Or he was distracted.
“What’s wrong?”Crosby asked, removing his earwear and stepping away from the shooting corridor to the table in the back, where he pulled out his cleaning kit and proceeded to break down and empty his weapon to clean.Joey did the same, the space eerily silent since they were the only two down there for this session.
“I….”Joey was horrified to find himself tempted to blurt out all the… thethingsgoing on in his chest about Chadwick, but Jesus, poor Crosby.Who wanted to be subjected tothat?Joey had the feeling Crosby had his own problems.He’d been sleeping on Gail’s couch a lot in the last few weeks so he could help her with basic stuff: dressing, bathing, getting to work.If he’d ever thought the two of them were sleeping together—and he hadn’t, because Gideon said the smells weren’t meshing—that idea would have been killed quickly watching Crosby’s patientbrotherlyconcern over his friend and partner since she’d been down for the count.
But hedidhave something he could share.“Overwatch,” he said after a moment.“You feeling up to it?”
Crosby grimaced.“I ran it a little when I was recovering from that dog-bite thing.Not my favorite, no, but mostly ’cause… you know.You worry.It’s like, ‘Hey, I just sent my friends there.I hope they don’t get dead ’cause I made a fucking decision,’ you know?”
Joey grinned at him.“Yeah, I fuckingknow.It’s like, ‘I’ll face that shit myself, thank you, but don’t let me throw someone else at it because,damn.’”
Crosby nodded glumly, his handsome All-American football hero face assuming an anxious expression that made Carlyle appreciate him more.“Well,” he said, after a few moments of replacing his gun and cleaning kit in the case, using precision and care also at odds with his appearance.“Maybe Harding’s new hire will be King Shit Overwatch, and you and me can relax.”
“New hire?”Where had Joey been for this?
“Yeah, heard him on the phone with Blodgett.Said the guy was the best he’d seen since you, so, you know, you don’t have to be King Shit New Guy anymore.”
Joey snorted.“I wasn’t the King Shit New Guy, Crosby.That was you.”
It was Crosby’s turn to snort.“Fuckin’ Jesus, a year and a half and I finally barely beat you at small arms?What’re you drinking?”
Rum and coke.The thought came out of nowhere and made Joey smile.
“Whatever it is, it means I’m too stoned to do overwatch—so there.”
Crosby’s deep chuckle was reassuring.It meant that even if one of them ended up alone with a computer screen while the other was following his orders into hell, neither one of them were really alone.
A WEEKlater, Calix Garcia swaggered into the staff room.Joey saw it happen.He took two steps in, his eyes sought out Judson Crosby, who was sitting next to Gail, assembling info on their perp, and he froze.Joey wasn’t sure if anybody else could read his face, his reactions, the way his breath caught and his brown eyes widened, the tautness of his compact, muscular body, but Joey could.
He’d remember it forever because he’d never seen anybody actually find his mateat first sight before.Except that wasn’t even the real words for it.It wasn’tfind his mate.It was—
No.No no no no no no….
Because admitting something like that was real was like admitting he still believed in Sky Woman or Maple Sapling or Flint—the old stories his grandfather told when he was still a child and allowed to hunt by his grandfather’s side.
It was impossible.It was….
Harding called them all to order, and all thoughts of that gnawing in his chest, the need that had only grown since that night on Gideon’s couch, fled.
They had an active perpetrator on a killing spree, and it was all hands on deck.
CHADWICK ANDCarlyle got to the deserted nightclub just as the two ambulances were leaving, and Joey heard Gideon’s voice pitching as he spoke to Gail over comms.
“Hewhat?”
“He was wearing a vest,” Gail said, her voice gritty, “and the perpetrator shot Crosby point blank before Crosby brought him down.Cracked ribs.Punctured lung.He’s on the way to the hospital for surgery.Garcia and Harding have custody of a witness who’s going to need some cozening—maybe a night in one of our emotional trauma centers, someplace safe.Crosby picked up on the fact that this kid was abused a lot at home, and even though he’s not a minor, his family isn’t going to be too excited about him being involved at anything at a gay nightclub.”
“Shit,” Gideon muttered.“Does Garcia know the particulars?”
“I don’t know,” Gail muttered.“Yes.Probably.Fuck.”
It was the first time Joey had ever heard her rattled as overwatch.Fucking Crosby.
“We’ll take care of them,” Gideon promised, and while Joey heard the stress in his voice, he was pretty sure he sounded reassuring to Gail.“Don’t worry.You keep us apprised on Crosby, and we’ll make sure our wits land and the new guy isn’t terrified.Square?”
“Four by four,” she replied, and Joey breathed out a sigh of relief.
Gideon disconnected and spent a moment hunting for a parking spot that wouldn’t snarl traffic for miles in either direction.He found one and paused for a moment, eyes closed, face toward the sun.
