Borderline

by Chase, T. A.

  “What about the police? Obviously the FBI is involved since you are here, but are the rangers part of the investigation?”

  Victor motioned for Perez to come and look at the pictures. As Perez did so, Victor poured himself another drink and sat across from Tanner.

  “It’s a joint task force, and the rangers have the lead on the case.”

  “Then why come to me and risk everything if they find out we’re related?”

  Tanner thought about Mac and how every day, his lover grew more and more frustrated. Mac was losing hope he’d catch his sister’s murderer, and Tanner wanted to help Mac out, even if it meant asking Victor for help.

  “I don’t care about my job. I never really have, but someone I care about lost his sister to the killer and I want to bring him some justice.”

  “Someone you care about, hmmm? Would that be the ranger your superiors paired you with?”

  His cheeks heated, and Tanner ducked his head. Victor never cared who Tanner slept with. He’d told Tanner the one other time they met, which informed Tanner that his older brother kept an eye on him. Tanner had decided several years ago if Victor himself wasn’t gay, he was at least bi. Victor often surrounded himself with beautiful women, but his relationship with Perez ran deep and loving, even when Perez did something Victor didn’t like.

  “Yes.” Tanner saw no reason to lie. More than likely his brother knew everything about Mac already. Victor left nothing to chance and had probably had a background check done on Mac the moment he realized how close Tanner and Mac were getting.

  “Ah good. I’m glad you have someone,” Victor murmured.

  “I talked to Juan six months ago when I informed him Mr. Delarosa no longer required his services.” Perez stood next to Victor’s chair, holding the flash drive out for Tanner to take.

  “Now it would appear disposing of him would have been best for everyone,” Victor commented.

  “Juan killed those women. The J carved in their flesh above the left breast is his trademark.” Perez looked pale under his golden tan.

  As ruthless and cold-blooded as Victor and Perez could be, they didn’t believe in killing innocents. Tanner’s brother garnered enough fear and respect with his personality alone; he had no need to kill women or children.

  Victor Delarosa was the head of one of the biggest drug cartels in the world, as well as being Tanner’s brother. Tanner had come to terms with the situation long ago. In many ways, Victor was the devil incarnate, yet he had his own set of morals.

  “I spotted that.” Tanner stuck the drive in his pocket.

  “Why did you come to see me if you already knew this?” Victor stared at him.

  “I wondered if you might know where he’s hiding. If his pattern holds true, he’ll kill again within the next day or so.” Tanner pushed to his feet and paced. “He doesn’t kill them right away. Juan kidnaps them, plays with them a day or two before killing them and dumping the body. We need to know where he takes them.”

  Victor and Perez shared a long glance between them. Victor nodded and Perez left.

  “Go back home, Pablo. We’ll get you your information.”

  Victor hugged Tanner, and strangely enough, Tanner believed him. He encircled his brother’s waist and hugged him back.

  “Juan getting caught won’t harm you, will it?”

  It would only be a matter of time before the DEA or the federales took his brother down, but he didn’t want it to be because Victor helped him.

  “Don’t worry about me, hermano. You must get Juan off the street, and I’ll help you.” Victor’s smile was sad. “Now go back home and try to forget you have an older brother.”

  After nodding, Tanner left, not looking at any of Victor’s other men. He kept his head down, acting cowed from his meeting with the boss.

  There was a cab waiting for him at the end of the driveway. He told the driver to take him to the downtown library. Tanner didn’t want anyone connecting him with Victor. After climbing out of the cab, he pulled out his phone and called Mac.

  “Guzman.”

  “Mac. How’s your day going?” He smiled at the gruffness of his lover’s voice.

  “I’m better now that I’m hearing from you. Did you do what you needed today?”

  “Yeah. You want to meet me for dinner? I’m downtown by the library.”

  “Sure. I’m ready to quit for the day. I’ll meet you at Jones’s in about thirty minutes.”

  “See you soon.”

  Tanner hung up, stuffed the phone in his pocket, and strolled toward Jones’s. As he walked, he thought.

  Should he say something to Mac about going to Victor and asking him for information about Juan? Would Mac understand the complexity of Tanner’s life?

  No, he’d wait until after Juan was caught and sentenced. He didn’t want to risk everything. He’d always been as honest as possible, but sometimes omitting things was better than spilling everything.

  He went into Jones’s and sat at the bar, waiting for Mac to join him. He sipped his beer and let go of his worries. Victor would get him what he needed, and Mac and the others would take Juan down. He’d done his job.

  A hand brushed his shoulder, and he turned to smile at Mac. He winced slightly at the pull on his split lip.

  “What happened?” Mac growled, his hands clenched tight.

  Tanner knew his lover wanted to touch him, but it was another risk neither of them wanted to take.

  “Don’t worry. Just a slight issue, and it’s my only injury.” He grabbed his beer after tossing some money on the bar to pay for it. “Let’s get our table.”

  Mac stayed silent until they were seated and their orders taken.

  “Is that why you took today off?”

  Tanner shook his head. “No. I had some personal things that couldn’t wait.”

  Mac backed off the questioning, and Tanner couldn’t quite figure out if his lover believed him or chose not to force the issue.

  “Anything new on the case?” He kept his voice low.

  “No.” Mac shoved his hand over his hair, frustration tensing his shoulders. “He’s going to take another victim soon, Tanner.”

  “I know. It’s about that time again.”

  Their food arrived, and they concentrated on eating for a while. Tanner had taken his last bite when both their phones rang. Mac yanked his out and checked the number.

  “It’s the captain.”

  “Go. I’ll take care of the bill. I should only be a few minutes behind you.”

  “Okay.” Mac answered his phone as he rushed out of the restaurant.

  Tanner flagged down their waiter and asked for the bill before dialing his own boss back.

  “Tanner, we need you here ASAP. The perp’s taken another one.”

  “Shit. Yes, sir. I’m downtown right now. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

  He gave the waiter his credit card.

  “Great. I’ll fill you in when you get here.” His boss hung up on him.

  Tanner signed the slip and headed out to flag down a taxi. Hopefully Juan screwed up and the police had got notified of the victim before Juan had a chance to kill her. Please don’t let it be another body, he prayed.

  The task force rooms were hopping as rangers and agents were coming in from wherever they’d gone. Tanner’s boss grabbed him as he walked in. Looking around, Tanner spied Mac talking intensely to his captain.

  “What’s up, Sam?”

  “We got lucky in a way. A guy who lives in our victim’s condo complex spotted a strange man carrying something from the area. He remembered the news reports, so he checked on the single woman who lived next door to him.”

  Sam took a deep breath. Excitement swelled in Tanner.

  “And she wasn’t there?”

  Sam shook his head. “No. Seems our victim gave our witness a key, so he could feed her cat when she was gone. I guess when she didn’t answer, he went in and found total chaos.”

  “Did we get prints or anythin
g?”

  “The techs are still going over the scene. Did you discover anything new after taking a closer look at the crime scene photos?”

  “Yeah. Can we gather everyone? I really don’t want to tell it more than once.”

  “Sure.”

  Tanner gathered his files, complete with photographs, before heading into the room. He nodded at Mac as he made his way to the front of the room.

  “Everyone, take your seats. We’re going to have a quick meeting.” Captain Billingsley motioned for the others to sit.

  “As you’ve probably heard, our killer has taken another victim, but this time we have a witness and we have a chance of getting her back alive.” Sam grabbed Tanner’s arm and yanked him in front of the room. “Agent Wallace has some new information on our killer.”

  Tanner barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes. “I don’t know if it means anything, but if you look at photo number six of the crime scene for each victim.”

  He pulled out the important photo from each grouping and pinned them to the board behind him. He’d already circled the relevant section of the victim’s body.

  “On each victim, carved above her left breast, is a J. It’s hidden underneath the swirls and designs he etches over them. I finally figured it out last night, and I did some digging in the National Crime Database. It seems there are several unsolved crimes throughout the Southwest that have the same J carved on the victim’s body.”

  A phone rang, and Mac frowned as he pulled his phone out. After checking the number, Mac silenced the ringer.

  “Sorry.”

  Tanner waved off the apology.

  “The difference between those murders and ours is most of the local LEOs believe their murders are drug related.”

  “But we know our victims weren’t involved with any sort of drug business.”

  He wasn’t surprised Mac spoke up. He met his lover’s gaze, tilted his head in acknowledgment.

  “I know that, and I’m not saying they are. I don’t think drugs are the connection. I think the man doing the killing is.”

  A knock sounded, and one of the homicide detectives not on the task force peered in.

  “Guzman, there’s a call for you. Said he had a hot tip but won’t talk to anyone except you.”

  Mac glanced at the captain, who nodded. Tanner watched Mac leave while continuing to talk.

  “I believe our perp works for one of the drug cartels. He enjoys killing so much he’s branching out from sanctioned killings to murder for fun.”

  “Hey, boss,” one of the rangers spoke up. “The narcotic unit’s been hearing rumors that Delarosa might have cut one of his enforcers loose.”

  Billingsley’s narrow-eyed gaze raked the man who spoke. “Do you know which enforcer?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then find out. Even if he’s not part of this case, if we find him, we might get him to roll over on Delarosa.”

  Tanner stepped into the background. He’d done his job and planted the seed. The task force was intelligent enough to figure the rest out. Mac came racing back in.

  “One of my informants just let me know about some weird shit happening at a warehouse on Simon Street. Something about a guy coming and going at strange times. Screaming heard a couple of times.”

  All the men leapt to their feet, yelling as they checked their side arms.

  “Wait.” Billingsley’s shout froze them. The older man looked at Mac. “How reliable is this informant?”

  “He’s never given me bad intel, sir. He never comes to me unless what he knows is really fucking important.”

  Billingsley nodded. “Good. We need blueprints of the warehouse. As much as I’d love to ride in there like the fucking Lone Ranger, we need to be smart about it. Our victim could still be alive. I don’t want to risk our killer getting wind of this.”

  Everyone went into planning mode, and Tanner stayed out of their way. He was a trained agent and could help if they needed him, but he hadn’t done a lot of fieldwork in the last year or so.

  His phone beeped, and he unclipped it from his belt to see he’d got a text. Moving to the corner, he flipped open his phone and read “Done.”

  Victor had come through for him. Using Mac’s own informant was a stroke of genius. Nothing to connect him or his brother to the case.

  When all the warrants were signed and units equipped, Tanner wandered over to Mac. His lover was strapping on a vest and covering it with a black Windbreaker that read ‘Ranger’ on the back.

  “Take care of yourself,” he said under his breath, wishing he could hug Mac but knowing it wasn’t smart to do it in the middle of police headquarters.

  “I’ll be as careful as I can.” Mac glanced around before moving a little closer to Tanner. “Are you headed to your place?”

  “I have a couple of reports to write up, but then I’ll head home. I don’t really need to be involved in this part of the show.”

  “Maybe I’ll stop by if I get out before you come in tomorrow.” Mac reached out and squeezed Tanner’s shoulder.

  Tanner nodded, surprisingly touched by Mac’s display of affection. “Call me after this goes down, so I know.”

  You’re safe went unsaid.

  “I will.”

  “Good luck.” He held out his hand.

  Mac shook it and palmed the key Tanner gave him. “Thanks. I’ll call you later.”

  “Come on, Guzman. It’s your informant.”

  Billingsley and Sam stood in the hallway, waiting for Mac. Sam met Tanner’s gaze and nodded. Somehow his boss and friend had guessed Tanner’s feelings for Mac.

  “I’ll watch his back,” Sam murmured before following the others out.

  “Thanks.”

  Sighing, Tanner strolled to his desk. It would be several hours before he heard anything, and he really did have reports to write.

  * * * *

  Mac dragged his unresisting prisoner into an interrogation room. He cuffed the large man to the chair before walking back out into the hallway to greet his captain.

  Billingsley slapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Mac. This is going to look great in your jacket.”

  “Thanks, sir. I need to tell you something before I go in and question him.”

  “Sure. Make it quick though. His lawyer’s going to be here any minute now.”

  Mac nodded. “Right. I wanted to let you know.”

  “I’ll take it from here, Guzman.” Sorensterm grinned at Mac as he strolled up to him.

  “Why would you question the suspect? You’re not lead on this case.” Billingsley frowned.

  Mac knew what Sorensterm expected him to do, but Mac wasn’t about to be blackmailed into giving up the biggest collar of his career.

  “Oh, Guzman and I talked. We have an understanding.”

  “Sorry, Sorensterm. I don’t remember agreeing to your blackmail attempt.” Mac nodded to the captain. “I’ll start trying to get a confession from him.”

  Sorensterm grabbed Mac’s arm. “I’ll tell him.”

  Mac jerked away from the man. “Go ahead, Sorensterm. You’re the one who’ll look like a bigoted bastard, not me.”

  He walked away, no longer worried what others thought of him. The only important person was Tanner, and the man cared for him, whether Mac told everyone or stayed in the closet for the rest of his life.

  * * * *

  Noises in the living room woke Tanner up. He slipped his hand under his pillow, gripping his handgun tightly. He climbed out of bed and froze in the doorway when he heard someone yell.

  “Shit! Damn table.”

  Chuckling, he flicked the safety back on and left the pistol on his dresser. He tugged on a pair of sweats before heading down the hallway.

  “You really should have called to let me know you were coming over,” he spoke as he leaned against the wall. “I would have left a light on for you.”

  Mac jumped and whirled, hand reaching for his own gun before he processed it was Tanner
speaking. His shoulders slumped as he dropped his hand.

  “Fuck, Tanner, give me a little warning.” Mac slipped out of his jacket and tossed it over the back of the recliner. He scrubbed his hands over his face.

  Tanner saw the exhaustion in every line of Mac’s body. He held out his hand.

  “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

  Mac approached, took his hand, and pulled him into a tight embrace. Tanner encircled his lover’s waist, allowing Mac to lean on him.

  “We got him, Tanner.”

  “The woman?” He didn’t know how he’d react if they got there too late.

  “She was cut up some, but she’ll live. Be years before she recovers mentally, I’m sure.”

  “She’ll never get over it all. Probably always be afraid of the dark.”

  Mac nodded and squeezed him close for a minute before stepping back with a yawn. “I need to get a couple of hours sleep before heading back in.”

  Tanner stopped in the hallway and gestured to his room.

  “Go and strip while I get the shower going for you.”

  “Damn. I should have gone home. I don’t have any clothes to change into.” Mac stared down at his wrinkled shirt.

  “Don’t worry. You can wear some of mine.” Tanner gave him a gentle shove. “Now go.”

  “Okay.”

  No argument told Tanner just how tired Mac was.

  “Good thing I got new underwear last week,” Tanner mumbled as he turned the water on and let it warm up.

  He hadn’t opened the package, so Mac wouldn’t be completely freaked out.

  “You were right.” Mac walked in, naked, and Tanner clenched his hands to keep from grabbing the man.

  “Right about what?”

  At that second, Tanner wasn’t focusing on anything other than how his lover’s skin glowed under the bathroom light.

  “When we dragged the perp in, some of the narcotic guys and DEA agents were there. Our guy’s name is Juan Mencia. Used to work for the Delarosa cartel.”

  Mac stepped into the shower and moaned softly as the hot water hit him.

  Tanner set out clean towels. “Used to?”

  “Yeah. DEA said word’s been spreading Victor Delarosa cut him loose about five or six months ago. No one’s sure why. The dealers said the word came down from the big man himself that Mencia was persona non grata in any sphere of influence the kingpin controlled.”