Page 89 of Free
"Hey." Marshall glanced over his shoulder, then stopped and turned when he saw Matt. "New guy?"
Matt stepped forward and offered his hand. "Nope, old. I'm from the other team in California. Matt."
Marshall shook it. "I'm Marshall. I just started a few weeks ago, so I haven't heard a lot about the other team, but welcome. You a computer guy too?"
Matt nodded, taking a seat beside Marshall. "I am. Looks like you've got a good set up here."
"That's all Jeremy's doing. He had it all set up when I came in," Marshall told him.
"It was Carter. He came and helped me get it up and running. I couldn't have done it without him. I'm still calling him daily with one issue or another." Jeremy sat down beside them.
"You getting ready for the sting tonight?" Matt nodded to the monitors where Marshall was working on pulling up all the cameras in the area. He had four traffic cameras showing the area they were going to tonight.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure how to do this part. I get them pulled up, but Jeremy has to step in from here. I'm still learning how to get into some systems." Marshall clicked a few buttons and pulled up another screen. "This is the home. There are two cameras on neighboring houses, but that's all I've been able to find so far."
"I'm assuming we'll be hanging out here until D gets back tonight. I'm happy to jump in and help if you want," Matt offered.
"I'm not going to turn down an offer like that." Jeremy was happy to have all the eyes and hands working that he could. "It's a pretty simple sting. Fifty-year-old man who has been arrested three times for voyeurism. We went in and found he has pictures of himself with young girls as far back as nineteen-ninety. He hits up the local recreation center, then hides in the girls' locker room and drags kids into a stall, forcing them to touch him. We were going to pass on this one, but two weeks ago, he raped his first kid. Left her lying on the floor and fled. The police have him on camera, but couldn't identify him from the angle. We caught him uploading the video to the web. He's had his chances."
"Yeah, I agree. I always hate those we have to pass up. You know in your heart they are going to escalate to bigger crimes, but at the time, they haven't done enough to call for an STK hit. We're lucky enough to have a team who works with the police to share evidence, so usually, we can get the police to follow-up on those cases. Still, you know the courts won't do anything." Matt sighed. "I'm glad I'm not the one to make the final call."
"Me too." Marshall smiled at Jeremy.
"Yeah, I wish I didn't have to. Twice a week, D and I sit down and go over cases and decide which ones we are picking up. So far, we've only had one with kids on site." Jeremy hated doing that. He wanted to act on every case they had.
"Yeah, those are always a priority." Matt glanced at the door as Xander and D walked in.
"I should have known I'd find you here." Xander walked over, leaning down to give Matt a kiss.
"Of course." Matt laughed. "Xander, meet Marshall and Jeremy." He gestured to each guy.
"Pleasure." Xander nodded to Marshall, then turned to Jeremy. "I've been looking forward to meeting you." He glanced at D, then back to Jeremy. "Curious how you tamed him."
Jeremy laughed. "I was the only one around to feed his addiction when he got here and couldn't go out prowling."
"Fact." D laughed. "But that quickly changed." D gripped Jeremy's shoulder. "He is everything I need, everything I was searching for and couldn't find."
Jeremy smiled, his heart full, especially after the conversation they'd had in the garage. "We'd both been through a lot, had a lot of healing to do. I think that helped us find our way."
"Well, I'm happy for you. I know when I met Matt, you said you'd never settle down like I was, but I'm glad you are. I look forward to getting to know you better," Xander said to Jeremy. "But, I hear you have a sting tonight, so I'm going to leave you to work."
"I'm going to stay in here and help them get ready." Matt smiled up at Xander.
Xander kissed Matt before turning to D. "Care to show me the rest of the place?"
"Sure thing." D gave Jeremy's shoulder a tight squeeze, holding his gaze for a moment before he headed out of the room with Xander.
"Okay, show me what we're doing." Matt turned his focus to the computers.
With the sting only hours away, Jeremy needed to get everything ready. Glad for the help, he started showing Matt what they had planned. Everything else could wait.
