Dragon Defect [D.O.A. 4]

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 2

Solo was exhausted. He just got back from Arizona finishing up a nasty case and all he wanted to do was grab a beer, get a bite to eat and go the f**k to bed.

“Hey, Solo, welcome home.” Rylee said, opening the fridge and taking out a soda. “Can I get you something?”

“Thanks, Ry. I’d like a beer if one’s handy.” Solo replied.

Rylee bent once again and came out with a Bud in hand, “Is this okay?”

“Sure. Right now, I’d take just about anything.” Solo replied popping the cap of the bottle.

“That bad?” Ry asked him.

Nodding, Solo answered, “Worse. I hate all that paperwork and Internal Affairs bullshit. You’d think they would be thrilled that a serial killer was off the streets, not crucify those that took them off those streets to begin with.”

“Well, he did end up dead, Solo. They have to make sure everything was for cause, so that his family can’t hold the city accountable for the death and sue the s**t out of them. It’s all about the money.” Rylee replied.

“I would think that the lives of all those nurses the sick f**k was beheading would be answer enough as to whether the asshole was dead or alive when found.” Solo muttered.

“You would be surprised at how often criminals sue the state for s**t and win. Hell, even people they have committed crimes against.” Rylee stated with a laugh.

Solo thought Rylee had lost his mind. The man must have read his thoughts when he said,

“Seriously. I’m not bullshitting you. There was this nineteen-year-old kid. Got his mind on stealing a skylight from the high school gym. He fell through and messed himself up pretty badly and he sued the owners of the skylight.”

“The school? He sued the school for getting hurt while trying to steal from them?” Solo asked in complete shock.

Nodding, Rylee replied, “Not only did he sue them, the little s**t won. He was going for a few million but settled on two hundred and sixty thousand dollars plus one thousand two hundred a month for life.”

“That’s just bullshit.” Solo snapped.

Shrugging, Rylee said, “Maybe so, but that’s how the f****d-up system works and that’s why IA needs every little detail of information you can give them.”

“Okay, I can understand when put like that, but if I already went through everything with Arizona IA, why do I have to meet with Paine this week?” Solo asked in a huff.

Taj walked in and immediately went to his mate, “Maybe because Pit keeps putting him off on meeting the guy and he’s using this to actually speak to someone in our crew.”

Solo opened his mouth to say something when Taj took the opportunity to bring Rylee in for a deep kiss. Solo wasn’t stupid, he had seen them at work many times and knew that in under a minute, Taj would be throwing Ry over his shoulder and taking off to their room.

Hearing laughter coming from outside, Solo walked to the patio door, saying, “You guys have fun.” He had just started opening the sliding glass when Taj slung Rylee over his shoulder.

Laughing to himself, Solo made his way to the pool area and was surprised to see Bren and Jude talking to Lex. What was he doing in Drago? Outsiders were not allowed in their town because the people that lived here were either in the witness protection program or knew of D.O.A. and wanted to stay with them because of past issues and feeling safer.

“Hey Lex, welcome back.” Casper said, slapping Solo on the back making him stumble forward.

Solo turned to Casper, shaking his head, “Thanks. Why’s Lex here?”

“Because he’s friends with Jude, Bren and Ry?” Casper answered, then asked, “You have a problem with Lex?”

“Not so much a problem with him, but Drago is supposed to be a private town where the people that live here can feel safe. If they see a stranger walking around, they might think we’re compromising them.” Solo answered.

Casper gave Solo and odd look, “Solo, you do know that everyone in Drago knows Lex? He was at the Fourth of July celebration. What’s your problem? Do you have a problem with Lex?”

Solo hesitated to answer the question. He didn’t want to blurt out just how uneasy the man left Solo whenever Lex walked into his view. The guy was sexy as f**k with his sleek toned body, white hair and light-blue bedroom eyes. Everything about the guy screamed “f**k him now!”

and that scared the s**t out of Solo and nothing ever scared Solo... not serial killers, serial rapists, serial arsonists… but give him that five foot ten man and Solo was running the other way whenever he caught sight of the guy.

It wasn’t that Solo was afraid of s*x, hell, Solo had a very healthy s*x life. He would often go into a bar on Poconos Boulevard and hook up with some unknown man for the night, and when out of town, Solo might have some fun with a guy the few nights he might be in that city, careful to make sure they all knew the deal… Solo did not do relationships. He didn’t want someone to get so close to him when there might be a chance that Solo came upon his Sentience.

A Sentience to the D.O.A. agents was like a mate in the shifter world, but more. A Sentience was not just a part of their soul, but the very essence of it. Which meant they shared that person with

the D.O.A. maharishi. The Sentience was the very reason their maharishi and the D.O.A. agent would take another breath.

To have the knowledge of that kind of connection with someone else out in the world meant it would be wrong to become emotionally involved with anyone else, and then have to break it off, because Solo one day would find this person meant for him.

At first Solo was so drawn to Lex that he thought Lex had to be his Sentience, but when he finally worked up the courage to get closer to the guy at the Fourth of July celebration, that’s when Solo realized something about the man, and it really bothered and confused him.

“Solo, do you have a problem with Lex?” Casper asked a bit more insistently.

“He gives off no scent.” Solo replied, taking a long draw on his beer.

“What?” Casper asked in surprise.

Turning to Casper, Solo said, “I never really noticed it before, but then again, I’d never really been all that close to Lex before. However, at the Fourth of July celebration I did get closer to the man and I scented him… and smelled nothing.”

“I never noticed that before.” Casper said thoughtfully. “Then again, I don’t go around sniffing people either.”

“Normally I don’t either, but I was curious about something and when I got closer to the guy…

nothing. Not even what kind of shampoo the man uses.” Solo murmured, still looking in Lex’s direction.

Solo turned when he felt a slap on his back to see Pit standing there. “How did things go in Arizona?”

“Norton’s dead and no more nurses are being killed. I think it went great.” Solo muttered, taking a large sip of his beer.

“I meant your meeting with IA.” Pit stated, with that stern look he always got when he knew one of his men was avoiding a question.

Sighing heavily, Solo replied, “I answered their questions… well, what I could. It’s not like I could say one of our dragons saw the last nurse abducted and followed him until he saw where he was taking the woman, then directed me to their location so I could take him in, only to have the guy start shooting, and then said dragon used his massive tail to smack the bastard into the wall and kill the guy, so I dropped a pallet filled with cement bricks on top of the fucker to cover it all up.”

“So how did you explain the injuries to IA without telling them about Azul?” Pit asked.

“We were in a construction yard, Norton attacked, we fought, and when he came at me with a crowbar, I hit the switch and dropped the bricks. It wasn’t an outright lie, just one of omission.

They said that I was cleared and that was that.” Solo answered.

“Okay, then what’s bugging you about the trip?” Pit asked.

Looking back towards Lex, Solo replied, “I got something delivered to my hotel room the night before I left to come home.”

“Something deliv… how the hell would anyone even know where you were staying? We never give out that information.” Casper asked in surprise.

Shaking his head, Solo replied, “I don’t know, but that’s not even half of what bothers me about the delivered note.”

“Explain.” Taj said, walking up to the small group of men.

“It was sent to Gil Fuller.” Solo answered.

“What the f**k?” Casper gasped.

Nodding, Solo replied, “That was my reaction as well. That’s why I’m getting in a bit later than planned. I went to the delivery service asking them who sent the letter. They couldn’t tell me what the guy looked like, but they did have a name… Gene Rev. I couldn’t find anything on the person, so I figure I’ll hand the name over to Wiz and see what he can find out.”

“Good idea. Do you have the note?” Pit asked.

Digging into his pocket, Solo pulled out a small piece of paper, “It’s short and to the point.”

Pit read the note out loud, “You took all I ever had and now it’s time I take all you have.”

“What are they talking about? What could you have taken?” Casper asked.

Shaking his head, Solo replied, “Who knows. I figure it’s about one of my cases, but hell, I’ve been a part of thousands of them since we started working for Heck.”

“Do you think it might be about the one you just finished in Arizona?” Pit asked.

“I guess it could, but I have no clue who it could be. The guy had no real ties in Arizona. From what I could find about Norton, he had been in the military and moved around a lot. It’s one of the reasons we think he killed far more than just those five nurses in Arizona. The detectives on the case are checking the other places we know he was stationed. Norton’s never been married and he had no family.” Solo replied.

Pit sighed, handing the note to Casper, “Get this to Wiz. I want it checked out for prints and anything else he can find. For now we’ll just have to be careful and Solo, I think for the time being you should stick close to home.”

“What the hell, Pit? I’m not some damsel that can’t take care of himself.” Solo snapped.

“No, but you are a D.O.A. agent that’s been separated from his maharishi for far longer than normal and honestly, your aquatic beast is getting pissy.” Pit stated firmly.

Solo raised his brow at his leaders words. “What has my maharishi done? Normally he’s the quiet and calmest of the dragons.”

“Exactly, but lately he has been living in the bottom of the pool and snapping at anyone that even tries to get close to him. I have a feeling he didn’t like you leaving with Azul and not him.” Taj said with a smirk.

“You’re trying to tell me that my maharishi is jealous that I went to Arizona with another maharishi? That’s insane.” Solo responded.

Shrugging, Taj replied, “Insane or not, I do believe you have a lot of making up to do.”

Azul took that moment to walk past the three men standing there wearing speedos and a towel tossed over his shoulder. When he got close to the pool, Solo watched his maharishi’s camouflage-colored body grow to the size of the pool’s length. His three heads rising above the water, the largest head in the middle baring his teeth as his tentacles lifted high in the air, smacking Azul away from the pool.

Azul snarled and began to grow, Pit whispering, “Oh shit.”