Saving Ren (Barretti Security Series, Book 3) (19 page)

“Bastard,” Declan muttered as he caught on to the game. “I know some people.”

“What people?” Jagger asked as he continued to stroke Declan. He waited until Declan was writhing against him before he stopped.

“Fuck,” Declan bit out. “Mayor, Chief of Police. We’re on a first name basis.”

“I’m going to need more than that,” Jagger said.

“Really? Now?” Declan asked in frustration.

Since Jagger’s own body was tight with need, Jagger said, “Promise you’ll tell me everything afterwards.”

Declan’s hand tried to wrap around his neck to drag him down for a kiss but Jagger grabbed his wrist.

“Yes, damn it, I promise.”

Jagger instantly released Declan and moaned at the hungry assault on his mouth. But he only let it go on for a few seconds before he grabbed Declan and dragged him to the table and did exactly what he’d been planning to do.

“You better hope Ren comes home soon,” Jagger whispered as he bent over Declan and rubbed his cock against Declan’s ass. “Because I’m going to keep fucking you for as long as it takes for him to walk through that door and see you like this.”

He cut off Declan’s strangled groan with a kiss and then reached for his zipper.

***

“Nice car.”

Ren froze as he watched Zane climb out of the luxury sedan that had pulled up behind his car in front of the bar where Connor worked.

“What are you doing here?” Ren asked in irritation.

“Between you and that boyfriend of yours, I’m starting to think you guys don’t like me very much,” Zane drawled as he walked around the car. He was wearing an expensive suit and looked every bit the lawyer that he was. In truth, the guy was gorgeous but he had nothing on Declan or Jagger.

“You’re an observant guy. We’d probably like you a whole lot better if you hadn’t used Declan like you did.”

Zane seemed like he was about to say something but then a strange look came over his features before he shuddered them with a mask of indifference. He took a few steps towards the bar and opened the door. “You coming?” he asked.

“Why are you here?”

“I came to speak to Mr. Talbot about the lawsuit your boyfriend managed to get himself caught up in.”

“Jagger hired you?”

“I guess you could say that. Right after Declan kept him from ripping my throat out.”

“I thought you were a criminal lawyer,” Ren said as he walked past him.

“Winning’s winning,” he thought he heard Zane say.

The bar was dark compared to outside and it took a moment for Ren to focus. “He must be in back,” Ren murmured.

“I don’t give a shit about some restraining order! You’re mine!”

Ren tensed at the raised voice coming from the back of the bar. The pitch was higher than Connor’s. He felt Zane right behind him as they hurried towards the commotion.

“Baby, I’ll drop the lawsuit against your friend if you come back. I love you so much.”

“My backpack, have you seen my backpack?” a confused voice said. Connor’s voice.

“God, you are such a retard,” the first voice snarled.

“My backpa-”

The words were suddenly cut off and Ren heard what sounded like a struggle. A second later there was a resounding slap.

Ren and Zane reached the stockroom at the same time. Connor was pressed back against the shelves, his hands pinned above his head. He was struggling against a slightly larger man who was kissing him and grinding his hips against him.

“Get your fucking hands off him,” Ren yelled but Zane beat him to it and grabbed the guy and dragged him off Connor. Ren managed to catch Connor as he lost his balance.

“My backpack. I need it or I’ll be late for school again,” Connor whispered brokenly as he looked around in confusion.

“Connor, it’s Ren,” Ren said softly as he gently lowered himself and Connor to the floor.

Connor flinched over and over again and it took Ren a moment to realize that he was reacting to Zane’s fist connecting with the man’s face. Blood was pouring from the guy’s nose and he wasn’t fighting back against Zane at all.

“Zane, stop!” Ren shouted. “Zane, for God’s sake, stop!”

Zane finally stopped and the man slid in a heap to the floor. Zane’s fists were bruised as he turned around and there was blood on his face and suit. None of it appeared to be his though. Ren turned his attention back to Connor.

“Connor, can you hear me?” Ren asked.

“Ren?” Connor asked as his eyes suddenly seemed to clear from the fog he’d been in. His eyes darted up to meet Ren’s and then came to rest on the unconscious man at Zane’s feet.

“What happened?” Connor asked. His eyes settled on Zane and his eyes widened as he noticed Zane’s battered fists. “What did you do to Jason?”

***

“Jagger, don’t!” Declan heard Connor yell as Jagger slammed through the bar door. He was right behind Jagger as they’d entered the bar but his view had been obstructed. But within seconds of walking through the door, Jagger had sped up and Declan saw Ren step in his path just as Connor shouted at him. Zane was there too and grabbing Jagger’s arm as he lunged for a man being treated by paramedics. They’d gotten the call from Zane only fifteen minutes ago but a patrol car and ambulance had beaten them to the scene.

“Jagger, Connor needs you,” Ren said firmly but it wasn’t until Ren grabbed Jagger by the face and forced him to look at him that Jagger finally calmed down. He pulled free of Zane and went to where Connor was sitting in a chair near the bar.

“What happened?” Declan asked Ren as he took out his badge and flashed the officer flanking the man being loaded onto a gurney.

“We found him assaulting Connor,” Ren said.

“Sutter?” Declan asked and Ren nodded in in response. Declan looked Ren up and down quickly to make sure he wasn’t injured. One look at Zane had him asking, “Do you need medical attention?”

Zane shook his head but didn’t say anything. His eyes kept flashing to Connor.

“Stay here,” he said to Ren and Zane. He hurried over to where Jagger was kneeling in front of Connor.

“You okay, Connor?” Declan asked.

Connor nodded but his eyes were on Jagger. They were filling with tears. “I had another one,” Connor whispered. “I don’t remember anything after he came into the storeroom.”

“It’s okay,” Jagger said softly. “Ren’s going to sit with you for a bit, okay?” Jagger motioned to Ren who came over and pulled up a chair next to Connor.

Declan pulled Jagger aside and said, “What did he mean?”

“The bombing that took his leg also left him with permanent brain damage. He has episodes where he starts saying things that don’t make sense or he forgets where he is. They don’t last long but he never remembers them. Sometimes he forgets what happened right before the episode starts too.”

“Okay,” Declan said as has mind began to work out what needed to happen. “Let me get the details from Zane and we’ll go from there.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jagger said.

“Jagger-” Declan began to say.

“Please, Declan. I need to know.”

Declan finally nodded and went to where Zane stood quietly near the storeroom entrance The officer that had been talking to Sutter as he was being treated by the paramedics nodded at Declan. He recognized him but couldn’t remember his name.

“Officer…”

“Gerard, Detective.”

“Officer Gerard, you get Sutter’s statement?” he asked.

“He says this man” – the officer motioned to Zane – “assaulted him while he was talking to his boyfriend.”

He felt Jagger stiffen behind him but was glad when Jagger kept quiet.

“The paramedics said his nose is broken and he’ll probably need to be monitored for a head injury since he lost consciousness. He says he wants to press charges.”

“Escort him to the hospital and stay on him. He violated the restraining order Mr. Talbot had on him. I’ll take statements from everyone else and talk to the D.A. about charges.”

“Yes sir,” Gerard said and hurried off.

Declan turned his attention to Zane. “What happened?”

Zane glanced at Connor for a moment and then focused his attention on Declan. “I ran into your boy out front,” he said. “We heard yelling and found Mr. Sutter had Mr. Talbot pinned against the shelves in there” – he pointed to the storeroom – “and was kissing and fondling him.”

“It wasn’t consensual?” Declan forced himself to ask even though he already knew the answer.

“No fucking way,” Zane said. The fury caught Declan off guard but Zane quickly brought himself under control again. “Mr. Talbot seemed confused by what was happening. He kept asking about a backpack. I pulled Mr. Sutter off of him while Ren checked on Mr. Talbot. It also sounded like someone struck someone else but neither of us witnessed it.”

The red mark on Connor’s face was proof enough of who’d struck who. “Okay, I need you to come down to the precinct and give me a formal statement. You good with that?”

Zane nodded. “I’ll head down there now.” He cast Connor one last look and turned to leave when Jagger suddenly stepped in front of him. Pride surged through Declan as Jagger stuck out his hand. Zane seemed reluctant to take it at first, but finally did.

“Thank you,” Jagger said softly.

Zane gave him a curt nod and then left. Declan went back to where Ren was sitting with Connor. “Connor, I need you to come down to the precinct to give your statement so we can press charges against Jason.”

Connor nodded and Jagger wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. As they headed towards the entrance, Declan reached for Ren and dragged him into his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m good,” Ren said.

“What were you doing here?”

“I came to ask Connor about Sutter. I was worried about the lawsuit and I wanted to find out what he knew about it.”

Declan made himself release Ren and nodded in understanding. “We’ll need to get your statement too.”

Ren’s eyes widened as he realized that meant he’d have to go to the precinct. “Will you be the one taking it?” Ren asked.

“No. We need to be able to show impartiality so Sutter can’t claim I was biased. Another officer will have to do it.”

Ren nodded. “Okay.”

“You sure?” Declan asked.

“If it helps put that fucker behind bars, yeah, I’m sure.”

***

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten our deal,” Jagger said as Declan snuggled back against him.

“What deal?” Ren asked. His head was resting on Declan’s chest and his fingers were stroking up and down Declan’s side.

“It’s nothing,” Declan murmured.

“Declan has some explaining to do about a few things.”

He felt Declan sigh. It had been a long day between dealing with things at the bar and the fiasco at the station afterwards and Jagger had actually forgotten the promise he’d finagled out of Declan until he saw Mitchell sitting sullenly in his office as he stared daggers at Jagger as Jagger and Declan had waited for Ren’s statement to be taken. By now Mitchell had to know he and Declan were lovers, but he hadn’t used that or the fact that Jagger was once again involved in an assault on Sutter – albeit indirectly – to confront him. Whatever Declan had said to the man had clearly scared him.

“My grandfather was big in commercial development back in the 1950’s. It made him a lot of money and a lot of friends. My father helped him run the business for a while before he and my mom decided it would be more fun to jet off to foreign countries and hang with the rich and famous. My father eventually became an ambassador and my mother kept busy throwing lavish parties and dinners.”

“Wait, are you saying you’re one of the Hales in Hale Development Services?” Jagger asked.

Declan nodded. “I don’t have anything to do with the day to day operations but I still have a seat on the Board. My grandfather had always hoped I’d take over the business someday but after I told him I was gay, he never brought it up again.”

“Shit, Declan, I’m sorry,” Jagger whispered. He hadn’t intended to bring up Declan’s painful childhood.

“It’s okay,” Declan murmured. “It turned out to be a good thing. I can’t imagine being anything other than a cop.”

“So that’s how you know all those people?” Ren asked.

“Some, but not all. My grandfather was very well connected politically and that ended up helping my career in law enforcement. One of his fishing buddies had been the Captain of the department I joined when I got out of the academy. He was the one who suggested I become a detective and he looked out for me once he became Chief and Mitchell took over as Captain.” Declan hedged.

Jagger couldn’t hide his surprise. “Was he protecting you from Mitchell?”

Declan nodded. “The first thing Mitchell did when he became Captain was get rid of any of the cops who wouldn’t side with him. I knew he was garbage as soon as I met him and I made sure he knew it too. He’s been trying to talk the Chief into getting rid of me for years.”