Indi slammed his fist into the dashboard, making Sky howl with worry. “You know this is killing me, right? Putting you in danger like this?”
“Stop letting your pride get in the way, Indi. I don’t know the entire story, but it sounds like it was your stupid pride that got you here, away from your team and friends, in the first place. Sometimes you ask for help and then sometimes you just accept it when it’s offered. Now’s one of those times. Suck it up buttercup, I’m going in with you. End of argument.” Hollister was quiet for a second before adding, “I only regret one thing about today.”
Indi’s heart lurched. He knew Hollister and his brothers had participated in a huge hug-out and said how much they loved each other and what to do if something went wrong. What other regrets were Indi’s actions causing to worry Hollister? “What?” He asked quietly.
“The fact is that my eyeliner looks fabulous, but you look totally washed out…or maybe like you were thoroughly fucked several times last night.”
Indi laughed. “And you’re saying being thoroughly fucked is a bad look?”
“No, you wear it well,” Hollister answered. “It could just look better with the perfect eyeliner. It would be smudged from all the wickedness you and Clay did last night.” Hollister did an exaggerated shiver. “Sexy!”
Indi rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re my back up.”
“I can’t believe you don’t wear eyeliner,” Hollister muttered back. “Okay, we’re here. I parked around the corner so we wouldn’t be the only odd car in the parking lot on a Sunday. That and the few cars there were very expensive, and my car isn’t. We would stand out worse than you at a drag queen show. So, how do we do this? You follow me to the building?”
“Nope. You stay behind me at all times. I’m serious, Hollister. At all times.” After that, he called Sky up to the front seat and allowed her to sniff both Clay and Levi’s scraps of shirts. He hooked on her leash, opened the car door, and said, “Find. Quietly, Sky,” he warned.
“How many words does she know?” Hollister asked as they followed Sky as she seemed to be zig-zagging—what she usually did when she was first trying to pick up a scent.
“Enough. First it was all search and attack words. After the accident she was retrained to be a service dog, but she didn’t forget her original training. She had the highest rank in her training group when she worked for the service. When I left, I took her with me.”
“I didn’t think they allowed that to happen? I’ve heard horrible stories of the dogs being taken away from their handlers so the military could keep them.”
“True. Did I say I took her with me? I meant she died in a car accident.” Indi laughed at his lie but then froze. “She’s picked up the scent. Is there anybody watching us? How suspicious do we look right now?” Indi fucking hated being in the dark. He fought down the wave of disgust he felt for himself and then shook it off. Indi knew how dangerous he was when people were close but in a situation like this? Not so dangerous.
“Not a living soul that I can see,” Hollister whispered. “We are at the back of the building. It looks like there’s some steps that lead to a set of lower metal doors. That’s where Sky is wanting to go. I think she’s hesitating because of the stairs.”
“Fuck. She is.” Indi paused. “Put my hand on the railing. Please.” Damn, that hurt to say.
Hollister did as Indi requested and after stumbling on the first few steps, Indi did fairly well and slowly made his way to the bottom. It was almost comical because Indi could only imagine how stupid he looked and, more importantly, how hard Sky was working at holding back a whine. She worried about him—more human than dog, in Indi’s opinion.
Sky led him to the door, and Indi felt it from top to bottom. Heavy metal doors. A thick chain was looped around the handles, held together with a heavy-duty padlock. This wouldn’t have been difficult before his accident since he had a knack for picking locks. Think, Indi. You’ve got this. Clay’s counting on you.
“I can pick that lock,” Hollister whispered. “Want me to?”
“What in the hell makes you think you can pick that lock?” Indi asked in disbelief.
“Tone, asshole,” Hollister admonished. “When you live on the streets, you pick up a lot of odd habits, especially those that help keep you living through the night. I broke into plenty of foreclosure properties so me and the boys would have a safe place to sleep. “Let me try, at least.”
“By all means,” Indi answered quietly and thankfully. “Clearly, I’d struggle with this part.” Indi paused and then reached for Hollister. “Thanks for being Robin to my Batman.”