Page 103 of Oddly Fine

Beckett gave an affirmative nod.

“Alright then,” Hayes said, scooting to the edge of the bed so he could put his feet down. The hardwood floor was glacier cold, and it sent a shiver running through him.

“That’s all?” Beckett asked, clearly confused.

“If I said no, and that you’re insane, would it stop you?” Hayes asked daringly.

Beckett thought about it for a moment.

“It might delay me for a couple of hours,” he replied, looking thoughtful.

Hayes didn’t bother replying and stood up, desperate for some warm clothing. Before he could get very far, however, a blanket of warmth fell over him as the nutjob he called his boyfriend draped himself over his back. He leaned his chin down on Hayes’ shoulder and inhaled deeply, as though grounding himself.

“Thank you,” Beckett whispered in his ear. He lingered for a moment, letting their closeness sink in before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

The armored truck was parked outside of a factory, just as Beckett had said. Except what Hayes had expected to be an abandoned factory certainly was not, and it was fairly busy even in the pre-dawn hours. Additionally, it had tight security, complete with a high voltage, 10-foot fence surrounding it. The faded and dented sign hanging on the fence along the road running in front of it advertised “High Quality Doors and Windows.” But, based on the number of shipments that kept coming in and going out of the place, Hayes was positive the factory was a front for something else.

“That’s a lot of traffic,” Beckett remarked as they watched another truck stop at the front gate waiting to be let in. Hayes supposed they could have attempted to sneak in while the gate was open, but they’d most definitely get caught by the security cameras, if not by the guard.

“Why park it there?” Beckett muttered, as he watched another truck go through the open gate and turn right towards a loading dock. The armored truck they were trying to get to was parked off to the left in a shadowy part of the lot.

“It’s secure,” Hayes hazarded a guess.

“A bit too secure,” Beckett muttered disconsolately.

“Did you really think they’d build that kind of truck only to leave it in an open parking lot accessible to everyone?” Hayes asked with a chuckle.

“As a general rule, I do my best not to think,” Beckett replied absentmindedly as he released his seatbelt while staring hard at something in the rear view mirror.

“What are you doing?” Hayes sighed. There was a tension headache steadily building behind his eyes, and he was pretty sure he was looking directly at the source.

“Going in!” Beckett grinned at him and jumped out of the car.

Hayes groaned loudly, but his boyfriend was already too far away to hear him.

They’d parked in a lot several hundred feet away from the factory entrance. With no floodlights or streetlights illuminating the area, Beckett was virtually invisible as he crept away from their car. A buzzing in his back pocket had him reaching for his phone and he tapped the accept icon, amused when he saw Hayes’ name on the screen. Well, it didn’t show his real name, since he changed Hayes’ name in his contact list frequently. Today it was “Itty-bitty-sissy-snipey” with four heart emojis.

“Hey,” he whispered, as he crossed the dark parking lot. He stopped by one of the tall concrete pillars at the entrance. The old, rusted-out metal rings hammered into the middle of the pillars once held chains to block the entrance.

“I know C.U.N.T.’s might not like to plan ahead, but SEALS are very particular about attaining an objective through precise maneuvers. Mind sharing with the class what foolassery maneuvers you’re about to attempt so I can at least serve as back up?” Hayes’ extreme irritation was obvious.

“I would, but I’m on a bit of a tight schedule.” Beckett kept the phone pressed to his ear as he jumped into the ditch running along the side of the road, using the cover of darkness to his advantage as he worked his way back to the factory parking lot.

“Beckett!” Hayes hissed angrily as Beckett heard the metallic click of a gun barrel snapping into place.

“Oh, goody! You brought her!” Beckett silently congratulated himself on making the correct assumption that Hayes would have brought his favourite—and illegal—sniper rifle along for the ride.

“I can’t just go around killing people to save your ass!” Hayes growled, even as he positioned himself perfectly in order to cover Beckett’s exceptionally fine ass.

Beckett snorted, because well—

“You’re adjusting the sights on the barrel right now, aren’t you?”

Hayes simply grunted in reply.

It was a sure bet that he’d already set up his sniper rifle, most likely on the hood of their rental car and had—just as Beckett had hoped he would—taken position behind it to cover Beckett as he approached the factory parking lot.

“You won’t need to shoot—just keep your eyes peeled for incoming trucks,” Beckett said.