When Love Intrudes (When the Mission Ends) (5 page)

He’d already paid for Nathan’s hospital bill, which was so far above and beyond what he should be doing. She still needed to talk to him about that, but she didn’t necessarily want to have that discussion with Nathan listening, because she knew there was no way Nathan could afford that bill. Glancing back over at Nathan, she could see the beginnings of hope and excitement shimmering in his eyes. He was a seventeen year old boy who saw this as an adventure. Something he hadn’t had often enough in his short life. She couldn’t take that away from him.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly and ignored the smiles from the two men. “But on one condition—you let us provide all the meals and food.” Seeing Nathan’s shocked look, she gave him a quick shake of her head. He knew she hated to cook. In fact, she was more likely to poison them all than keep Brian fed, but maybe she could work out some sort of exchange with Julie, or just buy take-out all week. She’d figure something out. That was the only thing she could think of that Brian might let her contribute into this arrangement.

Brian nodded. “Deal. Wow—roommates, a dog, and home cooking. You’re going to have to kick me out of the house in the mornings to get me to leave for work.”

Nathan rolled his eyes and mimicked gagging himself behind Brian’s back. Toni ignored him. One measly little case of food-poisoning and he wasn’t going to ever trust her to cook again. She could do this.

Brian headed toward the door. “Pack up what you need. I’ll go grab us some pizzas for tonight and be back here in thirty minutes to load you all up. This will be fun.”

* * *

Toni’s mouth dropped open as they rounded the corner of the dirt driveway leading up to Brian’s house.

“Who knew Alpha was the white picket fence type?” murmured Nathan.

She could only nod her head in agreement. In front of her sprawled everything she wanted in a house and was certainly never something she thought she’d find the uptight detective living in.

The two-story farmhouse had probably been here for a hundred years if the large oak trees out front were anything to judge by, but sometime in its recent past, the exterior had been updated. Made with painted wood siding that would have originally been white, it was now
painted a dark mushroom color. The shutters were slate grey and all the trim work was off white. The fireplace and corners of the foundation had been built up with stone that gave it a rugged, more modern feel.

A huge covered porch wrapped around the entire house with a couple of rocking chairs waiting in repose for her to come and relax. Already, she could envision herself sitting there in the evenings, reading a book.

As Nathan and she gaped at the huge house, Sam bounded from window to window in the car, dying to get out and explore. Toni could already tell he was going to be in heaven here. The house was secluded on the outskirts of town and there was even an honest to goodness white picket fence around the grassy part of the yard, as well as the tall iron fence that looked like it went around the entire property. She’d be able to give him free reign and not have to worry about him getting out.

A knock on the window pulled them out of their stupor. Brian smiled down at them as Toni opened the door.

“Think you can manage to live here for the next few days?” Brian asked.

She nodded as she looked back at the house. “Yeah, it’s beautiful.”

“Thanks. I told you it was plenty big.”

She just gaped at him. Nathan and Sam headed toward the front of the house. Nathan still ambled stiffly, but his excitement in the moment seemed to be overriding some of that pain. He laughed as Sam bounded all over as they walked.

They met Nathan at the bottom of the steps and Brian helped him negotiate them. Toni held back for a moment to watch them. Her heart skipped a beat and then sped up. Things already seemed a bit more happy and relaxed between the two men. She’d always liked Brian, but seeing him like this—casual, helpful, and so damn conciliatory—battered at her already weakened defenses. She steeled her spine. It would be so easy to fall for this version of him. Hell, she’d fallen for the grumpy, serious, wounded version. This one could be deadly to her heart.

* * *

Brian settled himself back against his pillows and allowed the quiet of the house to envelope him. He tried to get into his book and not dwell on the fact that Toni was just a room away.

Because Nathan still wasn’t in the kind of shape to handle the stairs on a regular basis, they’d given him the bedroom downstairs. That meant he and Toni were alone up here. Just the two of them. His cock twitched and swelled as he imagined her lying in bed, her long strawberry blonde hair draped across his pillow.

Her quiet murmurings to her dog echoed lightly across the expanse of the second story, the wood floors helping the muted sound travel. It brushed across his nerves like a soft, gentle caress.

He palmed his erection through his sleep pants, trying to convince it to give up. He could already foresee this arrangement would call for a lot of cold showers. He’d always been attracted to her, even when she was dating Pete, but had never been free to pursue her. Now certainly wasn’t the time to change that. Keeping her and Nathan safe had to be the priority. The distraction of the sexual pull between them wouldn’t help that focus. He couldn’t fail her again.

* * *

Brian bolted up out of bed at the cacophonous screech of the fire alarm. He flew out of his room to Toni’s. Empty.

Bounding down the stairs in the morning light, he grabbed the fire extinguisher out of the hall closet as he ran toward the plume of smoke billowing out of the kitchen. There he found mass chaos.

Sam bounced around below the fire alarm barking at it. Toni stood in front of the sink, fanning the smoke away from some sort of dish smoldering there. Nathan sat on a barstool overlooking the kitchen, rolling with laughter.

Since there didn’t appear to be any actual flames or danger of the house burning down around them, Brian grabbed the still-barking Sam by the collar and pulled him toward the door to put him out in the yard. That at least gave them one little tiny shred of sanity back in the kitchen.

Toni still hadn’t noticed him as she dealt with the pan, so he grabbed a chair to stand on to reach up to the alarm. Finally, he popped the battery out of it. Blessed silence. He ran his hand through his hair and looked down from his perch to find both Toni and Nathan openly gaping him. Instantly, he became self-conscious of the fact he had nothing on but a thin pair of knit sleep pants.

“Damn, Alpha,” Nathan’s eyes widened as he gulped. “You need to go without clothes more often. Who knew what was hiding under those tacky suits?”

Toni just nodded along with Nathan’s perusal.

Embarrassed, he’d never been subjected to this kind of blatant ogling. He resisted the urge to cover his chest with his hands as he jumped down from the chair. Yes, he worked out, but he wasn’t cover material. He rolled his eyes at both of them. “You both need to have your eyes checked.”

Toni cleared her throat. “No, I have to agree with Nathan on this one. You’re hot. Damn, look at your abs and wow,” she swallowed hard before continuing, her eyes roaming over his body, leaving pure heat in her wake. “When did you get the tattoo? I heartily approve.” Smiling at him like a cat with a mouse in its sights, her eyes traced the lines of his sleeve tattoo up his arm and across his chest. “Can we have a no clothes rule in the house?”

He choked in disbelief. “Who knew I was bringing a couple of deviants home?”

The blood drained from Nathan’s face as he stood awkwardly, horror etched on his pale face. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” He waved his arm at Brian’s body. “I didn’t mean anything, but damn. I’m sorry. Don’t kick Toni out. She needs to stay somewhere safe.” He turned to flee from the room.

Brian rushed to grab his arm and stop him. Nathan’s pupils immediately dilated with fear and Brian released him, suddenly realizing what he’d just done. His gut sank. The kid had just been attacked and the trauma from that was too close to the surface.

“No, Nathan, hold up. I was just kidding. It’s okay. I was just messing with you. I didn’t mean anything by it, just like I know you didn’t mean anything by what you said. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The boy was pale and trembling and Brian feared he was about to start hyperventilating.

Toni scrambled in front of him and immediately grabbed Nathan by the shoulders so he had to listen to her. “Hey, hey, relax. You heard Brian. It was just a joke. Calm down. It’s okay. Just take a deep breath, sit back down.” She flung a desperate glance over her shoulder at Brian, but she was doing a great job so he just nodded in agreement with what she said. Besides, it seemed to be working, as the kid calmed down.

Her eyes lit on the still smoldering pan and her mouth twisted. “Sit down and I’ll figure out something to feed you.” She pushed Nathan back down on the barstool and they both glanced over worriedly to the still smoking sink.

“Are you sure about that?” Nathan’s voice was still a bit weak, but he was making an effort to relax the tension in the room.

Brian cleared his throat. “What were you trying to cook? A soufflé?”

Nathan snorted, still looking a bit fearful, but he was trying. “As if.”

Toni scowled at him. “Hush,” she hissed. “It will be okay. I can do this.”

“Um, Toni, I think the evidence states differently.” Nathan nodded toward the disabled smoke detector, before smirking knowingly at her.

Brian detected there was more to the story here than he realized, but Toni was effectively distracting Nathan so that worked for him.

Watching the exchange between the two of them, he’d totally believe they were siblings. He crossed his arms across his chest. “Okay, fess up. What am I missing here?”

Nathan snorted and shoved Toni, who had begun to leer at his chest again. “A shirt for one,” he snickered.

Brian grabbed a hoodie he’d thrown onto one of the kitchen chairs a couple of days ago and zipped it up. “Better?”

“Not really. I have to agree with Toni that maybe we should go clothes-optional for you in the house, but we don’t want to make you uncomfortable with our drooling.”

Toni thumped him on the side of his head.

Brian chuckled at their shenanigans. He could see why the boy had gotten into trouble. He was a natural flirt. Even knowing the danger of messing with a straight guy, he couldn’t seem to resist. He’d need to figure out how to help him to install a filter soon, so it wouldn’t get him killed.

“
Ow,” Nathan whined as he rubbed the side of his head. “You were the one looking at him like he was a brownie sundae.” Nathan stuck his tongue out at her. “Back to what you’re missing, Brian…” He smirked at Toni. “Unless you really miss seeing your doctor and plan to die of food poisoning this week, you probably should forbid her from stepping foot in your kitchen.”

“Hey!” Toni set her hands on her hips and frowned as Nathan continued to grin at her. “I sent you to the ER one time and you continue to hold a grudge about it. How is that fair?”

“Toni, no one should ever have to go to the ER after you feed them. That’s bad,” Nathan responded.

“ER?” Brian asked weakly. Suddenly the fact that breakfast smoldered in the sink didn’t seem to be such a bad thing. That seemed preferable to his stomach at this point. “Okay, so I take it you don’t actually cook?”

Toni blushed again. “Um, it’s probably not my strongest skill?”

Nathan snorted.

“Okay.” Brian ran his hand across his face. Coffee, he needed coffee. He’d been up half the night fantasizing about Toni and her creamy, toned thighs wrapped around his waist. As he looked through his fingers, those thighs were on full display in her teeny, tiny sleep shorts. Her nipples perked up as if begging for his attention. His mouth went dry. He pulled his hand from his face and tugged the hoodie down so maybe it would camouflage his erection.

Nathan saw the move if his cocked eyebrow was anything to judge by. Damn.

Yeah, coffee. He needed coffee.

Frantically, he searched the counter for his pot. Relief flowed through him as he saw that it was already full of hot glorious, dark liquid. Thank God. He needed something to go according to plan this morning.
 

As Brian looked disbelievingly toward his partner later that same morning, he began to wonder again why he’d thought it was a good idea to get out of bed this morning. 

“What do you mean the DNA evidence has disappeared?” He ground his molars, trying to contain the anger coursing through his system.

“Exactly what I said. We have record of the evidence leaving here to go to the lab. The lab has no record of it ever arriving.” Eddie threw his file down on the desk, as irritated as Brian about the debacle.

“Who was the last person that we know touched it?”

“Joe down in forensics processed it in-house. He packaged it up and sent it through our shipping company to the laboratory. It never arrived and checking the shipping company’s records, there’s no record of it. It’s just disappeared.”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that maybe we have more of the samples.”

Eddie’s answer was a simple roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, I was afraid of that.” Brian pressed his lips together, mentally going over the evidence in the case. The DNA would have helped, definitely, but they still had a strong case without it so it wasn’t like this screw up was a death blow. It just made things a bit more difficult for the prosecution.

“I’m going to go talk to the pick-up courier for the shipping company who worked that day later this afternoon,” Eddie added. “They said he would be in the office after lunch and we’ll see if we can track down where the samples went missing.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

* * *

As Brian expected, Eddie came up with a big fat nothing at the shipping courier’s office. They’d run through the evidence again this afternoon with the DA who was on the verge of bringing up all the charges.

Brian glanced down at the clock on his computer before he shut it down. He’d worked late, but that was okay. It was probably better for him to avoid interaction with Toni for the next couple of days for his own sanity especially after their morning in the kitchen. By his estimation, she would already be asleep when he got home. The computer monitor went dark and he grabbed his suit jacket when his cell phone rang. The caller ID said “Unknown Number.”

“Detective Barnes,” he answered.

Silence came across the line, but he could hear someone breathing heavily.

“You either need to speak up now or I’m hanging up the phone. If you have an emergency, you need to call 911.”

“Detective?”

“Yes, who am I speaking to?”

“This…this is Mark Hunter. I need to talk to you.”

Yes. Maybe this day hadn’t been a total waste. “Okay, well I’m actually still at work. Can you come down to the police station?”

“No, no, I can’t come into the police station until I talk to Matt. I need to find Matt.” The guy sounded confused and freaked out and that concerned Brian.

“O…kay. Do you want to tell me what this is about? Are you hurt? Are you in danger?”

“No, I just need to talk to you, in person, but not at the police station.” His panic was obvious even over the phone lines. “Can we meet at The Mocha Mermaid?”

The Mermaid was a local coffee shop over by the campus. The public location would work for a meeting. “Do you mind if I bring my partner, Eddie?”

“No, your partner would be fine. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.” The connection went dead as Mark hung up.

As Brian glanced down at his watch, he grimaced. 10:30. Eddie had a family life that he tried to keep somewhat steady in defiance of his job. This type of interference was entirely too common and the main cause of divorce for detectives in their department. They all worked way too many hours and if they had the manpower, would work even more because there was always more that could and should be done.

Deciding the risk with the public meeting place was virtually non-existent, Brian called Eddie so he knew what was going on in case something did go wrong, but told him not to worry about coming. Brian could handle the meeting by himself.

An hour and a half later, Brian still waited for the missing Mark. He never showed and now Brian had drunk enough coffee to ensure that he’d have another restless night imagining Toni in the next room. Damn, he really should have gone decaf.

Knowing that Eddie would already be asleep for the night, he sent him a quick text to let him know that Mark never showed and that he would be late the next morning since he planned to go by his house to check on things.

* * *

As expected, Brian slept like crap for the second night in a row. When he’d gotten home there hadn’t been a single sign of his new roommates, as they were all sound asleep, even the dog, but that didn’t stop his obsession with Toni in a bed in his house.

Coming down the stairs, he knotted his tie and glanced out the front window. Toni’s car was already gone. Nathan’s door was pulled mostly closed, but he peeked in to make sure the kid was okay. Like any normal teen, he was dead to the world at this hour of the morning, which was good. He needed the extra rest. His bruises were beginning to fade, but the kid still looked rough.

Sam was the only one to greet him and he did so with a wagging tail and a push of his snout at Brian’s hand. He capitulated and scratched the dog behind his ears before heading into the kitchen. On the breakfast bar, there were two notes: one labeled for him and one for Nathan. His was edged under a doughnut box and an empty coffee cup. He slid it out to read it.

Detective,

Since I don’t want to poison you so early in our relationship, I bought you some doughnuts for breakfast. Cops like those, right? Although, from the glimpse I saw of you yesterday, I’m guessing you don’t indulge all that often. I’ll figure out something healthier for tomorrow. You can thank me by showing up for a meal sans shirt again. Nathan and I promise to only drool in an appropriate manner, so you feel appreciated, but not objectified.

And we do appreciate you. Your house is wonderful and we love it. It’s just too bad that you never seem to be home to enjoy it. Call me if you’ll make it home for dinner tonight…and again, remember, shirts are optional at Toni’s Bistro (where our motto is “We don’t kill the customers.”)

Have a great day, Detective.

~Toni (the one trying not to kill you)

P.S. There’s hot coffee in the carafe on the counter.

Brian laughed and peeked in the box to find a variety of a dozen different types of doughnuts. Yeah, he’d definitely get out of shape quick if he made this a habit, but he grabbed a chocolate-covered one anyway. He’d leave the rest of the box for the teenager who would probably wipe them out before afternoon.

Grabbing a travel mug out of the cabinet, he filled it with coffee and then headed out to his truck. He needed to swing by Mark Hunter’s house on the way into the police station and see if he could figure out what happened to the guy and their meeting last night. It was probably too much to hope that Mark was ready to confess all and turn on his friends and brother, but with the missing DNA evidence, Brian could hope.

The twins lived together in a house in the older part of town. They both were college students, although based on Matt’s transcript he was making a career out of flunking and skipping his classes.

When Brian pulled up to the house, he examined it. Honestly, it was cleaner and neater than he expected. The lawn was trimmed and edged, with no visible trash or junk. There were even flowers in the flower-beds. An older model truck was parked in the driveway, and all the blinds for the house were closed.

As he approached the front door, he noticed that it wasn’t closed tightly. A chill of premonition rolled over his spine as he pulled his service revolver out of his shoulder holster. He knocked lightly on the door as he pushed it open. Not a single sound came from the interior of the house. He called out, “Mark or Matt, are you guys here?”

No answer.

Moving quickly and silently, he scanned the living room. Nothing but a couple of empty beer bottles. The kitchen was completely clean. On the surface, the house appeared to be deserted.

He crept down the hall, moving cautiously from door to door of the bedrooms and bathroom. Besides unmade beds and a few dirty clothes lying about, there wasn’t any sign of the guys who lived here.

He headed toward a sunroom. The shadow of swaying feet moved along the wall, cast from the bright morning sun. Stepping into the doorway, he found Mark’s body swinging from a noose that had been tied around the exposed rafters of the room. The open, unblinking eyes told him that he was too late.

Closing his eyes for a moment to reflect against the waste of it all, he pulled out his cell phone to call it in. After he called the precinct, he examined the room to see if he could spot any evidence before the CSI guys arrived. There wasn’t any sign of visible struggle, but there also wasn’t a suicide note that he could see, yet. Mark was not a small guy and it wouldn’t have been easy to string him up there if he hadn’t been cooperating. So was this a suicide? If so, why had the front door been ajar?

There was no doubt the guy had been upset last night, but why would Mark ask to meet him and then kill himself? That didn’t add up, unless somehow he was trying to make sure Brian found him instead of his twin brother, Matt.

The medical examiner, forensics, and Eddie all showed up within minutes of each other. As the forensics and medical examiner teams did their thing, he and Eddie watched.

“So what does your gut tell you?” Eddie asked.

“He was upset last night, to the point of almost panic, but I didn’t get depressed or suicidal vibes from him. This doesn’t sit well with me. I just don’t feel like it was a suicide, but if it wasn’t, how would someone else get him strung up there?”

“Have you seen any sign of his brother yet?”

“No, and that’s definitely a huge question mark. If Matt was here last night, how did he miss this? We’ll have to wait for the ME to give us an approximate time of death.  We probably should put out an APB on the brother.”

Just then footsteps pounded down the hall and Matt Hunter skidded to a halt at the doorway of the room. When he caught sight of his brother, he crumpled to the floor with a horrified, “No!” that echoed out over the whole room. Horror and grief flooded his face as he stared disbelievingly up at his dead twin, tears overflowing onto his cheeks.

His gaze swung to the detectives. “What happened? Who did this?” He charged over to his brother’s body. It took both men to hold him back as Matt uttered ‘no’ over and over again, the anguish in his voice palpable as it echoed over the room.

Pulling against the man, Brian placated him. “Matt, you can’t touch anything. Let the forensics guys process the scene or we won’t be able to figure out what happened.”

Suddenly Matt wilted as his eyes filled with tears again. “We can’t just leave him hanging there.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he looked on in horror.

“They will get him down as soon as they can.” Brian exchanged looks with Eddie, who gave a slight nod. “Come on, let’s go back to the kitchen while they work and maybe we can ask you a few questions about last night.”

Reluctantly Matt pulled his eyes from his twin to look at them in confusion. “Ask me questions? Why?” His mouth dropped open. “No, you don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? Don’t you think if I knew he was going to do something like this, I would have stopped him?” His voice broke. “He’s my brother, my twin.”

Eddie herded Matt toward the kitchen. “We only want to figure out what happened and that means piecing together the events of last night.”

Matt nodded, the shock of his twin’s death making him pale, as he dropped onto a chair at the kitchen table.

Brian took the lead for the questioning as he sat across from Matt. “When was the last time you talked to Mark?”

Matt scowled down toward his folded hands on the table. “It was right before dinner last night. I wanted him to go out with us, but he didn’t want to go.”

Brian noticed Matt had some new scrapes across his knuckles like he’d been in another fight.

“Who all went with you?”

“Just some guys from my
chem class.”

“Were James Marshall and Brady Walsh part of that group?”

“No, not specifically, but I did see James while I was out.”

“What time did you see him and where?”

Matt shrugged. “I saw James at a party at a girl’s house. I don’t know what time it was. Maybe around ten. He was being an asshole so I didn’t stick around for long.”

“Being an asshole how?” asked Eddie.

“He was harassing a girl and then talking shit about Mark. He’s an asshole when he’s been drinking.”

“Does he have matching wounds to go with your bruised knuckles?”

Matt glanced down at his right hand and grudgingly said, “He might.”

“So how did you leave things with him?”

Matt cracked a smile for the first time all day. “He was on the ground, cursing a blue streak.”

That was an interesting attitude considering they were supposedly friends.

“Back to Mark, you said James talked about him. Did he act like he’d seen him recently or been in touch with him?”