Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Woodley

A fucking date.

Woodley held tight to his anger as the dude followed Harris out of the washroom. Buy him a drink? I’ll bury the asshole.

He understood this was a necessary part of the operation, but it didn’t make it any easier. Woodley knew he had to shove his jealousy shit down.

“ It sucks,” Conor said as he joined Woodley on the back deck of their rental. The massive oak loaming over the backyard stood in silent vigil to their conversation.

“ What sucks?” Woodley asked.

“ Watching your loved ones in danger.”

How did he answer that question? Whatever Woodley said, Conor would discern the truth anyway. His gift guaranteed that.

So, silence was his best play right now.

“ Don’t worry,” Conor said. “I’m not judging you or trying to trap you.”

“ Then why does it feel that way?” Woodley asked.

“ Because you’re caught in the middle. To leave yourself open and love someone or not. It’s not an easy position to be in; trust me, I know.”

“ Yeah, Gunner doesn’t seem like the mushy type to me,” Woodley chuckled, imagining the hulking beast of a man any other way. “I’ll have to agree with you.”

Conor laughed, easily setting Woodley at ease. The man had a talent that Woodley believed had more to do with him as a person than what the scientists spliced together. The man might be a human lie detector, but that didn’t make him the good person he was; that was all Conor.

“ He wanted to knock my block off the first time we met,” Conor said. “I don’t blame him, though; I was responsible for leading his horrible in-laws to him.”

“ Yeah, they tried to take Ben away from Gunner.” Woodley remembered being told the story. “That sucks.”

“ True, and thankfully, that never happened,” Conor agreed.

“ Ben looks happy with Uncle Gunner and his dad Jason. Fire Lake has certainly become home to a wide range of people,” Woodley commented.

“ It’s unique, that’s for sure. Makes you forget the shit going on outside the town limits. The discrimination and violence found in other places toward the LGBTQ+ community feels distant at times, though we can never allow ourselves to become complacent.”

“ Complacency is the quickest way to ensure death to freedom,” Woodley said. One fact he truly believed and strived to fight against.

“ So true,” Conor agreed. “I guess that’s why Harris has decided to take the bull by the horns.”

“ Why do you say that?” Woodley asked. That was a new take on this screwed-up endeavor.

“ Now that he has his sister back, he could sit back safe and allow the group to carry on unchecked, becoming complacent. Instead, he’s taking steps to stop them. To ensure continued freedom for those already affected by their cruelty and who’ve escaped and for those who have yet to be touched by their violence and pain. But they could be in the future. It’s a fight for their freedom, even if they don’t know it yet and never know who to thank. It’s a fight many people have fought for the LGBTQ+ community over the decades.”

Woodley sat back in his chair, shocked. He hadn’t thought of it that way. Was what Harris attempting to do likened to the fight against discrimination and for freedom of that diverse community? True, Harris was risking his life to protect people he didn’t even know, people tied together by one defining factor.

The existence of the Noah Group.

***

Harris

“ Time to take that guy up on his offer,” Harris said as he rechecked the camera embedded in the second button of his shirt.

Be careful, brother. Jennifer’s voice floated through Harris’s head.

I will. Try not to worry.

Her laughter was the only reply to that impossible request.

“ We’ll be watching,” Brick said. “If anything goes south, give the signal, and we’ll be down in seconds. Fletcher will be stationed in the stairwell one floor above to have a direct shot into the restaurant if necessary.”

“ Got it, but isn’t it the point they try to recapture me?” Harris asked with a knowing chuckle.

“ Capture, not eliminate,” Brick stated.

“ Gotcha,” he said, and because he couldn’t help himself, he followed it up with. “I always knew you cared.”

“ Don’t push it,” Brick said. “We’re more concerned about Jennifer and Woodley burning down the city.”

Harris laughed and grabbed a twenty out of his wallet before throwing it back onto the desk. He didn’t need to carry ID; they knew who he was. As he waited for the elevator, his cell phone began vibrating. When he saw the name on the screen, he debated on whether he should answer, but the part of him that missed the man won out even though he knew Woodley was likely pissed.

“ What’s up?”

“ My blood pressure.”

Harris could hold back his chuckle. “I figured.”

“ Does the asshole want to fuck you or capture you?”

“ I’m going with capture,” Harris assured. “You’re the only man I fuck.”

Harris could hear Woodley let out a long hiss of breath, likely calming himself, so he waited. Letting the guy come to his senses without forcing the issue would be best. Worry and jealousy were a volatile combination.

“ Damn right. Asshole’s got a death wish.”

“ Easy, dude. This is all part of the plan.”

“ I get it.”

“ Do you?” Harris had to ask.

“ It still sucks.”

“ A means to an end.”

“ Just as long as it’s not your end,” Woodley said with a bit of a growl in his deep voice.

The guy didn’t have a clue how damn sexy he was.

“ I hate to cut this short, but the elevator is almost to the ground floor.”

“ Fine, just be careful.”

“ I will,” he said. “You too.”

“ Listen, Harris. Um, I—”

“ I know,” Harris said before Woodley could say something more.

The last thing he wanted was words forced out due to conditions beyond their control.

The elevator dinged its arrival, and Harris disconnected the call. That could be the last time the two of them spoke. Reality sucked, but nothing he did would change what was about to happen. As he walked back into the restaurant and up to the bar, that reality hit as Harris saw his mark in the same seat as he was earlier. Showtime .

“ Here we go,” he whispered, knowing the team could hear and see what he saw.

It was time to draw the fly into his web; however, exactly who was the fly and who was the spider was still up for debate, and which side of the equation you were on.

As he sat down at the bar, a couple of stools over from the guy, Harris noticed a giant of a man sitting at the far end of the bar who he hadn’t seen before. The dude didn’t acknowledge either of them, so he could be a civilian, but Harris would keep his eyes on the guy until he was positive.

“ Hey,” his “date” said, smiling widely.

“ Hey.”

“ Where are your friends?” he asked.

“ Don’t know. Don’t care,” Harris grumbled, retaining the storyline of the disgruntled team member.

“ Ah, got it. How about a beer?”

“ Sure, why not? Budweiser.”

The guy motioned the bartender over. “Two Buds. I’m Joe, by the way,” he said, holding his hand out.

“ Harris,” he replied, shaking Joe’s hand. No need to lie about his name—the guy likely already knew it.

“ Nice to meet you,” Joe said. “I’m glad you had the chance to come back for a drink.”

“ Yeah, well, I had nothing else going on.” He was still going with the not-too-eager persona.

The bartender brought over their beers, and Harris took a swig. He wanted to remain aloof. He might give himself away or raise the guy’s suspicions if he seemed too into him.

“ That makes me lucky, then. So, what brings you to town, Harris?”

“ Friends of mine had business in town. You?” That was vague enough while still being plausible.

“ Service call. I work in IT, and my boss sends me out when shit hits the fan. However, I don’t mind; New Orleans is a great place to visit,” Joe said before drinking his beer.

“ Yeah, seems like the place has a lot to offer visitors,” Harris replied. Yep, he sucked at small talk.

“ Have you ever been to Bourbon Street?”

“ Nope.”

“ You’d like it. All the music, bars and restaurants. If it’s a party you’re looking for, that’s the place to find it.”

“ Maybe I’ll check it out.”

“ I could show you around. I come here for work often and have gotten to know the place well,” Joe offered.

“ Maybe. I don’t know how long we’ll be in town.”

Joe nodded and took another drink. A football game was on the television above the bar, and Harris made it appear like he was watching it. The giant at the end of the bar had a plate of wings in front of him and was watching the game as well. Harris could almost see the wheels turning in Joe’s head, likely trying to devise a reason to keep him engaged.

“ Two more Buds,” Joe said to the bartender. “You hungry?” he asked Harris.

He had to throw the guy a bone. “I could eat.”

Joe’s relief was palpable. Woodley wondered if Spencer was getting anywhere with identifying the men who’d been following the team so far. Harris hoped he was having better luck than him. This division of the Noah Group appeared to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.