Endings and Beginnings (Death and Destruction Book 8)

by Patricia Logan

  “So… why do you think he’ll talk to us? He’s got the best deal he can make with nothing to gain by talking,” Sarah said.

  Stanger cleared his throat and exchanged a glance with SAC Diaz before looking back at the two women.

  “Rios has a thing for the ladies. I’m sorry, but we’d like you to… see if he’s influenced in any way by your…” He glanced at Diaz again, squirming in his chair before looking back at Sarah. He cleared his throat again and opened his mouth to speak when Jarrett spoke up.

  “They need ya to work your womanly wiles on him, Terminator.”

  Sarah’s mouth dropped open as she stared at Jarrett for a few seconds before looking back at her boss.

  “You want us to shake our tail feathers for a murderer?”

  Stanger flushed beet red and he squirmed again. “Well, when you put it like that…”

  “Yes,” Diaz said. “Whatever it takes, Special Agent Connor. If you two can get him to talk to you and give up names, it will help your colleagues.” She nodded at Devecchio and Mac.

  “The evidence that Devecchio secures will put away the major players, but the goal here is to put this whole nest of criminals out of business once and for all. If we can bring a case to Congress that Stryker-Dunn as a whole has conspired to knowingly hire criminal mercenaries, then we can take down the entire dirty company. Otherwise, we fear their board of directors will just change out the old management for a new one and go back to business as usual,” Stanger said.

  “Yes, sir. We’ll do just that,” Sarah said. She glanced at Dev who nodded back.

  “Yes, sir. I’m just as anxious to bring these bastards down as Sarah is,” Dev agreed.

  “One more thing,” Stanger said. “Evans and Wolfe will be on a plane to the closest airport in Reno the second there’s a whiff of a problem out at the prison. I just want you to know that we will be backing you up along with the full force of law enforcement.”

  Sarah and Dev glanced at them and the men both smiled.

  “Good to know, boss,” Sarah said. “Hopefully, we’ll be in and out of there fast. I’m pretty sure I can speak for Dev when I say the last thing we want to do is hang around in a supermax prison filled with the worst of the worst, regardless of the security that bars provide.”

  “Preach it, girl,” Dev said, holding up the palm of her hand and bowing her head. “Preach it.”

  Chapter Two

  “So, what do you want for dinner?” Thayne asked as soon as they got into the elevator that night. Lincoln and Mac had stayed in their office but Sarah, Dev, Nico, and Jose had gotten in after them.

  Jarrett’s eyes twinkled as he glanced over at his husband. “How long do it take to thaw them Omaha steaks Daddy gave us for a weddin’ present? One of those sounds really good with a bottle of suds.” The others remained silent but listening as the elevator descended to the parking garage.

  “We don’t have them,” Thayne said, coughing into his hand and shuffling his feet.

  “What?” Jarrett asked, horrified.

  “I haven’t seen those steaks since we moved.”

  Jarrett frowned at him. “What do you mean ya ain’t seen ‘em?”

  Thayne wouldn’t look at him. He’d probably done something with them since he was determined to make Jarrett a vegetarian. He really really wanted a steak though. Of the six his daddy had given them, they’d only put two on the grill. They should have four left.

  “I mean, I haven’t seen them since we moved,” Thayne insisted, still refusing to look at him. Liar.

  “Goddammit. You done somethin’ with ‘em,” Jarrett growled. The others in the elevator snickered but said nothing. “You’re tryin’ to turn me into a damn vegetarian or somethin’.”

  “I’m taking charge of your health.”

  “You’re stealin’ my beef!”

  Now, the others did laugh and even Thayne joined in.

  “I should arrest you for cattle rustlin’.”

  The doors to the elevator dinged and slid open as everyone spilled out into the parking garage laughing their butts off. As they said goodnight and walked away to their cars, still chuckling, Thayne put his arm around Jarrett’s neck and pulled him close enough to plant a kiss on his cheek through the smile on his lips.

  “I love you. Come on, I’ll take you to a steak house to make up for giving away your steaks.”

  “Ya gave them away?” Jarrett asked with horror and a little whimper.

  Thayne nodded, guiltily. “Mac loves steaks.”

  “Great. The Green Beret is eatin’ my dinner, damn him.”

  Thayne hit the button on the key fob to his silver Mustang before they were a hundred feet away. He kept hitting it until it beeped. They were still so gun shy about cars blowing up, and Thayne always opened his car doors this way now. They also checked under their seats to make sure that they weren’t sitting on top of a pressure plate like Sarah had. Even though they knew that Nanette Hilton was locked away in a mental institution for the criminally insane and had been for the last three months, they still took precautions. They’d faced too much evil in their career and their time together to trust easily. They got into the car and sat down as Thayne started the engine.

  Jarrett patted his belly. “I’ll tell you what. I’m starvin’ but I’m gonna eat moderately. I think we need to hit the gym afterward don’t you?”

  “I do think we need to get back to a regular routine but don’t you think we’ve been getting a lot of exercise with all the work we’ve been doing to the house?” The truth was, they had been working on the house Jarrett bought him since moving into it right after the honeymoon. It wasn’t what you’d call a classic fixer-upper but it did take work. It was an older house built in the middle of the last century so it needed some updating. The house had great bones along with the original hardwood floors but it needed cosmetic updating. For example, some of the original painted moldings were still in place around the kitchen cabinets and baths. They’d ripped them out and replaced them with crown moldings after scraping the cottage cheese from the ceilings. They’d had to have an asbestos abatement company come out and do the majority of the work on the ceilings, but they’d done a lot of the rest of the other cosmetic remodeling so far on their own. They’d scraped wall paper, painted walls, and refinished the floors.

  One of the only major structural things they’d done was to rip out one wall between two small bedrooms to make a large family room, and turn the house into a three-bedroom from a four-bedroom. They’d converted another small bedroom into a workout room, taking out the closet to give them more room for equipment in the small space. Homes built in the 1950s and 60s had smaller bedrooms. Some didn’t even have master bedrooms with built-in master bathrooms. In those houses, the entire house shared one bathroom. Their house had one and a half baths that someone had converted to a two-bath in the past by adding a tub which increased the value.

  Their house sat on a large lot, big for their area. The lot was deep as a lot of them were in the neighborhood, dotted with old oak trees and towering seventy-year-old jacaranda trees that turned the street into a carpet of purple flowers during the spring when they dropped. Everyone in the neighborhood owned car covers and diligently pulled them over any vehicles left sitting outside in April and May. The neighborhood was quiet and beautiful and they loved taking walks together at night.

  Thayne had gone back to his habit of jogging every morning when he and Jarrett woke up too late to hit the gym before work. Jarrett had joined him lately. Running in their neighborhood allowed them to sleep in an extra half hour or wake up and have a fun roll in the sheets. After two years together, they were closer than they’d ever been and since getting married, they had a whole new appreciation for their sex life. Finally, fully healed from his ordeal in Arizona, Thayne definitely had a whole new appreciation for bed sport, his favorite hobby with Jarrett.

  Lately, though, they’d hung up their jogging shoes and had concentrated on eating breakfast at their lit
tle retro Formica table in the small kitchen nook and planning various remodeling projects over Cheerios, coffee, and the morning newspaper. Not counting the ridiculous hearse Jarrett had bought, they still had only the one car. Jarrett’s had been blown up shortly before their marriage and after losing the classic 1966 Chevy Nova, his beautiful upgraded olive-green Jeep, and his Harley Davidson motorcycle, Jarrett just didn’t have the heart to replace his vehicles. It bummed him out but the prospect of falling in love with another car only to lose it, killed him. He’d figure it out. He just needed time and Thayne was more than willing to give it to him. Meanwhile, he drove with Jarrett while behind the wheel of his Mustang.

  Feeling a pang of guilt about the steaks, Thayne took him to eat at a place called Morton’s Steak House. It was pricy but not too expensive and not far from the FBI’s office in Westwood. They would have asked their friends to join them but Thayne wanted to talk about the dynamic he’d seen between Mac and Nico. He wondered whether Jarrett had noticed the same thing he had.

  After leaving the car with the valet, they stepped inside. They didn’t have to wait long to be seated since it was a weeknight. After ordering microbrews, they sat back and perused the menu silently, closing them before long. Thayne planned on getting a simple filet mignon and before he even ordered, he predicted Jarrett would order the porterhouse just like he expected. After the waitress took their orders and brought their beers, Thayne took a long draw off the neck of his bottle. He sat back in the padded booth of the dark restaurant and gazed across the table at the most handsome man he’d ever seen. He was so damned lucky to have met and married this man. He almost couldn’t believe it was true.

  “I wanted to ask you something,” Thayne said.

  “Yeah.”

  Thayne smiled, set down his beer, and leaned forward. “Did you see how Devecchio smiled at Mac when he touched him between the shoulder blades or was that completely my imagination?”

  Jarrett pulled the lip of the beer bottle away from his mouth as he swallowed hard. His eyes started watering. He coughed as soon as the beer was down.

  “I thought I was seein’ things. You noticed that?” he asked with a choked voice.

  Thayne grinned. “Yeah! That was crazy, Jarrett. He reached over and rubbed his back and Nico glanced up at him, blushing like a school boy.”

  Jarrett grinned. “Yep, I saw it. I wasn’t sure I was seein’ it, though. I’m glad you caught it.”

  Thayne leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Did you have any idea either one of them is gay?”

  “Don’t know if they’re gay but they’re definitely attracted to each other. Well, Nico’s attracted to the redhead for sure. He was really givin’ Mac puppy eyes.”

  “Yeah, I saw that too. I was just surprised to see Mac touch him like that,” Thayne said, chuckling. “I’ve never seen him touch anyone like that.” He picked up his beer. He waved the neck in the air. “In fact, I don’t think I ever saw Mac touch anyone in any way.”

  “I know, right? I don’t know. I just never thought of Mac Mac Mac that way,” Jarret said.

  “What way? Gay?” Thayne smirked.

  “I don’t think I ever thought of Mac in any way sexual at all. I mean I suppose he has to be sexually active but you know how ya sometimes see someone and ask ‘em if they’re married or assume they must have a girlfriend or whatnot?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I just never did with Mac but that makes sense in a way,” Jarrett said.

  “You mean because he’s never talked about it,” Thayne said.

  “Yeah, and ‘cause I guess I had to know he was sexual and all that…” He waved his hand up and down. “You know, all that big macho.”

  Thayne chuckled. “Yeah.” He grinned and wrinkled his nose, lowering his voice again. “I can’t imagine Mac bottoming.”

  Jarrett laughed and leaned forward, lowering his voice to a whisper. “I couldn’t imagine myself bottoming, Thayne.” He reached out and took Thayne’s hand. “Then I met you and I never in my life felt anythin’ like you in bed.”

  Thayne lifted Jarrett’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, feeling his erection stir in his suit slacks. He winked at his husband.

  “You’re making me horny.”

  Jarrett barked a sharp laugh. “Yeah? Dammit, I really want that steak and to get you home now.” He glanced around for their waitress as Thayne chuckled.

  ****

  Mac took the elevator to the parking garage a few minutes after the others left. He abandoned Lincoln sitting at his desk because he needed at least another hour to finish paperwork. Mac had only stayed behind after the briefing to forward his own completed report to his new boss, SAC Claudia Diaz. He liked the fiery Mexican-American woman from Arizona. She was a lot better boss than that idiot Halloran who’d been transferred out of the LA office. She was smart and capable and looked him and Lincoln in the eyes when she talked to them. She seemed to have no pretense and laid things on the table for them. Besides, Lincoln had spoken with her at length during the job that resulted in the end of Mills Lang and his vicious band of arms dealers. Lincoln also liked and respected her. That was enough for Mac, since he in turn had great admiration for his partner. He counted himself lucky at working with Snow since he was not only a good agent but had become a good friend. Overall, Mac was very happy with his job at the FBI.

  Mac was also a CIA operative who had been placed within the FBI by Jarrett Evans’s father, Mark. Before it was revealed that Secretary of State Russert Avery was the man behind the attempts on Jarrett’s life, Mark had placed Mac inside the FBI to stay close to his son and provide the backup he’d eventually need. Mac was no longer active with the agency, but he knew he could be called on any time by his government and would have to answer the call.

  The elevator opened at the garage level of the federal building and Mac stepped out. He was surprised to see Devecchio leaning back against a concrete pillar with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. A little thrill shot through Mac as a slow smile spread across the young man’s gorgeous face. Mac couldn’t help but smile back but he found himself perplexed at why Nico was there, seeming almost to be waiting for him.

  “Hey,” Nico said, pushing off the pillar and standing tall as he uncrossed his arms. Damn he looked good in that all-black Tom Ford suit. His white shirt hugged his toned body beneath his suit jacket which was unbuttoned and as he began to saunter toward him, Mac noted the power in his long legs. He strolled toward him like a big cat who’d spotted his prey and how Mac wanted to be just that. From the moment he’d laid eyes on the young ATF agent, he’d been attracted to him, not only his body, but the incredible mind the man had. He was one of the most beautiful human beings Mac had ever met in every way that mattered. He smiled back at Nico and walked toward him.

  “Were you waitin’ for me?” Mac asked, furrowing his brow as he stopped in front of him.

  Nico craned his neck upward to look in Mac’s face as he smiled. He was shorter than Mac by at least five inches, still well over six feet but not nearly as tall as Mac.

  “I hope that’s not a problem. I just wanted to talk with you a little since we’re being assigned this undercover job together. Is that… I mean…” He hesitated as he swallowed hard. Now that he was actually talking, the flirtatious glances went away, leaving Mac with the feeling that he was facing a really shy man. He’d seen that on him in the conference room when he’d blushed after launching into one of his long spiels about something.

  “What?” Mac prompted him, stepping just a little closer. Nico backed up a few steps and Mac advanced on him. “What is it, Devecchio?” He took a few more steps toward Nico, smiling as Nico retreated, backing into another cement support pillar.

  Nico blinked long black eyelashes up at Mac when he couldn’t move farther away. “Is that okay, Mac? C-Can we talk about the assignment?”

  Mac smiled, closing the distance between them with one last step. “Are you sure you
want to talk with me about the assignment, Devecchio… or is there another reason you wanted to talk to me?” He watched Nico swallow hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his slender throat. The urge to reach out and wrap his hand around Devecchio’s neck and stroke his Adam’s apple with his thumb was strong.

  “I-I…don’t…um, what other reason is there?” Devecchio stammered, swallowing again.

  Mac reached out and grabbed the lapel of Nico’s suit, pulling him up against his body as he lowered his head until his lips brushed Nico’s ear.

  “I think you like me, Devecchio, and you’ve been waiting to get me alone for a while.” Mac whispered, and he felt Nico’s body shudder against his own. He lifted his head and stared down into Nico’s face, holding himself close enough to kiss if he wanted to. “Am I right?” He dropped his gaze to Nico’s lips as the point of the man’s tongue ventured out to lick ever so slowly across them. When he lifted his gaze to Nico’s dark brown eyes, his pupils were massive and smoldering. Nico nodded slowly.

  “Y-Yes,” he whispered. “For a while now.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Mac let out an involuntary growl as he lowered his mouth. The first touch of his lips to Nico’s sent a thrill rushing through him but when Devecchio whimpered and pressed his body against Mac, his surrender was unexpected. Mac’s dick throbbed. He grabbed him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Nico’s hands scrambled under Mac’s suit jacket to touch his back over the fabric of his dress shirt. Mac had the distinct feeling that he was trying for skin and couldn’t get to it. The very thought of it turned him on even more. To be wanted by a man with such beauty was an incredibly heady experience.

  The disparity in their height was also sexy as hell to Mac; he felt his cock harden against Nico’s belly as the man pressed even closer. He couldn’t help but grind against him as Devecchio’s mouth opened for his tongue. Mac dived inside without reservation. He’d been wanting to do this to the sexy man almost from the time they’d been introduced. Nico’s taste was intoxicating, and he kissed him hard, taking control of his sweet mouth.