Page 94 of Commander in Briefs

“Who’s Lawson?” A crunching noise echoes in the receiver. Is he fucking eating something right now?

“Theo!” My patience is gone but I try to reign in my fury.

He chuckles, crunching some more. “Alright, fine. I’ll help you find the stray.”

One…two…three…deep breath…four. “I need you to bring Hayes, too. Don’t tell Commander where you’re going.”

His deep belly laugh reverberates through the phone. “You are so fucked, Jameson. I’m going to enjoy watching her kick your ass.”

I’ve learned the hard way that as long as you keep fighting back he will get nastier and nastier so I end the conversation gruffly, barking an order into the receiver. “Meet me at the corner of Briar Street.”

He smacks in the phone, taking his time to answer me. “Done. But you owe me.” With that, he hangs up.

What a fucking prick.

Theo and Hayes arrive thirty minutes later. Me, Mason, and Vic have scoured the neighborhood and come up with nothing. I’m exhausted and hungry but I am not leaving without Lawson. I feel like such a failure already and I can’t imagine showing up at home, empty-handed.

“Alright, Cade. Let’s get this shit show underway. I have things to do. Commanders to fuck.”

My hands clench into fists thinking about him fucking Commander. I want to hit him, just once. Is that too much to ask?

Ignoring his dig, I look to the guys. “Split up. We’re going to expand our search to the next neighborhood over a few blocks. Check the cars, houses, anywhere he might be hiding out.”

Theo holds up a finger to stop me. “What if he doesn’t want to be found? Have you ever thought about that?”

I have. And that’s something I don’t want to think again. Sometimes, guys like us just want to be left alone to die or waste away. I’d like to think Lawson doesn’t feel that way but we did find him face down, a needle hanging from his vein. I didn’t want to help him at the time. I didn’t want to escort him to the hospital. But Anniston… she was fucking insistent. We carried him to the ER, where he was detoxed and bandaged up.

Anniston spent a couple hours talking to him, encouraging him to come back with us when he was released. I told her it wasn’t a good idea. Addicts are different from your run-of-the-mill homeless. I was afraid his dealer or friends would come for him, see what Anniston has and steal from her.

Or worse…hurt her.

She waved me off, saying he was different. That she saw hope in his eyes. And then she made me swear not to tell Theo how we found him.

Maybe it’s better this way. Maybe he ran off looking for his next fix and I can tell Anniston that he was a lost cause, that he wasn’t ready to turn his life around. There will always be others, ones who want help.

I look at Theo. “Anniston will want closure either way.”

I turn on my heel, refusing to answer any further questions. I need to think. When I was homeless, I would seek out shelter in low traffic areas. I didn’t want to be seen, to be whispered about. Scaring children was not my thing.

I head to the south entrance of the subdivision as the guys disappear, spreading out in different directions. I peek through the windows of the cars parked on the street, praying no one calls the cops and reports me for scoping the area. Lawson isn’t anywhere to be found. Wherever he went, it isn’t here.

I’m almost ready to call it quits when screams and a loud banging erupt from behind me. Startled, I scan for the source of the screaming. The side door to a small blue house on the corner is thrown open and out runs Lawson, hauling ass, jumping over the front bushes as he goes.

Please tell me he didn’t just rob the place.

I break into a run, attempting to intercept him. I’m not sure what’s going on but he’s not escaping without an explanation.

“Lieutenant!” I shout, running behind him. My body screams in pain from the hours of manual labor I’ve put in, but I catch up easily, fighting through the discomfort. Snagging Lawson’s arm, he pulls to a halt. His eyes are wide with… excitement? It’s hard to tell as he tries to pull free of my grasp.

“Hurry, Major. He’s coming.”

I stand firm, not allowing Lawson to move me from the scene. If he robbed the place, then he’s about to give all that shit back. I am not going to be an accomplice to a crime.

“What did you do?”

He looks at me then at a man charging from the doorway, a small redhead hot on his heels.

“It’s not what it looks like.” He’s pleading for me to run but I can’t.

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