Chapter Sixteen
The Hotel
Clothing Delivery
Saturday Afternoon
After accomplishing his side quests for clothing and shoes, Dannie headed right up to their room, and knocked on the door. What he wasn’t expecting was the two men to be walking around in just towels. Then again, their clothing situation was understandable.
Oh, and he had their new thing. They were likely waiting on him to show up so they could get decent.
So, he headed in and checked out the space as Gene divided up the things and handed Ethan a stack of black attire that he needed for the next couple of days.
“Bless you,” he said to Gene, and headed into the bathroom to get ready.
As he did, Gene remained in the living space part of the hotel room and managed to pull himself together.
The whole time, Dannie was hella curious.
Why?
Well, maybe because there was a heart drawn on Gene’s cast, he had a hickey on his neck, and there was only a king-sized bed in the room.
He was pretty sure the FBI could afford a room with two beds in it. Dannie knew what he paid in taxes. All of those clues brought him to one conclusion.
Oh, and he’d not expected it.
Not.
At.
All.
Since cops were dicks, more often than not, he couldn’t help himself.
Dannie went there.
“Uh, are you feeling okay?” he asked Gene.
The man lifted a brow. Honestly, he wasn’t sure where this was coming from.
“Yeah, why?” he asked.
Dannie touched his own neck.
“You seem to have a rash. Do you need to get that looked at back at the ER?” he asked, watching the man pull on his shirt, and then a sweater over it to help hide the mark in question.
Gene covered.
“I’m right as rain.”
Dannie laughed.
It was clear the man wasn’t going to tell him shit, and honestly, he couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t like it was his business, but still…curiosity killed the detective.
Well, he wasn’t done.
“You must think I’m a shit cop. You both were in towels, in a room with one bed, and you have a hickey on your neck. Now, unless you can reach your own neck to do that to yourself, or have a vacuum cleaner lying around, I think something is afoot.”
Gene focused on him.
“What are you saying?”
Dannie spelled it out.
Literally.
“A.R.E Y.O.U.A.C.O.U.P.L.E?”
Gene stared at him like he’d lost his goddamn mind for doing that. It amused the hell out of him, but he was crazy like that and wasn’t giving him the benefit of any doubt.
“Uh, my partner can spell,” Gene said.
Dannie kept his voice low.
“If you’re not, you better get that bruise looked at before it spreads. It looks contagious,” he teased.
Gene finally gave up. It appeared the man wasn’t going to give up anytime soon.
“Yes, Detective, we’re a couple,” he stated. “I’m a flaming homosexual, and he’s my sexy love muffin. You found us out. Give yourself a gold star.”
Dannie laughed.
“I mean, I wouldn’t have known had I not come into this room. The one bed that was messed up, and the hickey gave it away.”
He was honest.
“We have a room across the hall, too.”
He lifted a brow.
“Interesting.”
Gene rolled his eyes. Honestly, their relationship was a lot of things, hot, fun, wild, out of control, and kinky. Interesting, it was not.
Put two horny people together, and it was always the same outcome.
When Ethan came out of the room, Dannie was watching the bigger man, and he knew that he’d nailed that. The way he watched the other man told him all he had to know. There was that look of protectiveness, but also admiration like he was checking him out in his new things.
Dannie went there.
“So, love muffin, do the things fit?” he asked.
Ethan stared at him, and he was confused.
“Uh, what did you call me?” he asked, pretty sure he’d not heard that right.
From where he stood, Gene laughed.
“The jig is up, EJ. The sleuth saw the bed, my neck, and put three and ten together to come up with gay.”
Blackhawk shrugged.
It looked as if they were both going to have to trust the man with their relationship, since that cat was out of the bag. His fingers were crossed that the man wouldn’t screw them over in the end.
If he did, Ethan was coming back to Damascus…
And not for a familial visit.
He’d be taking care of business.
“Oh,” he said, not really giving a shit. Instead, he moved toward Gene and gave him a kiss. “Thanks for getting me clothes,” he stated.
Dannie raised his hand.
“I do believe I was the one who did the hard part. He handed me a credit card.”
Ethan shrugged.
“I’m not kissing you. You’re not my type.”
Gene just laughed. The straight detective looked insulted by that, and that was the most amusing thing.
“Thanks, Detective. We appreciate it,” he said, putting his gun on his hip. Well, Ethan’s backup gun.
Dannie was curious.
“I thought you were on desk duty,” he asked. “Why are you carrying a gun?”
Oh, Gene had been, but he was back in this saddle. He’d work it how Ethan had laid it out, since they were mid-case, but he was definitely driving the bus.
“What gun?” Gene asked, pretending he didn’t see it. “Ethan, do you see a gun?” he asked.
Ethan looked at his crotch.
“I mean…”
Dannie stared at Ethan.
“Uh, forget I asked. I don’t need any information. I absolutely don’t see ANY guns.”
Blackhawk was to the point.
“Gene is not going to shoot anyone, right, Babe?” he asked, staring at him.
He sighed.
“No, I’m not.”
Ethan smiled brightly.
“See? Gene can run this. I prefer being the profiler. That’s normally what he does. Besides, he’s a righty, and the cast is on his left hand.”
He took his word for it. Who was he to argue with the Feds?
Since they were all confessing things…
“Well, I did something, and I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about it,” he offered.
They both stared at him.
“What exactly?” Gene asked.
Dannie told them.
“So, I was buying your man’s underwear, and I heard two people talking in one of the shops. It was the one where Phylis worked. So, I interviewed them.”
Oh, well, that actually was fine, since the woman didn’t disappear from work.
Gene pretty much figured it would be a basic interview.
“And?” he asked.
Dannie shared what he’d learned.
“No one was bothering her, and her husband loved the hell out of her. They’ve been married for almost ten years, and no one there believed there were any issues. She had a normal career in retail and was the boss’s favorite employee. That’s it. No one had a bad word to say about her.”
Gene pulled out his notebook and flipped it open.
“Who did you interview?” he asked.
Dannie had a very similar notebook and read him the names.
As he did, Ethan made note of the things the man was saying so he could adjust his profile.
“So, no customer issues or lurkers?” he asked.
He shook his head.
“Nope.”
This was befuddling.
The first victim wasn’t being harassed, that they knew of, and the last one wasn’t either. This person was certainly careful about his or her watching.
That was for sure.
Gene was curious.
“Here’s my million-dollar question. In your downtime last night, did you research the victims?” he asked.
He nodded.
“I did because I’m a good cop. What do you think I was doing all last night? It wasn’t sleeping with my girl, that’s for damn sure.”
He laughed.
“That’s a you problem, Boo. My bed buddy is my partner, so that’s part of the compensation perks. Anyway, what did you find?”
Dannie couldn’t imagine sleeping with his partner. They were opposites, and like oil and vinegar. They were better off just friends.
He clued them in.
“ABSOLUTELY nothing to connect them. I don’t know what the three women have in common, other than everyone was from Damascus. They all went to the same high school, but at various times.”
Yeah, so they heard. Unfortunately, for them, the lack of motive was going to be an issue.
Man, they really needed some forensics on this one. What wouldn’t Gene give for a competent ME who didn’t play games? Well, if Greyson had luck, they’d be flush with competence in the next couple of hours. It didn’t take long for a forensic team to mobilize.
He hoped.
“I don’t like that we have nothing,” Ethan said. “I was running all the teachers, and nada came up. I didn’t think we’d find anything simply because schools do background searches and fingerprints.”
Yeah, Dannie thought that too.
“There has to be something.”
Oh, there always was. They had to find that thread to connect the dots.
And fast.
They were already past twenty-four hours for the homicides. At forty-eight hours, they had less of a chance of catching this person.
Ethan was honest.
“Once we find that thread, we might be able to unravel all of this. We just have to tug on the right one. This might all come down to forensics,” he admitted.
Yeah, well, that was the problem.
“Our lab is SLOW,” Dannie said, emphasizing that one word. “REAL slow.”
They got it.
Theirs wasn’t.
So, they clued him in.
“We already asked for backup,” Gene admitted. “Your ME should be finding out that we’re not sending the bodies to Salt Lake City but stealing his morgue.”
He laughed.
“Oh, he’s going to hate that.”
Gene smiled.
“I know. I’m a bitch when provoked. We originally asked for the bodies to be sent there so the ME in Salt Lake City could go over them, but now, I’m pissed. Shooting at me does that. So, we’re getting that morgue if it’s the last thing we do.”
The man just laughed.
How could he not?
“Doctor Parker is going to find you and have words at some point,” Dannie admitted.
Well, Gene hoped so.
“I welcome it. I have something to say about his stripped reports on the three autopsies. He left a lot out that we need to do our jobs.”
The man said nothing.
He wasn’t egging on the Fed. Clearly, he was pissed about it.
Now, Dannie was curious.
“What’s up next?” he asked. “Assuming I’m more than your clothing concierge.”
Gene rolled his eyes.
“You’re with us for interviews. While Ethan is from this area, he hasn’t been back in a long time. So, we need a tour guide. I’ll drive.”
Well, that worked for him.
“Shotgun,” the detective blurted out.