Calvin reached the twenty-first floor and found an empty office that would place him directly across from the twenty-first floor of the Deimos Tower. He quickly pulled the zipper down on his bag and deftly went about assembling his rifle. As officers, there were times when they were forced to draw their weapons and, in life-threatening situations, fire and possibly kill someone. As a sniper, he would have to sit and watch his target for perhaps hours. From his perch, it was plausible to develop a strange type of intimacy with his target, something that was unlikely to happen when, as a last resort, he was forced to fire on a threat.

  With his rifle assembled, Calvin secured it to the tripod and adjusted his position. He looked through his scope. Getting a clear shot of the interior of Deimos Tower was going to be a challenge. Indoors he was dealing with blinds, shutters, furniture, equipment, and a dozen other things that could obstruct his view. He took a steady breath and focused. Not everyone was capable of detaching themselves emotionally. For every THIRDS sniper, there were legal, moral, and ethical issues to work through. Calvin tapped his earpiece.

  “Sloane, I’m in position.”

  “Do you have a visual?”

  “Affirmative.” Calvin scanned the waiting area behind the reception desk of the floor. Ruiz was pacing in the center, surrounded by terrified Therian and Human hostages huddled together. One lay on the floor in a pool of blood, unmoving. Another was clutching her bloodied shoulder. “Sloane, we’ve got one hostage down. He’s not moving, and there’s a large amount of blood underneath his head.” Calvin quickly but carefully swept his gaze over the victim. Shit. “I’ve got an entry wound to the head. He’s gone. There’s another hostage injured. Shot to the shoulder. We’ve got a third hostage on the floor, but she’s breathing. Eight hostages total. Suspect has a gun.” Ruiz shouted into the phone, and Calvin cursed under his breath. “His fangs are elongated. He’s agitated enough to shift.”

  “Shit. Okay. Negotiator’s managed to convince him to let her in to talk to him, but he’s not letting anyone else near the building. It’s all you now.”

  “Affirmative.”

  With Sloane unavailable to make the call, it fell to Calvin. The moment it looked like Ruiz was going to pull that trigger, Calvin would take the shot. It seemed like forever before the negotiator reached the floor. The dark-haired wolf Therian agent walked in with her hands held up in front of her to show Ruiz she wasn’t hiding any weapons. Through her com, Calvin could hear everything going on. Ruiz demanded she stay where she was by the elevator. Calvin remained stock-still, his breathing steady as he focused on the scene before him. As everyone waited with bated breath, Calvin listened to Ruiz screaming at the negotiator, telling her how the disgraceful people on the floor had destroyed his life, his family. How they’d robbed his children of their home. There were tears streaming down his reddened face, and he switched between Spanish and English.

  The minutes ticked by, and Calvin barely blinked. His muscles strained, but he didn’t dare move. He simply waited. The conversation between Ruiz and the negotiator got heated when one of the suits moved. Shit. What are you doing, you idiot? Stay down. In the blink of an eye, it all went to hell. Ruiz spat in indignation at the man in the suit, the guy arguing with him. The negotiator ordered the guy to stand down, but the hostility escalated beyond her control, growing volatile until Ruiz swung his arm up to fire at the suit.

  Calvin pulled the trigger. Mr. Ruiz crumpled to the ground.

  It was over.

  Letting out a slow breath, Calvin straightened. He tapped his earpiece. “Sloane, the threat has been neutralized.”

  “Affirmative. Get back to the BearCat.”

  Calvin quickly went to work taking his rifle apart. His mind was clear as he returned the pieces to his black bag, followed by the tripod. When everything was packed away, he grabbed his bag and left the room. It was like he’d never been there.

  He descended the stairs and walked out of the building toward the BearCat. A reporter approached him from behind the truck. What the fuck? Why was the press out here?

  “Agent Summers, you’re the sniper officer for Destructive Delta. Did you kill Mr. Ruiz?”

  Calvin gritted his teeth and made to go around the reporter, when the assistant pushed a camera in his face. Just what he fucking needed. Someone was going to get their ass kicked over this. Calvin turned away as a group of THIRDS agents rushed the news team. He climbed into the BearCat, then slammed the back doors shut.

  “Son of a bitch!” Calvin dropped his bag on the floor. He paced before tapping his earpiece. “Sloane, we have a problem.”

  Sloane’s voice came in over his earpiece. “What is it?”

  “I just got a camera shoved in my face.” The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he got. “What the fuck were they doing by the truck? They were waiting for me. The reporter called me by name and knew my position on the team. He asked me if I’d killed Mr. Ruiz.”

  “Shit. Who was it?”

  “You know who. The same assholes who are always making shit up and calling it news.”

  “Sit tight. I’m going to look into it.”

  “Okay.” Calvin snatched up his bag and returned it to the weapons locker. That fucking reporter had caught him off guard. Whether he was right or not about him being the one who pulled the trigger wouldn’t matter to the public. If they saw the footage of him being asked if he’d killed Ruiz, they’d assume he had. They’d seen his face. Calvin slammed the weapons locker door closed and pulled his tablet from his tac pants pocket. He went online to the news station’s website. There it was in full-color, the front-page headline: “Human THIRDS sniper kills Therian during hostage negotiation.”

  “Son of a motherfucking bitch!” And then the press wondered why they were so goddamn hated by THIRDS agents. Kills Therian? They purposefully left out that the Therian was the hostage taker. Calvin stopped the guy from killing a second hostage. Two others were badly injured. And why the hell did they have to bring up that he was Human? Would it have mattered if it had been a Therian sniper? As if the rest of that damned headline wasn’t volatile enough. They hadn’t even bothered to confirm their information. Under the headline, they had a photograph of him in his ceremonial uniform, his expression hard and his eyes red. He looked like shit. They’d gone out and found the worst picture of him. His anger threatened to bubble over. It was a picture of him at Gabe’s funeral. Next to his image was a photograph of a smiling Ruiz with his family, and beside it, one of him being rolled away on a gurney in a body bag by Hudson and Nina.

  There was nothing Calvin wanted more than to hunt down the bastard who’d had the fucking audacity to use that image of him in this sorry excuse for a news article. It was blatantly biased against the THIRDS, using manipulative language to paint him as some kind of trigger-happy dickbag. They’d all but called him a Therian hater.

  By the time the team returned to the truck, Calvin was seething. According to Sloane, the PR department was running damage control. The image of him at Gabe’s funeral had been removed, but unfortunately there was little they could do about the article until the investigation was finished. Back at HQ, Calvin turned in his rifle for investigation as per protocol. He put his equipment away and prepared for his session with Dr. Benedict Winters. Then he’d start on his report, which would be read by his superiors, administrators, lawyers, and everyone else on God’s green earth that might question whether his decision to shoot Ruiz had been the right one.

  Calvin understood the need to see the THIRDS-appointed psychologist. He was used to it by now. He’d have to see Dr. Winters for however many sessions was necessary until Dr. Winters signed him off. It wasn’t often Calvin found himself looking through his scope. The last time had been during the exchange between the Coalition when Ash had been shot, but this case was different. To Calvin, it didn’t matter who was in his crosshairs, whether it was a deranged murderer like Isaac Pearce or a father pushed too far like Fernando Ruiz. To him, he was doing his job keeping the public safe. For many, they could justify a kill when it was someone like Pearce or Hogan, and depending who was reporting the news, they were either victims of unfortunate circumstance or villains. In today’s scenario, no matter which way anyone looked at it, Calvin would be painted as the villain. Well, except maybe to the victims, but then he’d heard it all before, how the rich guys had brought it on themselves for being assholes. Did that mean they deserved to die?

  “Cal?”

  Ethan’s soft word snapped him out of it, and he realized they were alone in the locker room. He didn’t even remember walking in here. Calvin finished changing and shut his locker.

  “I’m fine. I’ll see you later.” The heartbroken expression Calvin managed to catch a glimpse of as he turned away from Ethan had him adding the man he loved to the long list of people he’d hurt today. He walked off, needing to be alone. It was best he be on his own right now. He’d caused enough pain.

  SEVEN

  I’ll wait for you.

  Ethan hated this part more than anything. This was where Calvin shut down and shut him out. Ethan was terrified one of these days Calvin would get lost for good. The team stayed clear, knowing it was what his partner needed. They’d finished up quickly and left the locker room. Calvin had gone through the motions, his head somewhere else. It broke Ethan’s heart to see him like that. Even if it didn’t last long, it was there, dimming the brightness in his partner’s blue eyes. Ethan followed Calvin out, though he kept his distance. His partner didn’t know he was there. Calvin had changed out of his uniform. He’d have the rest of the day off, but first he’d be up to see Dr. Winters. Tomorrow he’d spend the day filling out his report, finding the right words to paint a picture and show why it was necessary for him to do what he’d done.

  I wish you would let me in.

  Ethan yearned to reach out and take Calvin’s hand, to pull him into his embrace and not let go, but he didn’t. A thought struck him. He had a few minutes before Calvin went upstairs to meet with Dr. Winters. Ethan hurried to the elevator and went up to the seventeenth floor. He briskly walked through the corridor of offices and suites until he found the frosted-glass door with Dr. Winters’s name on it. He walked into the reception area where a young Human woman smiled at him. Ethan pointed behind her to the office.

  “One moment. I’ll check.” The receptionist put in the call, and seconds later the doctor emerged. He smiled widely.

  “Agent Hobbs. How good to see you. Please, come in. I have a few minutes before my next session.”

  Ethan walked into the doctor’s office and waited while the tall wolf Therian closed the door.

  “What can I do for you, Ethan? Have you thought about my proposal to learn ASL?”

  Ethan was embarrassed. He shook his head. I will, though. The last few months had been so crazy, he’d completely forgotten about Dr. Winters’s suggestion for him to learn American Sign Language. Ethan wasn’t sure it would help. ASL was communication, and no matter what format he was using, whether it was spoken words or sign language, it didn’t stop him from growing too anxious to communicate with someone.

  “Well, you think about it and let me know. I have a wonderful program that can help, if it’s what you want. No one’s forcing you.”

  Ethan nodded his thanks. He placed his hand out around his chest level before moving his hand over his hair and making spike motions.

  “Agent Summers?”

  Ethan nodded. I’m worried about him. He swiped a hand in front of his face.

  The doctor’s expression softened. “Yes, I know. It’s rather difficult to get through to him after an incident.”

  No, you don’t understand. Ethan put his hand to his heart, then motioned between him and the door.

  “Oh.” Dr. Winters blinked at him. “You and Agent Summers are involved romantically?”

  Ethan nodded. He waved his hand in front of his face again before putting it to his heart. Every time he shuts down, it breaks my heart. He pushed with his hands.

  “He pushes you away.”

  Ethan nodded.

  “Your partner carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, even when no one has asked him to, and that’s when he’s not carrying the responsibility of his duties. I’ll see what I can do, but I’m sure you know better than anyone how willful your partner can be.”

  Ethan wasn’t surprised. Calvin wasn’t one to share his feelings. He had no problem expressing himself, but when it came down to the core of what was eating away at him, he never let anyone in, not even Ethan. All Ethan could do was hope for the best.

  “Calvin, thank you for seeing me.”

  “I don’t really have a choice,” Calvin muttered as he entered the doctor’s pristine office and headed for the couch. The room was furnished to resemble a living room more than a psychologist’s office. Apparently, it made agents feel more open and at ease. Didn’t matter how you dressed it up, it was still a shrink’s office.

  “There’s always a choice, Calvin.”

  Here we go. Calvin took a seat on the floral couch. At least it was comfortable. He sat back against the plush throw pillows, his fingers laced and resting on his lap. He waited for the doctor to finish setting up the recording application on his tablet. Once he placed it on the coffee table beside him, he crossed one knee over the other and placed his laced fingers on his lap. Now the usual questions began.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Calvin shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  “How are you feeling about what happened today?”

  “I did my job.”

  Dr. Winters smiled warmly. “That’s what you did, not how you feel.”

  “I had to kill someone. Someone with a family who loved them. How do you think I feel?”

  “I can’t answer that for you,” Dr. Winters replied gently.

  “I feel shitty.” Like that was big news. What agent wouldn’t?

  “You know, Calvin. Whenever we have a session, you sit here in my office, I ask you the same questions, and you give me the same answers. That you’re fine. You were doing your job. That you understand what’s required of you, and that you need some time, but you can handle it because you always have.”

  “Right.” At least they were on the same page. “That hasn’t changed.”

  “Let’s try something different.” Dr. Winters cocked his head to one side, his sharp amber eyes studying Calvin. He smiled. He was always smiling. “Tell me about Ethan. How is your relationship with him progressing?”

  Calvin sat up and narrowed his eyes. He eyed Dr. Winters warily. Not that it did much good. The wolf Therian barely blinked.

  “Things are good. Was he here? Did he come here?”

  “Does that concern you?”

  Why would Ethan come up here? Not that Ethan hadn’t been up here before. Ethan had plenty of sessions with Dr. Winters before today, the most recent in connection to Shultzon taking him, Sloane, and Ash. “What did you say to him? Did he say anything?”

  “He’s worried about you.”

  “Why? It’s not the first time this has happened. He knows how these things go. How is this different than any other time?” It was a sad fact, but Calvin had done this a number of times.

  “You push him away.”

  Calvin swallowed hard. He was finding it difficult to meet Dr. Winters’s gaze all of a sudden. “I need time. He understands that.”

  “He does, but it still hurts him. When you’re in pain, he’s in pain.”

  It was strange, hearing Dr. Winters talk about Ethan during one of their sessions. “I don’t mean to hurt him. I need to deal with this on my own.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he has enough to deal with. I won’t lay my shit on him too.” On any given day, Ethan was struggling with his mutism, his anxiety, his family, and anything else determined to keep him up at night or fuck with his attempts to remain fully functional. Calvin’s job was to protect Ethan, not bring him more heartache.

  “So you’re protecting him?”

  “Yes. Like I said, he has enough to deal with. His dad, his oldest brother, his job, the assholes who get in his face because he doesn’t answer them or because he has to move when they sit next to him. They get offended. You know what it’s like for him. I won’t put my shit on him too.”

  “What about your mother? Do you speak to her about how you feel?”

  Calvin frowned. “Of course not.”

  Winters nodded. His expression turned thoughtful. “You’re protecting her as well.”

  “Of course I am. She’s my mom. After all the shit she went through, she’s finally happy. She worries enough about me being out in the field. What is she going to do with the information I give her? Nothing. She’ll worry about me more. I can handle my job, Doctor.”

  “I have no doubt that you can. Otherwise I wouldn’t continue to clear you for duty.” Winters watched him silently before seeming to come to some sort of conclusion. “Tell me about Mr. Ruiz. How do you feel about what you had to do today?”

  “I’m pissed.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he gave me no choice. Because instead of asking for help, he took a bunch of people hostage. He shot someone dead and injured two others. He left me no choice.”

  “All right. Let’s try a little exercise. Pretend I’m Fernando Ruiz. What would you like to say to me?”

  Calvin shook his head. He hated this type of role-playing strategy. It never worked, and he always felt stupid doing it. “Doc, come on.”

  “Take your time. I’ll wait.”

  Fuck. All right, fine. Calvin got to his feet. He looked at Dr. Winters and shook his head. This wasn’t going to work.

  “Why did you kill me?”

  Calvin swallowed hard. He started to pace in front of the couch. “Because it was my job. He—you left me no choice. You were going to shoot that man.” He felt like such an idiot doing this. What difference would it make? He didn’t feel anything. That was the whole point. He wasn’t going to go into his moral beliefs, what it meant that he was capable of killing someone, that he could detach. It would lead him to places where he didn’t want to end up. “I did what had to be done. Someone was dead, and someone else’s life was already in danger. If I’d gotten there sooner, there might have been injuries but no dead bodies.”