Barek POV


I couldn't decide if it had been a good decision to bring Mike along on this trip or not. I mean, I wanted him with me. And I wanted him to not feel threatened by Jack. But I hadn't anticipated the high level of alpha-maleness that they were both exhibiting after the introductions were made.

I was a little annoyed with Jack for how he acted. I told him on my first trip down to Asheville that I was married. Actually, I even told him that when he first called to ask me to take on the consultation. I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings. I even left out the part that the marriage wasn't officially legal.

Because at one point, we had had a sexual relationship. A brief, torrid affair that ended badly. But that was nearly twenty years ago, and I thought we had both matured. Apparently I was the only one who had matured, because the way he was sizing up Mike made it seem as though he still felt he had some kind of claim to me. He didn't.

After the four of us made the decision to look further into these murders, Jack took us upstairs to show us to the victims' apartment. I had been in there before, questioning Scott Hannigan, but I hadn't gotten to look at things so closely.

A quick glance around the living room was all it took to know that something was amiss. The place had been worked over.

"Your men have already been here?" I asked Jack.

"No. They're all still out in Pisgah. I called to let them know you guys would be handling this aspect." I tilted my head and looked at him in surprise.

"So Asheville PD is not coming?"

"We're low on manpower right now. Since you're here, we don't need them here." Hmmm. That was a little strange.

"So this is how you found the place?" I asked for clarification.

"That's right."

The four of us split up and looked over the apartment. Alex took over the laptop and Bobby checked out the bookshelves. Mike headed for Pete's room and I went to Scott's. Jack wandered around, watching us more than anything.

"This hard drive has been wiped clean," Alex called from the living room.

"There are no personal effects. It's completely sterilized," Bobby added.

"Hey, check this out," Mike called from Pete's room. Bobby and I joined him where he was standing in front of the dresser. Jack followed.

"You found something?" Jack asked. Mike gave him a hard stare before deliberately turning to me.

"Three fifty-dollar bills, jammed in behind the desk drawer."

"Not in the drawer?" I questioned.

"There was nothing in the drawer. Completely empty," he replied as he pulled out an evidence bag and slid the money in. Quarles held out his hand, but Mike stuck it in his jacket pocket.

"We'll keep this with the copy of the case file you're going to give us," Mike told him. The tension in the room was just getting ridiculous.

"You need to get your CSU guys in this place, Jack," I said. "It's obvious our perps have already been through this apartment."

"Perps? As in more than one?"

"That should be the working theory. Kidnapping two men, killing them both but neither of them showing signs of a struggle - sounds like at least two to me," Bobby said. I nodded.

"You going to call CSU?" I asked Jack again since he hadn't moved towards his phone.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm on it."

"Good. We'll check in with you later. We're going to go find a hotel."

We left the apartment and headed for Cherokee. It was going to be dark soon and I wanted to make that hour-long back-roads drive before then.

"What is that guy's story?" Mike asked me once we were on the road. He used that slow deliberate way of his that spoke volumes.

My first reaction was to be defensive of Jack, but then I realized that Mike was right. For a lieutenant in the police department and a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant, he was coming across as awfully inept. And the looks he kept giving me were bordering on sleezy.

"I don't know, Mike. Maybe he's just gotten used to being complacent. They only have a handful of murders here each year."

"Did you sleep with him?" Mike asked me in a low tone. I looked toward the front seat, but Bobby and Alex were in their own quiet conversation. Reluctantly, I met Mike's eyes. It wasn't like I'd planned to hide it, but it was twenty years ago. Did it really matter? It did to Mike.

"Yes," I replied and he blew out a frustrated breath and moved marginally away from me. "Mike, it was a long time ago. I had just gotten out and I was having trouble adjusting to civilian life. He came to visit me while he was on leave. It was…"

"Stop," he said sharply. "I don't want to know details."

"A mistake is what I was going to say," I replied. Now I was getting pissed. This was just great. He was going to be mad at me for something that happened when I was twenty-two?

"He was married, I was stupid, and the whole thing was a mistake. If you want to be pissed at me for that, then fine. But you're being an idiot."

"I'm being an idiot? Don't tell me he didn't hit on you while you were down here."

"Can we talk about this later? We're trying to solve a couple of murders."

"I think we've got a little time," he snapped back. "Hey Eames! How far to Cherokee?"

I saw Alex glance nervously in the mirror, her eyes catching mine in understanding.

"Twenty minutes," she said. And then she quickly added, "So what do you think about the apartment being cleaned out? Do you think Hannigan did it after Walker disappeared, or do you think the killers did it?"

"Why did Quarles call you for a consultation?" Bobby asked suddenly. I'm not sure, but I think Alex slugged him in the leg.

"Yeah, Carolyn. Why did he?" Logan asked. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I felt a headache coming on.

"He told me that he needed help. The story was getting a lot of media coverage and the pressure to find Pete Walker was intense. His chief wanted him to bring in some experts from the Bureau, but Jack didn't want the case to be taken over. He remembered that I was in the business, so he called."

Bobby nodded. Mike kept staring at me. I wanted to get out of this car so that I could yell at him in private, but I couldn't just yet, so I held my tongue. For now.

"What was Walker doing with a hundred and fifty dollars jammed in his dresser? All evidence shows that he lived hand-to-mouth," Alex said.

"I don't know but we need to find out," Bobby replied. "Mike, you and I should go over to the casino tonight."

"Good idea," Alex added. "Carolyn and I can try to track down that cell phone. Do we have a list of all of Harrah's employees?"

"It should be in the file."

"Okay, then we can go talk to some of them in their homes."

I knew what Alex and Bobby were doing. They were trying to help by keeping me and Mike apart for a little bit. But I didn't want to be apart from him. I wanted to throttle him and then I wanted to throw him down on the bed. As much as his jealousy irked me, it also made me hot.

"Let's check into the hotel first. We can grab a quick bite to eat and then get started," I said, looking pointedly at Mike. He was still worked up. This was going to be good.

There was a Fairfield Inn across from Harrah's that better suited our budget, so we checked into two rooms. We left Alex and Bobby in the hall with the promise to meet up again in an hour.

I followed Mike into the room and then slammed the door behind me. He whirled around and met my glare.

"You've got a lot of damn nerve," I started.

"Why? 'Cause it pisses me off to know that you fucked that asshole?"

I put my hands on his chest and shoved him. Hard. He took a step back and I stepped up closer.

"It was twenty years ago," I ground out, jabbing my finger at his chest. "Do you want to make me a list of all the women you slept with over the past twenty years, just so that I'll know if we ever run into one? I have no doubt your list would be a lot longer than mine."

Mike stood there with his hands on his hips and I watched as his anger dissolved. He ran a hand over his face and looked to the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," he said. "God, I just started thinking about him touching you and it made me a little crazy."

"A little?"

"A lot," he admitted with a wry grin. He put his hands on my hips and pulled me to him. "I don't want anyone else touching you. Ever."

"Anybody ever tell you you're a hothead?" I asked. I wasn't going to persecute him for his reaction. It was fairly normal for a passionate guy like Mike.

"Every day of my life, sweetheart. Are we good?"

"We're good." I pulled his head down so that I could reach his lips. I kissed him hard, pressing my body tightly against his. My enthusiasm must have caught him off guard, because he stumbled back a couple of steps and wound up sitting on the bed. I took advantage of the situation and pushed him the rest of the way back, climbing up to straddle him.

"Jealousy gets you hot?" he asked when I stopped kissing him so that I could pull off his clothes.

"Maybe," I replied coyly. But oh did it ever. I couldn't get his pants off of him fast enough. He laid back, put his hands behind his head and grinned, letting me strip him down.

"Don't get too smug there," I warned. "You've got work to do."

And he performed beautifully. He went about marking me as his own, clearly wanting to make sure I knew exactly how good I had it with him. I think I screamed to God in about three different languages, none of them English.

We finished and dressed with five minutes to spare. I was glad that Alex and Bobby were down the hall rather than next door. Otherwise, I just know that Bobby would be looking up to see exactly what mas rapido means.

"We don't have to do this," I told Mike just before we left the room.

"Stay on this case? Somebody threatened you. I'm not going anywhere until I find out who."

"And we're okay? Working with Quarles?"

"As long as he keeps his mitts off of you, we'll be fine. If he touches you, I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Fair enough."

I grabbed my things off the dresser and my cell phone beeped in my hand. I glanced at it quickly, assuming it was Alex telling us to hurry up. It wasn't.

"Mike." The tone of my voice stopped him cold. He turned back to me and I held up my phone. It was another text.

I warned you. Now you're dead.

TBC...