Chapter Eleven
The Police Station
Same Time
Investigation Time
When Corbin and Will arrived at the police station, it was crazy, and that’s likely why they were given an escort right into the homicide bullpen. Then again, it could be that Corbin flashed his badge with his new creds.
FBI Liaison.
He’d been dying to do it too, and that just made him giddy.
How could it not?
Clearly, his man saw it, too, since Corbin was smiling like a lunatic.
He just couldn’t help it.
Not.
At.
All.
Honestly, it felt good to smile again. It had been weeks since he’d genuinely felt good, and here in Puerto Rico, he was feeling more human.
Maybe it was the weather.
Maybe it was the company, but either way, he was almost back to normal.
That was a welcomed feeling any day of the week after surviving what he’d been through.
The human spirit was tenacious, and Corbin fully believed that. What had tried to destroy him hadn’t been successful. Instead, it had only made him stronger—like titanium. Nothing would break him, since he’d already survived the worst thing in his life.
Corbin.
Was.
Back.
What broke his thoughts was the voice of the man he loved beside him.
“If you smile anymore, you’ll look like a serial killer,” Will whispered. “That’s probably a bad idea in the homicide unit of the police station.”
It got Corbin to laugh.
Oh, he imagined he did look crazy.
“I mean, if this is how they feel, sign me up,” he joked. “I know enough from watching Gene and Ethan to evade. You have to be tricky. I just might be able to pull that off, Will.”
His boyfriend shook his head. Someone was definitely in a good mood, and for that, he was glad.
As they waited, he was curious.
“Are you excited to go back to work when we get back?” he asked him.
Corbin nodded.
That was a definite.
For the first time, in over a month, he felt like he was standing on his own two feet. His therapist would be proud.
“I feel safe,” he admitted. “I was scared to go back out on my own, and now that I know Gene and Ethan will be there to help me out, I know they won’t let me get hurt again.
I just need to lean on them a little while, until I can figure out how to find Corbin again—and not the Corbin who got me hurt. ”
Will patted his leg.
His man had come a long way, and he was very proud of him. Last night, they’d cuddled in bed, and it was reminiscent of their life before the assault. While sex was off of the table, Corbin had proved he could still cuddle with the best of them.
And Will missed that.
On top of it, his man had been jazzed before bed, and that seemed to chase away the bad dreams and fear. Both Gene and Ethan were damn good for the man—there was no doubt there.
“I’m glad you have them in your life. It’s clear they love you a great deal. When Gene busts your ass, it’s very much like a big brother. I have them, so I know.”
Corbin loved that.
Will would never understand how much those words resonated with him.
As an only child, it was nice not to be alone in the world. He always wondered what it would be like when Alice and John died.
Would he feel empty?
Like an orphan?
Would he slowly disappear and be forgotten?
Now, he wouldn’t know.
Even when they went back to DC, he still could call, and they’d show up for him.
There was no doubt in his mind that the two men would always come for him if he called. If that wasn’t very brother-like, he didn’t know what was.
Yeah, he was blessed in so many ways, and the tragedy had shown him that.
“I’m lucky, but you have them too. We’re a package deal,” he admitted. “If you called them, they’d haul ass to get to you, too.”
He smiled.
Honestly, he knew that.
It was a nice feeling being accepted, and it was all because he fell in love with an amazing man. He’d instantaneously gained a family.
It.
Was.
Special.
“I know, Corby. Thank you for making me part of your family. It’s lonely out there when you don’t have anyone to watch your back. Now, I feel safe too.”
That it was.
Truer words had never been said. Truth be told, Corbin never realized how lonely he was until he saw that there was more than work in life.
There was family.
There were friends.
There was downtime.
Those little connections mattered a great deal, and learning how to differentiate between work and time off had taught him a lot.
“Did you mean it when you said I could start my own business and work out of our home?” he asked, wanting to revisit that while they were sitting there waiting to talk to the homicide captain.
Corbin nodded.
He absolutely did mean it.
“Yeah, I did, Will. One day, we might want kids. If or when we do, you should have a more stable career. I get called out in the middle of the night to a lot of homicides. If I’m on call, I have to go. Having you there to make sure our kids are safe will allow me to focus and do my job.”
Will was aware.
It gave him goosebumps that the man was talking about a family and children. That was something he’d always believed would be out of his reach.
There weren’t a lot of men out there who were willing to stay in the shadows since Will wasn’t out, but Corbin was more than happy to do that.
Then again, once they got married, he was definitely coming out to his family. They’d have to work through it on their own. He wasn’t hiding anymore.
His one-day husband was an amazing man, and he wanted to make sure he never hid that from the world.
He.
Was.
Proud.
Will was honest.
“I think I want to quit when we go back to Philadelphia. I’m going to sell my condo, and I’ll move in if you still want me to.”
Corbin smiled at him.
That he was willing to trust him so much that he’d give up his place meant the world to him.
“I want you to, Will. I’ve always wanted you to. Despite this setback, with what happened to me, that was always the goal. I told you that the days before I was hurt. You, me, a place together, and a happy, happy life. That’s what I want. You’ve always been my end goal—well, marrying you was.”
Him too.
That made him giddy to think that they were on the way toward that goal. Corbin wanted to wait until he was healed and could accept the rings, and Will could tell that him going back to work was the next step.
They.
Were.
Close.
“Well, sign me up. I can’t wait to be William Price. That makes me very happy,” he admitted.
That hit Corbin hard in the feels.
He was going to take his name, and they were going to be together for the rest of their lives.
Corbin had found his other half.
God.
How did he get so lucky?
Only, before he could say anything else, the homicide captain came out and headed their way.
“Are you Detective Corbin Price?” he asked. “And you work with the FBI?”
He stood and shook his hand.
“I am, and you are?” he asked.
The man introduced himself.
“I’m Captain Adrian Marrero. I run this nut farm,” he said.
Corbin continued the introductions, since he wanted Will to feel like he wasn’t being ignored.
“This is Counsel,” Corbin said. “William Barker. He’s an assistant DA.”
The man shook his hand.
“Oh, you came with a lawyer. That’s telling me this is going to be an interesting one.”
Corbin laughed.
“Aren’t they all when the FBI is involved?”
That made the man laugh.
“Yes, yes, they are.”
With that, he waved them back to his office. “I was surprised that you came here. Whenever we deal with the FBI, it’s mostly Agent Shand. What’s going on?” he asked, taking a seat behind that desk.
Oh, well, yeah, about that.
Corbin had some bad news for him.
“Well, Captain Marrero, last night, Agent Shand’s body was found on the beach. Unfortunately, he’s dead. We are just waiting on final ID from the FBI ME, but he’s been ID’d by a coworker from a tattoo.”
The man’s eyes went huge.
Yeah, they knew that look.
They were thinking that too.
“Holy shit! I just saw him Friday. He stopped here around six, and handed me a report. He was working on a case, and we requested it back due to circumstances.”
Corbin lifted a brow.
The man must have known what was coming because he didn’t hesitate to tell them.
“A judge passed us jurisdiction since the dead cop was from our house, so he was handing it off. We appreciated that the FBI didn’t fight too much on this one.”
Well, yeah.
Corbin knew that the FBI was running thin when it came to agents. Thus, why he was going to be tied to the Philly unit for the next three years or so.
Now, Corbin was curious.
Dead cop?
“And did he say where he was going by any chance? You’re the only person who might have an insight into where he headed after meeting with you.”
The man was to the point.
“No, he didn’t. He was dressed in normal clothes, and he was in a good mood. He passed off some notes in a report, and then headed out. It was a very short meeting. Honestly, I was curious why we did it in person. All it would have taken was an email of the report.”
Corbin listened.
“He came in, passed it off, and then headed out. He was a nice guy, and I’m sorry for the FBI’s loss. Jarod was a decent dude.”
So they’d heard.
Repeatedly.
“Oh!” the captain said. “Three minutes ago, I got a call from the FBI,” he admitted. “They asked what case Aaron Figueroa was working before he died.”
And that’s when it hit him.
Dead.
Cop.
Ding-ding-ding.
That made Corbin lift a brow. As quickly as he could, he began putting the pieces together in his mind. He’d missed it at first, but now, he was curious.
For him, it all led to one thing.
“So, you guys lost a cop too?” he asked, playing catch-up. Clearly, Ethan and Gene had gone down a rabbit hole, and hadn’t had time to clue him in. “I know you said it, but it just hit me that two officers of the law died.”
Captain Marrero nodded.
“Didn’t your agent tell you?” he asked.
Corbin knew why they didn’t.
“We divided and conquered this morning, and I didn’t check in with them yet,” he said. “I’m doing interviews with my partner here,” he said, covering their bases.