26. FNG

“The drunk is the team leader,”I grumbled to myself. “I should be the team leader. I was flying solo for a whole year.”

“Would you please shut the fuck up?” Dash snapped. “Fuck, you disappeared. Fantastic. It’s over with, okay?”

“You know, everyone was so devastated when I was gone. Where’s the love now?”

“It went out the window the moment you thought you were the team leader.”

“And you think this is okay?” I asked, pointing to where Max and Fox were talking with one of the neighbors. The suspect had already left, but Max wanted more intel on the asshole neighbor.

Dash’s jaw clenched in anger. “Who the fuck knows what’s going on. Fox is…acting strange and Max is a fucking mess on the best of days. And for some fucking strange reason, you thought it was a good idea to put the three of you together.”

“There is nothing wrong with me,” I huffed in aggravation. “This is what I do. There’s a reason Cash told me to lead up this team.”

Dash’s head swiveled to meet my gaze. “Cash met up with me and asked me to watch out for the team.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I beg to differ,” he scoffed.

“When did he meet with you?”

“Five minutes before we left,” Dash said, eyeing me carefully. “When did he talk to you?”

I didn’t want to admit that he met with me earlier. That made it look like he was only saying I was in charge to placate me, but then turned around and had an entirely different conversation with Dash.

“Same.”

“It can’t be the same,” Dash argued. “He didn’t speak with you and me simultaneously, but neither of us knew it.”

“Well…they’re coming back,” I said, straightening in my seat.

“We’re not done talking about this.”

It was the reprieve I needed while I sorted shit out.

“Nothing,” Max said as he got in the passenger side. Fox got behind the wheel and took off as Max filled us in. “The neighbors stay away from him because he’s so fucking weird. But they haven’t seen or heard anything that would help.”

“That’s fine,” I said confidently. “We’ll snatch this fucker and make him talk.”

“I’ll make him talk,” Fox grinned. “I can’t wait to get inside this guy’s head.”

I glanced at Dash and shrugged. I wasn’t sure what got into Fox, but it was good to have him back. Fox pulled over just a block from the bar and got out, signaling I was going in.

Max rolled his eyes at me. Stupid fucker. Yes, he already knew I was going in, but that’s what we did. It was all about communication with your team, and that’s what I was doing.

“Approaching the bar,” I said into comms. “No one suspicious at the moment.”

“We’re heading around back,” Max answered.

I swung the front door open and strolled inside, looking around the bar for the fucker. I was suddenly overcome with longing for my days in Mexico with Honey. I found a table in a dark corner, feeling that old spark of adrenaline rush through me as I pulled a cigar from my pocket. It was just like old times.

“What can I get you?” the waitress asked.

She didn’t have those beautiful eyes that Honey had, but that didn’t matter. I wasn’t in Mexico. That didn’t mean I couldn’t adopt the persona I had there.

“Whiskey,” I said, my voice coming out low and gravelly.

I lit my cigar as she turned to leave. Smoke filled the space around me as I watched a new group of men enter the bar. Bikers. Dressed in leather from head to toe and tats covering their arms, they thought they were tough shit. We’d see about that.

The waitress returned with my whiskey, raising an eyebrow at me. “You can’t smoke in here.”

I took a puff and slowly released the smoke. “Yeah? Who’s gonna stop me?”

She glared at me, then snapped her fingers in the air. The bar filled with silence as a chair scraped across the floor. My eyes flicked to the man who stood, turning to face me.

I swallowed hard as the man stalked over to me. He must have been at least seven feet tall with massive shoulders and muscles that rivaled every single man at OPS. I choked on my smoke as he cocked his head at me.

“Do we have a problem?”

“Yeah, this asshole won’t put out his cigar.”

Never in my life had I been scared of anything, except for right now.

“Out of the chair.” His voice rumbled across the table and skittered down my spine.

But I refused to be pushed around by this guy. I was trained by the best of the best, and I bowed to no one. “Make me.”

A scary smile spread across his lips as he grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me out of the chair. “Is this what you had in mind?”

“Yeah,” I wheezed out. “Something like that.”

It occurred to me right before he tossed me across the bar that maybe my approach wasn’t the best. There was a first time for everything.