Chapter Thirteen
Same Office
Monday
Puerto Rico
Because they needed to get moving, since it was starting to turn into afternoon, they got all of the people working this going, meaning him, Ethan, and Greyson. They were running this, and finishing it.
For them, it was boots on the street time, where Gene and Ethan had to ask people questions—and hopefully piece this together.
How that would go was anyone’s guess.
All they knew was Corbin and Will were heading out to lunch, and to spend some of their day vacationing.
It was for the best.
They decided to cut them free in order to not have them the focus of the killer. In the back of all of their minds, was the lingering fear that Corbin wouldn’t be paying attention, and instead get hurt.
So, they were done.
As in officially on vacation.
Oh.
The.
Irony.
Yeah, they didn’t want to trip over Corbin, or be distracted by the man, but they were jealous that he got downtime, and they didn’t.
But it was for the best.
Worrying about him would take over priority one, and that could only happen if they let him work this case.
So, he was off to have fun.
After springing him, the three men went over all of the victims, as Greyson began his search on them. Now, it was time to pay the latest victim’s home a visit, and then go from there.
Hopefully, they found something that they could use on this case.
Already, they had access to his laptop, and that gave them insight on his case notes.
And surprisingly, they were basically the same in the report he’d submitted.
There was nothing spectacular there.
Well, shit.
Strike one.
With access to his desktop, Ethan was doing a deep dive on the man’s life.
Greyson was doing double duty, and they appreciated that. Not only was he researching the victims, but he was also working on FBI stuff, and none of that was going to be fun for him.
There were agents to audit, and after Miguel’s angry outburst, it was likely to be worse.
No one envied Greyson on this one.
No.
One.
As the system ran the names, someone had to offer up an olive branch and soothe the angry Fed beasts.
For now, all the ducks were accounted for, and that was the bottom line.
“You’re quiet,” Ethan admitted as Gene drove them toward the dead Fed’s home.
Yeah, Gene knew why he was silent, but he was rerunning everything over in his head to make sure they didn’t miss a single thing.
He was worried about the killer going after them—mostly Ethan—and it was hard to not be stressed.
So, he shared.
“I don’t like this already,” he admitted.
Ethan focused.
“Me either. When someone goes to this much trouble to fuck with the evidence, there’s a reason. We won’t know if it’s legit Voodoo-related until we dig in and go deep. It’s chaos, and while we work in chaos, it’s not fun.”
No.
It.
Wasn’t.
And that was what freaked him out.
As a devout Catholic, who pretty much followed all the rules with the exception of the gay one, dealing with ritualistic crimes made him twitchy on a good day. Before Ethan, he didn’t think twice.
Now, because of the assholes like David Neives, it was always at the forefront of his mind.
It was like a bad flashback.
It haunted him.
“Just stay close, okay, EJ? I can’t do a repeat of what happened with David Neives. I’m always wary he’s out there playing with us, and that makes me cranky.”
Ethan put his hand on Gene’s leg, and ran it up and down to soothe him.
Oh, he was very aware of how something could go bad. He’d lived to tell about it, and that asshole was always in his mind, lurking.
That trauma never went away.
The only thing that saved him was Gene had gotten to him in time.
“I understand. I’ll be really careful. You can be up my ass if you’d like. Literally. Try it. How about right now?”
It was said so deadpan that it made Gene laugh.
His partner was a funny man, and once you got to know him, you could see his dry sense of humor coming out.
With this particular sentence, someone was hinting, and Gene hadn’t forgotten.
Not.
At.
All.
“Oh, well, in due time, Tala. Don’t think I’m not focused on us taking a lunch break. I am. Trust me. I’m just trying to stay calm.”
And on that, Ethan understood.
He also knew how serious Gene was stressing this when he changed the subject back from sex to work.
That said it all.
“How certain are you that this isn’t ritualistic?” he asked. “Give me a percentage so I can let this choking feeling go. I know what you said in there, but I also know that on day one, you RARELY give a direction because if it’s going to change, today is when that happens.”
Ethan would do anything for his partner.
But he wasn’t wrong.
Blackhawk wasn’t sure he was going to like the percentage in his head. It wasn’t a locked-down number they tended to get on day two.
“Fifty-fifty,” he said.
And Gene knew that was a big spread, but most of the time, when he was unsure, he’d say seventy-thirty. Fifty-fifty was huge.
“Okay, so that means this is still a possibility, and that makes me edgy.”
Pretty much.
“I really don’t think we’re looking at ritualistic.
Seriously. I meant what I said in there.
Do I think that the markings were some ritual?
No. Do I think that the killer wants us to think that for a reason?
Yes. What that reason is…we’ll figure it out.
I can’t lock that number down definitively quite yet. ”
It always astounded him how calm Ethan could be when they were on a case. It was hard to rattle him.
Gene on the other hand…
He was a hot mess on a good day.
As they drove to the dead Fed’s home, Ethan was running his hand up and down his partner’s thigh, trying to stir him up.
Sue him.
He was thinking about his dick, sex, and some kinky interlude. He could multitask with the best of them.
“It’ll be okay,” Ethan offered. “We’re literally on day one, and haven’t even done an interview as of yet. It’ll be okay.
Would it?
Gene wasn’t sure.
Instead of saying anything, he rolled his shoulders, and remained tense.
“Let’s go through Jarod’s apartment, and then take a lunch break. You’re stressed already, and we haven’t even started. That worries me.”
Gene glanced over.
“You know how there are just cases that your gut screams over?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Gene was to the point.
“This one is it for me. I don’t know why, but I feel like the shit is about to hit the fan, and that makes me twitchy.
I’m feeling guilty that we even let Corbin help, because what if that puts a target on him?
Yeah, we sent him off duty, but still…Then, what if we wade into some Voodoo bullshit, and one of us gets hurt? ”
Oh, boy.
That was a lot to carry.
Someone was definitely tired, and having to work on this vacation wasn’t helping either. What Ethan had noticed with Gene was if he didn’t get a week off without work, he struggled to keep up.
Sex recharged him, but for Gene, he needed time off for good, and bad, behavior. He wasn’t married to his work like Ethan was.
It seemed that they needed to talk.
Ethan pointed to the side of the road where they could have a discussion safely, and Gene could focus on him.
“Pull over.”
Without hesitating, Gene did as he asked, and when he did, Ethan turned in his seat and faced him.
It was time to help his man out.
“Breathe for me.”
He did, and it was crystal clear that his man was carrying a lot of stress on his shoulders.
Oh, and he wasn’t sure why.
“Talk to me. Tell me what has you freaking out. You’re not normally like this, and that worries me. Yeah, we’re both tired, but we literally just had this conversation in the conference room about the killer, and you’re fixated on it. What I said should have calmed you down—not stirred you up.”
Gene closed his eyes.
What he wanted to say was a religious wackadoo had sexually assaulted his man, and he was living with that every day, but he couldn't.
The only time that ever came out of his mouth was in the confessional when he talked to a priest.
He was taking that shit to his grave.
Next to him, Ethan touched his leg, offering reassurance to Gene. He wanted to be there for him like Gene had always been there for him when he needed help.
“Gene, Babe,” he said. “Tell me.”
He turned his head.
Oh, he wasn’t going to lie to him, but he wasn’t going to be fully honest.
That was for damn sure.
“I’m struggling with the religion aspect. The last religious case we had was David Neives, and we know how that ended. You nearly died on me. I’m just…rattled.”
Okay, Ethan could work with that.
“We’ll be okay. Like I said, I don’t believe that this is religion-based. I can feel it in my balls, along with the copious amount of cum that is trapped there. Hey, let me give you a blowjob. Let’s start there.”
As soon as he said it, Gene burst out laughing.
Yeah, he hadn’t expected that.
Not.
At.
All.
His man was something else.
What also amused him was that he wasn’t one to turn a blowjob down, but they were on a busy street, and he didn’t want to get arrested.
Okay, he’d love a round of kinky, jail sex, but that was because he was a pervert on a good day, and today was NOT a good day.
“Normally, you know I’m going to whip my pants open, point at my erection, and shove your head down it. Only, look around, Tala. Daddy doesn’t think we’ll get away with that here.”
Well, damn.
He was just cockblocked on a city street by complete strangers.
That sucked for him.
Clearly, his attempt to cheer him up was working because someone was calming down.
Before, Gene’s blood pressure was up. Gene’s ears got red when he was ready to melt down.
And they were definitely red.
“Okay, so that’s off the table. But can I remind you of the kinkiness we could have if we played prison guard and helpless Native inmate?”
Gene lifted a brow, and it was clear he was thinking about it.
How did he know?
His erection.
“I mean, that sounds perfect. I’d love nothing more than to play that one out.”
Ethan winked at him.