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“Do you want to hear what I have to say?”
“If I must.”
“Cute. I think you should take Dr. Shultzon up on his offer.”
That brought Sloane up short, and he turned to find Dex was serious. “You do?” He thought about his first day back at work after the few days he’d taken off to take care of Dex following the incident at the facility. He’d been surprised to find a voice mail from Shultzon asking if Sloane wanted to meet up for coffee and a chat. He’d left his phone number, which Sloane had programmed into his phone but hadn’t so much as looked at.
“When was the last time you spoke to him?”
“Aside from the few words at the facility, when I was sixteen and started with the THIRDS. We weren’t allowed contact after that.” The elevator doors opened, and Sloane stepped out with Dex on his heels “I wouldn’t have known how to get a hold of Shultzon even if I wanted to.”
“Maybe it’ll help.”
Sloane didn’t bother giving it any thought. “Okay. I’ll call him when we get back to the office.”
“You want me to make myself busy?”
“Actually, you mind staying?” He felt a little embarrassed asking, but Dex’s broad grin set his mind at ease. Having Dex nearby would help him feel less nervous. After the incident at the facility, Sloane had tried his best to put it all behind him. Then again, he’d thought he’d put it behind him once before, and it all came crashing down around him thanks to Isaac Pearce. Still. Maybe Dex had a point. If seeing Shultzon had triggered his dreams, maybe the doctor could help stop them. It was worth a try.
“’Course not.” Dex beamed up at him.
“Thanks.” They walked into the expansive canteen, which was laid out more like a giant mall food court than an employee canteen. Sloane spotted their team at their usual table over by the window. It was nice to see Hudson and Nina had joined them. Monday mornings were especially busy with caffeine in high demand whether in the form of coffee, tea, or energy drinks. From the moment their day started until lunch, agents needing their fix packed the place. Calvin and Hobbs seemed to be the only ones missing, which really was no surprise. Hobbs tended to avoid large crowded places, and wherever Hobbs went, Calvin followed.
Sloane greeted some of his fellow Defense agents while they joined the drink line. It moved quickly, and Dex got his ridiculous frothy cappuccino sprinkled with chocolate powder. Impressive, seeing as how the canteen didn’t offer chocolate powder. While Dex was distracted chatting with Levi who was adding a packet of sweetener to his very plain, very black coffee, Sloane quietly ordered a sugar-free vanilla latte. He didn’t need Dex knowing his coffee tastes were rubbing off on him.
After saying good-bye to Levi, Dex and Sloane joined their team at the long gray table. It was like any other day. Rosa and Letty were chatting away in Spanish, Cael was on his tablet, and Hudson was in the middle of a rather animated debate with Ash who appeared to be back to his old self, stirring up trouble and sending tempers flaring. The only difference today was the space between Ash and Cael. The two were usually attached at the hip, even when they were in the canteen. Today Ash was sitting on one end of the bench, flanked by Rosa and Nina, while Cael sat on the other side of the table toward the opposite end. He also looked miserable. Sloane took a seat beside Hudson with Dex sliding in next to him.
“Absolutely ludicrous.” Hudson let out a frustrated huff before taking a sip of his milky tea. “There is no room for vigilante behavior in a civilized society.”
Ash sat forward, jamming his finger down against the table to emphasize his point. “If you haven’t noticed, Doc, we don’t live in a civilized society. We live in a fucked-up world swarming with stupid people doing stupid shit. How many bodies have you wheeled into your shiny lab this week alone?”
Hudson arched an eyebrow. “What you’re suggesting would merely add to that body count. These are armed Therians going around shooting and assaulting Humans. Simply because they do so in the name of justice, does not make it acceptable. Violence is never the answer.”
“How about you come out in the field with us when the shit’s hitting the fan, and then tell me violence isn’t the answer. Maybe it isn’t in your tea-drinking, I-do-beg-your-pardon country where some asswipe isn’t handed a gun for opening a bank account, but not here. Do you know how old I was when I fired my first gun? Six. Now you tell me, Doc. What the fuck is a six-year-old doing being taught to shoot a gun?” Ash let out a snort of disgust. “Say what you will, but the Coalition are doing us a favor rounding up these assholes. We’ve become a society of walking contradictions. We bitch and moan about how bad things are, but the second someone makes a suggestion, we’re shouting bloody murder about our civil rights.”
Wow. Ash was on a roll today. Sloane didn’t know what had ticked his best friend off to warrant the epic rant, but it must have been serious.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dex gaped at Ash, and Sloane stifled a groan.
Here we go.
“Yeah, I’m serious. Those guys have rounded up more members of the Order in the last three weeks than we have in months.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Dex ground out. “I don’t know if you recall, but we operate under this nifty little thing called the ‘law,’ which the Coalition wipes their asses with. If we went around shooting down and beating up whoever the hell we felt like, dragging them in without evidence or regard for the law, I’m sure we’d round up plenty of assholes in no time. How can you defend those guys?”
“I’m not defending them. I’m simply saying whether we like it or not, they’re getting the job done.”
“And leaving us to pick up the pieces and sort out their mess,” Dex argued.
“Whatever.” Ash removed his phone from his pocket and stood. He turned when Cael got up.
“Ash, can I talk to you a sec?”
“Not now, Cael. I’ve got to take this call.” Ash walked off, and Cael sat back down. He stared at his tablet for a moment, the entire table having gone quiet. Apparently Sloane wasn’t the only one to have noticed the brush-off. What the hell was that about? Ash had never brushed Cael off like that.
“Excuse me.” Cael grabbed his tablet and hurried off in the opposite direction Ash had taken. Sloane felt Dex squeeze his leg before he took off after his brother.
“What the hell was that?” Letty asked.
