The room was quiet even though there was rustling outside. Jud lay wrapped around Luke, his face pressed into the back of his neck. One knee was wedged between the other man's, and Luke covered his arm with his own. For the first time in several days, they were at peace.
But peace rarely ever lasts. Not in this house at least.
Myka knocked on the door several times. When there was no answer, she opened it and went inside. She hushed the others with her when she saw the occupants sleeping. Usually she didn't intrude on people's privacy, but this was too important for her to care. Jud's and Luke's lives hung in the balance. Their privacy was not a factor at the moment.
Even though they were as quiet as they could be, they weren't quiet enough. While setting up his laptops, Gibby kneed the desk. He made a strangled noise, clapping a hand over his mouth as he held his bruised appendage. It didn't matter much since he wasn't quiet enough.
There was an audible click. The four lifted their heads to look at each other. Slowly, they turned around with their hands up. Luke's blue eyes blazed at them. He held the gun steadily as his eyes flicked between them slowly. Myka couldn't help the crooked smile as she slowly dropped her hands.
Jud's hand came up and gently lowered the gun. He deftly pushed the hammer forward and took the gun from him. Luke glared at his lover's teammates as Jud rolled on his back. He grunted as he sat up, flipping on the light when he was situated.
He looked between his team as Jud put the gun on the bedside table. Luke usually kept it in a holster wedged between the mattresses, but he let Jud do as he wished. He didn't want to risk it going off.
Jud grunted as he sat up, flipping on the light when he was situated. He looked between his team as Luke moved restlessly beside him. He had to hand it to them. When they wanted to do something, they always found a way. But he was worried they may have overstepped Luke's boundaries with this one.
"How'd you get past the guards?" he asked. He rubbed the sleep and goop from his eyes. He hated spring.
"Amos called. Since your 'death'," Myka saw Luke flinch at the word, "we've been taken off the case. He knew this and asked if we could make covert plans. Of course, Chief knows nothing about this."
Jud looked at Luke. The younger man was still sleepy, but a grumpy expression had stolen over his face. He tossed the blankets off him and got up. Without putting on any other clothing, he wrenched open the door and left the room.
The officer sighed heavily. For someone as composed and well-dressed as Luke to leave a room half-naked, he must be overwhelmed or pissed. This whol ordeal was bringing out new facets of his personality Jud rarely glimpsed. It was fascinating yet a bit unnerving. Jud didn't want this to change him, but he was afraid it would.
His silence told Myka to go ahead and set up their equipment for the debriefing. He would find another room for their base of operations or see if he could rent a place from Amos. For now Luke's room would have to suffice. They had to have permission to enter the premises and Luke's room. This place was sacred to Luke. If he allowed people in, no one would be able to eavesdrop. Only by being privy would they be able to know.
The door opened again. Luke returned with a tray in his hands and his father trailing behind him. Lou and Raymond closed the door behind them and stood on either side of it. Luke's movements were jerky as he poured coffee for everyone. He passed them out then offered cream and sugar.
"Son," Amos called. Luke flinched, his eyes going to his father. "Sit down. There's no need to be a perfect host."
Luke poured two more cups and doctored them. He handed them to Jud then rounded the bed. He climbed back in and settled against Jud's side. The officer handed him one of the cups then kissed his bare shoulder. Everyone in the room was aware of their relationship so Jud didn't feel the least bit shy showing affection. Luke looked at him, casting him a very tight smile.
"Now that everyone has somewhat settled down," Jud said, "why have you bombarded us and ruined our sleep?"
Myka chuckled. "Jud, it's Saturday night. You two have slept for sixteen hours straight."
"Get to the point," Luke snapped.
"Lukas," his father warned.
Jud patted his knee in comfort. "What did you mean when you said you were off this case? What did the chief do?"
"Reynolds put a hold on this case. Since you are technically 'dead'," she airquoted the word, "it is now in homicide's caseload. They're looking for the shooter, but before it was turned over, we copied as many files as we could."
"So we don't know much."
Myka shook her head. "No, not yet. That's why we're here. If we search through everything together, then maybe we can find the mile and who's working with him other than Eddy Jones."
They passed out several copies of notes and files. Some names had been redacted as well as some events. There was enough information that they understood what was going on.
These files went back further than Jud's current investigation. Years even, there were years worth of materials. Several names kept popping up, namely Amos Meyers.
"Dad," Luke said. He tossed the file to the bed. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
"I have been fighting this drug war for years. Nearly twenty to be exact," Amos confirmed.
Jud snapped his fingers. Iain handed him a yellow note pad and pen. Gibby pulled up a new tab, one he could quickly edit, and got ready to take notes. He nodded at Myka. She was now the leader of Team 6 since Jud was out of commission.
"Since this investigation is now out of our hands, we can ask you questions off the record," she said. "Gibby will take notes so we can compare, but they will not end up in the official report."
Amos nodded. "And I will answer everything. But none of it can make itinto the news or a report."
Myka smiled as she nodded. "It won't be on our side."
She started with the basics. She asked how the organization was formed, who were the original members, what their original reason for forming was, and when things suddenly changed. Amos answered everything as honestly as he could remember it, looking at Luke every so often.
As they spoke, Smith verified the information in the documents. He had one notebook with known information, and a second one where he added new pieces as Amos spoke. He was going to have a whole pad and probably half of another one by the time this was all over.
Jud kept a close eye on Luke. He wasn't stupid enough to thing he was oblivious to most of this. The look on his face said he had grown up with most of this knowledge. It was probably how they started prospecting new members. They had to know the history before they could even think about joining.
However, he would flinch when some bits of information would come from his father's mouth. Even the Prince of the Kings was not privy to all the information. Or his father had more secrets than even his own son knew about.
Jud wanted to reach out to him, but he was afraid Luke would shrug him off. All of this was connected to Jud getting shot, and he didn't want the son to hate his father. Amos and Luke had a strong relationship since Amos had raised his son alone for most of his life. He didn't want to ruin that.
The more Amos spoke about the inner workings of the organization and why he'd done what he did, Luke shrank in on himself. Raymond moved from the wall to sit on the bed with his friend. Even though he was learning this new information as well, he was still worried about Luke more. It was a type of friendship that went past speaking, and it was one Jud had only found when he started working with Team 6.
"Did you have someone ask you about delving into the drug trade again?" Myka asked.
"I had an acquaintance from my former days," Amos said. "Marco Reyes and I grew up together. He was annexed by the Saints nearly a decade ago. He was part of a small group called Los El Ninos. The group voted to be annexed into the Saints to stop a gang war. He was against running drugs. So he was tasked with getting us to open up Baymont."
"When was this?" Iain asked. He was clacking away on the keyboard, obviously looking up Marco Reyes.
"Maybe two years ago. It would have been amidst the College protests."
Two years ago, a female student had been sexually assaulted by the dean of admissions' son. The dean had hired a shark of an attorney to attempt to get his son cleared despite cameras being in the stairwell of the club they'd frequented. The town had gone nuts when the attorney had said the girl had been asking for it because she had been dancing provocatively.
The night after that came out, the university and the community college had gone on strike in protest. The teachers had refused to teach when a man was trying to blame a girl for his son's actions. It had been nearly a decade since the last crazy sexual assault case that had been the accused proven innocent. This one was nothing like that, and everyone knew it.
The protests lasted for two weeks. Finally the judge held the attorney in contempt for a sexist remark during the cross examination of the victim. He had been warned prior to that and hadn't heeded the warning. The jury found the dean's son guilty and sentenced him to twenty years in prison. The dean resigned, and school went back in session just in time for graduation. The victim graduated with honors. The last anyone had heard about her she was now working for a senator who specialized in victim reform.
Iain sat back in his seat. "Marco Reyes was gunned down in a driveby shooting last year. The suspect was never found."
"Was Reyes trying to stage a coup?" Myka asked.
"I'm unsure. After he asked me to open a path through Baymont and I refused, I never saw him again." Amos frowned deeply. "He was a good man. He only ever agreed to be annexed to keep his son and friends safe."
"Hey, Cap," Gibby said. Jud looked up at him over the brim of his glasses. "One of the bullets recovered at the scene of Reyes's murder matched the ballistics fished out of your chest."
"He was assassinated," Jud mused. He sighed and scratched his head. "We know the shooter and the gun, but we don't know where he is or why he's contracted."
"He's a hired gun," Lou said. The entire room agreed with him. "And he thinks you're dead. He'll go after the one you hold dear."
Every eye turned towards Luke. Jud's throat ran dry. He was dead according to the public. Those who were smart would figure out who Jud had been seeing before his 'death'. He'd raided Bennett's without arresting its proprietor. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. Luke would be the next target.
"What should we do?" Raymond asked.
"I can go undercover in South Bay," Myka volunteered. "I have some friends who can get me an audience with Miguel Arturo."
"That only helps if we can draw him out of South Bay," Amos said.
"We'll use Bennett's," Luke offered. There were several protests around the room. Luke held up his hand. "Wait a minute before you shit yourselves. Miguel Arturo has had several of his partners come party at Bennett's. It's a host club tailored to your desires after all, and it's the only one in three counties of its kind. Some come to relieve stress. If Myka can get a list of names of Arturo's lovers, we can host a soiree. All Myka has to do is mention the soiree and the extracurricular activities."
Raymond frowned. "You don't let your staff sleep with customers."
"Sex isn't the only extracurricular activity, Ray." He let it hang between all of them. "If I am the next target, someone is going to have to come into my domain and take me out. I won't go down without a fight."
Fear gripped Jud. This was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want Luke involved, but he was dead. He couldn't do anything publicly. He had to let his team and loved ones do it for him. But like Luke, he wouldn't take it sitting down. He was going to fight.