Mercenary Trust (11 page)

“
What a way to end a sexy evening,” Nick chuckled, but then he looked
straight into Daniel’s eyes and sighed happily. He continued to gently run his
fingers in concentric little circles against Daniel’s rear as he tugged on the
blanket to cover the both of them with his other hand. “They’re just bad
people, Daniel. I still don’t know how you were able to stay with Thaddeus for
all those years. Knowing what I know of him and what he’s done, anyway.”

“
He wasn’t all bad. Not at the start, anyway. Cocky and self-assured,
yes, but I guess we just grew apart.”

Nick looked down into Daniel’s eyes, and Daniel swore
he could see the large man pouting, like his words had just hurt him somehow.

“
Be that as it may, they’re linked to some pretty horrible things, and
some pretty horrible people. We wouldn’t have received a mission dossier about
them if they weren’t doing some really horrible things.”

“
So you and your teammates are kind of like a clean-up crew, then, and
your particular target this time is the Langhams?”

“
You could say that. We’re not officially employed by any government
agency, but we often work under the request of them. I can personally tell you
that we don’t kill without reason. We tend to say that we’re neutralizing a
threat rather than murdering someone outright. And that company is a definite
threat we need to neutralize.”

“
Have you been doing this long?” Daniel asked.

“
A couple of years now. Unit Alpha has been around for quite some time,”
Nick replied.

Daniel nodded, weighing each word Nick said carefully.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Things weren’t good where
he and Thaddeus were concerned for a long time, even when they were together.
Thaddeus had been caught up in his work, doing God-knows-what.

But he’d spent enough time thinking about his ex to
last a lifetime. He instead turned his thoughts towards the man embracing him
tightly. Nick Castillo was a strong man, and he was probably doing some really
hard, kickass type shit. Nick probably ran shirtless into a building,
Rambo-style, holding a pair of machine guns and just laying waste to an entire
group of human trafficking slaver-type people. Or Nazi zombies. Whichever.

“
Have you done a lot of bad things? Are you going to be one of those dark
and angsty, broody types?” Daniel’s voice went down an octave. “Is that an
assault rifle in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?”

Nick burst out into laughter. “Really?
Really
?
That’s your question?” He shook his head.

“
My team and I have done a lot of things. Some of us are probably
broodier than others. Gabrieli and Guillory, for example. Guillory doesn’t talk
much. Gabrieli’s always trying to take his mind off of something. But you won’t
meet a cuter blockhead than Lockhart. He’s a downright sweetheart. You’ll get
to meet all of them.

“
As for me … well, I don’t like to dwell on the past. I’m kind of more
focused on the future. That answer your question?”

Daniel grinned and nodded. “This might be fucked up of
me, and I know it’s totally unrelated to what we’ve been talking about, but I
think that’s kind of hot. I mean, it suits your whole ex-Marine badass vibe,
knowing you’re not too broody and you’re always looking to the future.”

Nick laughed. “I think you should give more weight to
your opinions.”

Daniel gasped with fake horror. “Is that a fat joke? I’ll
have you know, I used to be a twink. Ever since coming back from sabbatical, I
only gained about thirty pounds.”

“
Well, they’re thirty pounds well-gained. I don’t want to be dating a
stick. I’d feel bad if I accidentally broke you,” Nick said. “Also, go to bed,
querido
. We have a whole, long day ahead
tomorrow.”

And though Daniel still wanted to say
something
, a little part of him wanted
to follow Nick’s words.

This entire situation was too good to be true, and he
wanted to revel in the happiness of the moment, knowing all too well how
everything could be gone in a split second.

There was always going to be that fear inside him, but
Daniel tamed it for now, and curled up into his lover’s arms.

After all, he could always worry tomorrow.

Chapter Eight

“
Querido
, your phone is ringing.”

Daniel woke up to the ringing of a phone in the dead
of the night. Well, no, it was Nick’s light shaking of his body that had roused
him from his happy slumber. Irritated, he peered down at the screen.

Two AM. Unknown number.

It was a wonder that Daniel had managed to sleep
through that. It was only two hours after midnight. What self-respecting person
would be awake at this time?

The ringing made Daniel feel a little cranky,
especially as the exhaustion from last night’s
activities
had set in.

There had been about three calls now. Each one felt
more progressively shrill than the last. Daniel thought about just not
answering, but with how things were at the moment, it could have been Cece. It
could have been someone who knew exactly what to do. But then again, it could
be someone from Langham and Durr, ready to kill Cece if no one answered. So in
spite of the lurching feeling of anxiety that came with seeing the unknown
number, Daniel swiped on his screen and brought his phone to his ear.

“
Hello?”

There was a moment of silence that passed. But Daniel
could hear the gentlest scuffle from the other end of the line, which meant
someone was definitely there. So he repeated himself. “Uh,
hello
?”

“
It’s nice to hear from you again, Daniel.”

The voice that he heard brought a chill up his spine.
Daniel frowned. Of all of the voices he had to hear, was it really this one?
Was God taunting him again? Did he really have to receive a phone call from
this
person?

“
Thad.”

Daniel sat up, pulling himself free from Nick’s touch.
Nick, in response, placed both his arms behind his head, and stared up at the
ceiling
.
“Who is that?” he asked.

Daniel turned to Nick, who was rubbing his eyes awake
and arching his body off of the bed with a little yawn. He closed his eyes,
placing the receiver against his neck. “It’s Thad.”

“
What
?” Those words seemed to have brought Nick out of his sleepy state
quickly, like a bucket of cold water. But his voice hushed as he sat up and
started rubbing his face awake. “Put it on speaker.”

So Daniel did. “Why are you calling me in the middle
of the night, Thad?”

Thad offered a chuckle, but it seemed much bitterer
than before. Daniel didn’t think such a sound come from him, but then again, he
hadn’t really faced the man after that fateful day. “Would you have answered
the phone if you knew it was me calling, anyway? And before you put down the
phone, I have to tell you something. An olive branch, if you will. Cece’s here.
In the building. She’s being held captive in the penthouse level.”

“
And why exactly would we believe you?”

Nick was the one who spoke suddenly. Daniel was too
busy thinking up of a good reply. The shock of realizing Cece was still alive,
but that she was being held captive, and who knows what else they were doing to
her?

Oh God.
What if they were hurting her?

“
I knew someone would be listening in to our conversation,” Thad said
softly. Daniel could even detect a hint of hurt in that otherwise monotonous
drawl. “Did I really hurt you that much, Danny?”

“
You don’t get to call me that anymore,” Daniel snapped. That was
probably answer enough. Daniel could feel the rage actually come back. He’d
thought it was gone, but here it was, rearing its ugly head yet again. “Tell us
what you need to or I’m hanging up.”

“
Fine. Cece is being held in the penthouse level. It has two access
points. One is the service elevator in the restricted area that only the
maintenance personnel have access to. You can get a keycard from one of the
security personnel there. I trust they won’t be much trouble. It’ll be the ones
in the penthouse you might have trouble with.

“
The second access point is through a keycard only a few select people
have. I used to have a copy but it has been taken away from me, so it’s gonna
be difficult to find a way to get up to this level,” Thad explained, laughing
bitterly at the end. “I suppose this is all just something I deserve for all
that I’ve done.”

Daniel was silent. He didn’t know exactly what to say,
or if he could even say anything at this point that would really matter. This
olive branch that Thad was extending to him seemed to be too good to be true,
and Daniel really didn’t know what to make of it. Being woken up in the middle
of the night and then being force-fed information like this wasn’t exactly the
most ideal of situations.

Not to mention the fact that he’d just had sex for the
first time since breaking up with Thad. Was it some sort of sign from
whoever-was-up-there that he was doing something wrong?

“
Why are you saying all this?” Nick finally filled in the silence with a
question of his own. “Why are you telling Daniel all of this information?
”

“
I suppose you could say I’m sick of dragging the
weight of my actions behind me,”
Thad replied. “I
want to be free. You could also say that I knew as soon as someone had managed
to access the information in the flash drive that it would only be a matter of
time before I was going to be dealt with. If I survive this, I want to live a
good, honest life, far away from all of this bullshit.”

“
What do you mean if you survive this?” Daniel finally managed to croak
out. His eyebrows knitted together. He was confused by all of this, and judging
from the mirthless laughter from Thad, and the gentle clink of ice that Daniel
heard in the background, the man had been drinking. Maybe that was why he had
such loose lips.

“
The flash drive should explain everything. But for what it’s worth, I’m
sorry you got caught up in all of this,” Thad replied. “I suppose a little part
of me hopes you all get here in time. When my father arrives from his business
trip tomorrow night, there’ll be hell to pay. But I’m sure I’m going to be the
one to receive the first strike.”

“
This is all confusing, Thad. Can’t you just tell me straight up? What
the hell are you talking about?”

Thad chuckled, and this time, it was a sad one. “I
loved you once, Daniel, and I’m sorry I had to get myself involved in all these
problems. Maybe in my next life, I can properly apologize to you. I’ve told you
everything that I could. Well, everything and nothing. I’m sorry I have to be
so vague. The flash drive has all the other information you’ll need. And
you—the one listening in on this conversation—take care of Danny for me, okay?
He deserves all the love in the world. I hurt him bad.
Goodbye.”

Click.

There was a sense of finality in those words that made
Daniel frown. Sure, he didn’t like Thad anymore, and there were plenty of times
that he thought he’d be better off without him, but Daniel definitely didn’t
want the guy
dead
.

Or maybe he said he did, and the idea that Thad could
suddenly be gone forever was a little too real.

Nick looked pensive for a few moments, looking at
Daniel and then his phone before slowly heading over to his cabinet and pulling
out a pair of boxers, which he tossed on. Daniel still sat down on the bed,
taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

Huh
.
I thought this
would hurt more.
Daniel’s thoughts moved toward the fact that hearing
Thad’s voice didn’t bring him the same amount of pain and anger as it did
before. He couldn’t even bear to say Thad’s name until tonight, and yet it felt
like a weight had been removed from his chest.

He turned to look toward Nick, who hastily put on his
boxers and was now putting on a pair of pants and taking a deep breath. “Nick…”

Nick smiled and gently placed a hand on Daniel’s
shoulder. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, though, and that reaction gave
Daniel pause. “Go back to sleep,
querido.
I’ll inform the Captain about what just happened.”

Why did Nick’s brush-off seem to hurt worse than
talking to an ex he hadn’t spoken to in two years?

To top it off, why did it feel like some sort of
invisible, intangible line now connected him and Nick? It made no earthly
sense. They barely knew each other two days, and yet it felt like his whole
body was wracked with worry when Nick showed him that empty gesture.

He wasn’t falling in love, was he? That would have
been disastrous. What sorts of relationships thrived after this initial, fiery
phase?

Daniel couldn’t really do anything but nod in
response, partly because Nick was out the door as soon as he’d said those
words, and partly because he’d been paralyzed to his spot by his thoughts. And
though Daniel wanted to say something,
anything
,
he knew that the best way to say something was often not to say anything at all,
but to
do.

So he put on his clothes, no matter how disheveled he
might have looked, and headed out the door right behind Nick. When he saw the
man standing in front of the staircase, Daniel offered him a pensive smile.

Nick offered a lopsided grin right back.

There was something unsaid in the way they looked at
each other. When Nick offered his hand for Daniel to take, and Daniel took it
willingly, there was something unsaid there, too.

He didn’t know exactly what it was, and where it was
leading, but when Nick’s fingers entwined with his, Daniel felt like he could
take on the world.

Oh God, Daniel lamented. Maybe he
was
falling in love.

****

The kitchen was still bustling with activity when
Daniel walked downstairs. In fact, it didn’t seem like anything changed at all,
except Daniel was considerably more physically tired than he was shocked, and
there were a lot more coffee cups scattered all around the makeshift base of
operations. People were still tapping away on whatever they were tapping away
on, but the shift in energy had changed from earlier. It seemed a little
livelier, and a lot happier, even.

Considering the energy earlier had been frantic, it
was kind nice to see them look a little more … normal. He didn’t know if normal
was the best way to describe a group of mercenaries trying to set up for a
mission, but then again, how did that even look? Daniel had expected guns being
brought out from under the table, Kevlar vests being put on, and a lot of
psyching each other up.

This just seemed boring in comparison. Like a bunch of
teenagers just looking at their own computer and tablet screens.

The captain was peering down at the screen on his
tablet when he turned to look at both Daniel and Nick. He offered the slightest
of smiles, nodded, and then pressed a button on there. The screen flashed and
exited.

Was he just playing a video game? Daniel swore he saw
a bunch of candies on the screen…

The captain cleared his throat and spoke. “Good.
You’re awake. Turner here managed to crack into the encryption of the flash
drive. We now know a lot more than your mission dossier stated, Castillo.”

“
Hang on,” Nick suddenly said as he looked around. Daniel blinked. He
peered along with Nick, who was eyeing the people in the room who seemed to be
actually working. “Why does it seem quiet and tidy in here?”

“
The captain broke our spirit,” one of the guys said from his corner.

“
Oh. Well, great!” Nick replied, shrugging. “So how exactly did Evan help
us do that cracking thing?” Nick asked. His hand wrapped a little tighter
around Daniel’s, and Daniel knew that didn’t escape the captain’s attention.

“
I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some sheer dumb luck involved, and
with a lot of IT work it’s really just Googling a solution because there’s
usually something there,” Evan said, taking a swig of his energy drink and
wrapping his jacket tighter around his body. “But with this kind of problem,
you also use a kind of software that’ll do a lot of the cracking work for you.
That’s the boring gist of all of it. All of this, after I made sure to fix up
your internet connection. Whoever set it up did okay, but if you want to get
more bang for your buck, I spruced it up a bit for you. That took a good, long
while.”

“
Anyway, that’s not the important part. What’s important is that the
mission has changed. You’re no longer to neutralize Thaddeus Langham. Your new
target is his father, Tobias Langham,” Captain Hennessey said, his expression
grave. “It seems that to explain for all of the crimes listed in the dossier,
Tobias coerced his son into doing his dirty work for him. The flash drive
contains video files showing altercations between father and son, and even
quite a bit of proof that shows what Tobias is using against his son. Take a
look at this.”