by Becky McGraw
The door closed, and Dex sat up on the bed. Downtown. To be fingerprinted and booked into the Clark County jail. Anxiety tightened his chest and he swallowed several times before ridding himself of the knot of fear constricting his throat.
For six damned years he’d kept a low profile, built his new life, and in one night it all went to hell. His real name would now be connected to his alias, so if Sheridan was looking for him, he’d know exactly where to find him. Logan would know his former identity too, and if Dex didn’t do a lot of creative explaining, he might fire him for lying on his resume.
“I hope you know what you just did, Grace. What it cost me to help you last night, and the price I’m going to pay now for it.” Sickness boiled in his gut, and Dex wished like hell he could put a hand over the burning hole there.
It looked like the only two lies he’d ever told in his life were converging and the epicenter for the fallout would be Las Vegas.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“What in the hell were you doing at a kink club, Poindexter?” his brother Patton demanded with his lip curled, his knuckles white on the phone as he glared at him through the thick plastic divider between them. “And what kind of disease did you pick up there? Your damned face looks like you have an STD.”
“I didn’t pick up a disease,” Dex groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face feeling the small scabs scrape his palm. “I’m allergic to latex and the mask—” Ugh, he wasn’t going to explain, because then he’d have to explain why he was wearing that mask.
Dex just hoped his brother never had the opportunity to see the whole getup. At least he’d been saved that humiliation.
“You’re damned lucky,” Patton announced leaning back in the chair to cross his arms over his well-defined chest. “Grace convinced them to drop the kidnapping charge, which was the worst of it. Now, maybe I can call home to get your bail money without Dad having a stroke,” he said, and his deep, disgusted sounding sigh made Dex cringe.
It was the least she could fucking do after what he was going through because of her.
“Don’t call Dad. I have this under control, so just go back to base,” Dex said, forcing calm into his tone.
“Oh, no—I’m knee-deep in this now. Thanks to you, I’m probably going to have to spend every day of leave I have untangling this damned mess,” Patton grated.
Patton was always overly dramatic in a dilemma and he knew how to make someone feel two inches tall in those situations, much like their father. In fact, he could superimpose his father’s face on his brother’s body and there would be no difference in their words at the moment.
“Seriously, there’s nothing to untangle. I don’t need you, I have friends on the way to help me,” Dex informed, enjoying his brother’s look of surprise.
“You sure are a dumb fucker for being a genius,” Patton replied, looking as if he were grinding his teeth.
Dex ground his own teeth as his hand flew to slam the receiver into the cradle. This was the last fucking thing he needed right now. He scraped his chair back to stand, but Patton pounded on the divider and he looked back at him.
“Wait!” Patton mouthed, pointing at the phone, and Dex stared at him for a minute, then blew out a breath and snatched up the phone again.
“If you start that crap again, I’m out,” he growled as he plopped back down in the chair. “I don’t need your harassment.”
Part of the lack of respect came from him always allowing them to bail him out of situations. But he was twelve years older than the last time they’d done that, and this time, he could and would take care of himself. Or he’d take his licks, and move on.
Patton’s eyes widened, and for some reason the corner of his mouth kicked up into a smile. Probably because Dex had never spoken to his brothers that way. Well, he was a grown man now, almost thirty-years-old, not a sixteen-year-old college student.
“I just meant you were a dumb fucker because of how you’re treating your family. We fucking care about you. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here. You’re just damned lucky I was at Nellis training and could get emergency leave.”
Dex huffed a breath, and, as expected, guilt washed through him. “I appreciate that you’re here, Patton, that you came to help, but I don’t need you to untangle anything. Save your leave and go back to base.”
Where in the fuck was Hawkins?
“I’m not talking about untangling your mess. I’m talking about the mess Grace Wentworth’s sister is in. I’m taking the rest of my leave to help her find Marcy, because it sounds like she’s in a lot of trouble and Grace has nobody to turn to.”
Jealousy fueled anger surged through him. She could tell his brother, but refused to tell him why she was in Vegas? To his knowledge she’d barely knew Patton—and he’d put himself at great risk to save her—so why in the hell would she tell him? Feel closer to him, than to Dex?
“Is that why she’s in Vegas? Was at that resort?” Dex asked, trying to process the odd feeling of being both pissed off and relieved at the same time.
“She didn’t tell you?” Patton asked, sounding surprised.
“No, she didn’t, and I asked her twice at the hospital,” Dex replied, his anger inching up a notch past his relief. “I guess she felt more comfortable telling you since you have the skills to help her and I’m just a computer nerd.”
“Don’t get butt hurt, Poindexter,” Patton said with a harsh laugh. “I had to drag it out of her, because she didn’t offer it voluntarily.” Patton’s eyes narrowed and he studied him for a moment. “Mostly, she finally talked to protect you when I was raking you over the coals for getting yourself into this situation, which I found odd.”
“Well, Grace certainly had no qualms about talking to Mom,” Dex replied, trying to hold onto his anger, but soothed a little by his brother’s explanation. “I’m sure she’s told Dad by now and he’s pacing in his library, waiting on your call to tell him what a fuckup I am, or to remind him of that fact.”
“I’m not going to call him,” Patton said and Dex’s eyes flew to his. “And Grace only told Mom that you were in the emergency room, not what led to you being there.”
“Oh, thank God!” Dex said, melting into the hard plastic chair. When he could speak, he sat up straighter. “What kind of trouble is Grace’s sister in?”
Dex knew of her sister Marcy because their families were acquainted, but he’d never met her. That didn’t mean he hadn’t heard about her through the pipeline after she ran away to New York at sixteen, though. According to his parents, Marcy Wentworth was wild and had caused her parents a lot of grief, which may or may not have led to her father’s massive heart attack.
“Grace said her sister has gotten involved in some pretty nasty things at that sex club you frequent,” he explained, his lips tightening. “Since you made it impossible for her to go back there to try to find her, I offered to help.”
Patton actually thought he was a member at that club—that he was one of the kinksters. His brother really didn’t know him at all. Dex shot up in his seat.
“For your information, I’m in Vegas for a fucking military electronics convention! I saw Grace at the airport and who she was with, so I followed them. I knew she was in over her head and was trying to save her.” He huffed a breath and ran his hand through his hair. “I should’ve just minded my own damned business.”
“When have you ever done that?” Patton asked, and Dex frowned. “Yeah, I know what happened at Sheridan and I think there’s more to it than was publicly reported. Am I correct?”
“But how?” Dex asked with fear turning his blood to ice.
Patton shrugged. “I have top level clearance so I can find out if I want to know. When I heard you quit Sheridan, when you disappeared off the face of the earth and disconnected from the family, when an investigation was opened shortly after you left, I wanted to know. I now realize why I could never find you. You not only left the family in body, you left us in name too, didn’t you, Dexter?”
/> Dex glanced over his shoulder at the guard standing beside the door, then lowered his voice. “I can’t talk about that here.”
The guard tapped Dex on the shoulder and he looked up. “Your bail has been posted, so you need to change and I’ll take you up front.”
“What?” he and Patton said at the same time. He looked back at his brother through the divider and he appeared to be as confused as Dex felt. “I’ll ah, talk to you later, Patton,” he said, hanging up the phone as he stood.
Relief washed through Dex as the guard took his arm, but Dex practically dragged him to the exit door. Fifteen minutes later, dressed in his jeans and t-shirt he came into the jail wearing, he finally breathed when he walked through the main door into the jail lobby.
He stopped though, when he saw the crowd assembled there. Dave, Susan, Hawk, his brother—and Grace. Could his humiliation get any greater?
“We just got here. What in the hell have you been up to, Superman?” Logan asked, his lips twitching and his eyes sparking. Susan wore a similar bemused expression and Dex groaned.
“Thanks for bailing me out, but you didn’t have to come,” Dex said, walking to the window to pick up his bag. He rifled through it, removed his wallet and glasses, then stalked to the trashcan across the room to stuff the bag inside.
He turned back to find Hawk standing behind him, grinning.
“Oh, no you don’t. I’ve got to see this outfit, Superman.” Hawk’s face stretched with a wide-toothed grin that almost blinded him. “There’s no way Grace’s description did it justice.”
Again—this was the thanks he got for trying to help her.
His brother was welcome to help her, but he was going back to Texas. God only knew what condition Patton would be in by the time he found her sister.
“You’re not funny flyboy,” Dex growled as he pushed past him. “Just mind your own damned business and get me the hell out of here.”
Dex cringed when he heard him lift the lid on the can, but kept walking. He stormed past the group to head to the door, but stopped there to cast a hot glance at Grace, who sat in one of the chairs lining the wall, wearing a smug smile.
Her whole posture and demeanor said she believed she was faultless in everything that happened. Well, he had a few things to say to dissuade her from that opinion. But first, he had to get the hell out of this stale-smelling station and get a shower to wash off all the nastiness he’d endured in the last twenty-four hours—because of her.
Dex pushed his way out the front door and the Vegas sun blinded him as he double-timed it down the steps. He headed toward the center of the parking because he had no idea where he was going. He was halfway there when Grace jogged up beside him to grab his arm. Electricity zipped through him and he jerked away to turn and face her, but glanced back at the station to see his brother under the canopy engaged in deep conversation with a somber-faced Logan.
Great—yeah, fill him in about it all, brother. You’re more his type than I am anyway.
Susan stood beside Patton, but she didn’t look somber, she looked pissed. The stiffness in her back when she turned to stomp down the stairs verified that he would most likely be looking for another job.
“Fuck,” he grumbled, shoving a hand through his hair. His eyes swung back to Grace. “I hope you’re happy Dr. Wentworth!”
“Brennan, I’m sorry for the trouble I caused and, ah, I want to thank you for what you did for me last night,” she said, her voice breaking. She opened her mouth to say more, but Susan’s hand dropped on her shoulder. Susan pinned Dex with angry eyes and he swallowed hard, waiting for her to drop the hammer.
“Logan and I were going to stay and play in Vegas a few days, but we’re going to help Grace find her sister instead. Her niece needs her mother, and that bastard needs to be brought down. Even though your brother is a US Navy SEAL, he can’t do this alone.” Her face eased into a grin as she punched Dex in the shoulder and he flinched. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us you had a brother who’s a SEAL? We always thought you were an only child since you never talk about your family.”
Because I’ve always felt like an only child. The black sheep who hid in his room playing computer games or building them, instead of playing football or hockey. And there is too much more I’d have to tell you about if I explained all that.
Without all that information, that baggage, he’d had the space to earn the respect of his teammates at Deep Six Security. Military men and women, former government operatives, and operators needed—no, wanted him on their team.
The confidence he gained in the last six years had brought him past all those feelings of inadequacy. Putting that space between him and his family had been unexpected and hard, but he felt like it helped him grow from a boy to a man.
Dex had another moment of processing mixed feelings, as the respect and admiration in her voice brought forth both intense pride and insane jealousy. He was insane, and he was too damned old to still harbor those old fucking insecurities where his brothers were concerned.
“I have one who is a Ranger too, Grant, and he’s deployed somewhere in the sandbox. My father is a retired Naval Commander, and my youngest brother, Bradley, is enrolled at West Point,” Dex informed, figuring he might as well spill it all. If he didn’t, he was sure Patton would eventually. “I’m the runt of the bunch, athletically anyway, the only washout who was too much of a near-sighted klutz to join the military.”
“Bullshit,” Susan scoffed with an eye roll. “You’re a freaking ninja warrior on that computer and you know it.” She hooked her arm through his, and pulled. “Now, stop being a whiny puss and man up. You’re on deck nerd boy, so break out that big brain of yours, because we have a mission and need some pre-op intel.”
Why did her words of praise make his chest swell a little…no, a lot?
“I can’t afford to pay you,” Grace admitted sniffling.
“Did I ask you for money?” Susan asked, shooting her a look. “You need to man up too—all this sniffling is for the birds. As motley as we are, you have a team to find your sister now, so stop worrying. This isn’t our first rodeo. We’re all like ninjas, isn’t that right, Dex?”
Dex laughed, and the feeling of doom he’d been fighting since last night lifted. “You guys certainly are, but as you know, there is nothing ninja-like about me, unless I’m in front of a computer.”
“Again, I call bullshit. If we didn’t have you on that last mission, we’d probably be hand servants of the Sovereign Soldiers out at their survival camp right now. That drone deployment was sheer genius,” Susan contradicted.
Pride lifted his shoulders an inch higher. “I guess you’re right on that one.” Dex shrugged, but then had a reality check. “But it’s not like I single-handedly took down a Mexican drug cartel encampment like Cade did, or a terrorist cell like Slade. Hell, or a mafia-backed baby-selling ring like you and Dave did. My part was very minor in all those missions.”
“Get over the pity party,” Dave grumbled, and Dex just realized he and Patton had stopped behind the dark gray SUV next to him. “Every one of the players on the Deep Six team performs a vital function to the success of the whole. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be on my very substantial payroll.” Logan lifted a brow. “Because I’m as tight as a camel in a sandstorm. Isn’t that right, Dexter?”
“Tighter,” Dex replied with a laugh. “We really need to come up with some new material. Maybe I should do some research for the guys,” he said, and Logan growled as he skirted the front of the vehicle to get to the driver’s door.
“Yeah, and a family works the same way, dumbass,” Patton grumbled in a similar fashion before he turned and walked to the front passenger door.
The likeness between his boss and his brother hit him in the head like a brick. He stood there stunned, but one corner of his lips curled when he heard Grace chuckle as she followed Susan around the back to the left side of the SUV.
Susan leaned out of the passenger window. “We’re wasting ti
me—get in, Superman, before I kick your ass.”
Dex staggered to the door feeling like he’d stumbled into an alternate universe—one where he might just have family who respected and cared about him after all. Had he just misunderstood them all this time?
Was Logan, his brother and father’s abrasiveness actually a sign of affection? Because of their long stints in the military was that just how they showed that affection? Now that he thought about it, Cade Winters had been the same way.
Slade and Caleb were a bit looser, but they hadn’t been in as long as the others due to injuries. And Hawkins was just a goofball, so he was the loosest of them all. He evidently used humor to forget about some of the bad shit he’d seen in his years flying in the Army as a spec ops Nightstalker pilot.
Sort of like Dex had done at Deep Six with his insecurities.
Considering all that, Dex thought maybe he might have finally found the answers he’d been searching for the last six years—hell, all his life. The men in his life didn’t hate him or think he was a pansy fuckup—it was their way of saying he was part of their alpha, testosterone-driven tribe, even though he was on the BETA end of that spectrum. They just spoke a language that he didn’t understand fully yet.
But he didn’t have time to think about that more now. They had a mission, and he needed to get in the SUV before they left him, he thought, as Logan threw the vehicle into reverse and Dex jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being roadkill.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I’m paying for a three-bedroom penthouse suite?!?” Logan growled as they entered the private penthouse elevator at the hotel and the door closed.
Dex sighed, and Grace became fascinated at how the material of his lime green t-shirt stretched over his fabulously muscular chest. The edge of the short-sleeves hit at just the right point at the curve of his biceps to highlight his equally sigh-worthy arms.