Page 13 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

He turns around and leans back against the counter. “That’s the worst trafficking case that I’ve seen since…her. It brought back a lot of old stuff I thought I’d dealt with.”

“You know shit like this doesn’t have a timeline. It can come back to bite you in the ass at any given time. We’re doing everything we can to save these people, Ari.”

“Are we? It’s always a little too late.”

“We go as soon as we have the intel. We can’t be everywhere at once. What did Michaela have to say?”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Ari chuckles. “Besides her piss-ant husband pulling a gun on me, not much was said.”

“Wait? What?”

He pulls a stool out on the other side and sits down. “He came home while I was there and accused us of fucking. I have to give him points for flair when he aimed a gun in my face. Anyway, you remember the Dimarco case?” I nod. It was a fucked up drug smuggling case that went way deeper than that. “She said she got word that it might not be over. Someone might be rising up to take over.”

“Did you tell Axel?”

“No. We’ll handle it if that’s the case, but it’s just rumors right now.”

“Can I ask you another question without you punching me in the face?”

“If it’s about Jason, no.” Ari’s always been able to read me like a book, and I’m the same way with him until Jason. Ari flirts shamelessly with everyone. He uses it to disarm people in the field or for fun. But something about Jason has Ari acting differently. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

“So there is something?”

Ari shrugs. “Yeah, and that’s all you need to know.”

“Just know that I’m here when you’re ready.”

“You aren’t going to question my motives since he’s gay and I’m not?”

“Are you questioning your motives?”

“No.”

“Then no. It’s a little shocking since you’ve never really shown an interest in guys before.”

“There’s just something about him, Ke.”

“He’s innocent and not tainted by all the bloodshed.”

“That’s some of it.”

“Then go for it but don’t fuck him over. Jason seems like an awesome dude.”

“He is.” Ari checks the time on his phone and sips his coffee. “We have a meeting with Axel in like ten minutes.”

I laugh. “We aren’t going to make it in time. You want me to wake up Tyler and Gavin?”

Ari shakes his head and stands up. “Nah. Gavin needs the sleep, and Tyler seems to be the only thing that calms him down.”

“You do know that Tyler sleeps in there every night, right?”

“Yeah. I might want to slit Tyler’s throat every day, but he’s good for Gavin.”

Tyler might not know when to shut up, but he knows how to chase all the darkness away.

I just hope he’s dealing with his own.

“You want us to what?”Ari asks Axel at the meeting. He flips through the folder again and then hands it to me.