Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2016 21:33:34 -0600 From: Cooper Max Subject: A Husband's Secrets: Chapter 3 (Adult Friends) A Husband's Secrets Chapter 3: Old Lovers, New Problems Exhaustion engulfed Julius' body; his hands shook on the helicopter controls. Taking time to glance around the cockpit, he noticed the bullet holes that had blasted through the siding. He shivered at the thought of what one of those bullets could have done to him. His mind refocused on the task at hand; getting the hell out of this situation. He knew his pursuers would have every airfield in the region covered within hours. There was no way he could land at a public airport and survive long enough to leave. The full weight of the Kona Syndicate would be shifted to finding him and getting revenge for their boss. Fortunately for Julius, the agency maintained a number of unknown private airfields across the country and world. Of course, the agency maintained one of these airfields outside of New York City given its strategic importance. Julius wasn't supposed to know about this airfield but his days as an analyst showed him knowing more than the agency wanted could be a good thing during desperate times. He had already dialed in the coordinates. Julius would have to weave the story of the century when he landed. No one at the agency, to his knowledge, knew of how deep his problems with the Kona Syndicate ran. Hell, if anyone even suspected how deep in trouble Julius was, he'd have been thrown in Guantanamo Bay already. `How the hell am I going to explain being missing for the last few days and showing up to a secret airfield I'm not supposed to know about with a stolen, bullet ridden helicopter plus all these injuries?' Julius questioned to himself out loud. Julius was thankful he had another 45 minutes of flight time to concoct a story. Flashback: 1 Year Ago "Connor, you know we can't keep sneaking away like this. We're going to get caught." Julius stated more aggressively than he had intended. "We're gone all the time for work. Why would our wives ever suspect these absences are any different?" Connor snapped back. "We need this time together. I need this time with you." Julius' anger softened as he said, "Women are intuitive. Hell, if either one of our wives had been the agents searching for Osama Bin Landen, that asshole would have been caught in like 3 weeks. Our wives are too perceptive to not pick up on something like this." Connor smirked at Julius and then lunged forward pushing him into the wall, kissing him forcefully. His rock hard cock pressed hard against Julius as he pinned him to the wall. Julius felt his own cock surge and twist against his tight dress pants. Julius embraced the kiss, letting it consume him. With a rush of euphoria came a sobering rush of reality. Julius angrily pushed Connor back. "You're too damn impulsive, Connor. You see something you want and you don't let anything stop you from getting it no matter how much damage it does to you or anyone else." Julius hissed. "What? And it bothers you that you're the thing I want so badly that I'd let Rome burn to have you? I don't care about Holly or anyone else. I want you." Connor retorted, his deep voice rising heatedly. "What about Xavier and your other boys? What about your damn mortgage? What about your damn retirement? Connor, this is so much bigger than either of us. We both have more to lose than we realize. Do you think Holly isn't going to scorch the earth to ruin you if she found out about us?" Julius replied feeling exhausted with Connor's pig headedness. Connor stared past Julius not saying anything for a while. "Do you even want this? Do you want me? Every time I think I'm close to having you all-in, fully Ð you pull away and I question things all over again." Connor said quietly; the emotion wavering in his voice. It was rare for Connor to let his guard down like this. The only time Julius had seen him openly vulnerable before was when Connor told him that he loved him. "You know I do but we can't just think about ourselves. Are we seriously going to leave our wives Ð our lives Ð behind?" Julius asked. "I would. You know damn well I would but I'm doubting you would at this point." Connor said as he heaved himself up from his chair and stormed out of the door. "Connor Ð god dammit Ð Connor come back here!" Julius screamed. There was no use trying to get him back. Yet again, Connor stormed off when he didn't hear exactly what he wanted to hear. His impulsiveness and stubbornness were two of the things Julius loved most about him but the more Julius got to know Connor, the more he was beginning to believe they were his greatest weaknesses. Present Day: Julius powered down the helicopter as SUVs with tinted windows sped towards him across the runway. Even with his credentials, air traffic control hadn't given him permission to land. Julius landed anyway. He'd definitely be taken into custody now. "Get your fucking hands up. Show us your fucking hands!" Bellowed the bulky men in bulletproof vests. The men had their weapons leveled right at him. Judging by their rugged looks, these weren't your typical, rent-a-cop private security guys either. Julius didn't feel like adding any additional holes to his body so he quickly complied and raised his hands. Within seconds, the men had rushed the helicopter and thrown him to the ground. Before he knew what was happening, he was cuffed, thrown in an SUV and speeding towards the nearest hangar. Outside the hangar, Julius spotted a familiar face - one that made his stomach turn. "Fuck, no. Dammit. This just went from bad to worse. How am I going to bullshit this guy with the grudge he already has against me?" Julius thought to himself. The men ripped him out of the SUV and brought him to his knees before the man. "Special Agent Owens. I'd say this is a pleasure but seeing as how you're trained to sort fact from fiction, you'd know I was flat out fucking lying. I'll be honest, you're the 2nd to last person I want to see right now." Julius bluntly exclaimed. "Only number 2?" Agent Owens inquired with a genuine surprise. "Who the fuck is number one?" "Oh c'mon Agent Owens, you'd only get jealous if I told you just like when you got jealous the time I dumped you for someone else." Julius replied, a smirk on his face. The agents restraining Julius looked at each other questioningly. Agent Owens face turned bright red. "You shut your fucking face." Agent Owens bellowed as he kicked Julius in the stomach forcefully, "That's the last word out of you for now. Gag him, guys." The men quickly gagged Julius. He let out a muffled laugh at the flustered, embarrassed look on Agent Owen's face. Julius thought to himself that the kick to the stomach was totally worth it. `I just wish I would have mentioned how he screams like a little bitch bottom, too." Julius thought to himself as he reminisced about Agent Owens. There was a lot of history between them and to say it ended poorly was the understatement of the century. Julius was sure the long, sordid history between him and Agent Owens would be hashed out during all the interrogations. ------ "Not so fucking sarcastic now are you?" Agent Owens stated laughing as he entered the interrogation room. Julius had been left alone for 6 hours without food or water. Julius murmured as sarcastic response about how Agent Owens' mom loved his sarcasm but the gag prevented him from getting the full effect. "You've always been so damn cocky. So damn arrogant. You're such a little fuck stain, Julius." Agent Owens hissed. Julius murmured another muffled response before Agent Owens impatiently removed his gag. "What are you blathering on about, Julius?" Agent Owens inquired. "Oh, Dean I was just saying how your mom never said such mean things to me while I motor boated her knockers into ecstasy." Julius almost didn't finish the sentence because of laughter. Agent Dean Owens smacked him across his face. "You're in a lot of trouble, Julius. You can sit here and laugh all you want but I have you by the short hairs. You're royally fucked and I get to see your fall from grace first hand." Agent Owens yelled. "Dean, you always were such a tool. I should have seen it from the beginning. Only took me 2 years before I wised up and realized you had some hot frat guy on the side the entire time. Did he make you scream like a whore in heat too?" Julius stated venomously. "You fucking cock sucker!" Agent Owens screamed as he hit Julius again. "At least he treated me like I meant something to him. I was glad you ran off with some other loser." Dean spat back. "You know, I'm loving all this foreplay Ð really I didn't know S&M was your thing Ð after 2 years you'd think we would have figured that out but seriously Ð do you have some fucking questions for this interrogation or am I just going to be your therapist for the next few hours?" Julius asked with a smirk on his face. "Ok, jackass, you want to be questioned? I can do that. Be careful what you wish for." Agent Owens said menacingly. "Let's start with where the fuck you've been these last few days." "Ask your sister, she's the one who has had me so busy." Julius said laughing. Agent Owens punched Julius right in the face. This time it really hurt. "I'm going to ask you again, dickweed, where the fuck have you been and why do you look like a diarrhea sandwich?" Agent Owens repeated while pointing at Julius' bruises and dried blood. Julius' mind spun. He knew he'd eventually be asked legitimate questions. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to get out of this pinch. "Truthfully, Agent Owens, I was taken against my will to the Catskills Mountains." Julius started with more honesty than he even expected from himself. "I proceeded to escape, steal a helicopter and fly myself into your welcoming armsÉ.or should I say fistsÉ..to be interrogated like a Gitmo detainee." He finished not bothering to hide his biting sarcasm. Agent Owens looked at him with surprise. Clearly, he had detected a few nuggets of honesty that he wasn't expecting from Julius; at least so soon. "And? Who the hell were these abductors and why the fuck did they take your pathetic ass to the Catskills? Agent Owens continued. "Well, besides my pretty face and charming demeanor," Julius started while taking a minute to pause for effect and wink, "the person who took me wanted information from me that I wasn't willing to give." Julius finished. Agent Owens' eyebrows were raised; his interest piqued. "What sort of information, why you and why the Catskills?" Agent Owens fired off three consecutive questions. "I'm not sure," Julius lied, "Because they thought I'd have access given my status in the agency and because it's an easy place to ditch an uncooperative body," Julius finished with a lie. In truth, he had no idea why he'd been taken to the Catskills but he did know that the Kona Syndicate was getting greedier on the information it was requesting from him and more forceful in holding the blackmail over his head. At first, the Kona Syndicate had only asked for external intelligence; things about the Mexican side of the border, ways to skirt border protection and customs agents abroad. Julius assumed they were just using the intel to push drugs and launder money. Recently, the Kona Syndicate had started asking for scarier, more poignant information about the agency and other domestic based issues. Julius had been getting increasingly nervous especially as he noticed the Kona Syndicate taking on a more political and less purely criminal stance. Agent Owens stared at Julius for a long time as if he was deep in thought. His face was expressionless. The sterile room was completely silent. "You're lying and telling the truth. I'm trying to figure out which parts are the lies and which parts are the truth." Agent Owens spoke quietly after the long pause. Julius kept his face impassive. "How can we be sure you didn't pass any information off? How can we be sure you didn't orchestrate this whole event as a ruse? There are only going to be more questions, Mr. Steele, you're in for a long road ahead." Agent Owens remarked with a smarmy smile. Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. Before Agent Owens had time to respond, a man burst in. "Agent Mclean Ð whatÉwhat.. wait you cannot beÉ" before Agent Owens had time to finish Agent Connor Mclean raised his hand to silence Agent Owens. "Agent Julius Steele will be coming with me. Your responsibilities for this case have been terminated, Agent Owens." Connor stated coldly with a forceful stare at Agent Owens. Connor didn't even look at Julius. "On whose authority? Over my dead fucking body, Connor. How the fuck did you even know he's here and who gave you access to this installation without my authority?" Agent Owens sputtered furiously. "Ohhh Dean you've always been a bit slow haven't you? Slow at the academy. Slow to rise in the ranks. Slow to catch on. It's embarrassing really. I'm here on the authority of the Director himself so if you'd excuse me, there's real work to be done." Connor said not even trying to hide his sarcasm or malice. "You cocky son of a bitch. You think you're so fucking smart and gifted. One of these days you're going to stumble and I'll have your ass and your badge." Agent Dean Owens fumed. Connor looked at him and smiled, "I don't doubt you want my ass, Dean, but from what I hear, you're more of bottom, eh?" Even Julius had to smirk at that as Agent Owens looked like his head was going to pop off. Connor grabbed Julius by the arm and scooted him swiftly out of the room. Within minutes, they were quickly speeding out of the gate and down the highway. "How'd you know I was here?" Julius asked. "I have friends all over. Someone tipped me off Ð for a cost of course." Connor replied while keeping his eyes on the road. "The Director gave you authority to come and get me? Why?" Julius questioned. "Well, you see, that's the sticky part of this whole thing. The Director doesn't even know I'm here. I just put on the best performance of my life in busting you out of there." Connor said smirking. "You're joking right? Julius asked. "Not even a little bit. We're both screwed now. Kiss our agency days good by. We're on the run." Connor replied while squeezing Julius' leg. "Why the fuck would you do that?" Julius screamed. "Because the Kona Syndicate is after you. They're going to leak the blackmail information about us to the agency and the fact you're giving them intel. You'd go to prison where they could swiftly kill you. Not to mention, they're going to frame me so I can be butchered right alongside you. Dammit Julius why didn't you come to me for help sooner?" Connor replied. "This is your idea of help!?"" Julius stated incredulously. "Hey now, I didn't do all this without a plan. We're going to destroy the Kona Syndicate's blackmail against us, capture Ignacio Valdez, bring the Kona Syndicate to the ground doing the US government and international community a huge service and hope all that's enough to get us a god damn pardon for busting your ass out of federal custody and maybe keep our families in the process." Connor said with a huge grin. "Oh, is that it?" Julius replied sarcastically. ----------- End Chapter 3 ---------