Chapter Ten #4
“Are you never speaking to me again?” he asked. “Because I feel like you’re really pissed at me and want to say something to me. Just say it. I can take it. I’m back on my feet and stable.”
Ethan looked over.
He could see that Gene looked scared, and that bothered him. While he could say the same thing that Gene had just said to him, he absolutely wouldn’t.
This was his mess, and he’d handled it.
“I’m good,” Ethan offered.
Now, why didn’t Gene believe that?
“Are you? You haven’t said a word to me since leaving Callen’s room. Just tell me how to fix this, and I will.”
Ethan was confused.
“There’s nothing to fix. We said what we felt, I handled Callen, and now, I’m working. I thought you were upset with me, so I was giving you space.”
Oh, Jesus.
Not this version of Ethan again.
He’d barely survived that the last time. This chillier version was scary.
To Gene.
“I see,” he said.
Oh, but the tone said it was anything but good, and now, Ethan was worried. Did the man want him to dump it all on him? He believed he was doing Gene a favor by not burdening him with the Callen stuff.
How the hell did he navigate this?
“Wait. What’s that about? Gene, I’m not upset. There’s nothing to fix between us as far as I’m concerned.”
Was he serious?
“EJ, we had a disagreement in the shower, and you went to shower in your brother’s room. You haven’t said a word to me since then. I handed you a coffee, and you kept on walking. That’s not a good sign. You’re upset.”
Was he?
Yes, but not for the reasons Gene was thinking. He was upset that his man had to be the one-man cleanup crew all of the time.
He was trying to save him from that.
For once.
“Please just open up for me and tell me.”
Ethan heard the pain.
Okay, so mental note, Gene wanted to be pulled into his mess. Relationships had so many rules, and he hoped he could keep up.
“I went to check on him, and he’s alive. I hopped in the shower, and he confronted me.”
The whole time, Gene listened as he drove, and he’d be lying if he said his heart wasn’t thumping in his chest.
“We talked between us, and I told Callen goodbye. I decided that I’m never coming back here.
As far as the world will ever know, what you overheard will never come up again.
Callen and I are going to pretend our divide is over Kaya Cheek and that betrayal.
For him, me, and you, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it. ”
Gene was surprised that his name came up in it.
“Come again?”
He was to the point.
“Gene, I have a boyfriend, and I’m in a relationship. Even if I was in love with Callen like that, he’s my half-brother. That’s illegal in all of the states. That can’t happen. Letting the world think it was the betrayal protects both of us.”
Gene was dumbfounded.
Normally, Ethan struggled, but it was clear that he’d worked through this on his own, and it wasn’t like he was upset with his man never coming back here.
Mission accomplished when it came to Gene talking Ethan into just that. Timothy and Callen were going to be happy.
“Just like that? You’re never coming back?”
He nodded.
“Yep.”
Gene went there.
“But they are your family.”
Ethan stopped him.
“I thought you were my family. Wasn’t that the point in the shower? You wanted permanency, and in order to give you that, I had to let my past go. Part of that past is my brother. Even if we grew up not thinking about the ramifications of those feelings, I’m thinking of them now.”
Gene wasn’t sure how to react.
“We both want permanency. So, now, I’m going to work on that next. I can only do one thing at a time, and this case has to be next. I’ll give you what you want, but after I find a serial killer because I don’t want us to die on this case, and you told me to be focused.”
He parked the car and turned in his seat.
Then, Gene stared at him.
“That makes it sound…”
Ethan shrugged.
“I’m new at this. I’m trying. I’d rather not have a fight about my inadequacies with how it sounds. I’m being logical. We have to work, and then, I’ll regroup regarding our relationship. As long as you’re not angry, I’ll be good.”
Gene was honest.
“I’m not angry.”
Then, it was solved.
“Perfect. Let’s work, and deal with the other pink elephant in the room later.”
Oh, despite what he was saying, Gene knew that his man was not happy.
Gene knew him well.
Saying goodbye to Callen had to hurt. It had to pull at a piece of his heart, and he hated that he was suffering because he’d been insecure for a moment.
Only, he knew when Ethan was shutting down a conversation—like now.
“Okay, Ethan.”
Touching his cheek, he saw the pain in Ethan’s eyes, but let him have this. If his man needed to work through this on his own, he was entitled to that moment.
He needed space.
So, Gene would give him time to regroup.
And mourn.
Getting out of the vehicle, he saw the two homicide detectives heading their way.
“Great timing,” Ethan said. “Ready to get the autopsy updates done?” he asked.
The male cop stopped him, and already, he knew he wasn’t going to be happy. Dannie knew if he was in his position, he’d be livid as fuck.
But this was out of his control.
“We need to talk.”
Both Feds stopped.
Nothing that EVER followed that was good.
NOTHING.
Oh, Jesus.
“What?” Gene asked.
Detective Pezzimente went there.
“The good news is that the ME did complete them, but the bad news is he’s not here.”
Both Feds stared at them.
“More good news,” Dannie said. “He gave me the results,” he added.
Gene was getting pissed.
The man had made them wait, and they’d played by his rules, only to find he changed the rules?
Oh.
Hell.
No.
You didn’t jerk the FBI around while they were actively on a case.
“Are you shitting us? Say this is a joke. Is it April Fools?” he asked, rhetorically.
Ethan said nothing.
He was worried that Gene was going to stroke out. This could very well be the straw that broke the stressed-out camel’s back. It had been a rough week for him.
For both of them.
Seeing and hearing the irritation, the male detective tried to soothe the savage beast.
“This isn’t about anything other than the fact that he didn’t want to deal with the FBI, in general, and that he pulled an all-nighter and was tired. He went home an hour ago.”
Ethan lifted a brow.
“Seriously?”
The male cop nodded, and the female cop—wisely—said nothing.
“I see. Can I have them?” Blackhawk asked.
The man handed them over.
“How about we go into the conference room off of Homicide, and we can go over them?” Dannie asked.
It was cold out there, but there was no need to go to a room to discuss it. This had made up his mind on whether he’d accept their help or not.
Spoiler, they weren’t.
Yeah, no.
This town was on his last goddamn nerve. This was the final kick to the balls in Damascus.
“I’m good. I’ll read them here,” he admitted, doing just that.
Ethan began flipping through them, and when he’d scanned for the most important information, he shared it with Gene.
“TOD for all three of them was Thursday Night. He gave us an approximate TOD. Between nine and two in the morning for all three of them.”
Gene was curious.
“And what time did we say Phylis left?” he asked.
Dannie helped him out.
“Her friend said she left a little shy of ten at night. They all left shortly after that.”
Ethan considered what that meant.
Oh, and it was important to his profile, and the investigation.
“He or she didn’t kill them immediately. This person kept them alive, and then, they killed them around the same time.”
Leah lifted a brow.
“So, he collected them?” she asked, still going with male on this one.
To answer her question, yeah, it seemed like that was the outcome.
“Yes, and that gives me hope that there were only going to be three victims. See, hear, and speak no evil might be the end of it, if we are lucky,” Ethan offered. “I can add this to my profile. Thank you.”
What he was thinking was this was going to be a man, but he wasn’t sharing that with the local cops. His gut said to keep this case close to the vest, and he trusted his gut.
As for it being a man…
It was.
How did he know?
It was rare collectors were women. They killed for certain reasons, but collecting other women?
That was very, very rare.
In fact, he’d never had it happen in any of their cases before this one.
Ever.
“I am going to bet that this person won’t be done,” Gene said. “If we have a collector, then this will keep going. We’re not lucky enough for this to be three and done.”
Yeah, that was the other option Ethan had at the back of his mind, but as of yet, there was no way to tell that unless they caught another body.
The one cop raised his hand.
It was clear that Dannie was confused.
“Then, what’s with the see no evil bullshit?” he asked. “Because there’s only three in that saying, and this person did three people. Is this going to keep going, too? Like some loop of cuckoo where the person has selective amnesia regarding the bodies they dumped?”
Ethan shrugged.
“Possibly. It depends on why this person is doing it, and if it’s a traumatic response to something. It could keep repeating. We won’t know unless someone else is killed.”
Well, that was shitty.
Having to wait for a victim sucked.
Leah was direct.
“I’m beginning to think that this profiling is bullshit. It’s sounding more like throwing ideas at a wall to see if they stick—and they aren’t.”
Gene lifted a brow and went there because he absolutely didn’t like her tone or attitude.
“That sounded pointed.”
She shrugged.
“Listen, I don’t beat around the bush. This feels like you just don’t have a clue and are floundering around in it like we were. No offense, but how is the FBI going to figure this out, when they don’t know anything yet?”
Ethan was to the point.