Chapter Five

Link

“Ithink that—”

Barging into the kitchen area, Link stopped in mid-speech.

Expecting to find Eagle, he came face-to-face with Ice.

“Ice.” Link rubbed at the back of his head, wondering what the hell was going on. Had Eagle brought Ice to the crime scene and if so, why?

“Hello, Link.” Ice gave him a slow nod.

“What brings you here?”

“Helping out.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Eagle and I just got back from working a case down near San Diego.”

A case? They worked a case together? Link felt like he’d missed a memo. He swallowed at his sudden heartburn and rubbed at his chest. “Are you working for Pegasus now?”

“No. I’m just doing a few trial runs,” Ice said. The man’s eyes were so light they appeared to be an icy blue, and that combined with blond hair falling loose put Ice in the very good-looking category.

A trial run meant Ace was hiring and someone was probably retiring. Or it could be that they were taking on too many cases to handle all of them. Not too long ago, Link had heard that Ice was joining Erebus.

Link could see it; the cautious way the man moved and worked made him seem fitting for an assassin. Link remembered the last job he and Eagle had worked, and Ice had been there. The guy was good—really good.

“Is Seven with you?”

“No.” Ice didn’t mince his words. Wearing black tactical gear, the guy stood confident and waiting. What was he waiting for? Did Ice think Link would dismiss him? He’d thought about it for a second, but then decided he was being ridiculous. Eagle didn’t have a thing for Ice. Annoyed with himself, he glanced at Owen, who had been studying pieces of charred debris on the counter, but the man had stopped when he and Ice started talking.

“What are you looking for?” Link asked.

“I’ll know when I see it, but I have a hunch.” Owen turned back to the small pile.

“Okay, Ice, since you’re here to help, team up with Owen. See if you two can find something the crime scene techs might have missed.”

The corner of Ice’s sexy mouth quirked. “Will do.”

The floorboards creaked behind him and Link swung around to find Eagle coming from the back, cuddling a…puppy. The thing was cute, wiggling, and slobbering over Eagle’s chin with its small pink tongue. Eagle’s deep chuckle sent a tingle down Link’s spine.

“Where’d you find her?” Link asked when Eagle walked right up to him. He reached out and scratched beneath the dog’s tiny chin.

“I found him in the back office beneath some crap.”

“Well, let’s give Detective Wall a job.” Link snorted.

Eagle grinned and for a moment, Link felt transported back in time to all the pets they’d rescued together. In their line of work, they often came across displaced pets and had taken pleasure in reuniting them with their owners. Link could tell by the look on Eagle’s face that the big, gruff soldier loved that part of the job, and Eagle had voiced many times through the years that he’d love to get a pet of his own.

It reminded Link of the time they’d found an old dog in one of the factories they’d converged on. Fuck, it must have been eight years ago if he remembered correctly. The interior of the warehouse had been a mess and had smelled of mildew and rot. Every bit of the old place had been damaged by a fire and weather through the years, but their suspect had led Fury there. It had taken his Special Forces unit a few minutes to locate the suspect and neutralize him, and then it had taken another hour to find a foster home for the old dog they’d found lying its gray head on a rotted mattress. The animal had been emaciated from lack of food, so it had taken time to locate someone to care for the dog. In the end, Eagle had shelled out money to the foster family to care for Odis—what the new family had named him—until he was finally laid to rest.

Link remembered the sheen that had hit Eagle’s gray eyes the day they’d gotten the call about a year after rescuing the dog. Link had gone out of his way to cheer Eagle up by reminding him that Odis had a really good final year. And sometimes, that was all a person or animal could ask for.

“Link?”

He shook those thoughts away when Eagle called his name and curled his fingers through the pup’s soft fur again. Even after Odis, there had been many pets to rescue, but neither of them had ever owned one. Link supposed it boiled down to being too busy with work to get a dog.

Link had lived in an apartment as long as he could remember after the service. Then he’d lived at Eagle’s aunt’s house and well…after that? Currently, he found the Pegasus bunker just fine. There were several small sleeping quarters that suited his needs. He needed nothing more.

“Lead the way,” Eagle said, breaking into his thoughts again.

Link dropped his hand from the dog and headed out of the kitchen. He clearly heard each step Eagle took behind him. He was way too close, and Link knew if he stopped, Eagle would be right there. His stomach heated and he picked up the pace and didn’t draw a deep breath until he was out in the parking lot.

Link blinked at the darkness. No longer hearing Eagle, Link spun quickly and smashed into the bigger man. Eagle held the pup out of harm’s way and curled a thickly muscled arm around his waist. Link was pulled against Eagle, chest to groin, and he jerked his head up, breath coming in a quick, silent rush to find Eagle’s smoky eyes on his mouth.

Pulling away was difficult but he did it and was proud of himself. Fuck, it hurt. It was like prying apart two magnets that were meant to be together. Magnets? Link almost snorted; try electromagnets with electricity supercharged. Stop, he silently admonished himself.

“Detective Wall is this way,” Link croaked, and he stalked off in the direction of the detective. He didn’t dare turn around again in case Eagle was too close, but he couldn’t get the feel of the man’s hard body out of his mind. In fact, he would have sworn that another part of Eagle had been just as h—

“What’s that?” Wall said, pointing to Eagle, who’d come up behind him so close, Link could feel the heat coming off the man.

“It’s the owner’s dog,” Link said, clearing the frog in his throat.

Eagle stepped around him, brushing their shoulders and arms together, and held out the puppy to the detective. Wall had no option but to take the wiggling animal.

“Was the pup left here for a week?” Eagle growled.

“I don’t know,” Wall said.

“Find out why they abandoned him.”

“Maybe he was lost in the blast,” Wall offered and Eagle squinted, clearly not believing the lame excuse.

“If that is the case, see that he gets to his owners,” Eagle said in that deep, authoritative voice that brooked no arguing.

Detective Wall clutched the puppy and nodded as if he was used to taking orders from others. Link knew that wasn’t the case; the reason Wall did as he was told was because of Eagle. The man commanded respect and obedience wherever he went.

Except from Link. No way in hell did he obey Eagle. They had a mutually respectful partnership.

Okay, that wasn’t true at the moment. Right then, they didn’t have much of a partnership at all.

Eagle glanced down and Link glared into the man’s eyes.

“Get back to work,” Link snapped.

“Yes, boss.”

Link wanted to wipe that smirk from Eagle’s lips, but the ex-Special Forces soldier was already walking away.

Link finally let out the breath he was holding.