Chapter Sixteen #3
“Please tell me it wasn’t your father or grandfather, because if I find out it was, and they hurt Ethan, too, I’m killing them. I’m not good with being calm around shit like that.”
He shook his head.
“No, Granddad saved me, and Wyler is useless. It was my egg donor’s boyfriend when I was younger. Again, please don’t tell Ethan. I don’t want anyone to know. I shouldn’t have told you. I’m sorry.”
Gene stopped him.
Callen had that trapped animal look on his face, and he knew what was next.
Running.
Apparently, it was genetic.
“Breathe. You had to tell someone. It’s okay. I will keep your secret, and I don’t mind that you needed to say it out loud. If that helps you heal, then I understand. Sometimes, telling people is the first step.”
Callen wanted to figure out why he was so fucked up.
He was desperate to do that.
“Thank you.”
Trying to help him, Gene rationalized it for the man, to talk him down from the ledge.
“It’s okay to be attracted to him,” Gene said. “It’s a problem if you act on it. That’s a whole subgenre of book kink that’s illegal in most states—well, not the Southern ones. Below the Mason-Dixon, it’s called a Saturday night on the farm.”
He laughed.
“Thanks for that,” he said, feeling a little better. His brother had found a decent person, and he was glad.
He reassured him.
“You’ll be okay, Callen.”
He glanced up.
“How do you know?”
He was honest.
“You and Ethan are a lot alike. You’re genetically going to be similar, but your mannerisms, and how you behave…you can tell you’re brothers. You have nothing to worry about. He survived. You’ll survive.”
Callen was curious.
That was an odd way to put that.
“What did he survive?” he asked.
He patted his leg, but this time, he didn’t pull it away.
“That’s not my story to tell. One day, ask him. No one has ever asked him, and that’s why he’s never spoken about it.”
Callen considered it.
“Was it a foster home?”
He said nothing.
Yeah, no meant no, and like he wouldn’t tell Ethan about Callen’s past, he wouldn’t tell Callen about Ethan’s. Sometimes, you had to carry the secrets for others.
So, he changed the subject.
“Let me order you food. Want a burger?” he asked.
Callen nodded.
It was clear that Gene wasn’t going to go there. One day, maybe he would be able to ask his brother.
If he ever came back.
Picking up the phone, he ordered Callen food from the restaurant downstairs to be sent up. He got him two burgers, fries, and ice cream.
Because he knew ice cream made Ethan feel better when he was struggling.
Then again, it made everyone feel better.
When he hung up, Gene reassured him.
“Eat, and when you’re feeling better, get back to the reservation. Do you need a ride?”
He shook his head.
“I’ll call a deputy to come get me. Thanks for the ice cream.”
He smiled gently.
“No problem. If you need anything, Callen, ever, here,” he said, pulling one of his business cards from behind his badge.
“I won’t tell Ethan if you call. If you need something or just to check on him, reach out to me.
He plans on giving this space, and that’s probably for the best, but I’ll answer and let you know if he’s okay or not. ”
Callen didn’t understand why.
“Why are you being kind? You heard me in the shower, and I’m nothing to you.”
He was honest.
“One, I trust Ethan never to cheat on me. That’s not his vibe, and second, I know that he loves you. He might need space, and you need it too, but deep down, he loves you, so that means I love you too.”
Callen had tears.
Few people had ever loved him.
Gene wasn’t done.
“He wouldn’t have run back here to you if he didn’t. One day, this will blow over, and you’ll have your brother back. My suggestion is to live life, don’t fuck Kaya Cheek, and wear a goddamn condom, my dude, with every person you sleep with going forward.”
He snorted.
“Yes, Dad.”
He put his hand on top of Callen’s head.
“He’s finding himself. I promise to get him to that point, and the day we get married, you’ll be there. I promise that too. I’ll make sure you’re there.”
Callen wiped his eyes.
“Can I really call you? You won’t tell him?”
Gene shook his head.
“I won’t, unless he asks. Then, I can’t lie. Rule twenty-four is don’t lie to your partner. It gets your ass kicked.”
He was confused.
“Rule twenty-four?”
He just smiled.
“Call me when you need to know he’s okay. I’ll call you back if I can’t answer. Oh, and Callen?”
He waited.
“What?”
Gene was honest.
“I meant what I said. I’d kill anyone who hurt you, too. Ethan loves you, and when I marry him, that means you’re my brother too.”
With that, Gene walked out, leaving Callen there.
And the man did one thing.
He cried.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
Ivey Slee’s home
Walkthrough.
Saturday Early
Afternoon
The drive to Ivey’s was quiet, since Ethan was in the passenger seat working on the profile, and the detective was in the back, emailing his boss an update.
Everyone was covering their bases so that they didn’t miss a single step of this investigation.
Gene, on the other hand, was thinking about the pink elephant that was following them.
The Media.
Reporters had been camped out in front of the hotel, and as soon as they left, they had a tail. Some stayed behind, but two cars followed, and Gene was trying to lose them.
God.
He hated the media.
They liked to be so far up your ass, you could hear them yodeling in a person’s colon.
Finally, he relaxed a bit when he seemed to have lost them in traffic, so he’d call that a win.
“Taking the long way?” Dannie asked from the back seat of the rental.
Gene was to the point.
“The media was all over us. I lost them two lights back. I didn’t want them following us as we’re doing interviews. It also makes it uncomfortable when they are shouting questions through the windows as we search the dead woman’s home.”
He had a point.
Gene wanted to go back over the first victim’s information. He felt it was warranted.
“Okay, so our first victim, Ivey, was a teacher for almost ten years, and she went to school here in Damascus.”
The man in the back seat nodded.
“She went missing after work, and she was called in by her best buddy at school the next day.”
He corrected him.
“The principal called it in.”
Ethan agreed.
“Tristan noticed she didn’t show, and he told Robert Fergus that she wasn’t there.”
Okay, Gene got it straight in his head.
“And you walked around her home?” he asked the detective.
The man in the back seat nodded.
“We did, but we didn’t find anything significant. It was a quick walkthrough. Honestly, we weren’t expecting it to end up where it is, so we probably could have done a better job of searching her house. We did have the crime scene go there when the other victims went missing.”
Well, at least he was honest.
Mistakes happened when you were working a crime, and Gene appreciated that he was man enough to admit they could have done a better job.
That was just one more reason they were back here to do just that.
Oh, and for them to get a feel for this case. Something had to connect the women.
“It’s right there,” Dannie said, pointing to the house down the street.
Together, they took it in.
It was a quiet cul-de-sac where her cute little house was sandwiched between two houses that were both up for sale.
Parking, Gene was a little surprised when a man headed their way.
“Are you the Johnsons?” he asked, his hand out and that big, electric smile on his face.
Gene didn’t hold his hand out.
Why?
He wasn’t who this man clearly thought he was. Instead, he pulled his coat back, flashing his badge and gun.
The man blinked.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m showing both of these houses, and my first set of potential homeowners are late.”
Gene was curious.
“And you are?” he asked.
The man pulled a card out of his pocket.
“I’m Harry Mulberry—like the bush. Like I said, I’m showing these two houses today.”
Gene was curious.
“How long have they been on the market?” he asked, as Ethan moved closer to him.
The man pointed at the white one on the left of Ivey’s home.
“That one for two weeks, and this one for ten days. Why do you ask?”
Gene ignored him.
“And do you show them often?” he asked.
The man blinked.
“I mean, I show them as much as I can. I’m trying to get new homeowners in them, so yeah, often is the key. Why do you ask?” he inquired again.
Gene took his card and passed it to Ethan. Was it suspicious?
No.
But he was covering all of his bases. Already, Ethan was searching something using his phone, and Gene would bet it was going to be this man.
“I ask because the woman who lived between the two houses was murdered, and I’m trying to figure out if you’re involved.”
It was said point-blank.
The man went pale.
“Oh, my God! Please keep that down,” Harry whispered. “When my potential buyers get here, DON’T mention MURDER!” he hissed. “I’ll never sell these houses if they hear that!”
Yeah, well, that was NOT Gene’s issue.
Not.
At.
All.
“Yeah, that’s a you problem, Boo. Not a me problem. My problem is figuring out what is happening, not hiding the truth from homebuyers that their neighbor was murdered. When was the last time you showed either of these houses?” Gene asked.
Dannie was beside him, and he was checking the man out. He looked worried.
Well, that was probably normal since another car was pulling up, and he’d bet that was the people coming to walk through these houses.
“I have to…”
Gene smiled ferally.
“This can go one of two ways. You can pretend we’re looking at the houses too, and answer my question, or I can just come right out and tell them this is a murder house.”
The man stared at him like a fish out of water. His mouth was making that motion as he tried to process all of that.
Ethan almost laughed.
“Give me a second,” he said, motioning to the couple. “Just finishing up with more interested people. Head on into that one, and I’ll be right there. Check it out!”
The couple did just that, giving them a little more privacy.