Locked Down

by Jess Anastasi

  “Let’s get this wrapped up quick so we can all get back to bed,” Yas said, easily taking point even though the sheriff was standing right next to her. Since Hayes had effectively handed this case to them, Gabe guessed the man was probably more than happy to be sidelined. “Did either of you see anything?”

  “No, we were asleep,” Matt answered, glancing at him as if for some kind of confirmation. Gabe sent him an encouraging nod. He didn’t plan on hiding anything from Yas. There was no point when she already knew almost everything anyway. And he didn’t want to risk omitting any tiny details disrupting the case.

  “Together?” Yas clarified, leaving him wanting to poke her. She already knew it, but Yas was a stickler for details. It was one of the reasons she was such a good agent.

  “Yes,” Gabe said firmly. “I came straight to Matt’s room after you and I finished up last night. We ordered food and have pretty much been together since, except for the five minutes I spent ducking into my room for some spare clothes.”

  Yas nodded. “And nothing of note happened.”

  “Gabe,” Matt murmured, even as he remembered the pamphlet he’d stashed in the trunk of his car.

  “Yeah, actually, there was something.” He walked off without further explanation, going back into Matt’s room to retrieve his car keys as Yas started a slightly different line of questioning with Matt about his movements over the course of the day.

  When he returned to Matt’s side a few moments later, he handed over the plastic evidence bag with the pamphlet tucked inside. The writing on the bottom held similarities to the graffiti on the side of Matt’s rental, but without an expert analysis, he couldn’t say for sure they’d been written by the same person.

  Yas cast a look over the offending propaganda and then met his gaze with a grim look. “Stanley Ferguson.”

  He gave a single, sharp nod of agreement.

  “Is he a suspect?” the sheriff interjected, sounding troubled by the fact.

  “Earlier today he was simply a person of interest,” Gabe answered. He and Yas had gone to the man’s house, but he hadn’t been home. They’d hung around for a while, but had given up in favor of trying again the following day when they hadn’t seen any sign of him. “He runs a group out of the church loosely aligned with the ALP and is responsible for printing these lovely pamphlets full of bigoted bullshit.”

  “I know all about Stan’s activities.” The sheriff’s expression was tight, possibly a little self-recriminating, and Perez set a hand on the man’s shoulder for a moment.

  “If he really is behind this, you couldn’t have seen it coming,” Perez said in a low voice, tone familiar as if the pair knew each other more as friends rather than just work colleagues.

  “Maybe not, but I’m starting to think doing nothing except monitoring certain people in this town is as good as being complicit.” The sheriff shook his head, looking weary as he turned away to pull open the door of his SUV.

  Gabe didn’t envy the sheriff’s position. Hayes really was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Free speech and the constitution meant the sheriff couldn’t really do anything about what people within his town believed, unless it spilled over into a hate crime, which their perp had definitely done. Stopping someone before they committed a crime, however, was a slippery slope. They couldn’t exactly arrest every single person who spewed racism, homophobia, or any other kind of prejudice on their social media feeds.

  “Everything all right with the sheriff?” Yas asked, directing the question at Perez, who was staring after Hayes with concern etched into his features.

  “Being sheriff of Everness isn’t exactly easy, what with the ALP camped on the town’s outskirts. It hit a little too close to home for him—for both of us, actually—a few months back.” Perez shifted his gaze to focus on him and Yas. “Off the record, if the FBI can do something about that, find some kind of evidence meaning the ALP is disbanded or whatever, well, you’ll have a lot of grateful people on your hands.”

  If only it were so simple—find a cache of dangerous weapons or even a WMD and case closed—the ALP leadership in jail and the rest hightailing it outta Texas. Unfortunately, the ALP members had as many rights as anyone. This investigation had to be done by the book. And before they even did that, they needed to find out who was behind these attacks.

  “We’ll keep you in the loop,” Yas promised instead of replying to Perez’s thinly veiled suggestion.

  Perez tipped his head slightly. “Much obliged.”

  The deputy went around the SUV and got into the passenger side as the sheriff started the engine.

  “Right,” Yas said on an exhale. “Let’s get this wrapped up and grab an hour or two of sleep before the day starts.”

  She went to her own car and popped the trunk, taking out a roll of bright yellow crime scene tape. Between the two of them, they wrapped Matt’s rental, Yas taking a few photos of the smashed windows and graffiti even though the lighting wasn’t great.

  “I’ll call in a forensic team, see if we can’t get something useful from this mess.”

  “Were you able to see whether the perp was wearing gloves when you chased him?” Gabe asked as they finished up.

  She gave a slight shrug. “Might have been. Didn’t get a clear look.”

  Yas returned what was left of the tape to her car and then locked it up. “See you in a few hours.”

  “Thanks, Yas,” he murmured as she sent him a wave before heading back to her room with a loud yawn.

  He turned to look at Matt, who’d shifted to lean against the side of Gabe’s bureau sedan while he’d silently watched the proceedings.

  “Think you can sleep?” Gabe asked, eyeing Matt’s tired, tense expression.

  Matt gave a sharp shrug. “Don’t know. Probably not. This whole thing is totally messed up.”

  “I’m sorry you got caught up in it,” he said, meaning every word and wishing there was some way he could magically fix things for him.

  “Not your fault. Imagine if you weren’t here.” A haunted shadow entered Matt’s gaze, and Gabe automatically reached out to snag his hand, hating to see that look in his eyes.

  “Come on, whether or not you sleep, we’re going back to bed.”

  “Are we?” Matt returned with a hint of amusement, clearly picking up on the not-so-subtle innuendo he’d put behind the words.

  “Yeah, just not in your room.” Gabe led him to his own door, fishing the key out of his pocket and quickly ushering him inside.

  “What’s the difference?” Matt asked, curious but not arguing since he was already toeing free of his shoes and throwing off his T-shirt before shuffling toward the bed. Considering he looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet, Gabe didn’t think Matt would have any trouble sleeping in the end, no matter what he’d said on the matter.

  “Because until we apprehend the perp, you’re staying with me,” he answered, shucking his own clothes but leaving on his underwear and then chasing Matt under the blankets. Gabe doubted he’d get any more sleep himself. He was wide-awake and knew thoughts of this case were going to whirl around his head for the next few hours.

  “’Kay,” Matt muttered as he snuggled up to him.

  Gabe half turned on his side and wrapped his arms around Matt, securing him close against his chest and pressing a kiss into his hair. “Don’t worry about a thing. As long as I’m around, you’ll be fine.”

  “Sounds good. Wanna keep you,” Matt mumbled, sounding more asleep than awake.

  Gabe’s heart skipped a few beats as his hold on Matt involuntarily tightened.

  “I want to keep you too,” he whispered into the quiet darkness around them.

  DESPITE THINKING he’d stay wide-awake, Gabe dozed lightly. Not deep enough to become unaware of Matt sleeping soundly in his arms or to stop thoughts about the case drifting through his mind, but enough that he felt somewhat rested when his usual alarm went off.

  He reached over to the nightstand to tap the sc
reen on his cell phone, setting the ten-minute snooze he habitually indulged in to give himself time to wake up properly before he got out of bed in the mornings…. Of course, a lot of the time he simply went back to sleep again, defeating the purpose. He didn’t mind getting up for work, but mornings weren’t always his favorite time of day.

  “Is it already time to get up?” Matt complained sleepily as Gabe settled back into position.

  “We can spare a few minutes.” Gabe ran a hand up and down Matt’s back, nothing but easy comfort and morning cuddles on his mind. Until Matt shifted, pressing more firmly against him, arousal impossible to miss as it brushed against Gabe’s hip.

  His own half-hard cock promptly stood to attention, and he looked down to see Matt staring up at him.

  “This is what you do, right? What your life is like? The danger and the bad guys?” There was a hint of concern in Matt’s features, as if he was trying to reconcile all the things he’d come to know about him.

  “I’m not usually in the field like this—not when there’s an active case unfolding,” he answered. Had the reality of his job made Matt wary of him for some reason? Matt’s words from a few hours ago about wanting to keep him echoed in his mind, making his chest pinch. “That’s what Yas and the other agents are for. Analysts usually ride the desk and do all background stuff, with the occasional field trip if an investigation warrants it.”

  “That’s good to know.” Matt nuzzled into him, seeming relieved as he pressed a kiss to his chest. “You’re a badass, but I don’t like the thought of you being in danger.”

  “Badass, huh?” Gabe repeated with a small laugh. He didn’t think anyone had ever called him that before. He reached down and cupped Matt’s cheek to bring his head back up so he could look into Matt’s blue eyes. “I don’t like the thought of you being in danger either. Which is why we need to have a conversation about the rest of your stay in Everness.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “It’s simple, really.” He was totally trying to downplay how overbearing he was about to become. But he knew he’d never be able to live with himself if Matt ended up in the hospital like the last victim. Or worse. “Like I said last night, I want you to sleep in my room for at least the next few nights. And I don’t want you going anywhere alone. If you have to go out to meet your cousin or whatever, I want you to call me. And if you can’t get a hold of me, then call Perez.”

  Matt’s expression twisted with a hint of indignation. “So I’m going to be constantly minded like a toddler for the next few days?”

  “Well, I could call my boss and get an official FBI protection detail out here—”

  “Okay, okay!” Matt conceded, eyes widening.

  Actually, he’d have to jump through a million hoops to get an FBI protection detail and even then, it might not come through. Wasn’t like Matt was a federal or government official who would automatically warrant that kind of safeguarding. But if Gabe could convince the right people of Matt facing a credible threat, he might be able to swing something if need be. Fortunately, between himself, Yas, and Perez, he didn’t think he’d have to go that far.

  Anyway, if all went well, they’d have the perp under lock and key within twenty-four hours and all this would become a distant memory.

  Well, not all of it, he hoped. Matt wasn’t someone he wanted to become nothing more than a faded remembrance. As soon as he had this case in hand, he needed to figure out exactly what he wanted with Matt and how he was going to get it, then convince Matt that continuing their relationship would be a very good idea.

  In the meantime, he wasn’t going to waste what time they could carve out together between his working hours.

  “So you’re on board?” he pressed after a moment, rolling so Matt ended up underneath him.

  “Yes, okay. I won’t go anywhere alone,” Matt huffed, though his apparent indignation was hard to believe considering the way his hands were roaming over Gabe’s body.

  “Good, because I need to be able to do my job without distractions like worrying whether you’re getting yourself into trouble like you’re so prone to doing.”

  “Hey!” Matt pinched his ass and Gabe automatically jerked his hips forward, ending with their groins pressed tightly together. “I never got into any trouble until I met you.”

  “Uh-huh,” Gabe replied with a teasing hint of disbelief before leaning down to capture his mouth in a languid kiss.

  Matt stretched in a tantalizing motion beneath him, making their bodies rub in all the right places. His ten minutes before the snooze alarm had to almost be up, and Yas hated it when people were late, but right in that moment, Gabe couldn’t care about anything except the feel of Matt shifting beneath him, making sexy little noises as he deepened the kiss.

  Gabe dragged his mouth across warm, slightly whisker-roughened skin, over Matt’s jaw and down his throat as he became increasingly restless beneath him, rocking insistently up against him, searching for that friction and satisfaction they both wanted.

  Gabe shoved the blankets back as he kissed his way down Matt’s chest, not bothering with any pretenses about his intended destination. Truthfully, he’d been wanting to do this again ever since the first night they’d spent together. Matt had been so gorgeously responsive and abandoned under his touch; it was one hell of a turn-on.

  He hooked his fingers into the waistband of the sweatpants Matt wore—his own, actually, leaving a possessive burn in his chest—and grinned in anticipation when he found Matt had gone commando, no underwear getting in the way of his prize.

  Matt lifted his hips slightly as Gabe tugged the sweatpants down, but he didn’t bother moving back to pull them all the way off, leaving them shucked midway down Matt’s thighs.

  As soon as Gabe closed his mouth around the hard, hot length, Matt’s fingers speared into his hair as he groaned deeply, which only spurred Gabe on. He sucked Matt down, clamping his hands on his hips to hold him in place when it seemed like Matt didn’t know if he wanted to get away from the unrelenting pressure or thrust closer.

  Gabe shifted, stretching out, getting more comfortable and half straddling one of Matt’s legs as he set up a rhythm, hardly aware of how his own hips were rocking in time with his ministrations. He could feel the buildup, however, the pleasure winding tighter and tighter, low in his abdomen even as Matt strained beneath his hold. Somewhere above his head, the snooze alarm went off, but they both ignored it. If anything, Gabe doubled his efforts, not wanting to lose the moment.

  “Oh God, Gabe.” Matt bucked shallowly against his hands, his name breaking off into a series of moans as Matt exploded against his tongue.

  Gabe’s own hips stuttered, jerking helplessly as he came suddenly himself, pressed against Matt’s thigh, just above his knee. Didn’t stop him from making sure he swallowed down every last drop of Matt, gentling him through to the other side of his orgasm.

  After he pulled back, both of them were panting, but Gabe soon found himself laughing, not able to remember the last time someone had made him feel this good—made him come just because they had.

  “What’s so funny?” Matt asked, luckily sounding lazily amused, not insulted.

  He raised his head and shifted a little way up Matt’s body, dropping a kiss in the middle of his chest. “I came all over myself. In my underwear. Like a sixteen-year-old. Pretty sure that’s how old I was last time that happened.”

  Matt grinned at him, unrepentant. “Enjoyed sucking me that much, did you?”

  “Hell yeah I did.” He reached over to finally silence the bleating alarm on his cell phone.

  As he went to put the device back down, it chimed in his hand, a message from Yas popping up on the screen.

  The walls in this place are paper thin. Sounds like you’re busy. Meet you for breakfast at the diner in 1hr. DON’T BE LATE.

  He quickly typed an affirmative reply before Matt could get curious, since he would probably refuse to ever see Yas again if he knew she was very aware of what
they’d just been getting up to.

  “Work?” Matt asked as he glanced down at the mess they’d made.

  “Always is.” Gabe pushed off him and grabbed his pants. “I’m meeting Yas at the diner for breakfast. You want to tag along?”

  Matt sat up, pushing back a few errant locks of his messy hair. “Let’s hope their breakfast food is better than their lunch.”

  “As long as there’s some form of waffles, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” He reached down and grabbed Matt’s hand, hauling him up. “Come on. We need a shower and Yas hates it when people are late.”

  He led Matt into the bathroom. “And you think showering together is going to prevent that?”

  Gabe let him go long enough to get the water started. “I can be good if you can.”

  He shot a smirk over his shoulder to see Matt regarding him with banked heat in his gaze.

  “Good is not the word I would have used to describe what you do to me.”

  God damn. Despite getting off less than ten minutes ago, desire pooled in his groin, making his cock thicken.

  “You keep looking at me like that, we’re definitely going to be late.” There was no denying the lust roughening his voice.

  Matt stepped forward, hands landing on Gabe’s hips, bodies coming together as he hustled Gabe into the shower until he pressed up against the tiled wall.

  “I’m taking absolutely no responsibility for making us late.”

  Before Gabe could say anything to that, Matt was kissing him deep and thorough. All of a sudden, being late was the furthest thing from Gabe’s mind.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  MATT WAS impressed with the fact they hadn’t ended up that late after getting all wrapped up in each another in the shower. Gabe had dressed in another sharp suit—this one a charcoal gray in a slim-line fit that should have made his ass illegal—and then they’d gone next door into Matt’s room for him to dress in his usual jeans and button-down shirt combo. They’d also grabbed most of his luggage and transferred it over to Gabe’s room, leaving Matt a little annoyed about paying for a room he wasn’t using for the foreseeable future and idly wondering if the FBI or someone would reimburse him for it.