Chapter Ten #2
That wasn’t great. Agents who did investigations on homicides usually made notes that didn’t end up in the report. They knew Jarod had submitted one, but his notes…
They would have the good shit.
Miguel handed something to Gene.
“I do have the note he left me. It was in my files, and it was definitely Wednesday. I scribbled the lunch order on the back for us.”
He handed that to Gene, and he knew what they needed to do at some point. That laptop might be at the man’s home.
It was going to be a trip there.
“Did Agent Shand live alone? Was he married?” he asked, knowing they needed to root around in the man’s home—once they got positive ID from the ME.
Noe shook his head.
“No, he was single. He spent a lot of time interviewing in bars and clubs, and he said that the market was oversaturated with nightmares waiting to happen. If you ask me, he played for the same team, if you know what I mean.”
Oh, they did.
Two men out of the three also ‘played’ for the same team, and together. That told him that Jarod was very lowkey about his personal life.
If they found something at the man’s home, telling them about a significant other, that was also going to be on the interview list.
If not, they were once more hitting a wall. Someone had to know what he was handling.
They hoped.
“We’re going to need his address, and his personnel records,” Greyson asked. “The agents will check his home for the FBI laptop, and Gene and Ethan will make sure we focus on getting the man justice.”
That worked for them.
When they heard last night about Jarod, they were shocked as shit.
Jarod was easygoing. Everyone in the office was, as a matter of fact. No one disliked the man because they believed it just wasn’t possible.
He was a good dude.
One of the other agents went to a file cabinet, and pulled out a file.
“Here’s the personnel file,” Noe offered. “Just chuck it back in there,” he added.
Oh, boy.
Greyson was horrified that just anyone could stroll in here and get into the personnel files. They were supposed to be kept locked up for confidentiality.
Case files were accessible, but personnel?
Hell.
No.
He went there.
“Uh, your salaries and personal information are in there, like your reviews, home addresses, and...”
He stopped.
Why?
They all looked unbothered.
Holy shit.
Greyson wanted to stroke out. He knew Gabe offered this office to a bunch of people, and no one wanted it.
NO.
ONE.
He’d even added an ME and lab staff, and still, there were no takers.
Well, he understood that. It would take a miracle to wrangle this crazy.
“Thanks,” Gene said, knowing they weren’t getting anywhere else with anyone here.
In fact, he was betting that Jarod was the most organized and work-oriented agent in the whole office.
Call it a hunch.
They gave them time to leave, and when they left, Gene just shook his head.
“You have your hands full,” Gene said to Greyson.
He laughed.
“Oh, I’m already to the point I want to have mini-strokes. The personnel files are right there. Everything is in there about the agents like where they live, their psych evals, and their case numbers.”
Yeah, Greyson was not going to be sane long in this place. They called the file cabinets in Philly ‘the vault’. The man had them in locked cabinets in a locked room. If he could, there’d be armed guards.
Well, maybe he wouldn’t go that far, but he’d been in the military, so one never knew.
“Breathe,” Ethan said, laughing when Greyson looked twitchy.
Someone bordered on obsessive at the crossroads of control freak.
“Easier said than done,” Greyson said, shaking his head as he opened the man’s file.
Blackhawk was curious.
“Where does he live?” he asked.
Greyson told him, and Ethan scribbled it down on the paper for him.
Well, at least they had their next step—once they knew for a fact that Ben Crowley was confirming that it was Jarod.
“Can you get us the login information to get into Jarod’s laptop?” Gene asked. “Because even if it’s at his home, and we find his laptop there, we won’t be able to get into it.”
That he could do.
It was why he was also here.
To help them.
Well, that and no one liked dealing with IT. They were ridiculous on a good day.
Knowing the procedure, Greyson pulled up a form on his laptop, and filled it out.
Then, he sent it to IT.
“It’ll take a bit. You know how they are,” he said. “Unplug it, dance around it, and plug it back in,” he said, mockingly. “If that doesn’t work, fill out five requests, give them your DNA, and if you have a firstborn, they want them too in order to help.”
Both men laughed.
That sounded about right.
Thus, that was why both of them were letting him deal with it. Why should they all get stressed out by helpdesk?
“This place is a mess,” Greyson admitted. “I swear to God that Gabe had better not send me here to work. This is a shitshow. I’d go nuts here. They were in shorts and sandals,” he said. “SANDALS.”
That was amusing for them.
“It’s like being in an episode of Miami Vice, but Crockett and Tubbs went even more casual than no socks with their loafers. What’s next? Board shorts?”
Oh, before the week was out, they were betting Greyson handled that.
Bet.
On.
It.
Clearly, their work attire was beyond laid back for Greyson, who wore a suit to work every single day, unless he was doing field work with them.
Then, he wore body armor under a blue FBI jacket over his dress shirt and dress pants.
He was consistent if nothing else.
“I hope not, but then again, that would get you away from Sasha. How’s that been?” Gene asked as they waited on the IT gods to help them—or not.
The man shrugged.
“I see her once in a while, but she mostly asks about Ethan,” he said. “I think she’s trying to make me jealous, but it’s not happening. One, I know he’s your cult member, and two, I just got out of that bear trap, so I’m not going back.”
Gene laughed.
“Cult member?” he asked. “I mean, that’s crazy,” he said, not hating it. God knew he was in the Ethan Blackhawk cult, too.
But wasn’t that how it was supposed to be?
He nodded.
“Someone’s been checking out your ass while you were standing there, and it wasn’t me. He wants to worship at the temple of the bear.”
Gene grinned wickedly.
Oh, and he knew why.
Someone was continually turned on, and he wasn’t going to get less turned on as the day progressed. He was giving him until lunch to be so horny that the wind made him want to cum.
That was the plan.
Again, he was taking an extended lunch break to have some fun.
Gene was to the point.
“Yes, and DON’T talk him out of that. This temple likes that cult member. In fact, this temple only has one cult member, and he’s the love of his life. Tread lightly because I’ll lose my shit if someone tries to woo him to another cult.”
Ethan snorted.
“I’m right here. You both can see me, right?” he asked. “Am I invisible?”
Gene put his hand on his leg, and gave it a squeeze. It made Ethan’s whole body react, and it was likely because of the fun little cage he was sporting.
It said one thing to Ethan.
Gene was going to say whatever he wanted about him because he owned his body.
And soul.
With one look, Ethan got it, and the mere idea turned him on even more. It said, ‘my property will be seen and not heard.’
Oh, shit.
He loved that.
“Yeah, we both see you,” Greyson admitted. “I’d just avoid Syphilis Mary. Then again, I was the last person in her, so you should be good.”
Gene snorted.
“Not Typhoid?” Gene joked.
Greyson was amused, and he knew it.
“Seriously. Who knows at this point? All I know is she’s been up in the office, looking for you. I saw her lurking outside where you and Ethan sit. When I popped out, she told me she needed to ask you something.”
Oh, well, Gene had news for her.
There was no way she was getting any of her woman-claws in his man.
He.
Was.
Taken.
She’d have a better chance of getting Greyson back in bed than ever seeing Ethan naked.
“I’m going to keep running her later. I’ve not given up on her identity. Something has to give. It’s only a matter of time. That’s why I’m staying here the whole week, even if you guys solve this today. I need her to be paranoid, and I need time to figure this out.”
That was fine with them.
Honestly, if this took four days, they’d still have the weekend before they flew home.
“Anyway, I’ll hold the fort down here. How about you guys get out there and get some shit handled? Where is Corbin?” he asked.
Gene clued him in.
“In either the stupidest or brightest move I’ve ever made, I’m letting him help,” Gene said, glancing at his watch.
“He’s heading to the police station to get information from the cops there.
Last night, as we were prepping, we found a couple of cases that matched this. He’s going to get us information.”
Greyson looked skeptical.
Oh, and they knew why.
“Just say it,” Gene said.
Greyson did, and it had nothing to do with Corbin’s ability to be a cop—but more so his ability to come back from what had happened.
They were all rooting for him, but it had only been a little over a month.
“Is he ready to start working?” he asked. “You know, after his assault? I know it was touch-and-go for a while there.”
Ethan had Corbin’s back. While Greyson was their friend, and Corbin’s too, he was all about the rules.
PERIOD.
As acting office director, he could put a kibosh on their liaison at any point.
Would he?
They simply didn’t know.
“He’s pretty good,” he admitted. “He’s using the new position working with us as his way of micromanaging his issues. He nearly melted down with his man last night, but it got saved. Let’s just say Will is a saint. I think he’s going to have a harder time being a partner in bed than in the field.”
Oh, he bet.
Whenever he stopped by their condo, Will was there doting on his man, and spending all his time with Corbin.
That was definitely saint behavior.