by Sue Brown
“Josh, time to wake up.”
“I’m awake, dipshit,” Josh snapped although he leaned into the warm hand cupping his jaw again. Cal’s hand. He recognized the feel of it from last time. At least now he could open his eyes without a struggle although he had to blink a few times to focus.
Cal smiled. “There you are.”
“You’ve got tiny crinkles around your eyes.” Josh traced them with his fingertips.
“I’m getting old,” Cal said as his smile deepened the lines. He captured Josh’s fingers although he didn’t pull them away. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
Josh thought Cal looked anything but old, but he just said, “You look good.”
“We’re going to drug you again if you’re this nice, Josh,” Gil said. “Do I look good too?”
“You look like a sack of shit,” Josh said, without taking his eyes off Cal, and they laughed at each other, because Gil never looked anything but immaculate.
Cal didn’t take his hands away from Josh as he guided him through reception, pausing briefly to get a new key. Gil rattled off some bullshit reason why Josh had lost his and they all laughed at Josh’s supposed stupidity. Then Cal guided him to the elevators. “You need to shower. You stink.”
The thought of standing under pounding hot water was very tempting but Josh knew there was work to do. “We need to debrief.”
Cal shook his head. “When you don’t smell of shit and rotting fish. We can reconvene at—” he looked at his watch, “—21:00 hours. Okay if we get room service in Josh’s room, Gil?”
Gil wasn’t pleased at being shoved out, which was fair enough as he was part of Josh’s team, not Cal. “We need to talk to Dominic.”
“Let me have a shower then we’ll debrief.” Josh ignored Cal’s huff.
Gil didn’t look mollified but he nodded. “I’ll go find Landry.” Josh could see the annoyance radiating through Gil’s spine as he stalked away
Josh tilted his head to look at Cal. “So what’s going on?”
“They shouldn’t have let you walk around by yourself,” Cal rumbled.
“What?” Josh turned on him. “One, I’m not a mark or a client. They aren’t my bodyguards. Two, I’m more than capable of going for a walk by myself.”
“Someone just tried to murder you.” Cal leaned against the mirrored wall of the elevator as it rattled slowly toward Josh’s floor. Josh wanted to ask him why he was so bothered but then the doors opened and they had to get out. “You’re under protection. CDR’s orders.”
Josh bit back whatever he was going to say, turned on his heel, and stalked ahead to his door. The bastard knew he’d said the one thing he couldn’t argue against. CDR’s word was law.
At his door Josh stopped and raised one eyebrow when Cal was about to follow him in. “I can shower by myself.”
Cal shoved Josh into his room in response and shut the door behind him. “I want to make sure you’re all right first, okay?”
“If you want a fuck you only have to say so.” Josh was aiming for flippant but his traitorous voice deepened and he knew it sounded like fuck me please.
From the way Cal’s eyes darkened he was imagining Josh naked and bent over the sofa, or maybe that was just Josh’s fevered dreaming. But he stabbed a finger in the vague direction of the shower. “Get showered now. You stink.”
Josh sniffed and pulled a face. Cal was right. He smelled worse than a teenage boy’s bedroom, and as much as he wanted to strip off alluringly and take Cal to bed, he really needed to shower. Still, Cal didn’t seem to be going anywhere. He folded his arms and watched Josh, who slipped off Cal’s coat and handed it back with an apologetic smile.
“It’s probably going to have to be cleaned.”
Cal shrugged as if it was no bother, but he didn’t move a muscle. Josh slowly stripped off his suit jacket finding it an effort to coordinate his limbs in the right order. Despite having been under Josh’s coat, the jacket was covered in foul-smelling mud and Josh looked around for a laundry bag or trash can to dump it.
“Here, give it to me,” Cal said impatiently. “And your trousers.”
As Cal looked in the closet for a bag Josh kicked off his shoes then transferred the contents of his pockets to the desk. His attacker had left his wallet and cigarettes, but not his cell phone or room key. Cal bundled the suit into the bag and Josh was left standing in front of him in his shirt, briefs and socks. A man in shirt and dress socks was not a sexy look, although Josh was conscious of Cal’s hot gaze on him.
“Get cleaned up,” Cal said, his voice softer than before.
Josh fumbled with the buttons on his dress shirt; his fingers felt three times their usual size. Cal brushed his hands away and efficiently slipped each button through the holes, undid his cufflinks, then pushed the shirt off his shoulders. The last time someone had treated Josh this gently he was a little kid. Cal stripped him of the rest of his clothing before Josh could argue and gently steered him into the bathroom.
Cal propped him against the tiled wall and started the shower. “Get in. I’ll organize some coffee.”
Josh did as he was told, standing under the pounding hot water and scrubbing away the filth of the Thames foreshore. Who knew that the river even had shores? Even under the hot water Josh couldn’t suppress a shiver at the thought that he could have been feeding the fish at the bottom of the Thames if they hadn’t found him. Did the Thames have fish? Would he have ended up resting next to Jonathan Michaels?
Josh half-expected Cal to still be there when he got out of the shower, so he was glad he’d wrapped a towel around his waist when he walked out of the bathroom to find Gil and Landry in Cal’s place. He couldn’t help the twinge of disappointment. He’d had visions of Cal, him and a loose towel…. Yeah, the shower had made Josh feel much better. Josh knew Cal had just seen him naked, but that was stinky Josh. This was the new, squeaky clean version.
Instead of Cal, he had Rocky and Bullwinkle who weren’t interested in his junk—clean or not. “What are you doing here?”
“CDR’s orders,” Landry said.
“He’s got another think coming if he expects me to work with you two by my side all the time.” Josh saw the implacable look on their faces and knew it was a lost cause. “Oh, forget it. Where’s Cal? Why isn’t he here?”
“Cal’s gone back to their office to report to Jesse.” Gil and Landry exchanged a smirk.
Josh glared at them both. “What the fuck’s going on?”
Gil flopped back onto the bed. “We had our balls chewed by Jesse, Dominic and Cal for letting you go off by yourself. It wasn’t pretty.”
“You did point out I’m an adult, I hope?” Josh said as he dug in the drawers for fresh clothes.
“Yeah, you don’t want to hear Dominic’s response,” Landry said.
Dominic’s opinion of Josh’s mental age was well known. Then he remembered the thing he’d been meaning to discuss with Gil since the first meeting and stabbed a finger at him. “You know who Callum David Ross is, don’t you?”
For one split second Gil looked as if he was going to deny it, then he nodded. “I saw a photo of him years ago before I worked for the agency.”
Landry turned on his twin so quickly Gil bounced and only just stayed on the bed. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
Gil shrugged one shoulder. “I figured there was a reason the man wanted to keep his identity quiet and I don’t gossip.”
“But I’m your fucking brother,” Landry yelled. “You’re supposed to tell me everything ya fuckin’ asshole. We work for him!”
“It was one college photo in an old newspaper and I wasn’t even sure until I saw him again.”
“Guys, guys!” Josh snapped his fingers to get their attention. Landry glared at him but he subsided onto the bed. Josh didn’t envy Gil the talk they were going to have later. Shy or no, Landry made his point, usually with his fists. “Who is he? What does he look like?”
There was that fucking smirk
again as Gil turned to Josh. “You’ve already met him.”
“Tell me or I’m gonna destroy your credit rating for the next twenty years.” It wasn’t an idle threat and Gil knew it. They all remembered the asshole who assaulted one of the CDR girls. She refused to report him because he was the son of a hotshot senator. Josh took their revenge in a far more satisfying and imaginative way and let her press the button.
“Think about it.”
Josh opened his mouth to rip Gil’s balls into threads, then stopped and stared at him. “You’re fucking joking.”
Gil just smirked again, reveling in Josh’s horror too fucking much.
“Who the hell is he?” Landry said impatiently.
“Cal is our boss.” Gil flung the bombshell out there. Cal…Callum…Callum David Ross. Jesus, fucking Christ, Josh had been played.
Landry looked as bewildered as Josh. “But he’s a fucking Brit and part of Jesse’s team.”
Gil shrugged. “He was at Oxford University with Jonathan Michaels. The photograph I saw was from his university days. He was a real looker then.”
He’s a real fucking looker now! But Josh didn’t say it out loud. They didn’t need to know he had a boner for Cal. Jesus, he had a boner for his boss. Cal is my boss? Josh really needed a smoke. He looked for his cigarettes, and frowned. They weren’t with his wallet and a quick search didn’t locate them. “He’s stolen my cigarettes!”
“Who?” Gil asked.
“Cal. CDR. Whatever the fuck you want to call him.”
“But Cal works for Jesse.” Landry ignored Josh’s complaint.
Josh turned on Gil. “I’m gonna fucking kill him. And Dominic. And Jesse. And you, you’re fucking toast!”
Gil tried to look innocent but he failed. “Don’t shoot the messenger. You wanted to know.”
“But why’s he pretending to work for Jesse?” Landry asked.
As they were getting room service Josh picked out comfortable sweats and a long-sleeved T-shirt from his case. He dressed and threw the damp towel toward the bathroom. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed. “Because they’ve got an agenda which has nothing to do with this case. We’ve already discussed that.”
“Do we talk to Dominic about it?” Gil asked. “They—whoever they are—tried to kill you. Who’ve you upset in the UK?”
“No one—yet.” Josh was used to pissing people off. Dirk Brenner wasn’t the only princess crying into his Wheaties, but this time Josh had kept his nose clean. “Whoever it is, Dominic’s involved. We need to look at the two separate cases—Michaels and us.”
“Are you gonna tell Cal—CDR—that you know who he is?”
Josh curled his lip in a sneer. “Not yet. Let them think they’re still playing us. Boys, we’ve got work to do.”
“There goes my date,” Gil sighed.
“I thought you met her earlier,” Josh said.
“I did. That was coffee. This is a play date after her shift.”
“What are you playing with? Wait, I really don’t want to know. Go on your play date. I need time to think. Landry, tell Cal that I’ve gone to bed and don’t want to be disturbed.”
Josh didn’t want him coming over to find out how he was. He needed to think, not deal with issues of Cal and Charlie.
“Don’t they want to debrief you?” Landry asked.
Josh snorted as loudly and offensively as he could manage. “He did that earlier.”
“God, you’re gross.” Gil got to his feet, groaning as he stretched his arms. He dug into the spot where the bullet had torn through him.
“Is your shoulder aching?” Josh asked.
“Like a bitch,” he agreed. “I swear it hurts more now than when I actually got shot.”
“You should’ve kept up with the physio,” Landry groused.
Josh shooed the twins out of his room, shutting the door on the old argument. After ordering dinner, he pulled out another notebook. He had a feeling one of them would be guarding his door all night but, as long as they didn’t disturb him, he was fine with that. He needed peace and quiet. He started making notes in code; altered of course, just in case.
Chapter 8
Friday, 25thNovember
By mutual agreement, which meant Josh gave the orders and they agreed, they told Jesse that Josh needed a day to recover, and they were staying in the hotel for the day. They ignored Jesse’s anxious suggestion that he and his team join them and, for the first time ever, Josh avoided Charlie’s cheerful greeting. He didn’t need the distraction. Something was niggling in the back of his mind about Charlie but he hadn’t got time to focus on it.
Dominic stared at Josh suspiciously when he Skyped him to advise him he was taking a day off. “You never take time off.”
“I’ve never been drugged and laid out as bait for the little fishes either,” Josh snapped. “I have a right to some downtime.”
“You’re in London to find Jonathan Michaels.”
“Leave him alone,” Gil said. “We’re going to work from here. We don’t wanna be disturbed by Jesse and… Cal.”
Dominic huffed and puffed, but eventually he agreed that they could work from the hotel. “Do you need anything?”
“Like what?” Josh asked, suspicious of his motives.
“Equipment?”
Josh shook his head because the last thing they needed was agency-supplied technology. He’d spent the night, sketching out plans and now he needed to talk to his cohorts-in-crime. “We’re fine. The hotel can provide anything I need.”
“What he means is they can provide a constant stream of coffee,” Landry said laconically.
Huffing again, Dominic said, “I swear most of our expenses come from feeding your caffeine habit.”
Sorry, so not sorry. Josh cut the Skype connection and looked at Gil and Landry. “We need to get a white board and markers.”
“I’ll sort that out,” Landry offered.
Gil got to his feet. “I’ll check our rooms for bugs. You order IV coffee.”
Josh had already swept his room but he just nodded as he laid out his notes from the night before. It didn’t hurt to be extra cautious and Gil was better trained than him in detecting listening and audio devices. He ordered coffee to be brought to the room and waited for the others to return. While Josh was alone, he took the opportunity to clear his head and do a quick meditation. Josh called it his zen mode. Gil said he was just more empty-headed than usual.
Ten minutes later everyone was back.
“We’re clean,” Gil said after a careful sweep of the room.
Josh opened his notebook and reviewed his notes. “Let’s get started then. Landry, you scribe on the whiteboard. You’re the only one with decent handwriting.”
Landry whistled as he studied at Josh’s extensive notes. “Did you get any sleep at all, Josh?”
“Some.”
Enough so that he could function as he worked his way through the last few days. He had too many questions and not enough answers. It was time they stopped being led along by their noses and did what they were paid to do—sort shit out.
“Divide the board into three, Landry. Head them up as Michaels, CDR, and us,” Josh said.
Landry did as he was told. The man had beautifully cursive but legible handwriting and ended up making all the team’s notes despite his constant grumbles. Gil and Josh couldn’t write for shit, which helped Josh keep his own notes cryptic. When Landry was finished he looked over to Josh. “Now what?”
“Under Michaels, where is he. Under us, why are we here. Under CDR, write WTF.”
Gil snorted as Landry inscribed. “You have such a way with words.”
Josh started with the top of his list. “Let’s start with Michaels.”
“Is he really missing?” Landry asked.
Gil frowned. “You think this is some elaborate ruse? They sent us all the way over here on some elaborate whim because…?”
“There are cheaper ways of finding out if we’re a problem,” Josh p
ointed out. “Our beloved accountant wouldn’t agree to us traveling halfway across the world just to sort out staffing issues.”
“Ryan wouldn’t agree to me wiping my ass without getting it authorized in triplicate,” Landry grumbled.
“You’re so fucking gross.” Gil lobbed a wad of paper at his brother.
“Boys, calm down.” Josh didn’t have time for their bickering. “Michaels’ wife is upset, and even his boss looks mildly worried. Although he’s a Brit so he might be distraught.”
Gil groaned. “You’re such a fuckin’ comedian.”
“If he’s not missing, why put us through this?” Josh asked.
Landry rubbed his temple. “Because they want another agency to investigate us?”
“There isn’t another agency in Seattle?”
“We know all the agencies, even the supposedly secret ones,” Gil pointed out. “There isn’t anyone you don’t know, Josh.”
That’s true. Josh prided himself on being the nosiest bastard around.
“So hiding an old buddy of CDR’s, stealing millions of pounds, telling his wife and boss he’s a lying, thieving scumbag, is CDR’s way of setting us up?” Landry sounded as incredulous as Josh felt.
“Besides, CDR would’ve brought someone into us, not the other way around,” Gil said.
They were Josh’s conclusions too. At four in the morning when his head was swimming with the need to sleep he decided that, somehow, Jonathan Michaels was tied up in this.
“Then why not use Jesse’s team to find him?” Landry said. “Why did CDR get us involved?”
“What if the connection is CDR, not Michaels?” Josh suggested.
Gil stared at him. “What do you mean?”
Josh hopped off the bed and took the marker out of Landry’s hand. Rubbing out the lines on the board, Josh wrote CDR in the middle. “Everything that’s happened comes back to CDR.” He drew spider lines and added the following.
Jonathan Michaels – friend and partner of CDR
The money going missing – affects the future of CDR’s agency
CDR pretending to be Cal to us