Caught in the Aftermath

by Jami Gray

  His lips twitched. ‘No promises.’ He looked over her head, scanned the room, then tilted his head to the left. ‘Table over there is about to open.’

  She followed his gaze to see a group leaving a table just shy of centre. ‘Got it.’ When he didn’t let her go, she turned back to him. ‘What?’

  He dipped his head and stole a kiss. The simple brush of his lips lit a flame, but before it could gain strength, he pulled back. ‘Got to keep those tongues wagging.’

  Even though the reminder did shit all to snuff out the heat curling through her, she got a little of her own back as she brushed her hand down his chest until she could cup the impressive package caught between them. With a delicate squeeze, she let her lips curl as she held the dark temptation of his. ‘They’ll wag, all right.’ She rose on her toes, gave his lush lower lip a small punishment, then slipped his saddlebags off his shoulder. ‘Go get us food, hot shot.’

  She turned away and nabbed the vacant but none too clean table. She dropped the bags in one chair, before gathering the empties and dumping them in a bucket carried by a passing waiter—or what passed for one in this place. Once settled, she did a slow scan of the room. When eyes slid away, she knew their entrance had been duly noted. Satisfied tongues would wag in earnest, she found herself watching Math. More specifically his ass as he leaned against the bar, talking to the harried man behind it.

  Damn but he got her engine revving. Not a bad thing, really. It had been a while, like months at this point. Yeah, she and Simon had played around, things getting hot and heavy. Sadly, he had been in no shape to follow things to a happy conclusion. His recovery was a long, slow and painful process, after those fucking Raiders all but crucified him. After her run to Page with Havoc, she and Simon never found their footing. When push came to shove, she hadn’t been able to follow through. Even now, with the possibility of her and Simon nothing but dust, she couldn’t pinpoint why she hesitated. But she had, and now … well, now her hormones were clamouring for attention. From Math.

  She had no doubt the attraction was mutual. Hard to miss the evidence her touch evoked. While scratching that itch with him might be fun and memorable, instinct warned it might not be in her best interests. If she could keep it all about the physical, she’d be golden. The question was, could she? There was no doubt the whole Simon incident had left some serious cracks. Having someone like Math seep into those, would guarantee lasting scars. She drummed her fingers on the table, the metallic tips leaving nicks on the battered surface. Scars were survivable, a fact she knew well considering how many marred her heart. What was a few more? No doubt it would be worth the ride. Besides, it wasn’t like she was the happily ever after type. Happy right fucking now worked.

  A shadow fell over the table breaking through her whirling speculation. ‘Well, well, well, if isn’t the wicked bitch of the west.’

  The silky combination of warm honey and charm brought her attention to the male currently making himself at home in a chair he plucked from another table.

  She grinned, even as she kept her legs sprawled and crossed at the ankles watching as he set his bottle down. ‘Well, hell, if it isn’t the bane of my existence.’

  ‘Har-de-fucking-har-har, woman.’ Rocking back in the chair until the front legs left the floor, he linked his hands behind his head, revealing intricate ink crawling over his arms. ‘You can do better than that.’

  Maybe, but she loved giving Bane shit, and as one of the Dogs of War, he could take it. ‘What brings you to Paradise, Bane?’ She waved an arm indicating their surroundings.

  ‘Same as you, I’d bet.’ He craned his cropped blond head around as Math’s heavier tread drew close, then followed his progress as he settled into the chair opposite Vex. ‘Business.’

  Doing a quick scan of the room and coming up empty on the three other men normally trotting alongside Bane, she raised a brow. ‘Where are the strays?’ She took the plate and bottle Math offered, sliding them closer. Picking up one of the deep fried potato wedges, she dipped it into the puddle of ketchup and took a bite. Salt and starch hit her stomach, which rumbled in appreciation.

  Bane dropped his chair with a dull thud and reached over to steal one of her fries. She managed to smack his hand, but he only grinned. ‘The boys are out and about, doing their thing.’ He shifted his attention to Math. ‘Know you.’

  ‘Do you?’ Looking completely unconcerned, Math took a healthy bite of his sandwich.

  Interested in how Math would handle Bane’s curiosity, she picked up her bottle and threw back some brew, prepared to enjoy act one.

  ‘You’ve cleaned up some—’ Bane circled the last bit of his fry over his face in clarification, ‘—but yeah, you were the spook who hooked up with Havoc back in Salt Lake.’ He plopped the last bit of potato in his mouth, everything but his gaze the picture of casual. ‘Last seen, your ass was tracking that demented bitch north. Didn’t get far?’

  Math took his time chewing before he answered. ‘Far enough.’

  ‘Think so?’ Bane’s smile was full of teeth. ‘Hate to burst your bubble there, spooky, but I’m gonna have to disagree with you there.’

  Math held Bane’s flinty gaze as he took another bite, chewed, then nabbed his bottle and tipped it to his lips. His unspoken taunt coming through loud and clear.

  As the two males went into a stare down, Vex cut in. Best to close the curtain and soothe Bane’s ruffled fur before things got messy. ‘Why is that, Bane? You know something we don’t?’

  Bane took his time turning his attention back to her. ‘Why I’m here, right?’ He leaned forward, reclaimed his drink, then stole another fry this time coating it in ketchup. He set his elbow on the table and waved the fry back and forth before taking a bite. ‘I know lots of things, babe.’

  Shifting in her seat, Vex leaned in and matched his pose—elbow to the table, but set her chin on her palm, watching him. ‘Like?’

  He grinned and tapped her nose. ‘Like the recent increase in the observant and curious types which makes doing business around here a mite tricky.’ He lifted his bottle and took a drink.

  ‘Sucks to be you then,’ she murmured. One thing for Gus to mention the uptick in new faces, but to have Bane confirm it? Cause for concern. On one hand it leant weight to Math’s belief that Cam was being held nearby. On the other, she and Math had their work cut out for them. Time for a little prying. ‘How tricky?’

  Setting his drink aside, he popped another fry as speculation lit a spark in his dark gaze. A bright reminder that if Vex didn’t want him sniffing in her business she best watch her step. ‘As in, you can’t turn around here without tripping over one of them or their snitches.’

  ‘Could see how that might crimp a deal,’ Vex agreed.

  He grimaced and shook his head, his disgust evident. ‘A pain in the ass is what it is.’

  ‘Any chance they happen to be hanging in one area over another?’ Math joined the conversation.

  To his credit, Bane took his time thinking his answer over. ‘Couldn’t say for sure, but know someone who would.’

  Vex snorted and grabbed her drink. ‘Let me guess—Trip?’ When Bane simply grinned, she shook her head and raised her bottle. ‘Yeah, we were planning on dropping in for a visit.’ She raised the bottle to her mouth and took a drink to wash down the salt and potatoes. When she was done, she saw concern had replaced Bane’s earlier amusement. ‘What?’

  ‘You two going in,’ he warned, ‘not smart.’

  No it wasn’t, but their options were a bit limited. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement as Math shifted in his chair, probably getting ready to shoot off some smart-assed comment. Since that was her area of expertise, she flicked a finger in his direction in a ‘shut-it’ order without taking her eyes off of Bane. ‘Know that, but choices are limited.’ Leaning back in her chair, she balanced her bottle on her stomach. ‘Got something he’s waiting for.’

  ‘Might want to rethink that, darling.’ When she didn’t respo
nd the flicker of speculation in his gaze whooshed right into a flame of knowledge. Bottle in hand, it was his turn to sit back now. ‘What? Is Gus tricking out your ride?’

  Sniff, sniff. She hid her wince as Bane locked on to the scent. Better to brazen it out and see if he’d go the direct route or try circling around. ‘Nah, just doing a solid in return for a repair.’

  ‘Right.’ A world of disbelief existed in his response. He took a moment to suck back another drink and study her before he heaved a sigh. ‘You need an escort?’

  The poorly hidden mix of resignation and anticipation made her laugh. She kicked his boot. ‘What do you think?’

  He flashed a grin filled with devilish intent. ‘I think you’d walk up to death and pull on his whiskers if you could.’

  ‘And you wouldn’t?’

  ‘Nope, I’m more likely to kick his balls and get the hell out of reach.’

  The image of Bane beating feet from the grim reaper made her grin. ‘Good luck with that. Heard he has a long ass reach.’

  He tapped his bottle against hers. ‘True that.’

  A loud curse followed by the harsh scrape of chair legs over concrete cut through the wash of the crowd, drawing their attention to an argument beginning to bloom on the far edge of the room. When the curses morphed into nothing more interesting than a drunken shoving match, Vex decided it was time to get back on topic. ‘So, you boys on delivery or escort service?’

  Bane followed her lead, but not far. ‘Neither now.’

  ‘So you’re just, what?’ She arched a brow and pushed. ‘Hanging around town?’

  He adopted a hangdog expression. ‘Hey now, the road gets lonely. Here is as good a place as any to spend some credits.’ When Vex snorted with obvious disbelief, he shrugged, but his voice lost its teasing drawl and shifted straight into business mode. ‘We were on escort duty, family needed an armed guard from Salt Lake to here. The man of the house is a bit worried about his overabundance of daughters, what with the recent unrest on the routes lately. While we were in town, a little bird mentioned trouble to Dog, trouble with a bounty.’ He slid a pointed look in Math’s direction before coming back to her. That tell left Vex’s stomach in knots. Bane lifted his bottle. ‘And you know him …’

  ‘He decided to go sniffing.’ Yeah, Vex knew all too well if Dog thought trouble was drifting through, he’d be all over it, looking for the most profitable angle. Say like using Reaper’s reach out to jump in front of the bounty Math was supposed to collect on. Dammit, if they had to dodge the Dogs of War while hunting down Cam, they were beyond screwed.

  ‘Yep.’ Bane took a drink.

  ‘Catch any interesting scents?’ There was no missing the underlying hum of menace in Math’s quiet question.

  The air at the table went electric as all pretence of indifference went up in a puff of smoke. Bane’s eyes narrowed, but, Vex was grateful to note, his relaxed position didn’t change. ‘You looking for one in particular?’

  The tension coiling Vex’s muscles rose as she watched the two men dance on the razor edge of violence.

  Math slid along it with unsettling ease. ‘Might be.’

  Bane added a few teeth. ‘Maybe one that belongs to that crazy bitch?’

  ‘You find that one—’ Math added his own to the exchange, ‘—I’ll be more than happy to join the hunt, but thinking you’ll come up empty there.’

  ‘Maybe, but you never can tell who or what pops up around here.’ The two men held each other’s gaze. Vex had no idea what silent manly conversation was taking place, but the testosterone-choked atmosphere lightened. ‘I’m happy to share your interest with Dog.’

  ‘You do that.’

  Still holding Math’s gaze, Bane dipped his chin in acknowledgement.

  Right, now that the boys were done comparing dicks, it was time to refocus. Vex toed Bane’s chair, reclaiming his attention. ‘You going to answer my question now?’

  Dropping back into his easy-going role, Bane drawled, ‘Depends.’

  With exaggerated patience Vex said, ‘Anything stinking more than usual around here?’

  When he went after another fry, Vex grabbed what looked like a chicken leg and then nudged her plate in his direction. He pulled it closer. ‘Other than the infestation of snoopers, not yet.’

  Well, shit. More resigned than surprised by his answer, she began nibbling on her chicken. Would’ve been nice to have a starting point. Then she and Math could bypass the guaranteed messy interaction with Trip and go straight for retrieval. Not to mention the thought of putting boom-blocks into Trip’s sketchy hands was getting to her. Of course, they still had to get rid of the shadows tagging their tracks. Hmm, what if … her mind spun with possible options that would deal with both the explosives and soldiers. Before anything could solidify, her thoughts derailed as someone in the crowd tagged Bane’s attention.

  Bane jerked his chin in recognition and got to his feet. ‘Gotta bounce.’ He rapped his knuckles against the table, taking in both her and Math. ‘You sticking around?’

  Vex shook her head. ‘Just long enough to make Gus’s delivery. Hoping to head out in the morning.’ It might be wishful thinking, but hey, it could happen.

  ‘Right then. We hear anything before then, we’ll let you know.’ He lifted his fist to her.

  She tapped her knuckles to his. ‘Appreciate it.’

  With nothing more than a nod to Math, Bane moved off, disappearing into the crowd.

  Since their upcoming evening was jam-packed with exciting events like trudging into the pit of slime that was the Hole and hooking up with a lunatic with violent tendencies, Vex decided to tuck in and finish her meal. Who knew when they’d get the luxury of enjoying the next one? Since Math was doing the same on his side of the table, she figured his thoughts were running along the same lines. Companionable silence fell between them and only when their plates were empty, did Math speak. ‘Guess it’s too much to hope for.’

  Following his thinking wasn’t hard, he’d made it clear what his priority was—finding Cam. ‘Yeah,’ she agreed. ‘But we’re not done yet.’

  ‘Dealing with Trip …’ Math shook his head, his fingers absently drumming on the table. ‘Vex, you and I both know that’s a slippery ass slide.’

  Yep, right into hell, but … ‘Got other ideas?’ Because no matter how she turned it, she came up empty. The presence of soldiers meant they were on the right track, but the Hole covered a shit ton of ground, ground that was littered with hidey-holes. The only way to get close to finding the right one, was dealing with the one person who knew the area better than anyone else—Trip.

  Math’s hand stilled and curled into a fist as he stared over the crowd. She figured he was running the same useless paths because he finally grimaced. ‘Fuck if I can think of one.’

  His frustration came through loud and clear, and she got it. Boy did she get it. ‘Right, so we deal with the devil and hope we don’t get fucked.’ It wasn’t much comfort, but it was all she had to give. And wasn’t that a kick in the ass? This need to comfort the man next to her?

  His gaze drifted over her face, his thoughts hidden. ‘You don’t have to do this.’

  What the hell game was he playing now? She leaned forward, arms folded on the table and didn’t bother hiding the ice-coated steel in her voice. ‘Promised Reaper.’

  His lips twitched, but whatever he found humorous didn’t touch his eyes. ‘And you don’t break promises.’

  ‘Right.’ There was something in his tone she couldn’t decipher, and with her temper pricked by his implication that she’d even consider walking away, she was in no mood to worry about it. ‘We head in, make enough noise to catch Trip’s attention—’

  ‘And our shadows.’

  ‘And our shadows,’ she agreed. ‘Once we have a location on Cam, we pick our spot and grab our stalkers. Hopefully they’ll be talkative, then it’s off to pick up your guy and get him back to Pebble Creek.’ And yes, there were a hundred different snags in the
scenario, but it wasn’t like they had better options. Not if they wanted to save Math’s man.

  Something Math obviously recognised because his response was grim. ‘We’re going to get fucked.’

  Yeah, odds were they would, but that was how the game was played. She didn’t bother hiding her impatience. ‘Fine, let’s just be sure we can walk away when we’re done.’ She pressed her palms to the table, preparing to get to her feet.

  His hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, stopping her. His gaze burned into hers. ‘With Cam.’

  Unable to deny the fierce demand, she promised, ‘With Cam.’

  Chapter 11

  An edgy impatience rode Math as he led the way out of the lung-clogging haze of the eatery and back into the relatively fresh air outside. At the top of the steps he dropped his tinted lenses to help cut back the sear of afternoon sunlight and rolled his shoulders. Vex swept past, her aim the street rat keeping an eye on their bike. Instead of following, he stayed where he was, ignoring those wandering inside, and tried to get a handle on the volatile mix churning in his gut. What the hell was wrong with him?

  Needing to recapture a semblance of control, he took a moment to pick through the mess, knowing if he didn’t, he’d slip on his teetering balance at the worst possible time. Like Vex’s earlier claim, he might be on friendly terms with death, but he had no intentions of making it a permanent partnership.

  The first layer was the easiest to identify. Frustration. Being forced to wait until things lined up so he could go after Cam was chaffing Math’s ass. As a Strix, offense was his preferred approach method, not defence. Worry was next. He hadn’t lied when he told Vex they were fucked when it came to dealing with Trip. Previous, painful experience had carved that hard-earned knowledge bone deep. If there was a way for Trip to profit from multiple parties, he’d be all over it. This situation? Fucking prime pickings for Trip. Between dodging the soldiers sniffing around and the price on his head, Math and Vex would have to watch their backs and their step when they finally copped a face-to-face with this psychopath. There was nothing wrong with risking his neck, just another day in the life. But laying Vex’s out alongside? Fuck that. And not just because the threat of Reaper’s reaction left bile crawling up Math’s throat.