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His stomach clenched thinking of what might have happened if he hadn’t caught Ambrose before he’d crossed that bridge.
“It’s not an accident. We all know that.” His words snapped out, harsher than he meant, but maybe harsh wasn’t a bad thing by now. “It’s all circumstantial, but either this person is well researched, or they know us. Our safety measures. The placement of the cameras. The ranger rotations. It’s too convenient.”
Oz’s face had gone blank and Barrett thoughtgood. Maybe that would wake the man up. “Well, there’s little I can do without evidence, Barrett. They’re smart enough to not get caught on the cameras, smart enough to track your squad’s movements. Seems like you might want to take some precautions, switch things up.” Oz stood up in one smooth motion and smiled down at them. That smile was tight and Barrett heard Meredith shift in her chair. He didn’t blame her; it wasn’t a nice smile by any means.
“I have to get back to County,” Oz said as he zipped up his jacket. “Send over any plans you make so we have them on record. But until we have evidence - anything - I’m not going to be able to help. Cut wires and a burned shed and some broken bridges don’t lead to anything until we have something substantial.”
“So we just wait until they do something else and hope it doesn’t get anyone else hurt?” Meredith’s voice grew louder, anger flushing her cheeks. Barrett watched her ponytail bounce as she stalked toward Oz. “So what, County won’t care until something headline-grabbing happens? That’s some bullshit and you know it, Oz. Grow some fucking balls.”
She stomped out of the room, leaving them to stare at each other. “Might not want to get that one pissed off,” Barrett said, trying to lighten the air.
“It’s not a joke, Barrett.” The flat, hard stare Oz gave him ruffled more than a few of Barrett’s feathers.
“Whoa, okay. Hold on.” Now he was up and moving, but he kept space between them. “I was a little miffed earlier because it felt like you weren’t fully focused. But we’re all stressed because of this. I’ll go to Jacques and we’ll figure out something.”
Oz sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “You’re right, you’re right. And I get it. But I actually can’t do anything here, Barrett. You know that. My hands are tied.” He smirked. “Something we can try later, if you want.”
Barrett’s wheels were spinning, his mind bouncing from idea to idea to present to Jacques, when he caught up with Oz’s comment. “Hey, not now,” he hissed, eyes darting to the partially open door. “And not here. I don’t want that getting in the way.”
“I know.” Hands up in a placating motion, Oz stepped toward him. Chin tipped up invitingly. “Later?”
“I can’t. Busy.”
“Too busy for me to come over?”
“Yeah. I won’t be home. It’s Friday, I’m having dinner with Ambrose.”
He got an arched eyebrow at that. “You two seem cozy. What’s the story there?”
“What does it matter?” Barrett glared down at Oz, something protective rising up in him. His time with Ambrose wastheirs. Time slowly spent getting to know each other, building a tapestry of story between thatmeant something. Because Barrett really, really liked Ambrose and as much as that hair called to his fingers and he wanted to know what that mouth tasted like, he was enjoying taking his time.Their time. Together.
“Sorry I asked.”
“No, it isn’t that, I just…” But Oz had already backed away. “Oz.”
Barrett licked his lips, tried again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what he was trying to salvage here. He liked Oz, but while the fucking was good, they didn’t really have anything in common. They weren’t even friends. It was all physical. Oz came over to his place, they fucked, and then he left. It was hollow on a level Barrett never expected to be bothered by. Until now. Because Ambrose was in the picture and even though Ambrose knew the deal with him and Oz, somehow it still bothered Barrett.
“Send over anything you come up with, just mark it urgent so it doesn’t get buried in my inbox.” The smile that flickered over Oz’s face felt like a hand on his shoulder, shoving a dislocation back into place. “And sorry, Barrett. I didn’t know. If you get bored, text me.”
And he was gone and Barrett was left to stare at the security camera footage, watching the storage shed go up in flames over and over again.
“You should lure them out.”
“This isn’t a spy movie, Ambrose.”
Despite Barrett’s snippy tone, Ambrose didn’t blink. He had both hands wrapped around the slobbery, frayed rope Dandi was tugging the other end of. He was giving her a pretty good fight, but it was tough to hold your own against a one hundred and fifty pound Great Dane. “I know that,” he said between heavy breaths. “But what other options do you have?”
Ambrose was right. Barrett gave the wooden spoon a few taps on the edge of the pan and set it down. But there was a big difference between what Ambrose was suggesting and what the department was capable of. Jacques had managed to wheedle more money out of County for additional security cameras, and they’d set up a guard rotation on likely targets; the sheds, supply drops, the fire watch towers. But it wouldn’t be enough. His gut told him it wouldn’t be.
“No, you’re right.” Barrett put the lid on the pot and set a fifteen minute timer. “Dinner’s soon.”
“It smells amazing.” Dandi woofed softly and Ambrose laughed. “Dandi agrees.”
“Dandi isn’t getting table scraps and she knows it.” Barrett gestured to the dog as he sat down on the couch. “She begs something awful.”
“That’s because she’s precious,” Ambrose cooed, leaning forward to rub the dog’s velvety ears. As he did, his long sleeved shirt rode up and Barrett could see a swath of pale, creamy skin dotted with freckles. No hair that he could see but he did spot a dimple at the base of his tailbone and Jesus fucking Christ….
He dug his fingers into the throw pillow beside him. Thisagreementbetween him and Ambrose, to let things naturally progress, was killing his restraint. Especially since he and Oz weren’t fucking anymore.
