Chapter 4

FOUR

August knew before they'd even come to a stop at Michael and Joshua's place that ASIO had already been. He wasn't surprised. He also wasn't surprised that the secret door in the water tank had been opened with an angle grinder, by the looks of it.

They clearly had neither the smarts nor the time to figure out the lock.

But the guns were gone.

The house had been broken into, the door still ajar, and that just pissed August off.

So disrespectful.

They didn't care.

And that's when August realised he did. He did care.

Not about protocol or government agencies having the right to break and enter—not in this instance, anyway—but he cared about Michael and Joshua.

Not that those were their names.

Not that August knew them at all, apparently.

He tried googling Timothy "Harry" Harrigan and got nothing. Even his photo that Deans had found had somehow been scrubbed from the internet.

August had a hard time thinking of him as Harry, or Timothy. To him, he was Michael Hill. A newcomer to Tallowwood, moved here with his husband, Joshua. They kept to themselves mostly, and even though August knew there was something dark about them, he'd always assumed they were dangerous and ex-military, he still liked them.

He couldn't help it.

Now, August had no clue exactly what government mess he'd stumbled into. Like, he had no clue just who Michael and Joshua Hill really were, or what they'd done before they moved here. But he couldn't quite believe the two men who'd stood in his kitchen the other night, who had asked them to please look after their little cat, who'd told August to lock the house and keep the lights off, were a danger to him.

As August stood outside Michael and Joshua's house, looking at the destroyed tank, at the broken lock to the house, he realised why.

"What is it?" Jake asked. "You got that scowl that never bodes well."

"Just thinking," he said quietly.

"About? The fact those assholes just left the place wide open? Or the fact they took the case from us? Three missing men and not a fuck to be given, apparently."

August found himself smirking, glad they were on the same page. "Not a single one." Then he sighed. "You know, I was just thinking about Michael and Joshua. Or whatever their names are, or what they've done. And the very little we really know about them at all. "

Jake smiled at him. "And you can't figure out for the life of you why you like them."

August laughed. Jake really knew him too well. "I shouldn't. But I do."

"Wanna know what I think?"

"Always."

"No, we don't know who they really are or what they did. Or what made them leave at two in the morning. We know they're dangerous, we know Joshua has sniper skills, and we know that Michael could probably take someone's head off with his bare hands."

August nodded. That was probably true.

"But they have... I dunno, an air of integrity to them that's hard to describe."

August met his gaze then. "Yes! That's what I've been trying to pinpoint. That's exactly it. Like an unspoken integrity. Those ASIO suits were sleazy and shady. And for all the things Michael and Joshua ever lied about or hid from us, they still weren't like that."

"Like if it ever came down to it, you'd want Michael and Joshua on your side over those ASIO dicks."

August snorted. "I mean, yeah. You've seen Joshua with a rifle." He ran his hand through his hair. "Jokes aside, I already chose a side though, didn't I? I mean, I warned them about those three men turning up and put a target on their heads."

"That was different," Jake said. "That was a case of kill or be killed. Would you rather find Michael and Joshua dead here? Or if it escalated in town and involved civilians? Those three men signed their own death certificates when they came here to kill Michael and Joshua. It wasn't your fault."

Well, it kinda was. But still . . .

"If you could go back in time, would you do anything differently?" Jake asked.

August didn't need to answer. It was a rhetorical question, to prove his point. Because no, August wouldn't change what he did.

Jake nodded and let out a sigh. "Whatever they did before they moved here... well, whatever Michael did, good or bad, was under orders. He worked for the government doing some pretty dark stuff, no doubt, in the name of this country. And that's a loyalty you respect. You wouldn't have warned them otherwise."

August thought about that for a long moment. It was true, mostly. The real question August wasn't ready to answer was would he have done anything differently if ASIO had called him, informed him, and specifically told him not to warn Michael or Joshua. What would he have done then?

August wasn't sure he liked the answer.

He shook his head and let out a long sigh. "I think maybe they moved here for a quiet life, to lie low and find some peace. And I respect that."

"And the fact they're a couple." Jake shrugged. "A gay couple. I mean, it's hard enough in our line of work. Can't imagine what it's like in theirs."

August almost smiled. "Can you imagine anyone telling Michael and Joshua Hill they didn't agree with ‘their lifestyle'?"

Jake laughed. "Not if they wanted to live."

August nodded and looking out into the trees, he sighed again. "I still wonder who called the first time, back in December. Said they were ASIO but weren't."

"Someone who works with Michael and Joshua?"

"Probably. "

"Same person Joshua was trying to text. The same reason the three Croatian nationals turned up. I mean, it's all gotta be related."

"You'd think so."

"Do we want to even guess who Joshua really is?"

August inhaled deeply and sighed. "Nope. Pretty sure we don't want to know the answer to that."

"True." Jake was quiet for a moment. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?"

"I don't know. I doubt it." August felt a little sad about that, even though he knew he shouldn't. "Anyway, let's get this place locked up for them. That way, if they do come back, the forest animals won't have moved in."

"Yeah, okay. Regardless of all the unknowns and all the secrets, I hope they're okay."

August clapped him on the shoulder as they headed for the house. "Same."

RANONG, THAILAND

Harry knew Asher was a ticking time bomb, and there was little he could do to stop it.

Part of him didn't want to stop it.

He wanted to protect Asher, yes. But he was hurting and angry—which Harry totally understood—and if Asher wanted to raze a path of destruction, then Harry would gladly help him.

They'd been out of the game for two years. A lifetime in the killing game. They'd been aging out anyway, which was why they'd had a price on their heads. They'd been loose ends that couldn't be tied off. God knows, men had tried.

Younger men, keen to prove a name for themselves. Thinking they could take out Harry Harrigan and Asher Garin. Fools, they were.

Dead fools now.

Though Harry was certain those younger men's bodies didn't ache in the mornings, joints stiff, and muscles sore.

Well, when they were alive, that was.

Taking those three Croatian men out had been easy enough. Harry and Asher had the element of surprise on their side, thanks to August Shaw.

Those men definitely weren't there to fish or camp. They had knives and rifles. Plastic 3D-printed types they hadn't even got around to fully assemble when Harry and Asher found them.

They also had a map with Harry and Asher's place marked on it. Harry took out the first two with perfect aim, then Asher had tried to get the third guy to talk.

Harry couldn't understand much. It was all in Croatian, but when Asher started to smash the guy's head in with the plastic rifle stock, Harry was sure the interrogation was over.

"He refused to talk," Asher had said. "And to think they were going to kill us with plastic rifles. A fucking children's toy!" he'd cried, duly offended. "I've never been more insulted."

Harry had smiled at that.

He wasn't smiling now.

Like when he had to carry three bodies deeper into the woods. He wasn't smiling then. He was too old for that shit.

Asher had helped, of course, but Harry did the heavy lifting. They'd taken them into the ravine on their land, where the wild pigs had their dugout. The rutting season was over, the earth was all dug up, trees, roots, leaves. Appetites were frenzied.

See, the thing about wild pigs is that they'll demolish a human body, hair, bones, and all.

It was why Harry and Asher fed them sometimes, adding some bones and blood to their diet over the last two years. So they'd come in handy in a time like this.

Wild pigs had even been known to eat clothes and boots. Not that Harry and Asher risked that, but three naked bodies, slit open and for the taking?

They'd be gone in twenty-four hours.

Not that it mattered.

Because it was highly unlikely Harry and Asher would be returning to Tallowwood, to their little house in the woods. And that made Harry's heart heavy. They'd finally had the perfect place, to live out their perfectly quiet lives.

Until that came to an end.

If he was being honest with himself, Harry was surprised they'd even got two years. And it was a perfect two years.

Until he got complacent . . .

Now he wasn't sure where they'd go after this, if they survived. He couldn't put his finger on it, but this felt final. He didn't know why.

He didn't want to know.

Asher needed his help. Yunho and Lucas were missing, and Asher would stop at nothing to find them. And Harry would be right beside him the whole way.

Till the end.

"You awake?" Asher asked.

Harry shot him a look. "Yeah. Of course." He hadn't been asleep . Jeez. They were walking along a street in broad daylight, for fuck's sake. He'd been lost in his thoughts, that's all. Which wasn't conducive to staying alive, but still. "Wassup?"

"The doctor's office is this way," Asher said, nodding up the alley.

Harry and Asher had watched the two smiling maintenance guys board their boat, loaded up with crates of vegetables and food—Yunho's standard weekly order—heading out to Yunho's island. Well, according to the guy who sold them the boat. And if they were going out there as if nothing was wrong, then they had no clue what they were about to find.

Meaning Harry and Asher could assume they knew nothing.

It also meant they'd alert the authorities, so the police were about to be involved. Time was running out.

The doctor's office was the next visit, and given it was early morning, Harry didn't expect her to be too busy yet. The thing about life in sleepy Thai villages was that everyone was smiling, only too happy to help. So of course the reception lady opened the door for them, telling them to please sit, please sit.

So they sat and waited while the receptionist disappeared and came back with the doctor.

Who was smiling... until she saw who it was. Harry had to give her props for her stoicism, and she held the door for them. "Come through," she said. She offered them two chairs opposite her desk, but Harry and Asher both remained standing.

"Do you remember us?" Harry asked.

She looked at Asher. "Of course. It's been a while, but it's not something I'm likely to forget." She swallowed hard, studying his face. "Your injuries have healed well..."

"Yunho and Lucas are missing," Asher said flatly. "Their house was open, ransacked. Aranya and Narong are dead."

She paled. "Oh my."

"Whoever did it knew about the war room," Harry said.

She squinted a little. "The... the war room?"

"The basement," Asher explained.

She raised her hands. "Gentlemen, I don't know anything about a basement or a war room. I don't even want to know what that is," she whispered. "Mr Oh is my patient. I do house calls to him and him alone, because he pays considerably well." Then she shrugged. "And because of his condition."

"Agoraphobia," Asher said.

"Right." She nodded. "He can't leave the island. He suffers crippling anxiety at the thought, as I'm sure you know."

"I know," Asher replied. "But he's not there now."

She shook her head. "I don't know anything about that. I'm not sure why you think I would."

"Because you're one of five people who have been there that are still alive." Asher's tone was ice cold.

But from the way she paled, Harry didn't believe she knew anything. "When was your last visit?"

"Ahh, two months ago, probably. Sometimes Lucas will pick up Yunho's prescription to save me the trip. If he comes to the mainland for anything."

"Prescription?" Asher asked.

She hesitated for a second, probably reconsidering her doctor-patient privilege, before she looked at both Harry and Asher and sighed. "He takes medication for anxiety and epilepsy. Only for when he needs it."

"Epilepsy?" That was news to Harry.

"From when he was in Korea," Asher explained quietly. "He was tortured and suffered fits as a result. High-stress situations would bring it on." He gave Harry a dark look. "Like being forced to leave his island."

The doctor gave a sad nod. "He was doing well," she said, then seemed to lose her train of thought. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew more. I hope he's okay. I hope they both are."

"How often did Lucas come to the mainland?" Asher asked. Harry wasn't sure why he hadn't thought to ask that.

"I don't know," she replied. "Every few weeks, I think. I really wouldn't know. I'm not privy to their daily lives. I don't know them that well. I shouldn't even be having this conversation." She shook her head, frustrated and a little frightened. "I'm sorry I can't help you. I know nothing about them, or their basement. I wish I could help you..."

They were done here. She knew nothing. It was a stretch anyway. "Thank you," Harry said, heading for the door.

Asher stood there watching her for a few long seconds, looking for a flicker of doubt or dishonesty perhaps. Eventually he turned and, seething, stormed out. The receptionist barely getting out of his way.

Harry had to catch up and pull him to a stop in the alley. "Hey," he murmured. "You need to stop and think."

Asher's nostrils flared, his eyes full of rage. "I need to kill something."

Harry lessened the grip on his arm and rubbed it instead. "We need to put together a plan. We found nothing here, and the cops are gonna be all over this place as soon as those men on that boat get to the island and alert authorities. And we need to not be here when that happens, okay?"

Asher sighed, and Harry took that as his acknowledgement.

"We need to think about what we know so far."

"We know nothing."

"Yes, we do. We know Yunho and Lucas weren't killed on sight. That means they were taken because they know something or have something that someone wants."

Asher's eyes narrowed, like that hurt to hear or as if he hadn't considered that.

And he should have.

God, they were so out of practice.

"And the other thing we know for certain is that Yunho and Lucas were taken around the same time three Croatian military guys turned up at our place. That's not a coincidence, and that's all we have right now."

"So we go to Croatia," Asher said.

Harry nodded. "So we're going to Croatia." He thought about that for a second. "I don't know where exactly to start in Croatia, but?—"

"I do," Asher said.

There was a coldness in his eyes, a detached and calculating darkness that Harry hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe ever. When they'd been on the run in Northern Africa and Asia, Asher had thought it was the most fun he'd had in ages.

Until he was captured and tortured.

Then it was Harry who was ready to burn the world down.

But this was different. This was Asher on the back foot, threatened and at a complete loss .

Whenever he'd been on an assignment before, he'd had Yunho on call with his intel and insight. Yunho was Asher's eyes in a dark world.

He didn't have that now. But he had Harry.

"We'll find them," Harry whispered. "I promise."

Asher nodded, and there was a flicker of light in his eyes for the briefest moment before it was gone, darkness taking its place. "Let's go."

"We'll need to dump the guns," Harry said. "We can't take them with us; we can't get them into Croatia."

Asher's eyes met Harry's. "We can store them. In case we ever need them. We can get whatever we need in Sarajevo. I know a guy."

Sarajevo?

"Bosnia? I thought we were going to Croatia."

"Sarajevo first."

Harry shrugged, going along with it. "Okay. Sarajevo, it is."

Storing the guns made sense. They way overpaid the storage company outside Ranong airport, ensuring silence and their storage room would remain off the books for as long as they needed. Harry got the impression this guy had made a few shady deals in his time, but he knew a handsome deal when he saw it. And expensive watches.

He also knew Asher wasn't the type to be double-crossed.

Harry was used to people shying away from him, not Asher. But the murder in Asher's eyes was kinda terrifying, Harry had to admit .

Before they walked into the airport, Harry stopped him again. "Okay, I'm going to need you to breathe and smile. If you look at airport security like you're looking at me right now, we won't be going anywhere."

Asher glowered at him.

"My point exactly." Harry couldn't believe Asher was being so unprofessional. He took him by the shoulders and stopped just short of shaking him. "Fucking stop it. If you want to help Yunho, you need to start acting like it. Where is the Asher Garin capable of reading any situation and then charming his way through? Because I need him right now."

"You don't know what I'm capable of," he murmured.

Harry let out a sigh. "Asher, I get it. You're angry and worried. I know that. I am too. But if you want to help them, you need to play the part. You're smarter than this. So play the fucking part. I know we've been out of the game for two years, but this is simple stuff. We're gonna walk in there, get through security and board a plane to Bangkok, then we're gonna do the same to get to Bosnia. And that's the last place you wanna trip any wires by pissing security off and end up on some government fucking watch list, right? Because if they find out who you really are? It's all over. We can't afford to get caught."

Fire burned in Asher's eyes, but Harry didn't care. This needed to be said.

"Yunho and Lucas can't afford for us to get caught."

Anger morphed into hurt in Asher's gaze and he shucked himself out of Harry's hold. But he didn't go too far. Harry put his hand to Asher's cheek, though Asher wouldn't look at him, so Harry kissed Asher's forehead instead.

"I love you. I love the you you've let yourself be these last two years. Happy, carefree. But right now, I need the old Asher Garin back. The Asher who could be anyone he needed to be and then gone in the blink of an eye. A shadow in the dark. No emotions, no mistakes."

Asher still wouldn't look at him but he did half a nod.

Harry kissed his forehead again. "Now let's get our game faces on so we can bring them home."