Chapter 18

Morgan gave Buck an amused look when he suggested she not copy Chris' version of brunch drinks. She accepted her shot of whiskey from the waitress, avoiding looking in Chris' direction as he got a second shot himself.

"I swear, if you and Chris don't give me a heart attack before I'm forty, I will buy you a new car," Buck said.

Morgan didn't have to answer because Inez came over with their check. She set the separate checks in front of Buck, Chris, and Vin.

"Thanks," Vin said.

"Hey, Inez," Buck said, stopping her retreat back to the bar.

Inez stopped. Morgan saw the warm affection on her face for Buck and wondered if Buck realized how much the restaurant owner actually seemed to like him beneath her show of impatience.

"Did you hear Morgan's stayin' in Denver?" Buck asked. "She picked up her car in Vegas, got all her stuff. She even got herself a job."

At the mention of her job, and the unmasked pride in Buck's voice, Morgan looked at Inez. She willed Inez to not say anything about where she was working. She felt Vin's eyes on her.

Inez' smile was benign. "That's great to hear, Buck." She turned to Morgan. "I am glad things are working out for you."

Morgan lifted her glass in a mock toast to Inez, thanking her. She downed the whiskey. She saw Inez giving Buck a light pat on his shoulder before heading back to the bar.

Setting her glass on the table with a thud, Morgan avoided looking at her brother or his teammates.

"I should get going," she said to Buck.

"Already?" Buck asked. "I have to go out to the shooting range, make sure I'm ready for my recertification next week. I thought you could come out with me."

Morgan shook her head. "I can't today," she said. There was nothing stopping her from going with Buck. Nothing beside the guilt that ate away at her when she thought of how hard Buck was trying to make things work between them and she was keeping everything from him.

"I'm meeting up with Cobra," Morgan said, getting some distance from what had been a morning too unlike the reality of her life. She needed to return to her reality. The grimace on Vin's face brought her back to reality with a painful jolt.

Buck's face tightened. "You want me to give you a ride back to your car?" he said, his voice strained.

Morgan didn't expect the push of emotion in her chest when Buck didn't say anything about her choice of boyfriend.

"I'm going straight over to Cobra's. The warehouse district," she said. "I can get an Uber."

"I'll take you."

Morgan looked at Chris for the first time. He had been mostly silent through their meal. Him offering her a ride over to Cobra's wasn't what she expected him to break his stony silence for.

"Thanks Chris," Buck said before Morgan could refuse. "Saves me the trip across town."

Morgan started to shake her head, setting her jaw. She had no idea why Chris had offered to give her a ride, but there was no way she was getting in a car with him and riding in awkward silence over to the wrong side of town.

But Chris was already standing, tossing down some cash on the table to cover his bill, and heading for the door.

"I don't need a ride from Chris," Morgan protested.

Buck's brow furrowed and Morgan saw the questions forming. Before Buck could voice them, she slid her own chair back. Taking a ride from Chris was better than explaining anything to Buck.

She stopped before she made her own getaway and leaned down to give Buck a peck on the cheek. "Thanks. For breakfast," she said.

The look Buck gave her said he knew what she was really thanking him for.

She was out the door when Vin caught up to her.

"You gonna avoid talkin' to me?" Vin asked.

"There's nothing to talk about," she said to him, continuing toward the parking lot.

"You don't have to go meetin' up with this guy," Vin said.

"I don't have to," Morgan agreed. "I want to."

Vin's face was pained, but he spoke evenly. "Spend the day with me. Don't put yourself through this."

Morgan took a step away because the idea of a day with Vin was too appealing. His calm presence, the steadiness in his eyes, it was something she didn't have anywhere else in her life.

"I've spent enough time with you," Morgan reminded him. Their encounter at the strip club wasn't a pleasant memory for Vin, judging by the way his jaw tightened. "I've got to go. Chris is waiting."

Before she left, Vin stopped her. "Ezra and me are gonna be at the club tonight," he said.

Morgan tried not to react. Her stomach felt nauseous at the idea of facing them again. "I'll see you then," she said, like it didn't matter. Like it wasn't going to shred the last bit of her dignity to have them see her there again.

She hurried away from Vin.

#

Chris watched Morgan stride across the parking lot. She had the same long legged stride as Buck. Judging by the look on Vin's face when he watched her go, he wasn't thinking of the similarities between his teammate and the pretty young woman.

Chris wished Vin would just listen to him. Morgan was going to tear him apart and Chris didn't know if Vin could be put together again. And then there was Morgan. Chris had no idea what was going on with her, but it wasn't anything good. She was falling apart and he didn't want to think how much worse it would be if she fell for Vin and then lost him.

He had experienced the worst loss firsthand and barely survived. He wouldn't wish that long road, clawing your way back from grief, on anyone. Especially not Morgan. Not when he knew how fragile she was beneath her act of not caring.

The girl he was thinking about sat silently in the passenger seat of his truck, her fine jaw set in a line.

"I don't know what you were thinking," Chris finally said.

Morgan flinched like he had struck her and Chris cursed his inability to tread lightly.

"I don't think," she snapped at him. "I just act. I go looking for trouble, remember?" She flung his words from that night back at him.

He wrapped his hands tighter around the steering wheel. "That's not what I meant," he ground out.

He would give anything to have Sarah there right then. She would know what he was trying to say and explain it to Morgan.

"There were a thousand ways to attack me," Chris said. "Why did you do that?"

"Because it's what I have to offer," Morgan snapped at him. She reached for the door handle. "Stop the truck," she ordered.

"Don't," Chris said, not slowing.

"Stop the truck!" Morgan shouted at him.

Chris kept driving with no intention of slowing, let alone stopping the truck so Morgan could get out in the dismal neighborhood they had entered. He wasn't even sure he had any plan to actually bring her to that cretin she was dating.

Unfastening her seatbelt, Morgan pushed the button to unlock the doors and reached for the handle again.

Alarmed, Chris hit the breaks, thinking Morgan might actually try to get out of the truck at full speed. She opened the door and jumped out. Chris slammed the gearshift into park and got out his side of the truck.

"Get back in the truck," he said.

Morgan was stalking off down the cracked sidewalk.

"Get in the truck!" he called again.

She held up one finger to tell him what she thought of his demand.

Chris let out a curse and started after her.

It didn't take much effort to catch up to her, but then Chris was at a loss. He wasn't about to grab her and manhandle her into the truck.

"Go home," she ground out through gritted teeth. "I can walk from here."

"Fine," Chris said, his own words grinding out from clenched teeth. "I'll walk you there."

Chris didn't try to say anything more. He just made sure Morgan made it through the seedy area until she came to a square building that looked like an industrial building that had been converted into apartments, without the character a building project like that would have in a gentrified area.

"Thanks for the ride," Morgan said wryly.

Chris let out a long sigh.

Before Morgan could open the door to the building, a familiar figure came out.

Chris felt his lip curl at the sight of the wiry guy, his tattoos and eyeliner making Chris want to punch him. When the guy saw Morgan and grabbed at her to pull her towards him, Chris wanted to shoot him.

Morgan was clearly uncomfortable, but let the guy do it. That was the worst part.

"Hey babe," the guy said. "Didn't think you were coming over until later."

Chris could smell the marijuana on the guy's clothes. Judging by Cobra's sluggish movements, it was more than just marijuana he had smoked.

The guy tightened his arm around Morgan and trailed lazy kisses along her neck.

"Let's go, Morgan," Chris said curtly.

Morgan met Chris' eyes briefly and then any emotion that was there was covered with a flash of rebellion.

"Let's go," he said again, everything in him straining to keep the words level. Like hell he was leaving Morgan with some guy so doped up he looked like he couldn't stand on his own.

"Come on," Morgan said to Cobra, ignoring Chris. "Let's get inside. Have some time together before I have to go to work."

"I mean it, Morgan," Chris said, hearing his voice rise in spite of himself. The sight of the guy's hand slipping into the back pocket of Morgan's jeans, the pinpoint pupils, Morgan clearly pretending she didn't care that the guy was practically slumped against her, it was threatening to break any control Chris had on his temper. His concern for Morgan was outweighing his self-control. "Go back to the truck."

"Go to hell, Chris" Morgan said.

It was the crack in her voice that gave her away. He had hurt her. When he had tried to tell her all the reasons her being with Vin was a bad idea for both of them, he had hurt her in a way he never intended.

Morgan headed toward the apartment building and Chris knew he would do whatever it took to stop her from going with that guy.

He stormed toward them. "I'll drag you back to the damn truck if I have to."

Morgan whirled around. "And I'll call the cops if I have to." She jutted her chin out, the same stubborn posture he remembered from when she was twelve. "Leave me alone."

And because there was nothing he could do without physically dragging her away from her newfound boyfriend, Chris watched her go into the building.

It was the first time he ever thought it was good Sarah wasn't there. He would never want her to see what he had become. How he had failed the girl they had both loved like a sister.

#

Vin pulled up in front of the tidy little home and killed the engine of his Jeep. It never failed to settle his uneasiness when he pulled up in front of the house. It was the one place that had felt like home in a life of continuous moves and upheaval. It didn't matter he had lived there for less than two years when he was fifteen, it was home.

He jogged up the walk, taking in the flowerbeds that were perfectly weeded. The lawn was getting long. He'd have to mow it one more time still this fall.

He knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer.

And just like when he was fifteen and arriving home from school, Nettie Wells was there with a warm greeting for him.

"Vin," she said, holding her arms open for a hug.

Vin obliged, giving her an equally warm greeting. "Hi Nettie," he said.

Nettie gave him one more squeeze, then held him back at arms' length. Her no nonsense expression didn't change as she looked him over.

"You still haven't bought an iron," she said.

"No, ma'am. Not yet."

Nettie let out an unimpressed snort.

"Is Casey here?" he asked.

"Studying," Nettie said, heading for the kitchen. "All she does now that she's back at school. Studies and goes out with JD." She took down two chipped mugs and set them on the table, followed by a cookie jar before she got the coffee pot. "If you hadn't introduced her to that young man, she wouldn't ever take her nose out of those books."

Vin pulled a chair up to the table and Nettie pushed the cookie jar towards him. "A lot of studyin' to be a social worker," he said.

"Too much studying if you ask me," Nettie harrumphed.

Vin took the cup of coffee she had poured, but didn't take a drink.

"So?" Nettie asked.

Vin looked at her, lifting his brow in question.

"You've never been good at hiding when something's on your mind," she said. "You didn't even open the cookie jar."

Vin opened the jar. Chocolate chip, his favorite. He took one and took a bite, but it didn't have much taste. Just like the breakfast at Inez'. Hard to taste anything when Morgan was sitting across from him, looking like she might fracture if one person said the wrong thing.

"Mmm-hmm," Nettie said.

Vin dragged his thoughts back to the cozy kitchen.

"You going to tell me or should I start guessing?" Nettie asked. She held her mug up to her mouth and blew lightly on the steaming liquid.

"Just a friend havin' some troubles," Vin said.

Nettie narrowed her eyes and studied him when he didn't offer anything more. "A woman friend?" she asked.

Vin could feel the warmth in his ears. "Just a friend," he said again. Everything in him wanted Morgan as more than a friend.

Nettie fixed him with a look and Vin fought the urge to squirm, reminding himself he was a grown man, not some lost foster kid at her table anymore.

Casey chose that moment to come thundering down the staircase and Vin gratefully turned his attention to his foster sister.

"Vin!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him like it had been two years instead of two weeks since she had seen him.

"Hey, Case," he said. He planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"I didn't know you were stopping by," Casey said. "Is JD with you?"

Vin couldn't hold back his smile. "I think he's working. We had some tech problems on our last job and he's makin' sure it's all fixed before we work tonight." His smile fell at the memory of dropping his earpiece in his glass to keep anyone from hearing Morgan through the wire.

He was aware of Nettie watching him and forced his mind back to Casey. "How's school?"

"I liked high school better with you there," she said honestly, a smile for him.

Casey had been the one to help Vin with his homework, even after he moved out of Nettie's. She would meet him after school, reading the assigned passages to him, helping him practice reading until the letters swam in front of his eyes and his head ached.

Vin sometimes wondered how different his life might have been if Nettie hadn't had heart trouble and been unable to continue as a foster parent. If he had been able to stay with her and Casey. He wouldn't have bounced around between the next four foster homes for his last two and a half years of high school.

"Yeah, well I bet your studyin' goes a lot faster without me," he said, returning her smile.

Vin finished his cookie and drained the last of his coffee. "I'll get your lawn taken care of," he told Nettie. "Won't be able to stay long today, we've got some work tonight."

Judging by the look Nettie gave him, he wasn't doing much to hide his tension at the thought of seeing Morgan working at the club tonight.

"Vin, we know how to work a lawn mower," Casey protested. "We don't need some big strong man to take care of us."

Knowing it would only take another minute before Casey warmed to the topic of women's rights and equality, Vin stood and pulled at her ponytail. "Yeah, but you've got a big strong man here, so why argue with free labor?"

He headed out to the shed in the backyard, one eye up toward the gutters. He'd see if there was time after taking care of the mowing to check if the gutters needed to be cleaned.

He would just keep moving, not thinking of what waited for him tonight.

#

Morgan tried not to look toward the VIP section. Or glance over the empty tables. She wasn't watching for Ezra and Vin to show up. Not at all.

She side stepped the wandering hand of a drunken man and brought her empty tray back over to the counter. She ducked down to pick out the right bottle to mix up a couple drinks.

Spike passed by, grabbing a bottle of vodka next to Morgan. He gave her a grin. "You catch up with Cobra today?" he asked.

Morgan nodded, pulling out the glasses she needed.

Spike snorted. "He was a mess last night. I'm surprised he could walk today."

Morgan kept her face neutral. She had seen the full spectrum of Cobra over the past week. From crack to keep him going round the clock, to heroin and oxy to bring him back down, the guy had more drugs in him than a pharmacy.

"He was walking," she said. Until he wasn't and had passed out, not giving her the ride to go get her car like he had promised.

"You coming over after work?" Spike asked, bottles off the beers and picking them up to deliver to customers down the counter.

Morgan glanced at him. She actually liked Spike. He was nice, held down a job. She almost enjoyed being at the apartment when he was there. "Probably," she said.

It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. And this time she wouldn't be caught off guard by Vin and need to be shuttled over to his place after.

"You got a new one," Spike said, jerking his chin in the direction of her section.

Morgan finished mixing the Jack and Cokes and put them on her tray. She glanced toward the table Spike had mentioned and couldn't quite cover the stutter in her step.

Vin lounged back in his chair, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, his eyes on the dancer currently on stage.

Morgan tossed her hair back and added an extra sway to her hips to cover her misstep. She deliberately passed by Vin's table. "I'll be right with you," she said over her shoulder.

Vin's lips tightened in a movement so small she may have missed it if she didn't know him.

She set the drinks on the table at the edge of her section, offering a reserved smile for one of the guys when he asked for her number before turning back to Vin.

She fought the urge to tug at her skirt as she approached him. She had never thought twice about lounging at the pool in Vegas in her bikini. What she wore out clubbing with her friends was decided on a whim with whatever caught her eye, modesty not a factor. But approaching Vin in a skirt that barely hit her thigh and a top that was more sheer than coverage, she felt exposed.

She glanced at him before she spoke, trying to see if he wore a wire, while knowing Chris' team would be too good to let one be visible.

Vin lightly tapped his ear, letting her know the wire was there and live. Morgan didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow in question.

"Just a beer. Whatever you have," Vin said.

Morgan gave a nod and went to get it. Vin stopped her with a light touch to her wrist and Morgan almost forgot she was supposed to pull away. She looked at him in question.

"Take your time," he said. "You know where to find me."

Yeah. She knew where to find him. Knew he was there for her, not just in the club. And that was the problem. She couldn't start needing him.

His words were easy, the sort of thing someone would say to a busy waitress. But the look in his eye said he meant it. She would be able to find him. She would be able to count on him.

She turned her back on him, her fingers trembling against her tray.

#

"So I was thinking we'd talk business later."

Ezra took a drink and thanked the waitress, a quiet girl named Lei who had been his waitress for the night. She gave him a small nod and removed the extra bottles from the table.

"What sort of business?" Ezra asked even though he knew perfectly well. He kept his eyes on the stage as if that was his focus, not the promise of getting closer to closing in on the illegal dealings of Hamilton Lowell.

In his ear, JD spoke up. "We can tell Vin to move to a closer table if you need back up for any business, Ezra."

Down near the stage, he saw Morgan silently taking Vin's empty bottle and bringing him a second. How the man nursed a bottle as slowly as Vin did without looking out of place in the club impressed Ezra.

"We can talk details later," Blitz said, following Ezra's eyes and landing on Morgan.

Ezra silently cursed. But he kept his face from changing expression and returned his attention to the stage.

"How about a dance first?" Blitz said.

Sometimes a smile covered a jolt of reaction better than an impassive face, so Ezra smiled easily. "I've been watching dances all night," he said.

"Sure you have," Blitz smiled. "You've also been watching that waitress down there. How about a private dance?"

Ezra was furious with himself. How had he managed to draw attention to Morgan?

"I'm not in the habit of paying for women," he said. He took a calm pull from his bottle.

"Who said you have to pay?" Blitz laughed. "Lei!" he called to their waitress.

She hurried over from where she had been standing, ready for anything they needed.

"Go down there and get Morgan," he said quietly to her. "Get her up here."

"Really, a private dance is not necessary," Ezra said.

Blitz knocked a fist on the table. "We take care of our own here," he said. And the look on his face said he was promising to make Ezra one of their own, bringing him into the fold of their business dealings.

He saw Lei talking to Morgan, saw the way Morgan stiffened even from this distance and willed her to stay calm. He would be able to talk his way out of things, even blow up the deal if necessary to protect her, but if the club manager got any hint of something off about Morgan and decided to deal with her when Ezra wasn't there, then he would be helpless to protect her.

"You getting' a private dance?" Buck's voice came in his ear. "I swear Ezra, how you turn every assignment into paydirt for yourself has me wantin' in on the next undercover gig."

Ezra told himself there would be plenty of opportunity to throttle Buck later. There had been many times when the playful banter through his hidden earpiece had smoothed his nerves, kept him from getting rattled on an assignment. But Morgan's brother talking about lap dances right then was the last thing he needed.

He took another drink of his beer, forcing himself to not down the entire thing as Morgan approached them, her eyes guarded, no idea what was coming.

#