Chapter Five #3
“Apparently, Gene opted to not go home, and instead is on a little vacation in Puerto Rico. As he was on the beach after dinner, he found a body in the surf.”
He laughed.
“That’s shitty luck—even for him. I guess we know who is the unluckier in the pair.”
Yeah, he could say that again.
As for his response, Greyson laughed too, trying not to let on that this went deeper.
If he gave even the slightest away, Gabe would start sniffing around, and that was the last thing they needed.
“Well, it gets worse. He recognized the victim. It’s someone he went to training with in Quantico. That’s who the dead body belongs to.”
Gabe paused.
“Wait. Are you saying he found a dead Fed on the beach, and he knows the actual person?” he asked.
Well, when he said it that way, it made it sound kind of suspicious and questionable.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”
Oh, boy.
“Oh, Jesus. He knew the guy. That’s bad.”
Yeah, Greyson knew exactly what he was thinking, and what the man was going to allude to.
“Yeah, I know.”
Gabe was quiet.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, waiting for it.
He went there.
“Are we sure he didn’t kill the guy, and he’s trying to cover his tracks?” he asked.
Greyson had been right. He was betting that the man would go here, because they all investigated shit, or had at one time.
“Gene? Cantrell? The Gene who works here? The man who solves cases and is a good agent?” he asked, not using the one piece of information he knew would vindicate him.
He wasn’t alone.
Yeah, Gabe knew how that sounded, but old habits die hard.
“The person who finds the body, tends to be the one who left the body. We live by that motto, Son. So, I have to go there.”
Greyson had walked them right into this one, and he knew it. Only, the other options were worse for Gene and Ethan.
It was a pain in the ass to have to play chess with Gabriel Rothschild. For the most part, he created the game, and knew it well.
“Sir, the victim was found in the water. I saw the body. It’s bloated, and it’s been in the water a day or two.
Gene literally flew out this morning. He said goodbye to me as he went to the airport.
Ethan left yesterday evening to head West. There’s no way Gene did this.
The agent that was found died well before Gene left Philly. ”
That calmed Gabe down.
The last thing he wanted was one of his agents doing stupid shit and drawing attention to the FBI. The president was antsy with all of the changes Director Moore had implemented.
And with good reason.
“Okay, then, he’s cleared on that front. You know it’s nothing personal. We have to clear the person who finds the body first. I like Cantrell’s moxie, and the fact that he can wrangle the cowboy. I’m basically team Gene.”
Greyson knew that was a close one, and he was grateful Gabe liked the man. It might help them in the long run.
Gabe continued.
“I’m going to assume you told him that ‘tag’ he’s it, right?” he asked. “Because Director Moore, in his infinite wisdom, boned everyone with that new memo.”
Oh, he did.
“Yeah, and he’s hella pissed about that.”
Gabe laughed.
Oh, he loved tormenting his agents, and if he could fuck with them, he absolutely would. They thought it was because he was a dick, but it was to keep them on their toes. Out in the field, you never knew what was coming your way.
You didn’t have to get ready if you stayed ready.
“Who is the victim?” he asked, curiously.
Greyson read him the name that he’d scribbled down on a notepad.
“It’s an agent by the name of Jarod Shand. He was found in the ocean, and washed onto shore where Gene spotted him in the waves.”
He thought about it.
Unfortunately, he was well aware of that agent.
“Yeah, he was a decent Fed. He was mostly running the office there to keep it on track. Shand was reliable. He’s going to be missed. I’ll handle the family notify once we have confirmation of death. It should be me that calls them, even if it was an accidental drowning.”
Oh, Greyson was damn grateful that he wasn’t going to be the one doing the notify.
They sucked.
For Gene’s sake, he also hoped that it was going to be a cut-and-dry case where Shand went into the water off the side of a boat, and had been battered on some rocks.
If it was, Gabe wouldn’t be getting nosey when it came to the man being there.
Before Greyson could thank him, Gabe wasn’t done.
“Call Blackhawk, and tell him to get on a flight to Puerto Rico. His partner is on duty, and he is too. No one in that office can run this one because they are tied to the victim. Until we figure out what’s going on, and can call it an accidental death, the onsite staff are hands-off.
Like I said, they can assist with running things if the investigators want backup, but Blackhawk and Cantrell are running this. ”
Greyson wanted to sigh in relief.
It appeared that it was all working out without too much suspicion from their boss.
So far, so good.
“I’ll call him, Sir.”
That’s when Gabe dropped the bomb.
Oh, and it was a big bomb too.
“Oh, and get on a flight yourself and meet them there,” he stated.
At his words, Greyson was caught off guard.
What?
Was?
This?
“Pardon?” he asked.
Gabe was to the point.
“They don’t have an office director there, and you’re pretty close to being one at your office.
I need to figure out how an agent gets murdered, and no one knows it in the office there.
Someone’s not paying attention, so tag, you’re it too.
The Philly office will be okay for a few days without you.
Put Antonio on temp duty until you get back. ”
That worked for him.
Yeah, he wasn’t going to complain.
Why?
It would get him away from Sasha.
She’d been texting him all day, and he was trying not to be rude.
YET.
It was annoying knowing that she wasn’t really Sasha, and they got DNA back from Gene’s friend, and it wasn’t in the system. That was a huge red flag since ALL of their DNA was in CODIS as law enforcement.
Now, they were coloring outside the lines and were running it through every database known to mankind, and not coming up with shit.
So to get out of there…
It would keep him from being bitchy with her. Because he was feeling like he wanted to not only tell her off, but Gabe too for playing these games.
“Okay,” he said.
At his willingness, Gabe was immediately suspicious of that behavior. His agents ALWAYS gave him pushback.
“You want to go?” he asked.
He was honest.
Partially.
“It’s miserable weather out here. If you think I’m turning down some time in the sun of Puerto Rico, you’re nuts—respectfully, Sir. I wouldn’t mind watching the bikinis from the office window.”
He’d not been expecting that.
Gabe actually laughed.
Honestly, that made perfect sense to him. That’s what he’d rather do too—well, minus the bikini part. His pregnant wife would eviscerate him and laugh while doing it.
“Just get Blackhawk there, and have Gene handle the other Feds until tomorrow when you and Blackhawk arrive. The Puerto Rico office is a mess. See what you can do to clean it up.”
Well, maybe he could stay the whole week that the two men were there also.
For work reasons.
Of course.
Greyson would take a semi-vacation on the FBI dime if the opportunity came up. He wasn’t above that, since he worked ninety hours a week to do his job.
Sand?
Sun?
Women who were really who they said they were?
Sign him up.
“Will do. I’ll check-in tomorrow and make sure you’re updated with what’s going on. What we know is the man submitted a report Friday night to the DC office.”
Gabe knew he would.
“Do that, and keep the chaos to a minimum, Croft,” he said, hanging up.
When the call was over, Gabe sat on the couch with his daughter, gently patting her on the back to get her to burp post-feeding.
And he was confused.
Really.
Confused.
Sasha had told him that Gene and Ethan were a couple. Yet, they weren’t in the same place together for their vacation.
Someone had lied to him.
Was it Greyson Croft?
Or was it Sasha Harper, his spy?
Something about all of that had his hackles stirred up. Now, Gabe was going to have to find out.
Let’s just say that curiosity was killing the cat. For Sasha’s sake, he hoped to God she wasn’t lying to him and instead, she was getting good intel.
He liked to keep an eye on that office, and its agents.
One more strike, and she was out.