A Matter Of Necessity Page 7

  Not at all what he'd expected. "What?"

  "We're going home. This is bullshit and we're out of here."

  Grey coasted in on the tails of Shawn's fury. "It isn't over, Matthews."

  "Look, I just told you your evidence is utter crap. You have nothing left but the word of some low life bush-ranger. We're done." He tugged at Alex's arm. "Tell me you have a reason to continue this rubbish?"

  "Not at the moment, but I'm sure it's far from our last conversation." His steely eyes fixed Alex in place. "Don't leave town."

  Shawn's hand slid down to clasp Alex's. "Don't worry. He's not going anywhere."

  Chapter 6

  * * *

  "We're in big trouble, love." Shawn whirled their now shared car through the streets of D.C. with practiced abandon. "Someone we both know and despise wants you behind bars bad. Really bad."

  "Really? Whatever gave you such an idea?" Alex rolled his eyes; his expression clearly conveying he had suspicioned that. "What does Grey have? Who's the shooter?"

  Shawn wasn't intimidated by the snark in the least. "Willie Carmichael."

  "Willie the Snatch? That sycophantic little bastard? I'll gladly break him in half." His hands knotted in pleasure at the thought.

  "I get first dibs. You can have anything I leave."

  Alex nodded. Shawn did have that right.

  "But we have bigger problems. The Snatch is saying you paid him the princely sum of ten grand to off me. And he has friends willing to say they saw you come to Maury's Saloon for the payoff. They have video of you meeting with him. Giving him money. They fiddled with the date somehow. Made it look like it was a couple of weeks before the hit on me. But I'm betting it's one of the times you met with him for the sting. You haven't worn that green shirt since we got back."

  Video. Juries loved video. "How the hell did I ever win release from Grey's toils? With something like that he could keep me for...years." His whole life if the judge and jury were in the wrong mood.

  "I told him I knew you weren't buying a hit on me because I was with you. I was just outside of the camera's range." Shawn grinned. "It would be really hard for you to hire them to kill me when I'm standing there with you."

  He lied. Alex gasped and stared. "You never went near any of my meetings with Willie." Alex tried to take it all in. Shawn lied! "Grey could charge you with all sorts of things! Impeding an investigation, lying to a federal officer, and a dozen more I can think of off the top of my head. What will we do when Willie's friends swear you weren't anywhere near that rancid latrine they call a bar?"

  "My word against theirs, love. And my cred is far more impressive on a witness stand."

  "They'll find a way to hang me." Alex watched the snowy streets flowing by. The city glistened today. "It never entered your head that video could be anything but a fraud, did it?"

  "Of course not, love."

  Just that easy. Unconditional trust. Alex didn't understand why his throat felt tight or why his eyes stung.

  * * * *

  Alex pulled the heavy cotton Harvard Alumni sweatshirt over his head and ran his comb through still damp locks before descending the stairs to the open sweep of his living area. Normally the wide expanse gave him some measure of peace, but he doubted anywhere could provide that tonight. He pulled up sharp at the foot of the staircase, staring at the group gathered about his refrigerator.

  David leaned up from digging about in the interior of the ice box and grinned over his shoulder at Alex. "I have to say, I'm impressed. My mother's fridge isn't this well stocked."

  Maddy shooed him away. "Move. If you want a sandwich, you have to let me get out the rest of the stuff."

  Shawn disengaged himself from a conversation with Mark and Terri to bounce to Alex's side for a quick peck on the lips. "Perfect timing, love. We're fixing a bit of supper, then it's down to hard work."

  "Hey, it looks like a better supper than I'd have at home. Is that real Wisconsin cheddar?" David reached for a package as Maddy set it on the island.

  At some point over the last few weeks, Alex realized he'd lost complete control of his life and quite possibly his sanity. Little things kept popping up to remind him of the fact. This was one of them. He tried to gather the various threads into a coherent whole. Impossible. Very well. He decided to address each in turn. He focused on David.

  "Thank you, I try to keep a wide selection of foodstuffs. It avoids overspending if you only shop once a week. And, yes, that's real Wisconsin cheddar. There's also a decent Roquefort." He focused on his lover. "My timing is always impeccable, as you well know. Now, what work and why is everyone here?"

  "Saving your skinny white ass." Mark shot a glance at Shawn. "Again." Mark dropped into a chair, stretched out his legs, and sipped at a cola. "Though I have to say, this is more comfortable than the last time we had to do this for Shawn. You have a much better place than he does."

  "Did. Past tense. Or about to be. I'm moving in here." Shawn joined Maddy in assembling a sandwich.

  He... "What?" Alex's head jerked as his focus settled fully on his lover.

  "I'm tired of driving to my place to change before I go to work, or wearing the same clothes two days in a row. I'm tired of leaving you to go to my apartment just to lie there staring at the ceiling sleepless because you aren't beside me. You gave me the choice, love. Pack up and go with you or it's over. Well, I'm packed."

  "That is so sweet. There needs to be more romance in the world." Terri looked up from her laptop before Alex could respond. "Okay, I'm hooked to the net and I can access FBI databases and files from here. So do you think there's a copy of that video somewhere electronically?"

  Mark shook his head. "Please. You expect the Bureau to be that advanced? But Grey's a techy geek type. He'll have it in his files. Hack away, Agent Anderson."

  She grinned. "On it, sir."

  "You told Shawn he could move in with you or you'd break up with him?" Maddy glared at Alex as she spread mayonnaise on a slice of wheat bread. "That's low even for you."

  Shawn held up his hand, stopping her. "I pushed him into it, Maddy."

  Alex gave a sniff. "Nothing new about that." He didn't know why he even bothered to try and assert any kind of control over his life. What Shawn hadn't taken over, the courts would. He moved to the wet bar to pour himself a scotch. He didn't normally indulge when there were others in the house. Right now he didn't care. They couldn't think worse of him than they already did.

  He managed a somewhat shaky gulp of the burning liquor before Shawn's hand settled over his wrist. "I'm sorry, love."

  Alex lifted his head to meet eyes level with his own, a rarity for someone his height, and one of the things he found so appealing about Shawn. They were equals. Or should have been. Though it seemed the minute they got out of bed, the other man became the driving force and Alex found himself along for a ride whose destination he'd neither chosen nor could quite decipher.

  "What are you sorry for?" My near-arrest? My confusion? My life going to hell?

  "I didn't ask before I decided to move here and then I told you about it in a room full of people. And I keep doing that to you. Pushing you into making decisions before you can think about them. Because if you think about them, you'll stop listening to your heart and listen to your head. Your head gets me into trouble. It's the thing that breaks my heart."

  He pulled Alex a little further to the side. "You see, if I do things in a way you really can't refuse without making a big scene or looking like a... Well, you'll say yes to whatever I ask. And there are some things I'm terrified for you to say no to. Like me living here."

  There was that sincerity again, the raw need that made Alex ache to touch Shawn, made it so easy for the Australian to manipulate him just as he'd said.

  "I want that so bad. Being here with you, all the time not just bits of the night. I want to be with you, right beside you all day, every day. I want...I want to be your husband, alright? With you and there for you for the rest of my life." />
  What the... "I don't understand." It wasn't something he admitted often, but today was too much and his mind just wouldn't function.

  "I'm proposing, you great lob! I'll get down on one knee if you want me to."

  Utter terror flurried up at the thought. "Don't!"

  Shawn's gaze softened. "Then marry me, Alex Ware. We'll go up to Massachusetts. They let blokes marry each other there." He stepped a bit closer, enough Alex could feel his body heat.

  "Say yes." A faint smile appeared. "If you do, we spike Grey's plans even more. A spouse can't be forced to testify against their husband or wife."

  Ah, so that was it. Another way to protect him. Well, he had no wish to face divorce when the trial was over whether he dwelt behind bars or as a free man. "No. I believe the correct phrase is 'I'm honored,' but no. Thank you, Shawn. I do mean that." He let his fingers twine with his lovers. "I'll admit; I like the idea of having you here with me." Being alone right now had a unique terror. "But not as my husband."

  Shawn's eyes darkened. "Yeah, the wrong time to ask. I never did have decent timing." He drew a long breath. "It's okay. I know I need to stop pushing. I just...don't want to be away from you."

  Alex understood that. The parts of the night when his lover left to return to his apartment echoed with emptiness. The house shivered with it. He hated every minute of it. "I don't want you to be away." He took a sip of the scotch. "Stay with me. Live here for a while." Until you tire of me at least. Or until they lock me away for trying to kill you.

  The sadness didn't leave Shawn's eyes. Still the kiss was as soft and warm as Alex could wish. It eased some of the ice in his gut and let him breathe without his chest being locked in a vice. He'd be able to sleep if Shawn were here. If not...he'd toss the night away imagining every scenario possible with the grimmer ones acting as headliners. He let Shawn give him the support he so desperately needed right now. He'd think about the rest of it tomorrow.

  * * * *

  Exhaustion wrapped Alex in a clouded cocoon. The voices of his teammates blended together, making it harder and harder for him to follow conversations.

  "Love?" Shawn face swam into focus as Alex opened his eyes and realized he'd drifted off to sleep. "Come on, beautiful, let me tuck you in. It's very late and today's been a bit much."

  "No, I just need coffee. I..." A huge yawn cut off his sentence.

  "Shawn's right. It's nearly three." Mark stood and stretched. "I need to head home before I become a divorced man. It's the weekend. We can tackle this again tomorrow." He gripped Alex's shoulder. "We'll find what we need to clear you, big guy. Don't worry."

  Nods and encouraging words of agreement were accompanied by yawns.

  He pushed himself to his feet, body leaden and weary. "Thank you all." He didn't bother to hide the sincerity of it. They were his only hope and all of them knew it.

  David clapped him almost painfully on the shoulder. "We're a team. This is what we do." He tried to stifle a yawn without success. "But, yeah, sleep now, solve it all tomorrow. Come on, Terri, I'll give you and Maddy a lift. Terri?"

  "I'm going to stay for a while. I'm waiting on this query to run. I'll crash on the couch." She looked up from her computer. "Ah, that is if you guys don't mind."

  Alex shook his head. "The guest room is the first door on the left. You'll find the bed far more comfortable than the couch. And there are fresh towels in the bathroom next door."

  She returned his smile. "Cool. See, I'll be fine." She grinned at David. "See you in the morning."

  He shook his head against that much chipperness that late at night. "Okay. Tomorrow, everyone." Alex watched as the unit leader ushered the others out.

  Shawn slipped an arm around Alex's waist. "Come on, you look like you're going to fall asleep standing there. Bed time for you, love." He leaned in for a tender kiss and Terri giggled.

  "You really are just too cute." The laptop lit her face, her smile in its blue glow the last thing Alex really saw before Shawn guided him up the stairs, undressed him, and poured him into the bed.

  Strong arms settled around him, pulling him against a hard body. "Sleep, beautiful. I'm right here. It'll all be alright." Lips pressed a loving kiss to his temple. "I'll see to that. Regardless of what I have to do."

  * * * *

  Some of the exhaustion had eased by Sunday morning, Saturday having been spent in hours of old fashioned investigative work. But that was what all of them did best and the time proved productive. As Mark suspected, Terri found an electronic copy of the supposed evidence. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about it except it never happened. Alex remembered meeting with Willie on several occasions and on one even discussing Alex's need to have a certain buyer removed. They'd obviously manipulated the audio just a bit as well as the date stamp, but how to prove it.

  It was Terri who provided the answer. In at least five places, lips didn't exactly match the conversation. For the casual observer, it wasn't evident. To her it was. Just like there were tiny clues in pixel arrangements and layers that made Terri suspect it was tampered. Working from a copy made it harder for her, but she was sure the original would show it strongly.

  Now David paced the length of Alex's great room, haranguing SA Grey over the phone. "I'm not asking you to do anything illegal or immoral, Bill. I'm just asking you to have someone look at that tape and make sure it's everything you were told it was, because I promise you that if you try to introduce it into evidence, I have an expert witness who'll say it's faked, and she has the kind of expertise to back it up. And I have an equally expert witness who will gladly point out that the audio doesn't match what lips are saying."

  The pause brought a cold grin to the other agent's face. "Yeah, you're just damned lucky I'm not his lawyer. I'd sue you for harassment and defamation of character. Alex Ware is a fine agent and I'd damned sure rather have him watching my back than you! So why don't you stop worrying about whether he's in bed with Shawn Matthews and do your damned job the way you're supposed to!" David cut the connection and flung the phone onto the couch. "The bigoted son of a bitch!"

  Alex tilted his head and stared. David Andrews, defending him with such passion?

  "A lesson in how to win friends and influence people, David?" Mark nibbled a chip and grinned. Why was it Mark could say such things and they were mild observations, but if Alex said them, they were snark of the first order and earned frowns and recriminations?

  "He's a moron, D! You won't believe the motive he's come up with! He's got some nut idea that Alex wants Shawn dead because Shawn's ruining his life."

  The room went very quiet, even the tapping of Terri's keyboard falling silent. Across the table from where he sat, Alex watched the color ebb away in measured increments from Shawn's face.

  "I mean, that's crazy. You only have to look at the two of them to know that's just crap." David paced some more, his ire taking expression in broad gestures and hands sweeping through his hair.

  It appeared he was over whatever reservations he'd had about his teammates' relationship. Alex watched him reach the end of the room and whirl to stalk back. "I can't believe Grey won't agree to look at new evidence. That's just crappy investigative technique. You didn't manage to piss him off at some point, did you, Alex?"

  "Possibly. I haven't been exactly shy about my feelings on how he handled the initial investigation."

  Terri giggled. "I heard a few. Let's just say Alex was his usual charming self."

  Alex arched a brow as the sound of her clicking keys resumed. "Irony doesn't suit you. You grin too much. You have to learn to school your face into more serious lines for the barb to truly bite."

  "Really? You're sure about that?" Her grin only grew. "I'll take that under advisement." She glanced at her screen. "Hello! Alex, you need to thank me for building your firewall. Your computer's under nearly constant attack. So let's just see what we can give them." A smile Alex could only categorize as stubborn spread over her generous mouth. "That's right, take the bait. T
hat's a good little fish." She grinned at her friends. "He swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. And right now, he's nibbling on the end of the pole." She giggled happily.

  "Want to share?" David paused in his pacing.

  "Someone keeps trying to break into the financial records on Alex's computer. They're good. But not great. I, on the other hand, am great. So they aren't getting anything. Or they weren't. Until I let them have some lovely false ones I built this morning. I just watched them create a false record making it look like Alex withdrew ten thousand dollars just before Shawn was shot. The money was really funneled into a different account. One I'm accessing right now. I can track the money wherever it goes. And, oh, how surprising. The account belongs to Ronnecker's attorney. Looks like you're paying his defense bill, Alex."

  "Please tell me that wasn't really my money."

  She laughed. "No, it's from the sting. I just used the same account number. It's the FBI's money."

  Alex released a long breath. "Good. I might need that for my own defense."

  "Not when I get through with Grey." David cracked his knuckles. "Please tell me you recorded all that."

  Terri giggled again. "Of course! Burning a CD now. And I have it all in here." She patted her laptop. "I'll burn a couple. Just in case."

  "Well, I think that should be more than enough to force Grey to admit his evidence is crap. And if he won't, I'll take it to the AUSA." David kissed Terri on top of the head. "You are amazing."

  Alex could only nod. "She is indeed." His throat felt tight. They'd done it. Found the evidence to end this. He looked about at smiling faces. "I...I..." How to say what he felt, to express all that flooded his heart. "Thank you." He stood to take Terri's hand and raise it to his lips. She blinked in surprise and blushed rich rose. "Thank you all. I..." He shook his head. "For once I don't have the words to convey what this means to me."

  Terri took his hand. "I'm just glad we could find what we needed quickly. You don't need any more stress in your life."