by Jaime Reese
"Bullshit. I learned how you work. How you ran your business. I'm not an idiot. I know you're still issuing orders from here."
Rick laughed and theatrically flattened his hand against his chest. "Detective Calloway, I think you are giving me far more credit than I deserve."
Aidan delivered one of his menacing glares. He wouldn't scare Rick, but he needed to convey his level of determination. "You requested to see me some time ago. So I know you want something."
Rick's jaw muscles twitched.
"And freedom is not an option," Aidan clarified.
"I'm king here. I'm not willing to relinquish my throne."
"I don't have all day."
"You're lucky as hell our wonderful judicial system travels at a snail's pace." Rick looked down at his cuffed hands, thumbing the loop of the chain. "My brother. He's scheduled to move." He raised a stopping hand before Aidan could speak. "No, I don't want him coming here. I don't want someone mooching off me and stirring the pot. It's taken me a while to build up the respect I've earned within these walls. I'm not going to have some little shit come in here and tear it down."
So much for family loyalty. Aidan tilted his head, urging him to continue.
"I want him sent to Strassburg."
"How did you hear about Strassburg?"
Rick raised an eyebrow. "I'm resourceful and I have my ear to the ground. Did you think I wouldn't hear about a prison just because you guys were testing some new protocols and shit and whatever the hell else you are trying to do with a new place for the superbly dysfunctional and extra wicked?"
"It's a new prison. The 'protocols' or policies haven't been firmly established." Other than the fact that they were setting up a new, privately-owned, cutting-edge technology, maximum-security facility for lifers and other select few inmates best kept out of the general population.
Rick inched closer, finally dropping his facade. "Cut the crap. I know it's being sold as the place no one wants to go. You've got a shit-ton of lifers in here cryin' at night like babies at the thought of being on that list."
"Then why do you want your brother there?"
"Because it's exactly what he needs to get his act together."
"Your version of tough love," Aidan said, subtly shaking his head.
"From what I've heard, that place won't allow shit to happen. So even if he fucks up, he won't get himself shanked, but he'll get a good enough scare to know he'll never want to go back to prison. Ever."
Aidan had saved enough people's hides in the past to merit a lifelong list of favors. At this point, he was willing to do anything in his power to get his friend back home and find a viable solution to get Sunny and him off these damn cases. But he still needed to focus on this dance with Rick until all the cards were on the table.
"Get my brother there, and I'll call the dogs off your kid. Hell, I'll put a price on the head of anyone who dares hurt him and his boy toy."
Aidan stared blankly, trying—with every fiber in his being—to contain his laughter. He couldn't wait to let Hunter know this guy had just called him a boy toy.
"Allegedly," Rick added, raising his hands and shrugging.
Aidan pursed his lips, fighting to hold back the smile that threatened to emerge. "I'll make sure to tell Hunter your pet name for him."
Rick smiled. "Go ahead. I'm safe as hell from him in here," he finished with a laugh that echoed in the room.
"I'm not sure I can pull enough strings to make that happen."
Rick quieted and looked at Aidan more carefully, resting his forearms on the table and leaning forward. "Bullshit. I know you. Do we have a deal?"
"I thought you couldn't call it off from in here?"
A wicked smile spread across Rick's face. "I guess we'll have to find out then."
Aidan inched closer, mirroring Rick's pose, speaking in an almost silent hiss. "You fuck with them and I will personally walk you into Strassburg myself and lock you in a cell with the most twisted, sadistic motherfucker we have on the roster."
Rick never shifted his focus from the standoff. The slow movement of his neck muscles when he swallowed the only indication Aidan had hit his mark. After a few moments, the corner of his mouth inched upward. "I thought you couldn't pull enough strings?"
Aidan's jaw muscle twitched. "Your brother doesn't have much time left on his term. I'm not sure he'll fit the criteria."
"He has thirty-four months left."
"And you're serving three consecutive life sentences. My odds are better at transferring your sorry ass over to Strassburg."
Rick's lips thinned and his eyes flickered a fire Aidan hadn't seen moments ago.
Aidan chose to stare instead of responding. Rick never showed emotion.
"You want names? Locations? What the fuck do you want, Calloway? Name it!"
Aidan remained silent for a moment, not wanting to appear too anxious. "You want to protect your street boys, that's fine. I don't want your henchmen. I want the guys who are buried along the line. Any judges, cops, corporations. And I want you to call off your dogs. No one from your camp goes near Cam or Hunter. No. One. I swear, if they, or anyone they know, love, work with or talk to so much as gets a paper cut, you will regret it."
Rick steadily stared. "I don't doubt that for a moment."
"Good." Aidan reached into his jacket and withdrew a few sheets of lined paper and a crayon.
Rick held up the blue crayon and inspected it, then glanced back to Aidan. "What am I? Two?"
"I know better than to give you a pen or a pencil, you moron. Start writing," he said, pointing to the sheets.
Rick paused for a few moments and slowly shook his head before speaking. "You're a manipulative son of a bitch, Calloway." He rolled the crayon between his fingers, tilting his head to stare at Aidan. "Bravo, you son of a bitch. You planned this all along and I walked right into it." He sighed dramatically then began making a list. Thirty minutes and ten pages later, he put the crayon down and stacked the papers neatly before handing them to Aidan.
Aidan scanned the front and back of each lined sheet filled with information. Names of people, businesses, addresses, bank account numbers, and locations. He glanced up at Rick.
"What? My head is the safest place to store all this information so people can't find a paper trail."
After spending almost two years working the case, Aidan had only scratched the surface. Without question, Manny would salivate at the chance to be the show pony bringing in all these cases. "Some have a secondary line. Why?"
"If I thought you wouldn't easily find the link to whatever role they played, I added a note on the next line to speed you along. I won't testify and I will deny I ever gave you names, but you should be able to gather enough evidence from what's on there to nail them yourself. Well, your little researcher boyfriend should be able to dig up the details," Rick finished with a smile in his voice. "He's quite thorough from what I understand."
Aidan slowly looked up from the sheets of paper.
Rick raised his hands in surrender, quietly chuckling. "Down boy. Your guy's not on my radar. I know messing with him is the same as screwing with you. And I know better than to play with a rabid dog."
"Is this it?" Aidan asked with a sneer.
"You want my blood and urine too? Firstborn?"
Aidan's stare never wavered.
Rick sighed. "Yes, that's it." He clasped his hands and leaned forward, an odd peacefulness seemed to wash over his features. "You have my word," he said earnestly. "Each of those names will turn on themselves to try to save their own asses. Cameron is directly linked to my case and Mackler only. And you trimmed that list down to just me. Didn't you?" he said, giving Aidan a steady, knowing look.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Rick leaned back and half smiled. "You have a wonderful poker face."
Aidan didn't flinch.
"If you hold up your end of the bargain, I'll make sure no one lays a finger on Cameron and his boy toy. But I
need at least one week to get the word out. So don't jump the trigger just yet on getting them back home. Work that list for a bit so you know I've held up my end and those leads are valid. I will get a message to you when everything's in place for them to return. Now…I would appreciate you holding up your end of the deal."
Aidan nodded curtly.
"Just so we're clear, your end of the deal is where you transfer my brother to Strassburg, not me into the arms of a kink-loving cellmate."
Aidan chuckled.
"You're twisted enough to do both, so I need to make sure we have a clear understanding," Rick said with a wicked grin.
"You have my word."
* * * *
"Nice of you to show up," Manny said, looking up from the file he was reviewing. He had a scattering of folders set out on the round table in their usual meeting room. He looked irritated, as if ready to pick a fight.
Aidan sighed, biting back the snippy comeback on the tip of his tongue. He could do nice…especially if he wanted something. "I was here earlier, but I had to leave to see someone. How did your depo go?"
Manny glanced at him suspiciously. "You want something. What is it?"
Fine, he could cut to the chase. Aidan shook his head. He damn sure couldn't deny he'd tried to be nice. He pulled out the chair next to Manny. "I want us off the special victim cases we take on. Sunny and I can stick to all the other cases but nothing having to do with shit like the Butterfly Killer."
Manny grabbed his mug and sipped his coffee, staring in that odd, dissecting way of his. "You and Sunny?"
Aidan nodded.
"Sunny can't handle it?"
"She's fine. I don't want to do them anymore. It takes a special set of skills and tolerance to handle those cases and I can't do it. I want to kill the bastards and that interferes with the whole let's-bring-in-the-perp-alive thing we're supposed to do."
Manny continued to stare.
Fuck, he hated that shit. That creepy stare was his way of assessing every word and filtering through the bullshit.
"If she's fine, then why take her off as well?"
Aidan sighed. "She's day to my night. Makes sense to keep us together. Besides, this is the longest partnership I've had. I don't want to mess with it."
"Why can't you handle it?"
Aidan took a slow, calming breath. There was no way in hell he was steering the conversation in that direction. "I already told you, my instincts on those cases are counterproductive to the end game."
"Bullshit," Manny said, taking another sip of his coffee and continuing to stare. Fucker had the stare down to a science.
"It takes a special breed to handle those cases. You're great at it—"
Manny set his mug down with a thunk. "Don't blow smoke up my ass. Is it because of Vega and what happened to him?"
Aidan sighed and shook his head. His teammate was persistent as hell. He looked up and gave him an equally scrutinizing stare. "It's personal. And I'm not discussing it. I'm making a request and I would appreciate you respecting that."
Manny crossed his arms and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Everyone has issues, Calloway. It's the reason I specialize in these cases. It's something I need to do, but I do understand it's not for everyone. Personally, I don't know how the hell you and Sunny handle homicides. At least when the victim is still alive, I feel there's some hope. But seeing so much death…" He trailed off and shook his head.
Aidan looked at Manny thoughtfully. Okay, so maybe the asshole wasn't that much of a prick and maybe it was all an act to get a rise out of him and spur him on.
"Are you guys fine still working those cases if you're off the site visits and interviews?"
"Yeah. Those are the kickers."
Manny nodded. "Good. Because I give you a lot of shit, but I know your track record. I definitely want to keep you on the team."
A grin tugged at Aidan's lips. "You want me behind you."
Manny scoffed. "Fuck you. Not behind me." He quietly chuckled and shook his head. "By my side."
"Aww. I'm feeling a little Reyes love here."
"Fuck you, Calloway," Manny said with a hint of a smile. "I'll talk to Travis and Wall and have them do the initial walk-through for those cases. As long as you guys stay on the team, we'll figure it out. By the way, I've been meaning to give this to you, and since we just had a moment, it's the best timing I've had in the last two weeks." He reached over into his briefcase on the table and withdrew an envelope.
"A moment? Reyes, seriously, I think you need to have a chat with your fiancée about who you prefer to stand by you."
Manny scowled and threw the envelope at Aidan. "Jerk."
Aidan laughed and picked up the envelope, opening it and reading the enclosure. He looked up, more than a little surprised. "You're inviting me to your wedding?"
"Marcela insisted you and Vega be there." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I told her about that night when I had a gun aimed at my head. She…didn't take it very well."
"Is she giving you shit about the job?"
"Not really. She's always known this is what I need to do and she knows the risks. But something like that shines a spotlight on the what-ifs and makes it real."
Aidan nodded absently.
"She thinks you're my guardian angel."
Aidan chuckled.
"I tell her you're an asshole, but she doesn't believe me. She knows about Vega, his case, all that stuff. She thinks you're…adorable," Manny said with a cringe. "The way you were always there at the hospital."
Aidan was dumbstruck—stuck somewhere between the "adorable" reference and the fact that Manny talked to his fiancée about him and his personal business.
"Her word, sure as hell not mine."
He blinked. Repeatedly.
"That was exactly my reaction when she said that. She really wants you two at the wedding." Manny reached up and rubbed the back of his neck again. "I want you guys there. The team is going. Wouldn't be the same if you weren't there."
Aidan flicked the edge of the invitation with his finger but couldn't think of an appropriate response. Yes or no would fit, but this was a big step…for the both of them. And he knew better than to say the wrong thing and mangle the olive branch Manny had waved between them. He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the stack of papers and handed them over to Manny. "I have an early wedding present for you."
Manny took the sheets and thumbed through them. He scanned each paper and turned them over, reading each line scribbled in crayon. He finally looked up; the wide-eyed shocked expression on his face couldn't disguise the excitement that vibrated off his body. "Do you have any idea what this means?"
"Yes." It means my friends can come home.
Manny looked down at the papers again, thumbing through each sheet as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "He just gave you all this?"
"Not exactly."
Manny's focus darted back to Aidan. "Did you make a deal with the devil?"
"That's one way of putting it." Aidan stood from his seat. "I want to start working the list to make sure it's valid before I make any moves on his request."
"I'll get Travis on this right away," Manny said, returning his focus to the list as if it were the Holy Grail. "I can already see a few names he's been trying to nail on other issues in his division."
"Well, while you're both salivating over the list, I'm going to let Sunny know about our chat." Aidan walked over to the door and stopped while gripping the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder. "I'm RSVPing."
Manny stopped thumbing through the sheets and glanced up.
"You can add two to your guest list," he said before escaping the room.
* * * *
"Hey, Calloway, got a minute?" Travis asked, catching up with Aidan in the hallway before he left the precinct with Sunny that afternoon.
Sunny extended her hand, palm up. "Give me the keys. I'll go grab your truck."
"Hell no. I just had
lunch and want to keep it down."
Sunny gave him the stink-eye and Travis shook his head while Aidan hid a smile. He had to admit, he did enjoy spending time with his team. He looked over to Travis. "What's up?"
"Well, I looked over the list you gave Reyes this morning. And…it's…well, it's long."
"Yeah?"
"So, I had a thought."
"That's dangerous."
"Asshole," Travis said, slapping Aidan's arm with the folder he held. "The list requires a hell of a lot of research to have enough legal bite to take each of these guys down. Some of these are cases I've been after for a while in my division, so I know it's going to be tough to uncover some of this shit. Especially if he refuses to testify. So…I was thinking…"
Aidan crossed his arms, impatiently waiting. "Spill."
"How would you feel about bringing Vega in to do the legal research? To gather enough intel on these guys for a rock-solid case. Vega is thorough and fast at finding shit. He did all the research for Cam's case so far, so he's more familiar with it than any analyst we'd get to start working it. And the research he did to nail the additional charges on the counterfeit parts ring secured several arrests. He's worked for the DA's office, he knows—"
"I'm cool with that. You don't have to sell me on the idea."
"Yeah?" Sunny and Travis said in unison.
Aidan's eyebrows drew together. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Uh, well. Because you guys—"
Aidan raised his hands to stop Travis. "He's the best at what he does. Period. You just admitted that. With that targeted list, I have no doubt he would not only be able to find shit on all those names quicker and far more thoroughly than any other person who's tasked with the job, but, with his legal background, he'd also be able to list all the possible charges, which an analyst wouldn't be able to do. As long as the rest of the team's okay with it and the captain approves it, I'm fine with it."
"Captain already approved it, and Reyes is heavily drooling at the prospect of closing out these cases quickly." Travis slapped the folder repeatedly against his hand, obviously just as anxious as Reyes to tackle the list.