As they drew closer, Holden stepped out completely from the shadows and Luke stopped so abruptly, Dillon almost plowed into him.
“Who’re you?”
“He’s one of ours,” Dillon murmured next to Luke’s ear.
“Sergeant Wreck, sir.” Holden’s deep voice came out raspy as if he didn’t use it very often.
Dillon was standing so close, his chest was touching Luke’s back and he felt the general suck in a deep breath. In another moment, Luke nodded to Holden before moving through the door Pia held open.
The noise of the helicopter faded as they all entered the back of the estate without incident.
Luke went left through his office door and Dillon followed. After a brief check, he hesitated at the door.
“I’ll be fine,” Luke said tiredly and dropped into the wide chair behind his desk.
When Luke turned the chair around to gaze out the window, Dillon was left staring at the back of the man’s head. He steeled himself against offering comfort and instead, he stepped out into the hallway and snapped the door closed. It wasn’t as easy to snap close on whatever the hell had happened on the ranch porch, but he managed it by telling himself that there was no sense in getting into things that had no chance of turning out well. Luke deserved a whole hell of a lot better than him, that was for damned sure.
Taking the hallway, he entered the kitchen and found the contents of Marge’s cooler, along with two trays of sandwiches, set out.
“His stepson showed up along with his protection detail in a rental helicopter a half an hour ago,” Pia whispered when he entered.
Other than a quick nod to Pia, he kept his opinion to himself. He wasn’t going to gossip about Luke’s stepson, even though his team felt the same way about the deadbeat.
Holden snagged three sandwiches from the pile while juggling his semi-automatic and disappeared back out the door.
“Bout time you showed up, ya slacker.”
He smirked at the razzing from his best friend and current roommate. They shared an apartment in California. He’d known Oliver Raines going on ten years. Dillon didn’t make friends easily, but Oliver’s bubbly personality was addictive. Plus, the guy never took no for an answer, so yeah, there was that.
“Me? I’m not the one taking a lunch break.” He snorted at the sandwich Oliver lifted from one of the plates.
“Yeah, well,” the young man said around a bite of food, “I was fucking starving waiting for your ass.”
He rolled his eyes. “Try pulling the other one. For someone so short, you’re bottomless pit.”
“Short? I’ll show you short!” Oliver fired a pickle at him.
Dillon ducked and the green vegetable went sailing over his head.
“Uh oh…” Oliver’s eyes went wide.
“What?” Dillon turned to find Luke standing there with the pickle stuck to his once pristine blue dress shirt.
“Oh shit! I’m so sorry, sir.” Oliver hurried over to divest the general of the dripping pickle.
“Don’t worry about it,” Luke graciously chuckled. “I need to change anyway.”
Luke walked quickly to the table and selected one of the sandwiches before he left them to take the stairs up toward the living quarters. Dillon was once again impressed by Luke’s easygoing nature. The guy never seemed to lose his cool.
Holding the pickle, Oliver turned toward him and Pia with a grimace.
“Gah, Oliver!” Pia hissed. “Way to go.”
“He didn’t seem to mind!” Oliver groused.
“Yeah, you’re lucky,” Dillon said and turned toward the same stairs Luke had taken.
“How so?” Oliver, sandwich back in hand, followed him.
“He could have had you replaced.”
“He’s not like that,” Oliver said around a bite of food.
At the top of the stairs, Luke’s low voice drifted down the hallway from around a corner.
“We just had this conversation. I said not now.”
“Then when?” Eric hissed.
“When I say, and quit ditching your security.” Luke sounded bone weary.
“I don’t need them!” the man snarled.
Dillon clenched his fists and moved to stalk forward, but Oliver caught and held his arm.
Dillon squinted down at his friend.
“Don’t,” Oliver whispered, shaking his head.
Shit. Dillon clenched his teeth. Oliver was right, he shouldn’t interfere.
“When I get back to the ranch, we’ll discuss it,” Luke said.
“All right, but you better not put me off again,” Eric spat.
In another moment, Dillon heard Luke’s bedroom door snap shut and Eric stomping down the other set of stairs.
He spun away, yanked open his bedroom door, and stalked inside.
“So?” Oliver followed, dragging out the word.
“So, what?” He frowned and yanked open his overnight bag to hang up his shirts and put away his things. Anything to take his mind off of Luke and his scumbag son. Besides, they’d be staying here a few days at the most, so he might as well unpack.
“Have you heard from Isaac?”
“No, not yet.”
Oliver studied his sandwich and took another bite. “He’ll call.”
“I know.” He hung up a few shirts.
“How was the ranch?”
“It’s a ranch.” He rolled his eyes.
Oliver gave him an exasperated stare. “Did you make a pass?”
“Shut the fuck up!” he snapped and moved to shove the door closed. He glared at Oliver, but his friend’s smile only grew wider.
“Did he make a pass?”
“No,” he glared.
“No?” Oliver’s eyebrows waggled.
It was useless getting angry at Oliver, the guy never took anything serious. Well, unless he was on a mission.
“I told you, it’s not like that. Besides, you want me to lose my fucking job?”
“Right, like Colonel Cobalt would discharge you for that,” Oliver said around a bite of food.
“Nobody made a pass.”
“Liar,” Oliver snorted.
“You’re way off base.”
“Well, that’s a big fat bummer. So, what happened?” The guy plopped on the edge of the bed and finished off the sandwich.
“Nothing. Nothing happened and nobody made a pass, and nobody is going to make a pass.”
Oliver huffed. “You can’t speak for the general.”
He froze in the process of putting his socks away. Oliver was right, he couldn’t speak for Luke.
“What would you do if he tried to kiss you?” Oliver said.
What if Luke made a pass? What if Luke tried to kiss him?
“You’re so annoying.”
Oliver grinned. “I know. I was put on earth for that.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” He tried to stay angry, but found himself smirking instead.
But the question still niggled at him. What would he do?
You’d kiss him back and you know it.
Luke
“Sir.”
He turned at Dillon’s voice. “Is it that time already?”
“Yes. Fury is waiting.”
Grabbing his briefcase, he followed Dillon out of the house and slid into the back of the dark limo.
Oliver was at the wheel with Pia in the passenger seat. He and Dillon were in the back, behind protective glass. Holden was staying back to protect the estate along with his security team.
Fury had their own transportation in the big black SUV tight on their ass as they pulled through the gates and onto the street.
The problem with Eric weighed heavily on his mind and he wanted back the young man he’d met when he’d first married Vanessa. Of course, the Eric back then had been a handful, but he hadn’t shown the malice that he now displayed.
Dillon shifted beside him and Luke shook off his own issues and voiced a question he’d been wanting to ask.
Dillon glanced up from his phone with his eyebrows raised.
“How do you know I did?”
“You weren’t surprised that Fury was here.” Luke shrugged. “I assumed you knew Monterey’s challenging his bail.”
Dillon tucked the phone away and turned those blue eyes on him.
“The colonel told me.”
“Oh.” He straightened his tie and glanced out the tinted glass window.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dillon asked.
He shot Dillon a quick look. He had wanted to tell him. In fact, he’d stopped by Dillon’s room for that purpose, but hearing Dillon on the phone with his mother had changed his mind.
“I don’t want you to feel guilty,” he admitted.
“Guilty?” Dillon sneered and Luke’s heart skipped a beat. He hated when Dillon looked at him like that—as if he couldn’t stand him.
“Guilty about what?” Dillon rasped when he didn’t answer.
“Asking to be reassigned.”
Dillon’s eyes went wide and his fist clenched around the semi-automatic in his lap.
“I’m sorry,” Luke murmured. “I overheard you talking to your mother on the phone. You never close your door.”
Silence.
Luke knew Dillon wasn’t going to respond, so he dug further.
“Why do you want to be reassigned?”
“I have things to take care of,” the man said flatly, a bit grudgingly.
“What things?”
Dillon shifted and Luke could tell he was growing uncomfortable.
“Dillon?”
“I have a dog, okay?” Dillon turned on him, but Luke didn’t back away.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, and he’s missing me,” Dillon grumbled.
“Bring him to the ranch.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? You like it there, your dog will too. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Look, I’m just on a mission. This is just a mission.”
His heart sank, but he gamely nodded. “Well, there’s nothing that says you can’t bring your dog to the ranch even if it’s a mission or not.”
A long moment of silence stretched on and if Luke didn’t think he was dreaming, he might have thought he saw a softening on Dillon’s hard face and warmth creeping into his cold, blue eyes.
“What’s your dog’s name?”
“Cricket.”
“Like the game or the bug?”
Dillon’s lip twitched. “The bug.”
“Where’d you get him?”
“He was a throwaway.”
Warmth heated Luke’s chest. If Dillon rescued throwaways, then there just might be a softhearted man beneath the iron exterior.
“A rescue… he’ll fit right in at the ranch. If you -”
“We’re here,” Dillon said, abruptly cutting him off.
They pulled into the parking garage and took the spot closest to the stairs and elevator.
“Wait here,” Dillon ordered and slid from the car.
Luke looked over his shoulder and then around at what he could see. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he stayed put. The last thing he wanted to do was get in the way if someone was really out there waiting to shoot him. If he could have postponed this meeting, he would have, but time was running out.
A short while ago, he’d been approached by the D.A. to help with putting away scumbags. But that wasn’t all he did. He had his own company to run, hence today’s meeting.
The business had been a joint venture of his and his deceased wife. They’d built it together from the ground up. The company had recently finished the design on a processor chip that was more powerful than those used by his competitors.
Vanessa would have been proud, and he regretted more than anything that she hadn’t been alive to see it. The product was set to sell in a few weeks’ time to a major player, allowing that company to break free from reliance on outside data centers. All of his business could be handled over Skype, but he needed to inspect the chip in person before the sale and there was no way in hell he was letting the chip travel outside of the building until it sold. Better that he come here rather than risk anything in transit. Besides, he wouldn’t be making the trip much longer. While he would continue consulting for the D.A., it wouldn’t be long before he sold off this business and retired completely.
“Sir.”
He glanced up to find the door open and Dillon holding out his hand. He took it and remembered the first time Dillon had done it. It had surprised the hell out of him, but he’d taken the outstretched hand and gripped it hard—just as he did now—and Dillon pulled him from the back of the limo. As soon as he was upright, Dillon released his hand and closed the car door.
He waited, knowing the drill. Dillon went first, then him, followed by Oliver and Pia at his back. They approached the entrance and he spotted Spencer Turner, who’d followed them from the estate.
Spencer held the door open. Luke didn’t see Fury’s other two soldiers.
Link was probably out there somewhere with a sniper rifle and Eagle was more than likely already inside the building.
“Captain Turner,” he greeted Spencer.
“Nice to see you again, sir,” Spencer said and gestured to the stairs.
“No elevator?”
“No,” Dillon clipped out and moved into the stairwell.
“Okay…” he muttered and stepped in behind Dillon. His gaze went to the soldier’s broad back and muscled arms.
The stairwell lighting gleamed on the soldier’s hair and Luke found himself studying the perfectly trimmed hair just above his collar. There was a recent scar about an inch long at the base of his skull, probably from a mission.
Dillon wasn’t a pretty boy, but more rugged and lethal looking. A look Luke found hot as fuck. Dillon’s hair was a gentle widow’s peak over thick, dark eyebrows. He kept his beard and mustache cropped as closely as his head. It was his eyes that stole the show, eyes so light in blue they appeared almost translucent. Mesmerizing eyes that could look into a man’s s-.
“Oomph!”
His nose smacked into the back of Dillon and his briefcase toppled to the ground. The soldier spun and caught him until he was steady on his feet.
“Okay?” Dillon frowned at him.
“Yeah, sorry, was distracted.” He swore he heard Oliver giggle, but it must have been his imagination, because Oliver’s face was expressionless when the soldier handed him his briefcase.
Heat started up his neck and traveled up into his face. He hoped to god none of them noticed the growing bulge in his pants.
“Let’s go,” he said to distract them, and gestured to the stairs.
After a moment of hesitation, Dillon headed up the stairs.
Thank goodness. All he needed was to be caught ogling one of his protection detail. Dave and Liam would never let him live that down.
The door to the fifth floor was already open and Eagle stood with his foot wedging it wide and a semi-automatic weapon in his hands.
“Sir,” Eagle said and Luke smiled.
“Good afternoon.”
“They’re ready.” Eagle smiled back and moved to open the door to where the meeting and inspection of the chip was to take place.
He entered the room with Dillon on his heels. The soldier snapped the door closed after exchanging a few words with Eagle and then stood in front of it like a human shield.
Luke’s smile didn’t die. Instead, it grew as he turned away and caught sight of his head of sales, Ted Brewer, walking toward him with Pamela Hunt, the head of his processor division.
“Nice to see you again.” Ted shook his hand. He’d hired Ted about a year ago. In fact, he’d stolen Ted from his competition, but the man was top notch at sales and very undervalued.
Ted didn’t come in from the field very often, but since he’d been instrumental in the sale of the chip, Te
d wanted to be here. Pamela, on the other hand, was here daily and waggled her fingers at him. Pamela had been with the company even before Vanessa’s death.
“You too,” he told Ted and smiled at Pamela.
“I took the liberty of bringing up the design on the computer so we can go over the logistical aspects and design one more time,” she said.
He walked to the end of the room and placed his laptop on the table. After draping his jacket over the chair, he headed around the table to the computer Pamela had set up.
Ted stepped up close and Luke froze at the man’s next words.
“I’m sorry, but they’re going to pay me a lot of money,” Ted whispered.
“What?” The words were so at odds with what he’d been expecting from Ted, and then he glanced down and saw the handgun in the man’s hand.
From this angle, Dillon couldn’t see the weapon, could he? Dillon probably couldn’t hear, either, because Ted had whispered the words.
Pamela stood frozen, her eyes going wide in horror, her hands lifted to cover her mouth.
Snick.
The soft sound of a silencer echoed in the room and a bullet hole appeared in the middle of Ted’s forehead.
Pamela screamed and scrambled beneath the desk as Ted dropped like a stone to the floor, the weapon he held landing with a thud.
Luke turned on Dillon in horror. “What have you done?”
“He was going to kill you,” Dillon snarled, and the soldier was there in an instant, moving much faster than Luke could ever remember. He was yanked away from where Ted lay on the floor and up against Dillon’s hard chest.
“You don’t know that! He could have been after the fucking chip,” he yelled.
“Sir.” Dillon tucked away his weapon and gripped him by the arms.
“Don’t you get it?” He pulled hard against the hands holding him tight. “He could have just wanted the chip!”
“Luke!” Dillon snapped.
His eyes shot up at the use of his first name and the blue gaze that he once thought so cold was filled with fire.
Whatever It Takes (Code Of Honor Book 5) Page 4