The teammate of Kade’s that Tristan thought must be a sniper, since he wore the long gun on his back like it was a second skin, walked back inside. He stepped next to Parker as he helped lift Pretty Boy onto a spinal board. The man was covered in tats, and he had the coldest eyes Tristan had ever seen.
“You the artist?” he said to Parker.
Parker darted a glance at the man, startled a bit, then nodded. “Yeah.”
“We need to have a beer someday, talk art.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
Parker sounded doubtful that would ever happen, and Tristan blinked, trying to clear his head. He’d stepped into another universe, one where his dog had morphed into a caped crusader, his brother—who he’d thought was in some foreign country doing his special ops thing—was magically here, where a man with killer eyes was talking art with his brother, and where the woman he loved was able to disappear right in front of him.
“I need to sit down,” he said. He must have lost too much blood, and nothing was as it seemed. “Who’s Cupcake?” Had he already asked that question? He wasn’t sure.
“A teammate. He and Skye are taking Drake to jail. She said she’d send the coroner and Bentley Morrison this way.”
“Cupcake?” he said again.
Kade chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what we call him. He’s like MacGyver but on steroids. Dude there bonding with Parker over pictures is Viper. Don’t get on his bad side.”
“Trust me, I intend to stay on his good side for all my days.”
Parker stopped next to them as the EMTs carried Pretty Boy out on a stretcher. “You gonna be home anytime soon?” he asked Kade.
“Probably.”
“Good. Keep yourself in one piece, okay?”
“I plan on it.” They hugged, then Parker left.
“How’d you get here so fast?” Tristan asked.
“Stole a helicopter and its pilot,” Viper said, as he came over to them. “No biggie.” He laughed. “We should probably get that helo back to base before someone notices it’s missing, eh, Ace?”
They stole a helicopter and a pilot? Because of his brother, he knew operators were a bit wacked. He hadn’t realized just how wacked, though. “Why Ace?” Kade rarely talked about his job, and Tristan had never thought to ask what his team called him.
“Because your brother always has an ace up his sleeve. He’s the thinker, Cupcake’s the inventor, and I’m the muscle.”
Kade snorted. “There’s nothing between his ears, though.”
“But I’m really pretty,” Viper said.
“So you always say.” Kade bumped Tristan’s shoulder. “We really need to beat feet, brother. We still have to pick up Cupcake. You need a ride?”
“I’d love a ride, but I’m going to have to stick around and wait for my detective and the coroner.” He should order Kade and his friends to give a statement before they left, but... “Ah, does it have to be a secret that you three were here?”
“That’d be great if you can manage it, but if not, don’t sweat it.”
“Are you going to get in trouble over the helicopter?”
“It’s cool. Viper’s just messing with you. Our captain wrote today up as training.” He grinned. “As long as we didn’t kill anyone, then he said he’d swear he’s never seen us before in his life.” Kade gave him another hug. “Try to stay out of trouble, brother.”
“It’s been some serious fun, man,” Viper said, then he followed Kade out.
Fun. Right.
Chapter Fifty-One
“This is movie stuff,” Tristan’s detective said as he took a seat across from Skye’s desk. Bentley was here to take her statement, which she’d already prepared. “You, the chief, and Fuzz take down three bad guys, a dirty cop, a major drug dealer, and his enforcer. Should the main character be the hero, the heroine, or the dog? People love dog movies.”