Page 159 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

“I figured you’d defend her,” Crew said.

“She doesn’t need it. All I have to do is tell her what you said, and she’ll handle it the next time she sees you.”

“Brothers don’t throw each other under the bus,” Crew warned.

“Then you shouldn’t be such a dick,” he told the task force leader.

“Anyway, back to the subject at hand… You guys get me proof he’s still a Demon—without doing illegal shit—and I’ll go to the AUSA and make sure there’s a warrant with his name on it. How’s that?”

Warrant and arrest, conviction or not, T-Bag was going to be handled one way or another. With Crew’s knowledge or not. His gaze flicked to Decker, before sliding to Rez and ending with Finn in an exchange of silent messages.

No words were needed. They all knew what needed to be done.

“Don’t pull any shit without my approval first.” Suspicion colored Crew’s tone. He knew his fellow BAMC brothers too well.

Decker asked, “When will the task force officially be shut down?”

“Next week was what I was told by Williams. That said, we need to wrap shit up. Make sure all your reports are complete.”

“It’ll be weird seeing the third floor empty,” Nox said. The executive committee would need to figure out what to do with it next. The money coming in from the lease helped keep the club’s coffers in the black. Barely.

“Agreed. The task force has been in this building almost as long as the BAMC. But all good things have to come to an end, right?” Crew asked.

“You mean not seeing your face almost every damn day? That’s not good, that’s great!” Rez crowed.

“We should have an indictmas party,” Torres suggested.

“Can we wait until after all the warrants are served?” Crew suggested. ”Let’s make sure everything goes smoothly first before we celebrate.”

“I’d rather be celebrating convictions,” Decker said.

Crew tipped his salt-and-pepper head to the side in agreement. “We can do that, too.”

“I have to say,” Torres started, “I’ll miss working with you fuckers. This assignment has been the tits. Unlike the last one I was on.”

Closing down the investigation meant anyone on the team not a federal agent would go back to their regularly scheduled programming. For Nox, he’d go back to patrol at Shadow Valley PD.

Working on the task force was a change he needed after losing Jackie. He would be forever grateful for the opportunity and the new connections he made with members not part of the BAMC.

“Now that Nox has Liyah, he can stop watching the footage from The Peach Pit for his spank bank material,” Finn announced.

Nox grimaced. “You’re welcome to watch it instead. There’s nothing on that stage that remotely makes my dick hard. Unlike you and Rez, apparently.”

Crew burst out laughing. “Damn, the man is definitely on the track back to his former self.”

Rez shot Nox a grin. “Yeah, an asshole like the rest of us. Welcome back to the dark side, Hard Nox.”

ChapterThirty-Six

“Anything?”

Fletch’s voice filled Nox’s ear. “Not a fucking word.”

“So, can we safely assume that motherfucker is no longer a Demon?”

“Does it matter if he is or isn’t?” Fletch asked.

“If he is, Crew said they can indict him. If not, we need to get the locals involved to solve that problem since the Demons didn’t,” Nox explained. “Or…”

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