"Oh, God, you shit, that was just fucking wrong." Quinn coughed as he sat up, dragging his pants up. "Just for that, I won't return the favor."
"Be still my heart." Nathan leaned over and kissed him again. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Why don't we skip the plane and drive down to Florida tonight?"
"Sounds like a plan." Quinn leaned his forehead to Nathan's. "I love you."
"Love you too. Be back soon." He started for the door. Remembering he'd left his SUV in Chattanooga, he went to the closet in the mudroom just off the kitchen and grabbed his helmet down from the shelf. The house phone rang just as he opened the door. He waited long enough for Quinn to answer.
"Oh, hey, Nat. No, he just left. We're at the house. The one we live in, which one did you think I meant?" Quinn blew him a kiss and Nathan walked out, glad to escape whatever evil, conniving thing he was sure his sister was calling to rope one or the both of them into on a lovely Saturday. Damn, but she needed to find someone and get married so he and Quinn could have a weekend without fixing something at her townhouse. Too bad Quinn didn't look at the caller ID before he answered. Poor, poor, Quinn. He loved him, but the man was too soft-hearted where she was concerned.
Nathan stepped over the seat of the black Harley, and with a grin, kicked the bike in gear and rode off into the warm summer sun. Glad just to be alive and loved and warm. Nothing could be better than that. Nothing.
* * * * *
It was fucking freezing in Nathan's office. Nathan snorted, his lip curled in defiance at being interviewed in his own damned office. And Chad Morgan, the Agent in Charge, just sneered back from Nathan's chair as he thumbed through Nathan's meticulous files.
Drew sat in the corner taking notes and trying to figure out why he was here at all. So far Nathan had yet to answer a single question to Morgan's satisfaction. So far Morgan hadn't managed to figure out he needed Nathan on his side. No wonder the rest of the department had refused to cooperate with him.
"Where were you the last weekend of May?" Morgan asked out of the blue. Drew stopped grinning into his notepad. He shifted his gaze to Nathan in time to see his shoulders stiffen.
"What I do in my free time is my business, and I don't discuss my private life." Nathan's eyes became alert, focused as Morgan stood up and paced the room. Drew watched him walk to the window and look outside.
"Why do you evade simple questions, Captain Truman?" Morgan tapped the folder he held on the window before turning back to face Nathan.
"Because I'm not under oath; because I'm not under arrest; because it's none of your damned business." Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and propped one running shoe on his desk followed by the other. He leaned back in his visitors' chair. His eyes turned a deep shade of smoky gray.
Funny how Drew could read Nathan so easily. He knew to the second when Nathan decided he'd had enough. Too bad Morgan couldn't see what he saw. A caged lion-no, strike that-a dragon, much like the one on his back, with a predatory gleam in his eyes. Morgan was going to rue these last couple of hours toying with him.
"I've gone over your files. Everything is so precise, so neat, so tidy. A little too tidy."
"Meaning?"
"Where were you the last weekend in May? It's not a hard question to answer. You weren't in town."
"Of course not, I live just outside of town. It was my weekend off and I don't make a point of hanging around the shop when there are better things to do."
"Like torture and murder two Georgia men?"
Drew dropped his notepad with a clatter. "Excuse me, Agent Morgan, I think I heard that last part wrong."
"Stay out of this, Walker. I'll send you back to DC with your ass in a sling if you so much as utter another word. Your relationship with Captain Truman is well known. Why they sent you in on this with your past history perplexes me."
"For that very reason. Because I have a history with the family. At the time, it seemed to be a vendetta against Truman Steel."
"Still looks that way. Except for those two unfortunate souls down in Georgia." Morgan shot a look at Drew that told him his patience was at an end. "So tell me, Nate-can I call you Nate?"
"Captain Truman will be fine." Nathan smiled a tight-lipped smile, his eyes gone steel gray. Danger radiated off him in waves.
Agent Morgan was a small man, maybe five inches shorter than either of them, with a wiry frame. Drew knew from personal experience that he was trained to take down men larger than Nathan, and that he could if Nathan was anyone else. A former Marine with the finest military training available compounded with years on the police force in two states. Drew would put his money squarely on Nathan.