“Okay, we’ll go, but under one condition.”
“If a sloppy, wet blowjob is what it takes to speak to this ghost, I see no problem with your quid pro quo.”
“No, I mean, yes!” There was no way Ronan was turning down Ten’s offer, but red-hot oral wasn’t his condition. “My condition is that we keep this quiet. We don’t tell anyone. Not Cope, or Jude, or Fitz. No one.”
“There is one person we have to tell,” Ten said, wrapping his arms around his husband.
“Everly already knows.” Ronan laughed. His daughter could read him like a book.
“Yeah, she already knows, but I meant Mom.”
“Why do we have to tell Kaye?” Was Ten feeling guilty and needed to make some kind of half-assed confession to his mother? Or did he want to fulfill his promise to Ronan in the backseat of the Mustang?
“For the love of Jesus, Ronan! We’re not getting it on in the Mustang. The last time we did that, I hurt my back.” Ten rolled his eyes. “We need someone to watch the kids when we go to the jail tonight.”
“Tonight?” Ronan asked.
“Unless you want to go tomorrow with Cisco in the building and everyone bright eyed and bushy tailed.”
“Fuck me blue.” Ronan knew Ten had him. “Okay. Call your mother. I’ll think of a reason that will get us into the cell.”
Ten pressed a kiss to Ronan’s lips. A definite promise for later, but before Ronan got carried away with what was to come, he needed to reckon with the possibility that something other than alcohol poisoning happened to Jefferson McGrath.
For Cisco’s sake, he prayed Tennyson was wrong.
6
Tennyson
Kaye was less than thrilled with the idea of being part ofTennyson’s covert operation. Ten managed to sway his mother with a promise to take her to dinner at her favorite restaurant. If she’d refused, Ten would have called Carson, but the fewer people who knew what was happening, the better.
When his mother arrived at half past ten, he and Ronan slipped out of the house and got into Ten’s SUV. It was blue and completely unremarkable, unlike Ronan’s cherry red Mustang. “Are you going to be okay in the jailhouse? Every time we’ve gone into prisons, you have trouble with the evil residue the prisoners have imprinted on the building over time.”
“I’ll be okay in the jail. We’ve been to a bunch of meetings in the police precinct building and if there was a problem, I would have encountered it long before now.” Ten was touched that Ronan was thinking of his safety and comfort, especially in light of the argument they’d had earlier about McGrath’s death. He owed his husband a huge apology, but now wasn’t the time. He needed to get his head in the game and be ready to speak to the spirit if it presented itself.
“Okay, so let’s go over the plan one more time,” Ronan said, as he pulled out of their parking spot and into the street.
Ten rolled his eyes in the dark. They’d been over the plan several times already. They were each wearing jeans and polo shirts, to make it look as if they’d been out on a date. “When we get to the station, we walk in through the front door like we belong there. You’ll flash your badge which should get us in with no questions asked, but if someone does ask what we’re doing there, you’ll say that we’re on our way home from a night out and you needed to pick up a box of old, unsolved case files Captain Fitzgibbon needs in the morning.”
“Right. Keep going,” Ronan urged.
“When we get to the holding cells, you’ll tell the jailer that we’re working on a case and you need to get pics of the cells to counter what a suspect had said in his interview. If we’re pressed on why we’re doing it this late at night, we say you were supposed to do it sooner and now Fitzgibbon is on your ass.” Ten knew the story was believable. People working in the station knew how intense Fitz was when he worked a case and no one wanted to cross him.
“Perfect.” Ronan pulled into the lot and shut off the engine. “Just act natural and everything will be okay. How long do you think you’ll need in the cell?”
“Depends on McGrath, but you need to stick to your end of the bargain about not revealing that you’re a cop.” Ten knew it was possible the spirit wouldn’t reveal himself if Ronan made himself known. “I promise to work as fast as I can.”
“Good deal. Let’s go.” Ronan hopped out of the SUV and walked casually to the station door, which he opened and held for Tennyson. The night clerk barely glanced up before he hit the button to unlock the door.
“That worked better than I hoped.” Moving quickly, Ronan headed down the hall, making his way toward the back of the building where the holding cells were located. “Remember, be cool.”
Ten nodded. He wasn’t about to say or do anything that would get him tackled on the one yard line.
Ronan knocked on the door to the jailer’s office. “Hey, Tim.”
“Ten, Ronan, what the fuck are you doing here at this time of night?” Tim asked, wearing a knowing smirk.
“Well, you know, after Jude and Cope were here two weeks ago, Ten wanted to see the cells.” Ronan winked at Tim.
