Battle It Out

by Reese Knightley

  “Who lives there?” he said.

  “I do,” Colin replied and disappeared into the shadows.

  “Damnit, Colin, wait!” Archer hissed, charging after the guy.

  Isaac launched up the stairs hot on Archer’s tail.

  “Fuck,” Zane hissed, but his partner followed him into the fray.

  Fuck yeah!

  “Watch out, motherfuckers, here we come!” he cackled.

  Zane snorted a laugh.

  Zane

  Subduing the man had been fairly easy with a team of Special Forces soldiers and the kids were safe with Colin’s sister. The small, cluttered apartment appeared cramped, but they seemed to be happy now that the dad was in police custody.

  “Meet us at the base?” Colin said.

  “We’ll be there.” He gave the pair of men an up nod as they passed him in the hallway on their way out.

  Archer and Colin were nothing short of beasts and he could see why the colonel wanted them in the unit. Of course, they had to go through the final rounds and some facility training, but he suspected Liam would push that along in a hurry.

  The rest of Infinity had gone back to the base, with Pia driving his jeep. He now stood in the hallway waiting for Isaac.

  It had been a dick move to not take a ride from Isaac on the way there, but he feared his desire for the man would have been seen by the team. Now, he was glad he hadn’t taken that ride as it left him and Isaac alone.

  He wanted a chance to talk to Isaac, to further clear the air while the man had his sense of humor. And maybe, just maybe, share that he’d kissed a man before. Just tell him you’re bi. Maybe, but he still couldn’t get that phrase past his tongue. How long would it take? Why the hell did he have to say it anyway? Saying it didn’t make it any truer than it already was.

  He eased back against the wall and gazed up at the skylight. The cloud covered the small window, cutting off a good portion of the light.

  “Ready?” Isaac caught his attention and he shoved from his lean.

  Too late, he realized that Isaac was almost nose to nose with him. At that moment, the cloud cover moved from the skylight, and sun glinted down on Isaac’s blond hair, like a painting, beautiful and stunning.

  He gave a brisk nod, but didn’t move. Here was his chance. Every muscle felt frozen in place.

  Isaac took several steps away and then turned back with a frown. Something made Isaac march back toward him.

  “Why now?” Isaac snapped.

  The man came right up into his space, pushing forward, glaring into his face as if he wanted to take a bite out of him. Did he? Want to take a bite?

  “What?” he croaked.

  “Why take a ride with me now and not before?”

  Ride? It took him a moment to catch up. He opened his mouth to respond, but his gaze was caught on the shape of Isaac’s mouth. Had his lips always been that full? When Isaac stepped back again, he fisted the man’s shirt and yanked him back.

  “What the hell?” Isaac gasped.

  And there in the dimly lit hallway he did it.

  He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Isaac’s lips.

  The kiss lasted about two seconds before Isaac shoved him away. His back slammed into the hallway. Isaac held the back of his hand against his mouth and gazed at him through wide eyes.

  He felt a sense of amazement and disappointment. Amazement that he’d had the balls to kiss Isaac and disappointment that the all too brief kiss had ended.

  Isaac’s mouth opened, gaped, then closed. Zane waited with his heart lodged in his throat for Isaac to say something, anything. The man swallowed and spun around to hurry down the stairs.

  Shit! Air. Fuck, he suddenly needed fucking air. He charged down the stairs after Isaac and shoved open the apartment doors to drag in huge gulps of fresh outside air, getting away from the damp, musky stench of the apartment hallway. That must be what made him lightheaded. With a pounding heart he placed his hands on his thighs, bent forward, and slowed his breathing.

  “Going to pass out?” Isaac snarked.

  He closed his eyes against the effect that voice had on his insides.

  “No,” he returned roughly.

  “What, no comeback?”

  “What?” He frowned.

  “Here’s the part where you adamantly tell me you’re straight.” Isaac’s tone was full of goading.

  “Let’s go,” he snarled through his teeth, refusing to take the bait.

  “Right.” Isaac’s look was filled with bitterness, his face was closed off, like a shutter slammed shut over those flower-colored blue eyes.

  “You two okay?”

  He missed a step when a cop drew near and he lifted a hand to ward off the sunlight.

  “We’re fine, officer,” Isaac said quietly. “Need anything else from us?”

  “No, the statements you gave are good. We’ll call Sergeant Savage if we need anything further,” the cop said.

  Isaac hurried toward his SUV and Zane hustled to catch up. He didn’t want to get left behind and be forced to call a car. And by the look on Isaac’s face, there was a real good chance of that happening.

  The drive back to base started out quiet, but then Isaac flipped on the radio, and any chance of having a conversation went out the window.

  Not that he wanted to have a conversation. He did, but then he didn’t. What the hell could he say? Hey, I suddenly decided to acknowledge that I’m bi sexual and I like you? That sounded so fucking lame.

  His phone buzzed and he gratefully tugged it out of his pocket. “It’s a text from the colonel. We need to meet him back at Greene’s house.”

  Other than tossing him a look, Isaac remained silent as he took the next interchange and the freeway that would take them back to the cracked and cratered home of Sergeant Joshua Greene.

  “I wonder why he doesn’t have Maddox and River do this,” Isaac muttered.

  “I don’t know,” he murmured, staring out the window at the passing houses.

  They spotted Liam waiting on the weed clustered sidewalk when they drove up. Isaac flipped the lock on the SUV with a chirp. It wasn’t a nice neighborhood.

  Liam didn’t say a word when they drew near. Instead, the colonel jumped up the steps and pounded on the door.

  “Open the fucking door, Greene.”

  With a loud crack, the door yanked open.

  “What the fuck do you want?” Greene appeared, wearing the same shirt and boxers, a cigarette dangling from his hand.

  “Don’t speak to the colonel like that!” He stepped forward ready to knock the drunk back on his ass.

  Liam slapped a file into his chest, and Zane had just enough time to grab it before Liam was pushing his way inside the house.

  “Is that legal?” Isaac whispered, gazing after the colonel.

  He lifted his shoulders with an I don’t know and followed the colonel inside.

  “Get cleaned up,” Liam snapped at Greene.

  “Fuck you!” Greene growled, stamping out his cigarette in a saucer before he snagged up a half empty bottle of whiskey. The liquid sloshed around in the bottle.

  Liam advanced on Greene and yanked the bottle from the man’s grip and slammed it down on the table. The scuffle that took place ended in the hallway. It was no small feat with the size of Greene, but Liam was one tough son of a bitch. Zane swore the wall cracked beneath Greene’s weight when Liam manhandled the guy down the hall.

  Moving swiftly to the entryway, he stared down the hallway after Liam, who tossed Greene into what appeared to be the bathroom. A moment later, running water could be heard.

  “I’ll fucking kill you,” Greene’s raspy choked cry came from the small room.

  “Hush,” Liam ordered.

  “I mean it, Liam.”

  “Be quiet.” Liam’s voice had softened.

  Harsh sobs came from the room and Zane held Isaac’s eyes across the short distance.

  He swallowed, the broken and harsh cries coming from the ba
throom turned his throat tight. He slowly opened the folder and Isaac moved closer.

  “Christ.”

  “What?” Isaac peaked at the papers.

  “Greene has a silver star of valor,” he whispered, his eyes stinging.

  Isaac gently took the file from his hands.

  “He saved three men, but lost half of his unit in a roadside bombing,” Isaac murmured.

  It was a soldier’s worse fucking nightmare.

  Where before he only saw a drunk, now the pain in Greene’s eyes made so much sense.

  Isaac turned to him and Zane pulled the man against him. They hadn’t shared a hug in a long fucking time, but they did right then.

  They both needed it, he needed it. And in the face of Greene’s tragedy, Zane hung on.

  Sometimes, life was too fucking short to waste one second of it.

  Isaac

  The drive back was silent.

  Not tense or anything like before, but Zane didn’t say anything and Isaac didn’t have a clue how to bring up the kiss. If you could call it that. The press of lips had been so brief, it felt surreal, almost like he’d imagined it. But he hadn’t, it had been real.

  Entering base, Zane strode toward the barracks and he stood gazing after the man’s wide shoulders with a lump rising in his throat. Hurrying to the meeting room, he found a seat. He was early, like thirty minutes early.

  River dropped down into the chair next to him with a shoulder bump.

  “Wazzup.”

  Zane kissed me at a crime scene and we were caught by a cop and then followed it up with a hug.

  He swallowed down the words and said, “Oh, you know, the usual. I’m back.”

  River chuckled. “So I heard.”

  “Welcome back,” Dillon said, taking a seat right behind him and River.

  “Thanks.” He turned in his chair and returned Dillon’s fist bump.

  Turning sideways gave him a view of the door as people started arriving.

  “Why is Forest Taylor here? I heard he quit the FBI,” Dillon whispered, leaning closer.

  “He quit the FBI?” Isaac’s gaze flew around the room until he spotted a group of suits standing near one wall. Sure enough, Forest Taylor stood among them conversing with both Liam and Maddox.

  “He did quit,” River murmured.

  “So, what’s he doing here?” he asked, turning to River.

  “As a favor to the Secretary of Defense, he’s temporarily back in a supervisory field position with the Counterterrorism Division.”

  “And why is the Counterterrorism Division here?” He frowned.

  “I can’t say,” River murmured. “There’s things that Maddox can’t even tell me.”

  “Right,” he let skepticism drip from his quiet chuckle.

  River squinted with a small quirk working at the edge of his mouth. “I’m not at liberty to say, but I’m sure this meeting will clear things up.”

  Dillon rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile and sat back in his chair.

  “Okay,” Isaac said.

  “Okay?” River raised one eyebrow at him.

  He normally didn’t let things go this easily, and Isaac opened his mouth to press the man anyway, when his attention was stolen by the large hunk appearing in the doorway.

  Okay, keep it together. Just turn around and keep your eyes up front. Easier said than done when the kiss was all he could think about. His gaze locked like a laser, zeroing in on the sexy soldier fresh from a fucking shower.

  Zane’s dark hair fell just shy of his shoulders in wet tendrils, and he was searching the room for someone. Me. He’s searching for me. He knew it. When Zane’s eyes landed on him, he lost his breath and glanced away.

  What did it mean? What did that fucking kiss and the hug at Greene’s house all mean? It was nothing. You know he’s straight. He’s always claimed to be. But was he? Sure, the hug had felt like comforting his best friend, but what about the kiss? Did that mean anything, or had he been an experiment?

  He turned in his chair, facing forward, eyes locked on the huge monitor on the wall.

  But for the life of him, he couldn’t get his mind to shut up.

  Zane

  “You’re late,” Holden said from behind him.

  Zane smirked. “So are you.”

  Holden returned his smirk and stepped past him into the room, taking a seat in the back. Special Forces soldiers from both Infinity and Fury filled the room.

  He easily found Isaac with his bright blond head of hair and he held the man’s gaze for a brief moment before he was presented with the back of his head. He had no chance to do anything further when the room went dark and a huge wall monitor flipped on. He slid into a chair next to Holden.

  “Eyes up front,” the colonel said, and the room grew quiet.

  The screen filled with a video of chaos. The scene wobbled and the harsh breath of the person filming swept through the speakers. Screaming and gunfire followed. People went scrambling for cover and several of them fell as they ran. It took a moment to realize the scene was from outside of a restaurant. Patio chairs and tables toppled, the glass on the building front shattered with the impact of bullets accompanying shouting, screams, and sobs. The automatic gunfire echoed and then died. He thought for a moment it was over just before the front of the building exploded outward in a spray of bricks and glass. A bomb. Public place, gunfire, explosives. He ran over every detail of the video. Terrorist attack? Personal vendetta?

  The screen went dark.

  Oliver flipped on the lights.

  “That was the scene outside of a New Orleans restaurant early this morning. Two brothers are claiming credit, Eddie and Mike Chambers. The men are ruthless. This was the third attack in a matter of days,” Liam said.

  Everyone in the room knew about the bombings, it was all over the news. So, it was domestic terrorism, but why show Infinity, when that was normally handled by the FBI? Several men in suits stood off to one side of the room.

  “I’d like to introduce Supervisory Special Agent Forest Taylor of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. Some of you may already know him,” Liam said.

  “Thank you, Colonel.” A slim, fair-haired man in a coal black suit stepped forward. Forest flipped on the screen. Several pictures appeared on the monitor. Each person in the picture was dead, killed brutally.

  “Mike and Eddie Chambers are wanted in connection with several murders in Louisiana over the past six months.”

  River raised his hand. “What happened six months ago?”

  “Their grandmother died. As far as we can tell, Eddie and Mike didn’t attend school past the eighth grade. They were raised from that point by their grandparents, Melissa and Sheldon Chambers. We suspected Sheldon of a bombing a few years ago.” Forest flipped the screen to pictures of Sheldon, Mike, and Eddie and the bloody images disappeared. “We could never find enough evidence to charge him.”

  “So, grandma kept the brothers in line?”

  “More or less. We know that Mike spent time in a mental institution when he was eight and then released into his grandparents’ custody after the boy’s mother died. The boy showed psychopathic tendencies. What we know of Eddie is from his ex-wife whom we have in protective custody. He’s pure evil.” Forest flipped the screen again and a woman appeared along with photos of knife carving wounds on her torso. “She’s lucky to be alive.”

  “What are we looking at?” Maddox spoke up.

  “Good question.” Forest nodded. “The Chambers brothers’ resources are numerous, their coalition members range up to fifty men strong by our count, but it could be higher.” The man sounded suddenly tired. “We just don’t know. The FBI has lost three agents trying to apprehend these brothers over the past month, but these fuckers are cunning.”

  “What’s going on? We don’t normally handle murders.”

  “Every attempt by law enforcement to arrest the brothers for the murders has met with deadly resistance. After every raid on the brothers’ kno
wn hideouts, they bomb a public place,” Forest said, his mouth pulled down, his eyes tired.

  The room went deathly quiet. Christ. He didn’t envy Forest his job.

  “Sources claim the brothers got their hands on several pounds of C4. I don’t need to tell you what damage that can do.”

  The room remained quiet. A few throats cleared, but that was it. He could only imagine the hell law enforcement and the FBI were going through, plus losing a few of their own.

  This wasn’t new to Infinity nor Fury. Both top secret military units provided help, domestic and foreign. They should have called them in earlier.

  Forest snatched up a bottle of water, took several swallows, and nodded at Liam.

  “The brothers have a coalition loyal to their grandfather located throughout the country helping them escape, hide, and regroup,” Liam said and gave the room back to Forest when the man capped his water bottle.

  “What we need from you.” Forest cleared his throat. “What we need from both Infinity and Fury is to get inside. My hope is that they won’t see you coming.”

  “Captain Maddox will fill you in on the details,” Liam said when Forest indicated he was finished. With those words, Liam, Forest, and the suits left the room.

  Every pair of eyes, including his, swiveled to Maddox. “Most of you haven’t had the chance to meet our three new members of Infinity and one new member of Fury.”

  Maddox gestured to the back of the room. “Sergeant Colin Savage, Staff Sergeant Archer Hall, and Sergeant First Class Joshua Greene will be joining Infinity. We don’t have time for any trial runs so play nice,” Maddox warned.

  Colin, still dressed in all black attire glanced around the room with suspicious eyes. Archer gave everyone a briefly raised hand. Greene sat hunched in his chair with a cup of brewed coffee in his hands with legs splayed, combat boots untied, face unshaven, his beard thick, and steely red-rimmed eyes narrowed.

  “We also have Lieutenant Sam Beckett temporarily reassigned to join Fury.”

  Zane swiveled in his chair with surprise and Beckett waved at him with a grin. He gave the curly haired man a smile before facing forward.