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“Thanks,” Sloane said with a small smile, releasing Dex. His smile suddenly vanished, and he grabbed Dex’s face with both hands. His right thumb gently brushed Dex’s cheek, sending a chill down his spine. “What happened to your face?”
“Nothing, just a scratch,” Dex murmured.
“You broke formation, didn’t you?”
Dex pressed his lips together as Sloane cursed under his breath, releasing him. Sloane ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“My job,” Dex replied calmly, walking out from behind the curtained off area. Sloane caught up to him, gripped his arm, and turned him. “We talked about this, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember you promising you were going to be careful. Goddamn it, Dex, you had specific orders. I told you to stick to the rest of the team, to remain in formation! You almost got your fucking face torn off!”
“Sloane.”
Sloane turned to Calvin and snapped. “What?”
Calvin rounded his shoulders and met Sloane’s gaze. “Dex broke formation to save my ass. I was the one who broke formation first.”
“What?” Sloane stared at Calvin before he looked to the rest of their team. No one said a word, but their silence was confirmation enough.
“Hobbs was in trouble….”
Sloane marched up to Calvin and grabbed him by the vest. “What the fuck were you thinking? You abandoned a rookie member of your team. He could have been killed!”
“I fucked up, I know, but—”
“Damn right you fucked up.” Sloane gave him a shove toward Hobbs, ignoring Hobbs’s deep frown. “I want to see you two upstairs in Maddock’s office after this.”
Calvin murmured his acknowledgement while Hobbs simply nodded. They stepped aside as Sloane snatched his tac vest from Letty and slipped into it, fastening the straps as he thundered to the BearCat, calling out over his shoulder. “Rosa, sort his face out.” As soon as he was inside the truck, Calvin stepped up to Dex, the guilt on his face making it difficult for Dex to be pissed off at him.
“I’m so sorry, Dex. I really fucked up.”
“You did.” Dex watched Calvin hang his head in defeat. With a smile, Dex put his hand to Calvin’s cheek and gave it a pat. “But I understand. He’s your partner. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same had I been in your shoes, but next time, we go in as a team, okay?” Calvin nodded, giving him a thankful smile before he headed toward the truck with Hobbs in tow. Dex turned to Rosa who was removing a first aid kit from her backpack. “Mind if we do it in the truck? I’d like to hear what Mr. Everton has to say.”
“Sure thing.”
As he walked beside her, he lowered his voice. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened.” The way the team had busied itself looking elsewhere, and not at Sloane, had told Dex all he needed to know. They were worried, but refused to rat out their teammates.
Rosa shook her head, stopping to pull Dex to one side as the rest of the team made their way to the truck. She handed him the first aid kit, opened it, and tore one of the industrial-sized Therian disinfecting pads open. They had a few minutes while the team got Everton to shift, and administered Post Shift Trauma Care. With a nod, he braced himself as she put the pad to his face.
“Sweet Jesus, that stings.” Dex ignored her chuckle as she proceeded to clean the scrapes. Her gaze darted to the truck before she continued.
“I know what you’re thinking, but they’re not normally that reckless. Hobbs was off his game. No one ever gets the drop on him. I don’t know what’s going on but things have been tense between them lately. Calvin’s not usually this quiet. And Hobbs, well, he’s always been quiet, but he’s usually more playful. They’ve not been acting like themselves. Sloane hasn’t noticed because he’s been busy with you.” Rosa arched an eyebrow at him, her lips spreading into a sly smile. “Word is you’re keeping him on his toes.”
“I don’t like to brag,” Dex replied with a wink. “You think we need to worry about them?”
“Not after Sloane tears them a new one.” She sounded certain, which helped ease Dex’s mind a little. He still wasn’t sure what was going on with Calvin and Hobbs, but at least he wasn’t the only one to have noticed. He’d have to keep an eye on them. The last thing they needed was a repeat performance of today.
Sloane’s growl interrupted his thoughts. “Rosa, you done?”
“Yep.” She took the kit from Dex and snapped it shut before returning it to her backpack.
“Good. Both of you get over here.”
“Coming.” Dex thanked Rosa and accompanied her to the truck. They climbed in and took their seats on the bench. Everton was sitting in Maddock’s seat wearing one of the many disposable sets of clothes from the truck’s small supply closet. He had a blanket around his shoulders and there were empty energy bar wrappers on the floor. Despite no longer being in the cage, he was surrounded. Sloane stood in front of the trembling Therian, his arms folded over his broad chest, his stance imposing.
Lloyd Everton looked like any other guy. He was tall, somewhat on the lanky side, with a scruffy beard, and dark hair in disarray. He was in his mid to late forties, but his weary expression, the hard lines of his face, and the gray strands interspersed in his hair made him look much older. He was hunched over, his legs crossed at the ankles, and his expression that of a guy who was exhausted but resolute. More resolute however, was the THIRDS agent before him.
Dex watched his partner carefully, curious how he was going to get Everton to cooperate. Right now, the two were glaring, sizing each other up. Everton hadn’t made it this far as an Unregistered without being a tough SOB. Every Unregistered Therian had his or her own reasons for not registering, everything from a belief Therians were superior to Humans and therefore above Human law, to believing it was all a government conspiracy hiding a far more sinister plot. At this moment however, whatever Lloyd Everton’s reason, being Unregistered was the least of his problems.
