Page 168 of The Wild Charge

But this time, Reese licked his dry lips and croaked, “Why am I tied up?”

Hunter’s brows lifted. “Oh. He talks now, does he?”

“He even gets texts,” Jax said, nasty grin back in place. He stepped up beside Hunter, holding Reese’s phone – plain black case save for the small sunflower sticker Kristin had laughingly added to it, and that he hadn’t wanted to remove, for some reason. “Look.” He angled the screen toward Hunter, who kept his gaze fixed on Reese’s face. “There’s a heart.” He flipped it toward Reese, next, but it was too far and Reese’s vision still too blurry to make anything out. His sneer was visible, though, dead-eyed and mocking. “It’s from ‘Tenny.’ That’s your little bitch boy, isn’t it? The one you were making out with under a street light?”

That was what finally dragged him the rest of the way to alertness: the knowledge that he and Tenny had been seen. Had been spied on. He remembered that night, under the streetlamp; remembered the dinner, and the unusually soft look in Tenny’s eyes, over candlelight and wine; remembered what came after with aching clarity.I love you.

He flexed his arms again, and the pain was nothing this time.

“Jax,” Hunter warned again, gaze going up to Reese’s curled-tight fists. “Don’t antagonize him.”

Jax made a face, but pocketed the phone.

“You never let me talk like that,” Reese observed. He flexed his toes, rolled his ankles. They’d stripped him down to his boxers; when he tensed his calves, he found them uninjured. His legs were intact save for the lines Jax had carved across his thigh.

One corner of Hunter’s mouth flicked up in an expression that wasn’t a smile. “I’ve learned a few things since you were around.” He started pacing, a slow circle around behind Reese. Strong, callused fingers probed the muscles of his back, testing the strength there, tracing spine and rib bones. “I’m surprised you kept in shape.”

He came full circle and stood in front of Reese once more.

Reese tested his bonds, and heard chains rattle overhead.

Hunter did smile, then. “Used to, you coulda gotten yourself outta that.”

Reese twisted his wrists again. “I still can.”

“Prove it, then.” He took a step back, and then another. “Show me you can get loose, and then we’ll talk.”

“About what?” Reese gritted out.

Hunter tossed a glance over his shoulder before he stepped through the plastic curtain. “About you coming back home.”

~*~

Police precincts, Pongo had learned, weren’t as glamorous in real life as they were on TV. No soft lighting, no wood paneling, no perfectly-groomed lady detectives strutting across the bullpen in tailored slacks and jackets. His own lady detective sat slumped in front of her computer monitor, shirt wrinkled, dark bags under her eyes.

She didn’t look unhappy, though. At least, she didn’t until he dropped into the chair that paralleled her desk and she glanced up to look at him. Then one of her patented, disapproving frowns made an appearance.

She also, he noticed with a bit of inner smugness, reached to tidy her hair, a fast, seemingly-reflexive movement. Interesting.

“What’s up, beautiful?” he greeted.

“Shh,” she hissed, sliding her chair closer so she could lean across her L-shaped desk and glare daggers at him. In a low, furious whisper, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Gloating, mostly.” He leaned back and kicked his boots up onto the edge of her desk.

She leaned over and whacked them off with a surprising amount of strength for such a small woman.

“Hey, now,” he protested. “My tip was good, wasn’t it? You made a whole buncha arrests?”

She sat back, still scowling, but her expression relented a fraction. “Organized Crime did, not Vice.”

“Yeah,” he said, still grinning, “but who told the big muckity mucks?”

Her brows lifted. “Muckity mucks?”

He rolled his eyes. “Organized Crime, then. They knew about the hits because of you.” He pointed at her – and then at himself, smile broadening. “And because of me.”

She frowned, and her nose twitched, but she didn’t look displeased, exactly. “Yeah. Well. Thanks for that.” She took a deep breath. “You were right.”

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