Embracing His Syn (3 page)

“
Are you sure?”

“
Fuck yeah, I’m sure.” Syn
glared at God’s smug expression and he felt the vein in his neck
bulge. He was beyond livid. He’d left his home, his family back in
Philly, only to get here and work for some cops that were on the
take? Syn took a couple steps back and tipped his head in the
direction of the still waiting Captain. “Let’s go have a little
chat, shall we?”

Syn walked across the
station with his head high as several sets of eyes tracked his
movement. He didn’t hear the other Detectives following him, but he
knew they were. As big as they were, they were as light on their
feet as he was. Syn brushed past the Captain and they all filed
into the fairly nice-sized office. Syn noticed that Ronowski hadn’t
joined them.
Coward.

Syn yanked his worn leather jacket off
and tossed it on one of the chairs. His t-shirt was damp with
perspiration underneath his Kevlar and his guns felt like they
weighed a ton ... or maybe that was his conscience. Syn went
straight to the window and looked out at the graying sky over the
nearly empty parking lot. He kept his back to the other officers,
unable to look them in the eyes.

The Captain whistled the old west
showdown tune and closed the door. He sat on the edge of his desk
before speaking. “Pretty tense in here fellas. I suppose your day
didn’t go as planned, Detective Sydney. I don’t have to ask how the
bust went, especially since Goose is not in custody. You should’ve
waited until you knew he was in the house. My men should know
better.” The Captain looked at God and Day expectantly.

Syn’s jaw ticked. He felt like a bomb
waiting to explode. He knew this could be the end of his career.
Did he really want to be the one who ratted out God and Day? What
if he couldn’t prove it, and it all back-fired in his face? He’d be
blackballed. No PD would want him. God and Day were heroes to so
many cops ... especially since they were out and proud. It gave so
many other gay officers hope that although their line of work was
dominated by macho, alpha males, they might be accepted too.
Because God and Day were as alpha as it got and they were accepted
based on their abilities, regardless of their sexuality. But now
Syn knew they were nothing but scum-sucking thieves.

“
We thought he was there
Cap, but it wasn’t him, just some addict,” Day spoke up
first.

Fucking liar. Goose was
there, alright.

“
Our probie kicked the
door in before we gave the okay. We don’t think he’s going to make
it on the task force, Cap. He’s too much of a hot-head.”

Oh, fuck that.
There was no way that they were going to pin this
on him. Syn growled and took several determined steps toward Day
before God was there, blocking his path.

“
You might want to think
about your next move very carefully. Especially if it involves
touching him.” God’s voice lowered to a frightening
timbre.

“
Fuck you,” Syn growled
right back.

“
Whoa. Everyone calm the
hell down. Detective Sydney we gave you a chance on a probationary
basis and if Day says you didn’t make the cut, then I’m sorry, son.
I’m sure you can get your job back in Philly. I spoke to your
Captain there and he said you’re one hell of a Detective, and that
he hated losing you. Well now he doesn’t have to.”

Syn was still staring God down as he
listened to the older man’s words.

“
I knew your father,
Detective Sydney. He was a damn good man and an even finer Captain.
I served under him for eight years and I learned a lot.” Myers
patted Syn on the back. “You still got some learning to do, son.
You can always reapply.”

That did it. Syn didn’t think he knew
all there was to know about police work, but he knew he was the
right man for this job. Policemen everywhere spoke of how great his
dad and grandfather were. Syn wanted to earn his own greatness. He
was about to take a step in that direction because he was going to
do what was right, even if it cost him everything.

“
I was exactly the man for
this job Captain Myers, but I refuse to work for these two
thieves.”

God moved into Syn’s personal space
quickly, damn near putting his nose on Syn’s forehead. He snarled,
"Shut up," but Syn didn’t budge. He kept talking, refusing to be
intimidated.

“
The bust went exactly
according to
their
plan. You might want to check some of your Detectives' bank
accounts, Captain. It seems they aren’t satisfied with their pay
grade and have resorted to robbing dealers.”

“
Are you referring to
yourself, Sydney?” God pfftd.

Syn saw red. His hand moved quickly,
too fast for God to stop it as he bunched God’s jacket up in his
fist. Syn didn’t anticipate God’s anger escalating as quickly as it
did. A huge hand locked on to his throat, the other massive hand
gripping his bulletproof vest. God propelled him backwards until
Syn slammed against the wall.

“
Calm down, Sydney!” God
roared.

Syn tried to unsuccessfully take a
breath.

“
God, back off, now!” Syn
could hear the Captain yelling, but his head was pounding from the
impact with the wall.

Syn knew he only had a few more
seconds before he would pass out. He brought his right arm all the
way up and slammed it back down onto God’s forearm, dislodging the
punishing grip. Syn gulped a quick breath, crouched low and slammed
his right fist into God’s ribs. He saw God’s right fist coming and
he had to use both arms to block the hit. Fuck, God was huge and
fucking strong. God grabbed both of Syn’s shoulders and no matter
how Syn twisted, he couldn’t pry himself free. He stopped trying to
remove God’s fingers and instead braced both hands on God’s thick
shoulders, reared his head back and slammed his forehead into the
bridge of God’s nose, finally making him release his grip. God
staggered back and although Syn was dazed, he moved in, determined
to keep the upper hand. In a split second he registered his legs
being taken out from under him. Day had moved like a panther,
dropped and spin-kicked his legs, sending Syn to the floor back
first, hard.

Damn that fucker is
fast
. Syn didn’t let the pain radiating
down his back stall him. He kicked back up onto his feet and
prepared to take them both on. How? He had no idea, but he damn
sure was going to give it his best try.

“
Enough,” Day said easily,
not even out of breath.

Syn saw God over against the Captain’s
desk moving his nose back and forth checking to see if it was
broken. Syn didn’t dare let his guard down. “I’ll say when it’s
enough and I won’t stop until I’ve gone to IA and your whole
goddamn task force is under investigation. It won’t be enough until
they’re probing up your asses with microscopes for dirty money,”
Syn gasped the words between breaths.

“
A microscope is not what
I prefer up my ass Detective Sydney ... or haven’t you heard?” Day
retorted.

Syn couldn’t stop his startled
reaction, Day’s crass remark catching him off guard. “You
sonofabitch.” Syn moved toward Day again, his resolve long
gone.

Captain Myers moved in and put a thick
hand against the front of Syn’s chest. “Actually, I say when it’s
enough. Detective Sydney, unless you want to wait down in lockup
until you calm down, I suggest you get a hold of yourself. You are
all highly trained professionals and you’re acting like goddamn
animals.”

Syn’s chest heaved up and
down with adrenaline. He’d just taken on God and Day.
What the hell am I doing?

Captain Myers turned and pointed a
long finger at Day. “Day, if you ever refer to anything you want in
your ass around me again, I’ll have your inappropriate, cocky ass
back in a uniform policing school zone traffic.”

Syn watched Day pfft at the Captain
and walk over to God, squinting to look at his nose. “Is it
broken?” Day asked.

God shook his head no, while glaring
at Syn.

Day smiled at Syn with what looked
like pride. He clapped his hands together once and whooped before
speaking. “Damn, the man can rumble. Never seen anyone not back
down from you, God. I like him already. I say we make him third in
command. I told you he’d fit right in. Man, when I’m right, I’m
right. Sometimes I stun my damn self with how great a judge of
character I am!” Day did some weird happy dance.

“
Yeah, I’m a great judge
of character too, that’s why I don’t like anyone,” God
snapped.

“
What the fuck are you
talking about? I’m not staying to work with you bastards.” Syn
looked at Day like he was crazy and turned to the Captain. “Captain
Myers I want to lodge a formal complaint immediately against
Detective Ronowski, Lieutenant Godfrey and Lieutenant Day. I
personally witnessed them carry out an un-warranted search and
seizure, assault a man with excessive force, and steal evidence.”
Syn pointed angrily at God. “Hell, I want that crazy bastard
arrested for reckless driving and running six stop lights on our
way back to the station.”

Syn was baffled when all
three men burst out laughing. Syn didn’t know what was so funny. Or
maybe the Captain was on the take too, and they were laughing at
the end of Syn’s career as a Detective.
Fuck
.

Captain put his hands up in a
placating manner. “Okay, you made your point, Detective. You’re
clean. Let’s have a seat and we’ll talk about this
rationally.”

“
With all due respect.
Fuck you, Sir,” Syn spat at the Captain.

Ice cold fear shot down Syn’s back at
the angry glare the Captain shot his way before the regal man spoke
through clenched teeth, “I understand you are upset Detective
Sydney, but unless you want to know what an old school ass-whipping
feels like, then you better wipe that self-righteous look off your
face, change your tone, and remember that you are speaking to a
superior officer. A superior that will only give you one final
order to sit your ass down and show some fucking respect, or not
only will I take your shield but I’ll have your ass in front of the
Commissioner’s Disciplinary Board faster than you can ask
why.

Syn tiredly ran his hand over his
beard stubble and dropped down in one of the four uncomfortable
chairs in the Captain’s office, trying not to wince at the pain in
his lower back. Day and God slowly did the same.

The Captain settled back behind his
desk and pushed a button on his desk phone. “Send in Detective
Sealing.”

“
Yes, Sir,” a female voice
responded.

Syn was still on alert and made sure
he was watching God and Day out of the corner of his eye. He heard
the door open and immediately recognized the suspect from the house
they’d just kicked-in, except the man had a badge and a holstered
weapon on his belt. He had a mark on his jaw – obviously from
Ronowski’s punch. Speaking of the bastard, Ronowski came in right
behind him.

The Captain let the two men close the
door before he spoke again, "Detective Sydney, this is Detective
Sealing. You may recognize him as Goose. He is the training officer
on God and Day’s task force. He’s a golden glove champion and a
martial arts expert, so he can take a punch. What you just went
through was a test of your strength, your courage, and most of all
your morals. Everything that this task force requires. From what
I've seen here, you passed with flying colors. I don’t think Day
could be any happier, since he specifically chose you over the
other three hundred candidates.”

Syn turned and saw Day throw him a
wink, making Syn roll his eyes.

“
I didn’t pick you because
you come from a long line of cops. I chose you because you’re the
real deal. Your record and commendations speak for themselves. I
only just saw that you got balls of steel too.”

Syn blinked and tried to control his
rapidly beating heart. It hadn’t quite registered yet that his
career might not be over. “So that whole set up was a fake? The
file and everything.”

Day nodded his head, yes.

“
Motherfucker,” Syn
whispered. “That’s an awful lot to go through to test someone’s
loyalty to their job, don’t you think?”

“
No,” Detective Sealing
spoke up. “You are going to be seizing millions of dollars Sydney,
more money than you’ve ever seen. We looked into your finances.
While you’re not in debt, you’re not rich either. We needed to be
sure you can’t be persuaded to keep some of that money, and who
better to convince you than your own superiors? A new recruit may
balk at stealing evidence if another officer tried to tempt them,
but if your own Lieutenants are on board, then they may feel it's
safe to go along with it. Believe me Detective Sydney, not everyone
has passed my simulation. Not only did you refuse the money, but
you refused the position, physically attacked your superiors, and
wanted to go to Internal Affairs. I think it’s safe to say we made
the right choice.”

“
I made the right choice,”
Day said smugly.

“
Whatever,” God grumbled
while still holding his swollen nose.

“
Fuck. Are you serious? He
hit you, God?” Ronowski grinned.