The Exit Strategy Bundle

by Jocelynn Drake

  “Open up your suitcase.” Justin tapped on the machine. “I’m getting something, but it’s faint.”

  Gabriel’s stomach clenched at the idea that someone had slipped a tracking device on him and he hadn’t even seen it. Of course, he’d made the mistake of not even looking for it in the first place. He’d been searching for all of his possessions while at the same time trying to find a clue as to who broke into his room. There hadn’t been a thought to a tracking device. He’d underestimated this fucker. Clenching his teeth, he swallowed back a curse. Just a rookie mistake. If he’d made that mistake when he’d been starting out, he would have been dead long ago. He knew better. It couldn’t possibly instill Justin with a sense of confidence to know that his partner was making such obvious blunders.

  Opening the bag, he started pulling out clothes, stacking them in an untidy pile in the trunk after running them in front of Justin’s little reader. After the clothes, he moved to his shoes and then a handful of weapons before grabbing his shaving kit.

  “Jackpot!” Justin crowed.

  Gabriel froze with the bag in both hands, holding gingerly as if he’d suddenly discovered that he was holding a bomb. Not that he’d been careful with it earlier. Before, he’d found it opened and dropped on the floor of the bathroom, and he’d simply scooped it up and zipped it shut again.

  Putting down the reader, Justin took the bag from Gabriel and started to slowly pull out each item, inspecting it closely before dropping it on the clothes. When the bag was empty, he carefully ran his fingers along the interior. Gabriel was about to suggest that they simply burn the bag when Justin’s lips parted in a huge grin. Digging into one of the interior pockets, he pulled out what looked to be a piece of black tape with a tiny wire sticking out of it. Justin dropped the bag into the trunk and held the tiny device up to the light.

  “Simple. Elegant,” Justin said a bit breathlessly.

  “Is it recording us?”

  “Nope. It’s just a location beacon. A radio frequency tracking device. Lots of companies will put them on important cargo to keep a close eye on its exact location at all times. And it’s small enough to avoid the notice of most thieves if they don’t know what they’re looking for.”

  “Can we trace the signal back to the person following us?”

  Justin’s smile dimmed. “Nah. Doesn’t work like that. It just sends out a signal saying, ‘Here I am!’ and if you know the code for the signal, you can find it.” With a shake of his head, Justin pulled out the little wire and destroyed the tiny chip. “These are cheap and easy to get your hands on in bulk. I’ve used them a few times.”

  Dropping the trash on the ground, Justin picked up the reader again and checked over the clothes and bag a second time, but there was no sign of a second signal.

  “Your clothes are clean. Well, they’re clean in a matter—”

  “Enough,” Gabriel snapped. He grabbed a handful of his garments and started shoving them back in the bag. His hand was throbbing, his stomach was growling, and he was tired. If they’d shaken their tail for the time being, he would be happy if Justin dropped him at some little motel so he could catch a few hours of sleep. He was seriously off his game.

  “Now…about your computer.”

  Gabriel groaned. He’d known this was coming. “Are you getting a signal from that bag too?”

  “No, not that.” He’d returned the little handheld device to the bag in his car. Justin started to reach up and scratch his head with his left hand, but suddenly stopped, wincing. The wound in his side had likely pulled. He couldn’t imagine how the man had forgotten about it.

  “Then what?”

  “He wouldn’t have to put a device on it if he managed to log into your computer.”

  “My computer is encrypted. A twenty-six-character password is required along with a bio log-in.”

  “Oooo…snazzy,” Justin teased. Gabriel just rolled his eyes at the man.

  “If that is not sufficient for you, then you may destroy the laptop.”

  Justin’s mouth fell open in horror. It was as if he’d suggested setting fire to a pile of kittens.

  “Access to the laptop and its hard drive is encrypted, but I save nothing on the computer. All my files are saved on an encrypted server.”

  A low snort left Justin. “Yeah, you and all those naked celebrity photos.”

  “I think I’m a little better protected than celebrities who have taken naked photos on their phones and then don’t expect those to get out.”

  “Yeah, I feel like that’s one of those basic laws of science. Law of gravity. Law of thermodynamics. Law of nudie photos. You take that shit and it will get on the internet. Guaranteed,” Justin said, drawing out the last word with a fake southern accent.

  “So, what do you want to do?”

  Justin stared at the computer bag and scratched his chin. “You’re one-hundred-percent-sure that’s your computer.”

  “Yes. That I checked. It’s mine, down to the scratch on the front left corner.”

  With a nod, he motioned for Gabriel to step back and then closed the trunk, leaving the laptop in place. “This looks like it was a quick job. This asshole probably wanted us in one place and to know where we were hiding. He wouldn’t have had time to try to hack a computer.”

  Gabriel walked around to the passenger door but stopped before opening it. “Then he’s getting what he wants. You should drop me off at a motel. We should stay separated.”

  “He’s getting part of what he wants. We’re together, but he can’t track us.”

  “But—”

  “G, we’re safer together. We’ve both been injured already.” Gabriel just stared at Justin over the roof, lifting one eyebrow at him until Justin finally groaned. “Yes, yours is self-inflicted. We’re injured, and your room was compromised. We’re obviously up against more than we were anticipating. We’re better off watching each other’s backs from one location.”

  Gabriel glared at his companion for a couple of seconds before he heaved a dramatic sigh, and only because he knew it would irritate Justin. “You may…have a point.”

  “There you go!” Justin laughed and then extended his right fist across the roof. “Come on, G Love. Don’t leave me hanging.”

  “If I had known you’d be this big of a pain in the ass, I would have told Marilyn to choke on her offer.” But he still found himself reaching across the roof and lightly bumping his uninjured fist against Justin’s.

  Justin laughed and dropped into the car, apparently ready at last to take Gabriel to his home. Gabriel didn’t blame Justin for his precaution. If their roles were reversed, Gabriel wasn’t sure that he’d be taking the same risk Justin was willing to take. Which only made him wonder what was running through the other man’s head that he was willing to welcome a known contract killer into his private sanctuary.

  Sighing softly, Gabriel laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. He was too tired to worry about it. And maybe, he just didn’t care anymore.

  Chapter Eight

  Justin tried not to check the cameras again to watch Gabriel as he worked in the kitchen, but damn…how could he not? There was a part of his brain claiming it was to make sure the man didn’t put anything in the food he was cooking that wasn’t supposed to be there, but there was another little voice that was cackling like mad and calling him a liar. And he was a liar.

  Gabriel was wearing a pair of form-fitting jeans and no fucking shirt. The hidden camera in the kitchen was picking up so much lean, hard muscle that he was sitting in his basement office with a throbbing hard-on and probably a puddle of drool on the floor. The camera was generally aimed at his back while he worked, which was surprisingly devoid of any tattoos, but he could easily make out many scars stretching across his shoulders and down his back. There were a few places that looked like bullet wounds, but others looked as if the man had been whipped. Justin didn’t know whether it was a lifestyle thing or a hazard of the job…which could also be
a lifestyle thing. Ugh.

  Then, of course, Gabriel would turn around, giving Justin a clear view of impressive pecs, a flat stomach with killer abs, and the most enticing treasure trail leading from his belly button down into his pants. Oh yeah, he definitely wanted to follow along that trail to see what kind of goodies he’d find. Not that it was a good idea at all. No, sleeping with a co-worker was always a stupid, horrible idea. Unless you were doing it for information.

  But he wasn’t doing that with Gabriel. They had called a truce and he was sticking by it…as long as he was sure that Gabriel was sticking to it.

  Groaning, Justin rubbed his face and flopped back in his seat. When he dropped his hand, his eyes went straight back to the monitor and Gabriel. The man was massaging seasoning into a pair of steaks. He had great hands. Justin shifted in his chair, pressing the heel of his palm into his straining dick while cursing himself and Gabriel. He couldn’t decide if the man was purposefully torturing him or if this was all in his head.

  Their first night together in his house had gone fairly well. Upon arriving at his house, he showed Gabriel around, including some of his hiding spots for weapons, should they find themselves under siege. But not all the hiding spots. And not his favorites. He didn’t trust the man enough to show him his favorites. Justin managed to talk the guy into a bowl of cereal and a mild painkiller before he collapsed into bed. Soft snoring drifted from the room less than ten minutes later.

  It took Justin far longer to fall asleep. It had been years since he’d tried to sleep with someone in his house. He’d tried dating once a few years back. Chris had been sweet and funny. They’d been seeing each other for nearly two months before Justin let him sleep over. It hadn’t gone well. Justin had barely closed his eyes all night, his body twitching every time Chris moved in his sleep. They gave up on the dating thing less than a week later. It was more than obvious that as long as Justin was in this business, dating and steady lovers were not a part of his life.

  But somehow, he’d managed to sleep with Gabriel just a couple doors down the hall from him. Justin was willing to chalk it up to exhaustion and the fact that his body was still recovering from Gabriel’s little game of Operation. But it wasn’t so much the sleeping part that disturbed him. It was that Gabriel was sitting up with a mug of coffee at five-thirty the next morning. Justin hadn’t stirred when the man moved through his house. That fucking sucked. How quiet was this asshole?

  They talked a little over coffee, toast, and more cereal. Justin made it clear that he was going to spend the day working on cracking the doctor’s hard drive as well as building out some hacks for Iaso. Gabriel offered to dig around and see if he could spot some easy target for Justin within Iaso as well as search through the news stories related to Iaso’s new drug and the death of two of its doctors. Justin happily agreed. It would keep Gabriel out of his hair and out of trouble.

  Over a lunch of …ugh…PB & J sandwiches, which earned him a few wordless but skeptical looks from Gabriel, Justin admitted that he needed to run to the grocery store. He hadn’t bothered to stock the pantry for guests because—surprise, surprise—he didn’t have guests. But he knew that he couldn’t keep feeding Gabriel peanut butter, toast, and cereal. They took a break from work to make a run to the grocery store, giving Gabriel a quick tour of Justin’s little town of Independence. The merc didn’t ask any questions, but Justin knew the man’s mind was soaking in all the details. He tried not to calculate how dangerous it was that Gabriel knew exactly how to find him. It wasn’t often Justin found himself with a price on his head, but he was making himself a damn easy target for Gabriel if it did come up.

  On returning to the house, they separated, getting back to the work they’d been at all day. It was only in the past thirty minutes he’d found himself utterly distracted by Gabriel. He had taken a shower—which Justin did not spy on—and then started making a dinner of steaks, baked potatoes, asparagus, and rolls. Of course, Gabriel had to make dinner shirtless. Not that Justin hadn’t cooked half-naked plenty of times when he was alone in the house.

  Gabriel suddenly turned, his hands resting lightly on his waist. There was a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth, and Justin suddenly had the worst urge to lick that mouth. Just lick his way straight inside until Gabriel was moaning his name.

  “I’m putting the steaks on your grill. If you want yours rare, I’d say you’ve got about five minutes to get your ass up here,” Gabriel said, looking straight at his damn hidden camera. Motherfucker.

  Justin lifted both hands and flipped off the other man, though he couldn’t see him. He’d been sure the camera was perfectly blended into the clock at the top of that wall. How the hell did he know it was there? He didn’t doubt that Gabriel knew he had cameras hidden around the house, but how did he guess the exact location?

  Fuck. He had to know, or it would drive him insane.

  Cursing Gabriel under his breath, Justin quickly locked his computer and then trudged up the stairs to the main floor of the house. From the exterior, the house looked like your average middle America two-story house with big windows and a brick front. But Justin had spent the better part of a year building in false walls, little escape hatches, and even a hidden room. The basement, though, was his sanctuary. It was reinforced like a goddamn fallout shelter. It housed all of his computers, servers, and coolest toys. No one could enter but him.

  The kitchen was empty when he walked through. He paused long enough to grab two beers, but just barely stopped himself from pulling the top off both. Most people would see it as a polite gesture, but he knew the missing top would drive Gabriel insane with wonder and doubt. No, he wanted Gabriel relaxed in his house. After a long day of work, it was time to play.

  Gabriel stood in front of the grill with two large, thick steaks sizzling over the fire. A pair of foil-wrapped potatoes were being kept warm on an upper shelf. Justin held out one of the beers and gave a loud groan as his eyes caught on the black tank top that stretched across his chest and left his beautiful biceps bare.

  “Really? Now you put a shirt on? Why bother?”

  Gabriel’s smile was wolfish, but his words held a mocking innocence when he motioned to his chest and simply said, “Grease.”

  Justin was willing to bet his left nut the fucker was not worried about grease splatter. Oh no, it was easy to taunt and tease and distract when Justin was safely out of the room. But now that Justin was within arm’s reach, Gabriel was all covered up and smug. He didn’t know if that meant Gabriel was a tease, stuck in the closet but flirting with the keyhole, or playing a darker game to get in Justin’s head.

  No, truce.

  Truce.

  Truce.

  Truce.

  He’d keep repeating that damn word in his head until it finally stuck. Gabriel hadn’t done anything yet to truly set off any warning bells in his head. He was just accustomed to working alone. He never spent this much time around someone else who had the same job title as himself. And considering they looked to be about the same age, Justin was willing to bet they had comparable experience in the field.

  Dropping into one of the four high-top, swivel chairs that went with the table on the deck, Justin set his beer down and sighed. “Thanks for making dinner. I’ll cook tomorrow.”

  Gabriel set the metal tongs he’d been using down and twisted the top off his beer as he turned to face Justin. His dark hair was nearly dry from his shower but hung down in his face more than it had when he’d styled it. “No problem. I saw you also got chicken, and I don’t know many ways to cook chicken. I’m better with steak.”

  Justin snorted. “Aren’t we all? Tenderize and then cook until it stops mooing.”

  Gabriel took a drink of his beer, then set it on the table across from Justin. “There’s a little more to it than that, but yes.”

  “How did you know?” Justin ground out between clenched teeth because he couldn’t wait another second without knowing.

  Gabriel’s laughter rang out
across the backyard and into the surrounding woods . Justin couldn’t help but sit back at the sound, his cock twitching back to life after he’d managed to calm himself. He’d never imagined such a sound coming from Gabriel. Made him wonder what other sounds he could make.

  “You put the clock in the wrong place.”

  “What?” Justin cried out, lurching forward in his chair. “What do you mean it’s in the wrong place?”

  Gabriel picked up the tongs and flipped over the steaks. The flames flared higher briefly and the sizzling grew louder. Gabriel reached down and adjusted the gas. “The clock should be over the sink or the stove.” He glanced over his shoulder at Justin who just shook his head at him in confusion, earning another low chuckle that went straight to Justin’s groin. “If you’re working in the kitchen, you want to look up to see the time, probably in relation to what you’re preparing or the timing of your guests. It’s not natural to turn completely around to look at the time. The clock is spying on you, not helping you.”

  Justin slouched in his chair and snatched up his beer, chugging down a hefty swallow before putting it on the table again. Gabriel made him feel like a goddamn novice. He knew that the vast majority of people who might be in his house wouldn’t even think anything of the clock placement or even consider a camera being there. But those weren’t the people he was protecting himself from. He was worried about the Gabriels of the world.

  “I haven’t located the camera in the bathroom yet,” Gabriel admitted. He gave a little shake of his head as he continued to stare down at the steaks. “But I’m sure that you’re not using that one.”

  Justin chuckled and settled back in his chair. He spun it around to stare out at the wide swath of trees that lined the back of his property. The house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and there were about five acres of woods behind his land that ended in a gully. When he’d been searching for a place, he’d initially been nervous about the woods. He had come back after nightfall and spent several hours trekking through those woods, convincing himself he could use them as an escape more than someone else could use them as a way to sneak up on him. And then he’d only put in a bid for the house after he completed a thorough background check on all his neighbors.