Sexual Games [The Heroes of Silver Springs 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

Jackson straightened and shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “Did Mal tell you she ran the check on the dealer tag? It turns out it belonged to a Chevrolet Equinox sold to a husband and wife and their four kids in Meridian two weeks ago. They reported the dealer tag stolen three days after the purchase. It was apparently taken off their vehicle while it sat in their driveway in the middle of the night. Of course, no one saw a thing.”

“Of course,” Cameron said sardonically. “That would’ve been too easy.”

“So far we’ve been unable to pull up any sort of connection between them and anyone close to Waterston.”

“What about you?” Cameron let the security tape roll as he leaned back in his seat and looked up quizzically at Jackson. “You got any connections in Meridian I don’t know about?”

Jackson sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “If I do, I don’t know about them any more than you.”

Cameron pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, a gesture he did often when his brain was working ninety-to-nothing. “And I’m guessing this Lexie Stratus doesn’t either.”

“Kell’s still working that angle, digging up what he can find on her. She was an employee at Stardust, worked as a stripper. According to employee records, the Waterston PD’s files, and the people he’s been able to talk to associated with the place so far, she quit between sets almost a month ago and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”

“Somebody must have pissed her off.”

“Maybe.” Jackson shrugged. “From what Kell found out from one of the cocktail waitresses on shift that night, she didn’t make a scene, didn’t say a word to anyone. She danced her first set, walked off the stage, and apparently out the back door.”

“Meridian isn’t but, what, two hours from here?”

“More like an hour and a half.” Jackson rolled with the conversational shift, knowing Cameron was playing out all the angles, his mind following his friend down the path.

“Easy enough to make the trip, snag the tag, come back here, and devise her next move. One thing is certain, this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was definitely premeditated. This chick had it all planned out to the smallest detail.”

Jackson pushed a hard breath from his lungs and turned, paced to Cameron’s desk, turned again, and paced back to where he’d started. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Cameron’s office mirrored his own down to the drab-but-utilitarian furnishings and neutral paint, save for the extra table set along the far wall that held the video and audio equipment.

Cameron sat at that table now, turned in his swivel chair, and nodded once. His expression was as starkly serious as it had been all morning. “Okay, how about I tell you that I don’t give a shit if you’ve got a thing going with my sister.”

“I don’t have a thing going with her.” Jackson didn’t miss a beat, though this time Cameron’s conversational shift caught him off guard.

“You want to.” Cameron propped his elbows on the chair arms, laced his fingers together, and regarded Jackson with a look that told Jackson he couldn’t deny anything. “Hell, man, I see the way you look at her, the way you’ve
always
looked at her. If our friendship is what’s holding you back, stop letting it. A big brother rarely thinks any man is good enough for his little sister. I got lucky. You’re a damn good man. She couldn’t do much better. You have my permission, my blessing. Shit, you’ve got whatever you need from me.”

“Mallory is what’s holding me back.” Sure, he’d been concerned how Cameron would react if he and Mallory hooked up. He and Cameron had been friends over half their lives, they’d gone through the academy together, worked together, and shared a bond he considered unbreakable. Knowing and believing in the strength of that bond was what had lessened his worries where his best friend was concerned.

Cameron nodded, acute understand swirling his eyes. “Because you want it all and she wants sex.” He didn’t guess. His tone made the statement a certainty.

Jackson sighed and backed against Cameron’s desk. He leaned on the edge, folded his arms, and crossed his ankles. “Got it in one.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. Mal and I come from the same mold. We’ve got the same hang-ups.”

“Is that what’s holding you back from Adrien Bingham?”

Cameron blinked at him, the only sign of surprise the man allowed to show. Then his lips unfolded in a half-sardonic smile. “Tit for tat, I suppose. When did you figure that one out?”

“During the assignment in Silver Springs, the one where we took down Veng Kim Phay. I spent a lot of time with Adrien on that assignment. Things he said, expressions he made when your name would come up”—Jackson lifted a shoulder—“it wasn’t hard to put it together.”

Cameron looked at the ceiling, waited a beat, then met Jackson’s gaze. “Were you ticked?”

“You mean because you’ve been holding out on me? We’ve been friends most our lives and you’ve never once hinted that you’re bi-sexual.”

“I’m not the man you thought I was.” Apology rang in Cameron’s voice.

“Yes, you are. Hints weren’t necessary.”

Cameron gave a half laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in the tone. “Guess I didn’t keep that part of me under wraps as much as I thought.”

“I noticed the glances now and then, picked up on a few comments here and there. It was enough.”

“Not directed at you,” Cameron said quickly.

“They never were. Christ, man, does everybody think I’m a stuffy, pompous ass?”

Cameron laughed again and this time the sound rang with amusement. “Naw, that’s just Mal’s description.” He sobered, his expression serious once more. “I just, well, I never wanted to make you uncomfortable and shit, man.”

“It’s not the kind of thing men talk about, even when they’re as close as we are. Yeah, I get it. Want to know a truth? I’ve been hoping that playing on the other side of the fence would help you figure shit out, because playing on my team hasn’t seemed to do it for you.”

Cameron bowed his head. “Switching only made it worse.”

“Adrien.” Jackson made the name more statement than question.

Cameron’s gaze slammed back into his and he saw turmoil in his friend’s eyes he’d never seen before. “Got it in one.”

“Touché.” Jackson smiled. “He’s got it for you, bad. I didn’t need my FBI decoder ring to figure that one out.”

“I know.” Cameron sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, um, hurt him, pretty badly I think, too.”

“Why did you do it?”

Cameron took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He wants more than I’m ready for. He deserves more than I’m ready to give him.”

“I can relate.” Jackson nodded, all he’d been through with Mallory instantly coming to the forefront of his mind. “To Adrien, I mean.”

“Yeah, I guessed Mal was giving you the same runaround.” Cameron turned back to the television, stopping the surveillance footage as he continued, “I told you, dude, we’re from the same mold.”

Jackson studied his friend for a long moment and noted the tension that had settled in the man’s shoulders, the way he no longer sat so relaxed in his chair. He should probably drop the subject. Deep conversations like this were not something they got into often. He could probably count the ones they’d had in the past on the fingers of one hand and still have a few digits left over.

He didn’t drop it, though, deciding this was one time when his buddy needed to open up. “What would it take for Adrien to break that mold?”

Cameron didn’t look away from the television. “You’re asking because, if I’ve got an answer, you’re thinking you can use the same approach with Mal.”

Actually, it hadn’t occurred to him, but… “It’s worked in the past in other situations.”

“Sorry, bro.” Cameron shook his head and spun back to face him. “I can’t help you this time. I don’t even know if I want Adrien to break the mold. I like who I am. Single and fancy-free, so to speak.”

Jackson’s lips twitched. “Fancy-free? That might be the gayest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“Better than admitting I’m scared.” Cameron’s voice was as stone-cold serious as his expression.

“You just did,” Jackson pointed out.

Cameron aimed a finger at him. “Only to you.” He let the finger drop to his thigh. “That’s Mal’s problem, you know? She wants you. Hell, I know my little sister better than I know myself. She’s fucking in love with you, and it terrifies her right down to the tip of her stiletto heels.”

Jackson frowned even as a sultry image of Mallory in red heels and absolutely nothing else stirred his cock. “She’s learned to run like hell in those stilettos, too.”

“One thing about it, the women is a professional female. There isn’t much she can’t do in heels.”

Jackson pushed the image of Mallory aside and glanced at his friend’s feet. “I often wondered why you stuck with Reeboks. Now I know. They make the best running shoes.”

“You think I’m running from Adrien?”

Jackson didn’t think. He knew. He didn’t see the need to point it out, so he asked a question of his own. “What did you think of my temporary roommates last night?”

Cameron grinned. “Are you wondering if I’m going to make a play for Terri?”

“Actually, given our current conversation, I was thinking of Thaddeus.”

“Shit, you really do know me, don’t you?” Cameron pulled the surveillance disc from the player and snapped it inside its case.

“So what did you think?” Jackson asked again.

Cameron slanted him a look full of skepticism. “You really want to know?”

Jackson nodded. “I really want to know.”

Cameron barked a laugh. “He’s fucking hot.”

Okay, so this is new.
He’d heard Cameron talk about scores of women in the lives but never another man, at least not so blatantly.

You asked.

Yeah, he had. It didn’t bother him, either. It just sounded…weird.

“Are you going to make a play for him?” Forget weird. This was his best friend and he accepted the man for who he was, bisexual or not.

“I kind of already did.” Cameron didn’t blush. He never did. But if a blush could be heard, Jackson would’ve sworn it was there in his voice. “It wasn’t intentional, but he started flirting—not right out flaming flirting or anything, just nonchalantly coming on to me—and I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t
not
flirt back.”

Jackson could relate. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to flirt back with Mallory when she laid on her you-know-you-want-to-fuck-me act. He failed often enough lately, too. “Did you ask him out?”

“No, I just sort of made it clear I wanted to see him again before he left town.”

“You should. Maybe it would do you some good.” The advice spilled from Jackson’s mouth before he could think to stop it. Was he crazy? How many times had Mallory suggested he have a fling with someone else? How many times had she told him it would do them both some good?

From Mallory’s viewpoint, she thought it would help to loosen his tie, make him more apt to go for no-strings sex. Jackson didn’t think that was the case with Cameron. The man was the king of flings. Yet, those flings had become next to nonexistent the last few years. When Jackson did the math, he pretty much settled on the pivotal moment being somewhere shortly after Cameron met Adrien Bingham. Maybe what his buddy needed was a night in another man’s company to make him realize what he truly wanted was the man he ran from in Silver Springs.

“In other words, get my mind off Adrien for a while.”

“Something like that.” Jackson nodded. “I’d be careful, though. Thaddeus is from Silver Springs, too. I don’t know if it’s still happening, but when I was there, the DEA office was crossing paths with the SSFD quite frequently.”

“Think Thaddeus would be one to go home and gossip to the town?”

“No, but there’s a good chance he and Adrien are acquaintances. Until you decide what it is you truly want, you may not want word getting back to Adrien that you’re moving on.”

Cameron looked away and Jackson saw a memory move through the man’s expression. “He wouldn’t be surprised.”

Jackson pushed off the desk and moved to the closed office door. “Then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“No, I guess I don’t.” Cameron got to his feet and walked behind his desk. “Where are you headed?”

“Cooper’s office. I’ll let him know we didn’t get shit from the surveillance disc. Then I’m going to the apartment. I’ve got a list in my head of tenants to talk to, none that actually fit the profile, but ones to check off before I move on.”

“You should take Mallory with you. These are women you’re going to talk to, and correct me if I’m wrong, but a few of them are married. It might be good to have a female agent at your side.”

Yeah, it probably would be a good idea. Though spending time alone with Mallory after all that had transpired last night probably wouldn’t be.

* * * *

Mallory looked around Cooper’s office, noted the partially opened door to his private closet, and walked toward it. “Do you mind if I hang this here for now, sir?”

“Go ahead,” Cooper answered absently, his attention focused on his computer. “Kell hasn’t been able to pick up a morsel on Lexie Stratus, nothing beyond background information anyway.” He sighed, his frustration evident in his tone. “We can trace her from birth through last month and then nothing. She disappeared.”