Page 8 of Blake

Jack stood and walked him to the door. “I’m sure I don’t need to say it, but nobody must know about this.”

“Of course.”

“Now get your lazy ass to physio. There isn’t room for slackers on this team,” Jack bellowed as Blake walked away chuckling.

Physio was a fucking bitch and Waggs pushed him hard. The ex-Green Beret didn’t seem to know anything other than full speed. Sweat was pouring off Blake by the time he did the last set of reps on the rowing machine. His legs felt like jelly when he stood to do the cooldown.

“You trying to kill me?” Blake gasped as he bent over trying to catch his breath.

“If I were trying you wouldn’t be talking,” Aiden Wagner aka Waggs said.

Blake sank to his ass before lying on his back and stretching his leg out above him. “You think I can go back on duty yet?” He knew the medic wouldn’t pass him unless he was absolutely sure.

“Probably another week of light duty then we can get you back on the rota.”

Reid and Mitch walked in then bullshitting about who had the best shot. Both had buckets of experience with firearms. Mitch was ex-SO16 swat, and Reid was Hostage Rescue. Blake wasn’t sure who he would put his money on in a straight-out competition. The two men made their way to the boxing ring gloves on, ready to spar. He couldn’t wait to get back to that. He missed sparring, it gave him a release much like fucking did with the adrenalin and endorphin rush.

“Hey, Reid, you fancy a pint later?” Blake shouted.

Reid looked over at Blake, his hands already up guarding his face. As an ex-FBI hostage rescue member, Reid was well rounded as an operator, and he also had that Southern USA accent that had women fighting to drag him into bed. The fact that he was a complete gentleman and charming with it meant that he was the perfect wingman. The muscle and tattoos didn’t seem to hurt either. “Sure. See you around eight-ish?”

“Waggs, you fancy it?” Blake asked.

“Na, not me.”

Not one to go out socially a lot, nobody really knew what Waggs did with his time. His family were in the States and he only seemed to go out with the team occasionally.

“If you change your mind, you know where we’ll be,” Blake said as he headed to the showers.

“Yeah, thanks, man.”

Blake showered and dressed in clean clothes consisting of dark wash jeans and a navy polo. He was combing his hair when Alex walked past the door. Slamming his locker door closed he jogged to catch up with Alex. “Alex,” he called. “You coming out tonight?”

Alex turned. “Not sure. I’ll see what Evelyn’s wants to do.”

“Come on, man, bring her out. Reid’s coming and I’m gonna give Gunner and Decker a call. Liam is away for the weekend, but I’ll see if Jack wants to come.” Blake had an ulterior motive for trying to get the team together. He wanted to see as many of the potential traitors in a relaxed setting.

“Yeah, sure. Why not? See you later.” Alex turned again and walked away towards his office, probably to call Evelyn. That man was so pussy whipped it wasn’t funny, but Alex was happier than Blake had ever seen him, so it was all good.

At 8:15 that evening he took the tray of drinks from the bar and walked out to the beer garden of the Vault. It was a traditional British pub complete with a dark wood bar, brass pumps, and glass optics with cardboard beer mats on the wooden picnic tables. It was also their favourite haunt and he reckoned they probably put about eighty per cent of the takings in the till every weekend.

Placing the tray down he handed out drinks to everyone. “Evelyn, my favourite woman in the entire world.” His words got him an eye roll from Alex and smirk from her.

“Dry spell, Blake?” He could see the laughter in her eyes.

“Of course not. You know I only have eyes for you.” He watched Alex frown at his joke and laughed at him.

“Dick.” Alex threw a bag of peanuts at his head in retaliation.

The night progressed. Everyone was relaxed and nobody seemed the slightest bit tense. Whoever the traitor was, he was a fucking good actor because Blake couldn’t detect anything. This was going to be harder than he’d thought.

As Blake lay in bed around midnight his mind went to the three men on the list. He had played the situation with Eidolon over and over in his head and couldn’t find a tell of any kind.

He felt dirty investigating his friends. It seemed disloyal. He remembered how every single member of the force had hated it when the IPCC started sniffing around. Kicking the sheet off, he turned on his side trying to get comfortable. It was hot and muggy and while he loved the sun, he hated the night heat.

Heat led his mind straight to Pax and how she’d looked that morning. She was fucking beautiful, but it was more than that. Beautiful women were ten a penny. She had something unique—a fight, a spirit, and sexy sassiness that made his dick hard. He tossed onto his other side as he replayed their interaction and realised it wasn’t just that he wanted to fuck her. He did but it was more than that. He fucking liked her—talking with her, teasing her, making her smile.

Blake groaned. When was the last time he’d really liked a woman and wanted to spend time with her? It hit him like a punch as he remembered the previous woman that made him feel this way. Immediately, he locked those thoughts away not willing to go down that path again. That part of his life was over, and he wouldn’t go there. Pax had asked for his help though and he couldn’t shake the heavy feeling of guilt he felt every time he thought of her. Maybe there was a way he could help her look into her father without involving himself in the Palace bullshit. Satisfied with the decision to help her he made a mental note to wake up early and go see her before his morning run.