Private Dicks

by Samantha M. Derr

  Sebastian laughed. "Such foul language. I think I like you better like this." Oz tried to squirm away and Sebastian tightened his grip until Oz settled down. "When your mind disengages for a bit."

  Oz struggled to find a witty response to that, but he could not focus. He felt so angry and Sebastian was being very presumptuous. "What do you want with Quinn, then?"

  "I would like to work out a compromise of sorts."

  Oz's eyes narrowed suspiciously and he turned his head to look at Sebastian. "What sort of compromise?"

  "Between the three of us, I am confident that we can come to some agreement."

  Between the three of them? Oz's eyes widened in horror. He had heard of such things, but never in practice. There was no way—he might have given up his vows, but he would be damned if he gave up propriety, too. Then his mind betrayed him by providing an image of Sebastian's pale hand running down Quinn's tanned skin, drawing those same soft whimpers to which Oz had grown accustomed. They never stayed soft for long, though, and Oz had often been forced to muffle Quinn's moans with his hand. But with Sebastian there, perhaps there were other, more pleasurable ways to muffle Quinn's noises. Inadvertently, Oz's eyes shifted downward, his cheeks warming.

  Oz managed to come to his senses before he made a complete fool of himself. His eyes shot back up to Sebastian's face and Sebastian smirked as if he knew the track Oz's thoughts had taken. "I don't think that would be appropriate." The words came out breathy. Oz cleared his throat. "And I am sure that Quinn would agree as well." If you don't think it would be appropriate, he asked himself, then why are you not moving away? Oz did not have an answer for that, other than the fact that Sebastian had loosened his grip, his fingers dancing along Oz's arm and making him shiver.

  This was a bad position in which to be.

  Sebastian's smile came slowly. "That is why I approached you first. I thought that perhaps you and I together would be able to convince him."

  "What makes you think I would go along with your plan? I don't even like you." He could not even convince himself of those words, not when his mind had begun shooting in a million different directions since Sebastian's suggestion.

  "Ah, but you are a smart man. Once you understand the advantages." Sebastian knew he had him and Oz wanted to curse as Sebastian drew him in.

  As it was, all he could manage was, "I do not think Quinn will approve of us kissing."

  "It will be all right. I've kissed him as well."

  "Oh," Oz responded stupidly. "Then that's all right." He closed the distance between their lips and kissed Sebastian. The kiss started hard and searching, and Oz pulled back enough to turn around until he was in Sebastian's lap. The rough and ready meeting of lips had him hard enough, but when Sebastian softened until their kisses were leisurely slow and sweet, Oz was completely undone.

  He protested with a whimper when Sebastian pulled back. "Kissing you is quite a bit different than kissing Quinn." He kissed Oz again before Oz could respond, soft butterfly kisses that drove him nearly insane. When he pulled back this time, Oz sat back and tried to calm his body. He was not thinking straight; he was unable to this close to Sebastian. When he finally looked, Sebastian was smirking again. "So have I convinced you, yet?"

  What Oz meant to say was, "There is no way I could be convinced," yet somehow what came out of his mouth was, "I think I will need more convincing."

  Sebastian was all too happy to convince him.

  So, no, Oz thought to himself a few months later, his life was definitely not going the way he thought it might. He had the lover with whom he had not thought he had a chance curled up in his arms and the lover he had not thought he would ever want on the other side, arm stretched out so he could keep both of them close. They lived in the home he never imagined he would have, a guest house located on Lady Covington's estate that had fallen into disrepair, which Quinn had decided to fix up. All of these things, Oz had not seen in his future. But there was one thing Oz could say honestly:

  He was happy.

  CASE 08: Too Dangerous

  INVESTIGATOR: Sasha L. Miller

  Shi typed in the ten-digit passcode to unlock the door quickly, glancing down the street while the door buzzed quietly as it unlocked. A passcode lock was rudimentary for this day and age, but Shi had had too many print scanners broken by punk kids to invest in higher security. Anything he needed really secure he either took home or left in the vault.

  It wasn't the right time of morning for a car to be hovering down the street. The prostitutes were all gone for the night, back to wherever they spent the daylight hours. The line of shops on the street—including Shi's—didn't open for another two hours. The car was also far too sleek for this part of town. It was black, polished to a shine, and showed none of the dents and scratches travelling in the hoverstreams typically produced.

  Shi let himself into the office, shutting the door and flipping the lock back on. A car that nice was either never driven in the hoverstreams or had some sort of shielding. The former required tires, which had been conspicuously missing from the hovering car. The latter required a lot of money or for the car to be military-owned. Shi could guess which.

  The lights in the foyer had turned on when he'd opened the door, displaying the secretary's desk and the various uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. The electronic display on the left wall was off, not displaying the obnoxious loop of news that it usually broadcast across the foyer. The plants were real fakes instead of holo-projections, and they showed it in the bright florescent light.

  Shi headed past the secretary's desk, into the hallway behind it. There were four offices in this building. Shi and two others were private detectives, and the last office was occupied by a sleazy divorce lawyer. There had been more than one client who had gone from Shi's office to the lawyer's office after learning their spouse was cheating on them.

  Shi's office was in the back, with a view overlooking the river. It was the best view in the building, which wasn't saying much considering the river was gray on the best of days and black on the rest. He'd been at the office the longest—almost five years now—which was why he'd managed to finagle his way into the best office. The door was shut firmly, like it had been when he'd left. There was a telltale glow of light coming through the window in the door, however.

  It was nearly impossible to turn off the lights when a person was in a room. The office had the glitchiest wiring Shi had ever encountered, but it was useful on occasion. Unbuttoning his jacket, Shi unhooked the strap holding his stun gun in place. Approaching the door cautiously, Shi paused outside the door and pressed his hand to the print scanner there. It chirped cheerfully and the lock mechanism in the door thunked loudly as it unlocked. Placing one hand on the butt of his gun, Shi opened the door.

  A man sat in the chair opposite his desk. It was as comfortable as the chairs in the waiting room, but the man didn't show any discomfort sitting there. There was a real, physical file folder resting in his lap, thin enough it could only hold a few sheets of paper. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a casual shirt, his jacket draped over the back of the chair like he'd been there a while.

  He was military. It was in the way he sat, his back rigid and tense, as though he was waiting for the order to relax. His hair wasn't quite standard military; it was cut short, but had grown out a bit. If Shi didn't know any better—and hadn't had the hint of the car out front—the man might almost pass for a civilian. That was obviously the intention.

  Relaxing slightly, Shi stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him. He stripped off his jacket, not bothering to relatch the strap over his stun gun, and hung the jacket on one of the hooks beside the door. Ignoring his visitor for the moment, Shi crossed the room, his boots muffled by the thin synthetic carpet covering the floor.

  The office was bland and beige. The walls were pale and undecorated; the only thing that hung on them was the federal and state licenses Shi had, and he'd only put those up because the law required it.
He had a rudimentary filing cabinet in one of the corners behind his desk, secured only by a thumbprint scanner. The secretaries had access to that one.

  The desk was the most expensive thing in the room. Shi had commissioned it after receiving payment for earning his special license to work within the military. It was huge, and he knew most people thought he'd gone for the size to prove how important he was. They were idiots; if he could have gotten a TXL-49 vault installed in a smaller desk, he would have.

  The vault was where he stored the most confidential cases. He'd gone after the highest level of security clearance when he'd trained to receive his military special license; it had paid the most and seemed like it would be exciting. Shi wished he could go back and shake his younger self out of that notion. If he hadn't gone for the grade N7 license, he'd never have met Elis.

  "What can I help you with?" Shi asked, removing his stun gun from its holster and setting it on top of the desk. The man's eyes followed the gun, and Shi rolled his eyes, thumbing the catch that opened the hidden keypad on the front of the desk. Punching in the unlock code, Shi opened the top drawer on his desk and moved the gun into it. He shut the drawer, then sat down in his chair. "I'm assuming you didn't break into my office just for fun."

  "No," the man said. He reached into his jacked and pulled out a small data reader, which he held up and scanned Shi's face with. Shi held still, letting the reader gauge his facial features and compare to the record on file. He'd gone in a month back to update their files, so he doubted there would be any issue. The man lowered his data reader, then pulled out a small black box and tossed it to Shi.

  Shi caught it in one hand, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Whatever the man was here about, it was high security. Shi had only had to do a DNA confirmation for a case once before. Flipping the box open, Shi laid his thumb across the sleek glass platform, wincing when the collection needle stuck his thumb. The box chirped a second later, and Shi removed his thumb and snapped the box closed.

  "You need to clear your schedule for the next six months," the man said, standing to retrieve the box. He tucked it into a pocket. "This is a mandatory assignment."

  "My license specifically states I don't have to take mandatory assignments," Shi said flatly, not liking the man's tone.

  "It's an N7 level case. You're the only licensed investigator we have available to take the case," the man said, his eyes narrowing. He hadn't sat back down, but loomed over Shi's desk. He was stockier than Shi; his muscles were obvious under the shirt he wore. He wasn't armed, but Shi's stun gun was locked in his desk, so it would still be a fight between them if it came to that. Depending on how quickly the man could move, Shi would probably lose.

  "Only investigator available doesn't preclude the clause in my contract," Shi said, glad his mother had insisted he require that clause. "Tell me the case, and I'll decide whether I'll take it."

  The man paused, looking as though he was listening to something, so he was probably being monitored and given instructions from the car outside. "I can't tell you much unless you accept it."

  "Balls," Shi said, snorting. "I have level N7 clearance. That means you can tell me anything and expect that it won't leave this room."

  "It's a need to know operation," the man said stiffly. He paused, then nodded, and Shi rolled his eyes again. Why were they sending an amateur to him who couldn't even fake not being connected to his superior? "Are you familiar with Team Bakala?"

  "Special ops, undercover unit," Shi said. "Members are completely secret, even to top level security."

  "Precisely," the man said sourly, and Shi connected the dots.

  "This has something to do with one of them," Shi said, curiosity piqued. What did they need an investigator for that had to do with a special ops undercover unit?

  "Do you know who Baron Volkov is?"

  "Owner of the largest drug smuggling operation in this galaxy," Shi said. So there had been an operation for Team Bakala that had to do with Baron Volkov… but that still didn't explain why they need him.

  "He's been killing off members of Team Bakala, one by one," the man said, grimacing. "While they're off-duty."

  "You have a security leak," Shi said, and there it was. They needed him to find the security leak. It would be dangerous, no doubt. Messing with Baron Volkov was a death sentence. Perhaps that was why they'd chosen him as well? Shi had no family left, not after his mother had passed away last year. He had no lover, either, not after Elis, and Shi didn't particularly care if Volkov went after his ex.

  "The security leak has been dealt with," the man said grimly. "But Volkov still has one of the members of Team Bakala."

  "Not dead?" Shi asked, shuffling what he knew. If he wasn't to be searching out a security leak, then he was probably being sent after the missing operative.

  "He's trying to barter the man's life for certain freedoms we do not want to give him," the man said, then paused again. "You don't need to know what they are."

  "Right," Shi said, sitting back and contemplating. "Why not let the operative twist in the wind? He's special ops, sure, but easier to train a new operative than mount some sort of rescue."

  "This operative…" the man paused, scowling. "… has friends in high places, who do not want to see him dead."

  "Then why is he on Team Bakala?" Shi asked, rolling his eyes. The military was a bunch of idiots, but he knew that already. He really should have let his license lapse, Shi thought. If he hadn't renewed it last month, he'd be clear to tell them to all fuck off.

  "We were unaware of the connection," the man said tersely. "Will you take the job?"

  "What is the job?" Shi asked, because it had never actually been spelled out for him, and he wasn't stupid enough to agree to something without knowing exactly what he was getting into.

  "We know where Volkov is keeping him, but Volkov knows all of our operatives." The man stared at him and sneered, obviously unimpressed by what he saw. "The security leak gave him everything."

  "You want me to run an op?" Shi demanded, his voice rising. "I'm a detective, not special ops. I don't have any training for that sort of thing—"

  The door opened, and Shi glared at the intruder. More military, this time a woman, and Shi glared harder as the man in his office hastily stood and saluted. Higher ranking, then, and how much of an amateur was the man that he saluted when he was trying to pass as civilian? Never mind that only Shi and his boss were in the office, it was still amateur.

  "Go wait in the car, Norris," the woman snapped. Norris hesitated, but then nodded and departed quickly. The woman stepped into the room. She was dressed more smartly than Norris, with pressed gray slacks and a ruffled blouse under a pale colored cardigan. She held a sleek black handbag in one hand. Shi approved; she could easily pass as a businesswoman, despite her short hair.

  "You're in charge, then?" Shi asked, sitting back in his chair. She shut the door, crossing over to the seat Norris had so recently vacated.

  "For the moment," she said dryly, taking a seat. "You can call me Allie."

  "Not your real name," Shi said, brushing the fact aside because it didn't matter. "What's this idiotic idea about sending me on an op?"

  "You're the last resort," Allie said, shrugging casually. "You can say no, of course, but then the Team Bakala operative will be killed. Personally, I think that's what should happen. He's the last of the team, but we can train others who are not known to Volkov."

  "Why am I sensing a 'but' there?" Shi asked, wishing he'd found burglars instead of military when he'd arrived that morning.

  "You were chosen for another reason," Allie said, and Shi did not like the sound of that. "Team Bakala's members were kept absolutely secret. Only a handful of people knew who they were, and they were erased, in as far as that's possible, which means only a handful of people know what each operative looks like."

  "You're saying I know this person," Shi said, his blood running cold. It couldn't be… but Shi didn't really know anyone else from the milita
ry, and it would explain a few things that Elis had kept from him.

  "I'd show you a photo, but we don't even have that," Allie said, spreading her hands in a 'what can you do' gesture. "You're one of the few people who would recognize Elis Carrington on sight."

  Shi groaned, running a hand through his hair. "What else?"

  "We know where he is," Allie said, as though she hadn't just slapped Shi in the face with the knowledge that his ex-lover's life depended on him taking this job. "He's on one of Volkov's ships."

  "The flagship," Shi said, because that was where Volkov would be, and Volkov, from what Shi knew of him, would keep a high profile hostage with him at all times. Allie looked started for a moment, but recovered smoothly, nodding.

  "There are openings on the ship, but they'll be suspicious of you," Allie began, but Shi waved her off.

  "I can get myself on the ship, but what then?" Shi asked. He had a few aliases that would work, depending on the positions they needed.

  "Find Elis," Allie said, flipping open her handbag and removing a small box. Standing, she walked over to Shi's desk and set it down in front of him. "If he's alive, activate this when you're a day or two out from an inhabited planet. We'll come get you."

  "If he's not?" Shi asked, because that was the more likely of the two.

  "Get off wherever and let us know," Allie said. "Don't activate that. It will bring a rescue squad from the nearest planet, and you'll be liable for costs if you press it and don't need rescuing."

  "Why not inspect the ship when it lands?" Shi asked, because even Volkov's flagship wasn't special. It would have to stop for fuel and supplies at some point.