"Keep up that pacin', Junior, and you're gonna end up wearin' a hole clean through the floor."
I jerk my head 'round ta glare at Buck, expectin' ta catch him laughin' at me. Instead, all I see is understandin'. I relax a bit, and he smiles a little when I tone the glare down.
"Relax, Vin. He'll be here soon," JD adds soothingly from his chair across Buck.
I know that. I was the first one he called after the bust went down, lettin' me know he was okay an' would be home in a day 'r two. But as good as it was ta hear his voice after seven weeks, two days and fifteen hours (yes, dammit, I was countin' the hours), nothin' can ever make up fer the feel an' taste an' scent of the man I love beyond all sanity. I need ta hold Ez an' make love ta him an' jist plain know that I have him back safe an' in one piece.
I still cain't believe Ez agreed ta this assignment. Goin' undercover fer our team is one thing. At least then, we're monitorin' him, an' he can relax a little knowin' we got his back. Bein' under is hard enough on him without him always havin' ta wonder if his back up is really gonna show when he needs it, like he always had ta back when he worked for those FBI bastards. An' I know my Ez don't trust anybody outside of us fer anything.
So when Team One's leader, Arthur Welling, asked Chris ta borrow Ez, I figgered they'd both tell him ta go ta hell. But Chris up an' left the decision ta Ez, an' after Ez read the profile on the guy they were tryin' ta nail, he said he'd do it. After I read the profile, I damn near killed Ez myself fer sayin' yes.
Vance Rosen was a gunrunner with legendary methods of dealin' with traitors an' not a one of 'em was pretty. If Ez's cover got blown, an' Team One didn't get him out, I'd have been buryin' what was left of him in a cigar box. There hadn't enough left of Welling's last undercover agent ta even do that. No way in hell did I want Ez anywhere near the psycho, but I didn't say anythin' ta Ez 'bout him volunteerin', though. He knew an' I knew that he was the best man fer the job, an' I wasn't 'bout ta insult his professionalism 'r cause a fuss an' embarrass us both. The powers that be may know 'bout our relationship, but that don't mean they want it thrown in their faces, 'specially over somethin' like this.
Guess somethin' of what I felt 'bout the whole thing musta showed a bit despite my best efforts not ta, 'cuz Team One's surveillance guy, Collin Dupheus, caught up ta me the day 'fore Ez was ta go under an' promised ta keep me updated on Ez's status whenever he could. He kept that promise to. I reckon I should be grateful ta the man, 'cuz I'm sure I woulda gone crazy without knowin' even second-hand that Ez was doin' okay, but there was somethin' 'bout him that jist didn't sit well with me. An' that got me even more worried fer Ez, so I started to watch Dupheus.
That's when I found out that Dupheus was watchin' me, too. Not jist watchin' me, neither, but followin' me 'round an' copyin' me, too. Even started ta grow his hair out an' wear jeans an' boots ta the office. I wasn't the only one ta notice, an' Buck an' the others started teasin' me 'bout havin' my own personal shadow. Dupheus is little more than a kid, only older than JD by a year 'r two, so I guess it coulda been some kind of hero-worship, but I didn't think so. Call it one of my hunches 'r whatever 'Siah's callin' 'em these days, but the man really rubbed me the wrong way, an' once the boys realized that, they started watching Dupheus, too.
He never did anythin' wrong, though, an' right now, I really didn't care 'bout nothin' 'cept fer the fact that Ez was comin' home.
"Hey, cowboy," Chris said loud enough ta catch my attention. "Travis just called. Said he was finished with Ez, if you wanna –"
I missed whatever else Chris meant ta say in my dash fer the stairwell. The elevators take too damned long, an' I never liked them things anyway. I took the stairs two at a time, probably setting some kind of recorder fer getting up those three flights, an' probably looked like a crazed loon ta boot, but I didn't care. Ezra . . . I burst through the door, scannin' the hallway fer Ez.
Gloria was standin' by the copy machine, an' with a sympathetic smile, she pointed in the direction of the elevator. Nodding my thanks, I rounded the corner where the elevators on this floor were. Ez wasn't standin' by the doors. Cussin' myself out fer bein' so damned impatient, I figgered I had two options – take the stairs again an' hope I beat him down 'r wait fer the elevator like I shoulda the first time. It was really no contest. I picked the stairs.
Headin' back the way I'd come, I passed by several offices, one of which was dark. The door was nearly closed, an' I woulda jist gone right on by, but when I got a coupla steps away, I heard a low groan then a bangin' noise like someone bein' tossed against a wall. Dammit, why did this have ta happen now?
Drawin' my gun, I looked ta see if there was anyone 'round ta help out. There wasn't a soul in the hall, an' when I heard another groan an' a shaky "please," I decided backup could wait. I had ta do somethin' now.
Movin' quietly like I'd been trained ta, I carefully pushed the door open wide enough fer me ta slip through. More noises, louder an' more desperate now that I was inside, told me that no one had noticed me yet, but damn it was darker than hell in here. I couldn't risk shootin' blind, so I felt behind me an' found the switch. Time ta shed a little light on the subject . . .
As soon as the lights flared on, I hit the ground, rolled, an' came up on one knee a few feet away from the door, ready fer anthin'. 'R so I thought. But no amount of trainin' 'r experience coulda prepared me for this. My gun fell ta the floor with a soft thud.
Because across the room was Collin Dupheus, shirt partially torn off, belt unbuckled, mouth devourin' the man he held pinned against the wall. A man who seemed bent on crawlin' inta Dupheus' skin.
A man who was Ezra.
The End
Continues in Why Didn't I Know?
