipped her onto her back. "Wouldn't want to wear you out." His lips found her neck and she shivered against him.
She ran her hands up his strong arms and arched her back as his lips traveled lower. Her voice caught when his tongue traced her nipple. "Who the hell needs sleep?"
Chapter 6
Mal stood outside Poet's apartment complex. He'd used the side entrance to leave, the one without a working exterior light so it was easier to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. At four in the morning, he didn't expect to see anyone, but he was covering his bases so Poet didn't have to engage in any battles before he'd be able to talk with Joseph. He carefully scanned the area and walked slowly along the dark brick.
After several minutes and no discernable movement, he made his way to his vehicle and back to his hotel room. He showered and fell into the bed. The sex had been fantastic. The woman was intriguing, and with the promise of more nights like tonight, he'd left her bed this morning feeling pretty damn good. He smiled and closed his eyes. Well, at least one good thing had come from the trip. He chuckled at his own pun and rolled onto his side. With the practiced ease of a man who'd learned to sleep when there was an opportunity, he fell into an exhausted slumber.
Damn it. He slapped the nightstand until he found his phone. Without looking at the screen he swiped his thumb and face planted the phone. "What."
"Thorn Operative Six, Standby."
"Roger that." His eyes opened into narrow slits. The alarm clock's blue face came into focus. 8:30 a.m. Fuck him, sleeping that hard wasn't a trait with him, but then again, neither was multiple episodes of outstanding sex.
"Fury online."
"Alpha online."
"Archangel online."
"I want a fucking code name."
Mal burst into laughter at Jade's comment. That woman was as crazy as they came.
Joseph's comeback was immediate. "We checked. The Wicked Witch of the West was taken."
"Fuck you. I want a code name."
"How about Pretty Woman?" Mal offered and heard the groans of her brothers.
"See, Mal gets it. But seriously, I need a code name."
"Jade, this call isn't for that purpose. Where's Jared?" Archangel's voice grated the question.
"He's sitting right here–laughing." Mal heard someone whack something and Jared's laughter boomed over the line.
"Enough!" Jason's voice cut through the antics and silenced everything. "Maliki, I have in front of me your training jacket which Joseph has forwarded to me."
"Yes, sir." What else was he supposed to say?
"In addition, there is a request for a concealed carry permit and a request for permission to work as an investigative entity with credentials."
"Yes, sir." Mal rubbed his face and sat up, throwing a couple pillows behind him, propping himself up.
"Your training is impressive. I see your time at The Rose hasn't been wasted, but before I decide on this case, I want to hear from you exactly what is going on down there."
He drew a deep breath and started at the beginning. He finished several minutes later. His little story was met with nothing but silence.
"So, you have three death scenes and a shooting that don't seem to be tied together and a dipshit county sheriff that is, for all intents and purposes, an asshole." Jared tied up his concerns in a tight little bow.
"Pretty much. Sheriff Watson also said he was going to go to my parents’ estate to ascertain whether or not I was a ‘problem’."
The line was quiet for several seconds before Jason asked, "What's he hoping to gain from the end run?"
"Since he told Poet about it, I don't think it's an end run. He's pulling a power play. I don't know what this guy knows about what happened years ago, but if he was around at that time, he could have gotten a whiff of the discord between my old man and me. Maybe he's hoping dear old dad will give him the ammunition to send me packing."
"Will he?" That was Alpha talking.
"No, sir. He can't. My father has been diagnosed with vascular dementia. He's had a stroke, and my mother has had him declared incompetent. She's the one who asked me to come home, so I can't see an issue."
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that." Jade whispered, but they all heard her.
"It is what it is. Look, I haven't been in this place for years, but what I'm getting is that the association with Guardian has the sheriff skittering like a cat in a room full of hungry dogs. His deputy has been muzzled, and he isn't allowing her to call in any help with these deaths."
"What do you recommend as a way forward?" Jared's question hung for a second.
Maliki leaned forward. "If I were directing this investigation, I'd start with an exhumation of the first two bodies, and Guardian should take jurisdiction of the third body, doing a complete post-mortem without the influence of local authorities."
"That's a good start." Jared replied. "What else?"
Mal smiled. He understood. He was being tested. "Interviews with the deceased’s next of kin, friends, people who worked or went to school with them. I'd look for inconsistencies, pieces of the puzzle that don't mesh or have been manufactured. Get ahold of their electronic trail for at least three months and try to determine if they are connected in any way."
Jared prompted, "Go on."
"Then if I found any substantial information, I'd start looking i
nto why the sheriff wanted these cases closed and put away without BCI involvement."
"Why would you wait to look into the sheriff?" Jacob asked, his confusion clearly detectable.
"Because if you start looking into the locally elected good ol' boy without probable cause, it would be seen as a witch hunt, and it wouldn't be a credible investigation. One piece of the puzzle at a time. If James Watson is dirty, he's going to stay dirty," Maliki finished and waited for further questions.
Jared sighed. "Doc, I know you realize exhuming the bodies probably won't yield a slew of new information."
Mal agreed, "I do. As a matter of fact, it will reveal little to nothing, but it may make any culpable entities pushing a mandated closure of these cases squirm and maybe make a mistake or even flush them out of the woodwork."
Archangel interjected, "While we're federally recognized, we can't go into a county and start an investigation without someone requesting our assistance."
"Senior Deputy Campbell has requested our assistance, however, she is fearful of repercussions should the sheriff discover she's gone around him. You could use me. My family lives in the county. I could be the requesting party." Poet had every right to feel uneasy, that was for damn sure. Using him as the client took that onus off her.
"Can we contact any federal judges in Virginia? Get permission to go in?" Jade's voice came over the connection.
Jared answered, "I’d prefer the Attorney General inviting us in, and I can see some ruffled feathers if we don’t go that route. They have their own system for inhouse investigations."
He closed his eyes. It was going to suck to go back to Poet and tell her they couldn't help, but he hadn't made any promises.
"Then we contact the AG, and we explain we have a man on the ground already. One who is visiting family and can work a low-key examination. Get the AG to exhume the two bodies and give us jurisdiction on the third without announcing it to the public. Promise to give him the credit if there is anything found and relieve him of the financial burden since, in our opinion, there really isn't anything to go on anyway, but we are going to appease the very connected person who requested we look into it."
His eyes popped open. That could work, if the AG was willing to play ball.
"I'll call Robert. We've got a pretty good working relationship," Archangel concurred, but added, "In the meantime, get Maliki's creds and concealed carry established. I'll need a courier dispatched to his location the second the documents are done. Mal, if we get the AG to play ball what else do you need?"
"I'll need backgrounds on all these women, oh and the list of websites that were turned into the BCI."
"Websites?" Jared interjected his question.
"Senior Deputy Campbell stated a badly damaged phone was found at the first death scene. The deputies were able to activate it and although it had no calls in the call log it had four websites listed in the browser. She took a picture of the sites and turned that and the phone over as evidence to the sheriff to be forwarded to BCI. She said the sites held videos. Snuff videos. Each portraying the death of a woman."
"Holy fuck. Well, at least that case was handed over to the BCI. They'll undoubtedly hand it over to the FBI. Does this deputy feel there is a connection?"
Mal sighed. "There is no evidence of a connection, but..."
Jason's voice filled the void his trailing words left. "If I get buy in from the AG, we can authorize looking into the deaths, but it won't be a priority on any level. We'll leave the websites to the FBI, their sexual crimes unit would have more opportunity for success than we would. That being said, we have too much shit going on to bump this situation ahead of another case. Jared, what is the backlog for backgrounds without priority?"
"Three to six weeks. Jewell’s team is working 24/7. Unless we put this as a priority, they are going to languish and may get bumped back based on our caseload."
"Maliki, are you good staying in Virginia longer?"
He drew a deep breath and nodded, then cleared his throat before he spoke. "I'm good with it. Ember has the facility; she doesn't need my help. I'll need a POC to contact with requests."
"That would be me." Joseph interjected.
"No, that should be me." Jared countered.
"He's one of mine,” Joseph reiterated. “Granted he isn't in a duet, yet, but we'll match him eventually. He calls in to me until he's released from the program. It’s protocol. Once the teams are released, they answer to either you or Alpha, as dictated by mission. He hasn't been released. He's my responsibility. I'll coordinate any assistance through either you, Alpha, Cyber, or Archangel."
"That is the most I've heard him say in like… three years." Jade chuckled. "He's getting to be chatty, isn't he?"
"I agree, Mal reports to Joseph until he's either officially entered and completed the training program or decided against following through, in which case we'll look at reassigning him somewhere his talents won't go to waste. So, credentials and a concealed carry permit are being drawn up. You can't be given investigator status; you don't have the classroom certifications or the experience. Let the deputy run the show. You're assisting and coordinating our efforts, if they are needed. Consider yourself a liaison. Anything else?"
He volunteered a request, "I could use a shoulder holster and one for my belt."
"Easy." Alpha chimed in, "What type of weapon?"
"The forty-five that is in the SUV will suffice." Mal liked the weight of the handgun when he'd handled it yesterday.
"Mal, if shit gets harsh, you call for backup. We can roll the state police in a heartbeat. No playing on this. You and the deputy interview the witnesses and re-examine the crime scenes without stirring the waters. We'll get the bodies exhumed and processed, but you know any additional lab tests from them will take weeks, if not months to finalize. Keep this quiet. Do not rock the boat, and make sure you don't end up dead. I'd be all kinds of pissed. Archangel out." An audible click sounded.
Jade laughed, "Well, that went well."
"Why the hell are you on this call?" Alpha chuckled as he asked.
"I was in Jared's office, and he said Mal was going to be on the line." Her voice morphed into a sing-song affair and she asked, "Hi Mal! How you doing?"
He laughed and shook his head. The woman's audacity was mind-altering. "I'm fine, Jade. How's married life?"
"Dude, you know, it ain't half bad. Actually, it is more than half good. Regular sex. Stupendous sex. All the time. You should try it. I highly recommend it. But seriously, I heard you were home and wanted to check and see if everything is okay. I'm sorry about your dad, even though I know you're not on the best terms. Dementia sucks."
"It does and I'm fine. I haven't decided whether or not I'm actually going to try to talk to him."
"Talk to him."
"Do it."
"Don't let this pass you up."
"For fuck’s sakes, talk to him."
The sibling's comments tumbled over each other.
Mal chuckled humorlessly and shoved his palm into his face, scrubbing hard. "Whoa, so I take it you all think I should talk to my father."
"We didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Don't waste this opportunity, Mal. It may be the only chance you get." Jade's voice, for once, wasn't flip or caustic, rather sincere and sad.
"I get that. Thanks for the advice."
"Joseph, you have Mal's current address?" Thankfully Alpha switched the conversation.
"I do. Sending it to you now."
"Mal, be safe. I honestly don't think there is jack shit you're going to find." Jared popped into the conversation.
"Except maybe a paranoid blowhard sheriff." Jade laughed at her own joke.
"Except that. Take care. Get Joseph the info so we can put the background investigations into the queue. Jade and I are out." The line clicked.
"Mal, stay sharp and be careful. The holsters, creds and badge will be sent to you, today. Alpha out." The line clicked again.
"How many favors did yo
u have to pull in from your brother to even look at my request?" He spoke to the only person left on the line, Joseph.
"Jason owes me a thousand or so. Pulling one is a non-factor. Listen up, though. This case remains below Watson's radar. Keep it quiet. As far as anyone knows you are there to reconnect with your family. By the way, you do that. You plug in, and you get straight with your old man, even if that is telling him to fuck off, but you get that closed. You don't want the hole in your soul not having that closure brings. Trust me on this."
"I get it. It's just..."
"And I get your position. I want daily updates, but do me a favor and fucking email them. Ember is starting to get jealous. I don't get a status report by the end of my nightly training run I'll send in the Marines. Understand?"
"Roger. I got it. Daily updates via email. Stay under the radar."
"Keep your shit tight. Consider this a test drive. Do well and we'll finish your course of instruction and match you with your counterpart."
"And if I don't do well?"
"Well, hell. There's always that office job. Fury out."
He dropped his cell phone on his chest and closed his eyes. Moving forward with his father was going to suck. Anger, hurt and damn it, even disappointment, clung around his past like sentinels. He'd learned not to look in that direction, but the past was there and looming larger every fucking moment. He scrubbed his face with his hands. One step at a time. He picked up his phone to text Poet... No, she'd be at work and if her phone displayed texts on the home screen it could complicate things for her. He'd call after duty hours.
He pushed the covers off and stood and stretched. His muscles moved with each movement. He glanced at the clock again and drew a deep breath. "Exercise, shower, and then head to Mom's. Deal with Poet afterward. One step at a time." His stay extended and his purpose altered, he adjusted his mental compass, shot an azimuth and determined a way to his objective. Damn, finally having a purpose was liberating and fucking empowering.
The housekeeper opened the front door before he could reach it. "Doctor Boswell, your mother is in the garden."
Maliki (Guardian Defenders Book 2) Page 9