Chapter Sixteen #5
“That she didn’t tell her bestie about? The ladies like to gossip,” Blackhawk said.
Gene laughed.
“Ladies?” he asked.
He shrugged.
“Sexist, I know, but you and I love to gossip. We’d both be ‘the ladies’ in certain situations.”
Okay, that they did.
It wasn’t like he was wrong. Gossip to a gay man was like gasoline to a car.
He ran on it.
“Someone was getting down and sexy in this room,” Ethan said. “Let’s see what else we can find.”
That was all he had to say.
They all divided up.
When Gene checked her closet, they knew when he’d hit paydirt.
“Look what I found,” he said, holding up a box and a few smaller ones.
Ethan moved closer.
“Polaroid film?” he asked.
He nodded.
“So, how much do you want to bet that he was hiding in the closet, saw the camera, and took it. That’s where the photos came from,” Gene admitted.
Ethan wasn’t betting against that, simply because it sounded probable.
“What’s in the box?” Ethan asked.
Gene handed it to him, and when he opened it, he saw photos.
Lots.
Of.
Polaroids.
As they began flipping through them, that’s when they saw something interesting.
A blond man was having a party between her legs. He was dining at the Y. The worst part for them was that the pic excluded his face.
Out of curiosity, Gene pulled out his phone. Pulling up a driver’s license for the woman’s ex, he showed them the picture.
“We researched Randal Crest. He’s not a blond. He’s got black hair,” he offered showing the two men.
“Well, maybe it was another ex,” Dannie stated.
They.
Would.
See.
Someone was having some fun in the Polaroids, though. That was for damn sure.
They were of her tied to a bed and being fucked. They had her in all kinds of positions.
“What’s he wearing?” Dannie said, getting a glimpse of something hanging from the man’s neck.
The second Ethan saw it, he knew.
“A rosary,” he stated.
Oh, boy.
Was this religious?
Had they missed that too?
Dannie went there.
“So, the man fucking her was wearing a rosary while doing the deed?” he asked. “I’m not religious, but my partner is, and she’s pretty protective of her rosary. She keeps hers in a little glass box in her desk.”
Gene knew most Catholics were the same. He wore his, and now, his was currently around Ethan’s neck.
And he’d fucked him wearing it like a collar. It somehow made it…kinky.
That raw desire teased with the peak of religious mixed in just got his juices flowing.
Sue him.
“That’s crazy,” Dannie said. “Most people don’t wear them as jewelry.”
Ethan reached into his shirt, and pulled out the rosary he was wearing. He’d taken it off before his shower, not to get it wet, but put it back on when he’d gotten dressed.
He’d been wearing it when the two of them had been in bed. It got Gene handsy seeing it.
“I’m wearing mine,” he said, covering for his partner. The detective didn’t need details.
Dannie stared at it. It was made with beads, and had a crucifix at the end.
Much like the one in the picture.
“I never would have taken you for Catholic,” he admitted. “Native who loves Jesus? That’s new.”
Ethan said nothing.
And neither did Gene—not about that particular crucifix.
“Were there any other crucifixes found?” he asked. “You know, on the scenes?”
He thought about it.
“No,” Dannie said. “Not that I recall, but I wasn’t really thinking about it, to be honest.”
They got that.
Later, they’d have to check.
Gene went there.
“What we know is that the woman was having sex recently, despite being broken up, and with a blonde man who loved Jesus. Well, that should narrow it down.”
Ethan laughed.
“We get the weird ones,” he admitted. “Now, we have to figure out if this is just some kink, or part of this.”
“They were hidden,” Gene stated. “I’m going to say that’s for a reason.”
Dannie was confused.
Was he kidding?
“Who would keep those out?” he asked. “I mean, what was she supposed to do? Make a coffee table book with them? They fucked, and they got put away.”
Without a word, Gene raised his hand at the man’s last question.
It made Ethan laugh.
Why?
They had polaroids at home, and in them, Gene was the one tied to the bed.
Oh, let’s just say that they looked at them a lot.
It got the juices flowing.
“He’s not wrong,” Blackhawk admitted. “I like taking pictures. Sue me,” he added.
Gene grinned like he’d accomplished something monumental.
This was a proud moment for him.
An even hotter man enjoyed their sex life, and that meant that he’d won the award on that one.
Dannie just shook his head. Oh, he didn’t need to ask questions regarding that. What person in a relationship didn’t take pictures to spice it up?
When his phone rang, he knew who it was. Since he didn’t even pull it out of his pocket, that had their attention.
“Want to get that?” Gene asked. “You’re not interrupting.”
Oh, it would cause a problem for him, and these two men. So, instead, he shook his head.
“No, I’m good. That’s going to be my partner. She’ll be pissy if she figures out that I still haven’t gotten you guys to let her help out.”
Oh, well, then in that case, it was best he shouldn’t answer, because neither one of them needed a fourth partner.
Especially one who took shots at Ethan.
Only, before Gene could tell him don’t answer, the cop went there.
“So, can she…”
Blackhawk shut that down.
“Nope.”
Dannie knew this was going to get his ass kicked when his very angry, very bossy partner got bitchy.
“Come on, Guys. She didn’t nark you out to the media. She was literally with me.”
Ethan wasn’t having it.
Why?
“Honestly, Dannie, we are almost done for the day. All that’s left is Randal and The Tipsy Easel. Then, we’re calling it a day.”
The man lifted a brow.
“You are?”
He nodded. Oh, they were going to get information from their ME once he got things confiscated at the city morgue, but if the cops weren’t thinking that, he wasn’t supplying information. That wasn’t his job to babysit.
Blackhawk explained.
“Anything after interviews is working on the profile, and I don’t have one yet. I do that in the silence of my room,” he said, bullshitting the man.
He looked suspicious, so Gene covered for him.
If his partner didn’t want help, that told him he was thinking something and wanted to talk in private.
Gene wasn’t questioning his partner on this one.
“That’s his process. We’ll have a suspect list and regroup in the morning.
We can’t do anything until we figure out what your ME left out.
We need to know if the women were bound, sexually assaulted, or anything else that pops up to bite us in the ass.
Our ME is going to go head-to-head with YOUR ME, and it won’t be pretty.
I would hazard to bet that YOUR ME is about to have a very bad day. ”
He whistled.
“Doc is NOT going to like his findings being questioned along with his morgue ‘borrowed’.”
Honestly, they didn’t care.
“Well, then, he should have stuck around and did his goddamn job,” Gene said.
“Dumping those reports and bailing so we couldn’t ask questions was douchey and likely put us behind.
So, if you’re going to be a punk ass bitch, you’re going to be treated like a punk ass bitch.
Case in point, us being behind the eight ball because of someone holding back information. That pisses us off.”
Yeah, the man got the anger.
It was definitely douchey of him to do that, and it was causing a problem.
“Hey, I get it. I investigate too. I’m sorry he caused problems, but we’re not him.
We’re trusting the Feds, and maybe, the Feds can trust us too.
Tomorrow, can we BOTH help you?” he asked.
“We didn’t do anything to break that trust. Yeah, my partner is difficult, but she comes from a good place.
We want to get this handled. We aren’t accustomed to a profiler, and that’s why she said what she said. ”
Ethan didn’t say a word.
“Then, I suggest you wrangle her, Detective, because we don’t have to let either of you help.”
He was aware.
“I know that. I’ll make sure she knows not to run her mouth. You’re only making more issues by blocking her. She’s going to keep dogging me, and interrupting.”
He had a point.
“You both can help,” Ethan said, making the choice. He knew that Gene wouldn’t let her since he was protective of him, but Ethan would give her another chance. “But if she insults either one of us, she’s done. That would be strike two.”
He got it.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll talk to her tonight and make sure she’s aware.”
Then, they’d let her in the circle.
Blackhawk moved on, since he needed to focus, and this bullshit with the one detective was not allowing him to do it.
“I legit don’t have a suspect list. We have the makings of one. We have Tristan, her bestie, simply because I got a vibe from him, her ex, who we are going to talk to next, and maybe this blond guy. Until we get forensics back…”
Okay, he bought that.
This was, technically, their first day.
“Feel free to dump any research on me,” he offered. “I’ll do whatever you need while you’re working tonight.”
Gene had an idea.
“Find out who ratted us out to the media. You have a leak somewhere in your ranks, and it’s making our lives more difficult. We work best when reporters aren’t up our ass.”
He understood that.
“I’ll see what I can find out. I have a few people who work for the news that owe me a few favors. I’ll reach out tonight and see what I can get.”
That worked for them.
“Just don’t give them anything, or I’m personally kicking you off this team,” Gene stated. “Bet on it.”
Oh, he would.
Ethan clued him in.
“Before we head in to work on the suspect list and the profile, we’re going to hit the pub last, and that’s to have a working dinner for the two of us. In case you need us, that’s where we’ll be.”
Dannie paused.
“So, are you telling me to kick rocks right now?” Dannie asked.
Blackhawk reassured him.
“No, we’re not telling you to leave. Like I said, we have two more places, and then, we’re going there.
Tonight, though, I also need your official report on the interviews you’ve done,” Ethan admitted.
“I want to add it to our report and also see if it changes my profile. In the morning, we’ll see if our team changed anything in the autopsies, and I’ll update your report along with ours. ”
He calmed down.
“Well, I can do that,” he offered, making a note in his little book to send that over. Getting the information from Ethan, he’d prioritize that first.
Gene was curious.
“We good?” he asked.
Gene knew they’d be working all night, but he also knew that Ethan likely wanted to bounce ideas off of only him and keep as much of this close to the vest.
He still hadn’t told the detective his theory on the killer having DID, and multiple personalities. That he didn’t, told him all he needed to know.
Ethan didn’t really trust the local law.
PERIOD.
Truth be told, Gene didn’t either because someone had called the media, and while the detective said he’d find out who it was, there was always the potential it was him.
Or another cop.
“If you need backup at the pub, I’m available,” Dannie offered.
Oh.
Hell.
No.
Gene was planning something romantic and sweet. He had rings and wanted to give one to his love muffin. While waiting for skiing was the original plan, he was thinking about that being more like the ‘honeymoon’.
What wouldn’t he give to have one with Ethan?
“We don’t need you for that, and before you go there, we wouldn’t screw you over,” Gene admitted. “Maybe I just want to have dinner with my boo and knock out the interview all at once. Don’t be suspicious.”
He laughed.
Well, he’d nailed that.
“Date night, huh? I can bring my girlfriend, and we can double,” he teased, busting ass.
Dannie planned on seeing his girl tonight and having a little date night too. He’d been busy the last two nights and owed her one. He could dig for a leaker and talk to his partner rather quickly and still have some time.
The bottom line was that his girlfriend didn’t mind if he worked and played.
As soon as it was out of his mouth, Gene looked as if the man insulted him.
“What?”
He went there.
“Son, my idea of fun is not hanging out with a woman on a double date. RAGING HOMOSEXUAL,” he stated. “That’s me. Women on dates let their tits hang out. That’s a nightmare in my world.”
Ethan laughed
That was true.
Gene didn’t have the slightest attraction to any women. In fact, the opposite was true. They could turn him off pretty damn fast.
“Let’s go interview an ex,” Ethan offered. “I want to see when he slept with his ex last. We have fresh condoms that say she was getting laid pretty often.”
Dannie was curious.
“Should we bring them?” he asked.
Gene smiled.
“Yes, so go find a kitchen storage bag and bag them up. Tag, Detective. You missed them the first time, so you get to gather them this time before we head out. Add a few photos into another one for our report.”
Blackhawk laughed.
“He’s right,” he said, when the man looked horrified that he’d be handling used condoms.
Dannie shuddered.
“That’s nasty. I can’t believe I’m going to be handling some dude’s jizz. RAGING HETEROSEXUAL,” he said back to Gene.
The man laughed.
Oh, well, hazing always happened in situations like this for the FBI, and the cop had to earn his place on their team.
“That’s the price you pay when you want to work with us. Now, chop-chop, we have interviews to do,” Gene stated.
Well, shit.
It appeared he was on condom duty. Oh, if his partner did burn them to the media, he was holding her personally responsible for it. Now, he was being punished.
His face said it all.
“Imagine the crap job we’d give you if we found out you burned us after we trusted you.”
He could only imagine.
Still, he was to the point.
“Well, I wouldn’t screw you guys over and leak to the media,” he offered. “I don’t do fellow cops dirty like that.”
Oh, they hoped not.
Because someone did, and if the killer knew their plans, that was a problem. The killer had already shot at them once.
Who knew what was next?
Certainly not them.
And that was a problem.