Page 30 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Corbin wasn’t shocked he was asking that, so he put down his fork and took a sip of water. Then, he shared what he knew.

“The neighbor who lived beside Graham Sinclair, the TA, said that his buddy was gay, and that he had mentioned hitting up a gay bar. The minute I heard it, I started thinking it was a good place to go to find abducted men. When I researched all the gay bars in the area, Bull’s is the closest to campus, and that seemed most likely. ”

Yeah, but it was also a dangerous place. A place they told Corbin not to go.

The baby detective kept talking.

“Also, the two detectives mentioned to me that they were trying to get into the bar to work the trafficking part of their case—like they’d tried to get into Syn last year—undercover. It was too much of a coincidence for me that it came up in my search, and their file.”

Yeah, that still didn’t give them a definite on all three victims went there. To take that route because two detectives had a suspicion, and because one out of three victims MIGHT have gone there…

Corbin took a really big risk, and it nearly cost him everything—like his life.

Gene really had a problem with the two Vice detectives that made Corbin think going there was a good plan, even when they, themselves, couldn’t get in there.

Instead of losing his temper, which was simmering, he tried to focus on the case.

“So, you had definite confirmation that he went there?” Gene asked, trying to show Corbin how bad of a choice that was if not ALL of the victims went there.

Corbin didn’t hesitate to tell him.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. The neighbor just mentioned the bar, and combined with the two detectives, it gave me another lead to follow. You guys always told me to follow every lead, just in case.”

Holy shit.

They’d told him to follow all of the leads if they were logical. This lead was based off of a Google search and a mention in a Vice file.

That was a big leap to clue.

From where he sat, Ethan was watching Gene, and there was a red flush moving up his neck. It was clear Corbin didn’t know how to read a room.

Because Gene was ready to blow.

When Gene looked over at him, Ethan gave him a look, and it said, ‘breathe’ .

Clearly, his poker face wasn’t working, and he appeared to be ready to go nuclear all over the damn place.

Corbin kept talking, not seeing how he was close to pushing Gene over the edge.

“The neighbor mentioned that Graham wanted to go to a bar because he heard it was a good time. I just had too many mentions of that bar for it to be a coincidence. You’ve always told me that there’s no such thing.”

His eye was twitching.

Oh, not Corbin’s.

GENE’S.

As for what Corbin was saying about leads, Gene was well aware, but he also told him going there was dangerous, and he didn’t seem to recall that part of the lesson, now did he?

As for whomever told Graham Sinclair, the third victim, that it was fun there...

That was a lie.

If it was Bull’s Biker Bar that he showed up at, it was anything but a good time.

In fact, it was a terrible time where you got your ass handed to you if you weren’t ready for it.

How did Corbin not see that?

Had they not told him after their stint there that they BARELY got out themselves?

Holy shit.

Gene was good at undercover, but even he was terrified of that place, and for good reason. What happened to Corbin was case in point.

As the young detective spoke, Ethan sat back in his seat, trying to decipher this giant mess. He was taking what he said and trying to put it into a decent profile.

It was early, but he knew time was not on their side with this.

Ethan was curious.

“Okay, so you heard the bar mentioned by the cops, and you did an internet search on your own, thanks to a passing comment from the one interview? You said the name kept popping up. We need to know where you kept hearing it.”

Gene agreed.

“Did it, Corbin? Did you have any other connection to that bar?” he asked.

Ethan waited.

While he knew Gene would reinterview all of the people tomorrow, he wanted to make sure they had the full picture if they had to go back there.

God.

Ethan hoped and prayed they didn’t. What happened to Corbin didn’t bode well for them if they went in, and while it touched on the kink he liked, being assaulted by strangers was NOT his fetish.

Oh.

Hell.

No.

Corbin thought about it, and come to think of it, he only heard it from the detectives and from the mention of a gay bar from the witness. Now, he realized where he’d gone wrong.

So, he shared what he knew.

“Not particularly. I was leaning heavily into the two detective’s prior investigation. My captain also said I could go in if I could connect it. You’ll find their notes in the files,” he admitted. “Only, my gut told me that they had to be connected.”

How was this getting worse and worse?

The more Corbin told them, the more Gene was stupefied at how the young cop had gone wrong. With him, had he been investigating it, there was no freaking way he would go to that place with what he had.

Some Vice detective’s opinion, a Google search, and one witness statement—a statement without an actual club name?

Oh.

Hell.

No.

Yeah, Gene was horrified. Corbin, clearly, had a lot to learn, and they needed to get him to see that.

You didn’t go wandering into a place like that on a gut instinct when you’d barely been a detective for a year. While Gene and Ethan weren’t that much older than Corbin, those five years working for the FBI had given them street cred.

And common sense, clearly.

Corbin looked like some kid from a corn field in Iowa, and there was no doubt the scum there picked him out immediately.

Jesus.

The more he talked, the more Gene knew that Corbin was so damn lucky that he wasn’t dead for this stunt.

“So you got dressed up and went in for shits and giggles?” he asked.

At his question, that had the injured cop’s attention.

Immediately, Corbin put his fork down. He heard the tone in Gene’s voice, and it irritated him because he knew he’d fucked up.

The last thing he needed was an ‘I told you so’.

Corbin’s temper appeared.

“Is this where you yell at me and tell me the obvious that I am going to get hurt? That I royally fucked up and shouldn’t be a detective? Because you can skip that lecture, Gene. I’m hurt more than I ever thought possible. I’m destroyed in ways that you’ll never understand. So skip it, okay?”

OOF.

That hung there.

Once it was out of Corbin’s mouth, all around them, there was that uncomfortable silence as they all sat there, saying absolutely nothing.

What could they follow that up with?

They knew what he’d been through, and he was right. He’d fucked up and paid the price.

Only, Gene hadn’t planned on going there. That Corbin thought he would…

That was shitty.

Instead of saying anything, Gene pushed his food away, and stood up. His stomach was rolling in revulsion over a lot of things, and he wasn’t in the mood for food anymore.

What he wanted to do was punch someone in the face, and he didn’t mean Corbin.

So, for him, staying there wouldn’t be productive.

He wasn’t a ‘kick a man when he was down’ kind of a dude, and Corbin was flat on his back at rock-bottom with a shit ton of rocks on top of him.

He was beyond rock bottom.

So, this was where he put space between them until he cleared his head and figured out what the next move in this mess was going to be.

“EJ, I’m going out to talk to the two detectives, and then I need the tox reports. While I’m there, I’ll talk to Reed, and be back later,” he said, his voice terse and filled with so much rage.

And honestly, Ethan didn’t blame him.

Not.

At.

All.

Truth be told, Gene being here would just make the tension a million times worse if Corbin actually believed that anyone in this room was going to blame the victim.

They didn’t roll that way.

He knew his partner. Gene was just horrified and blaming himself.

As Gene clipped his gun back onto his hip, and put his badge beside it, Greyson knew their lunch break was over. It appeared they were going out again.

NOW.

“We’ll check-in,” Greyson said to Ethan. “See what else you can find in the files. It’s slim pickings, but anything is better than nothing.”

Ethan nodded, and watched the two men walk out the door. It was probably a damn good thing he was the one sitting in the condo with Corbin.

Because Gene was ready to break something.

When the door slammed, Ethan stared over at Corbin. The man was chewing and saying nothing. He was also not making eye contact.

Yeah, this wasn’t like him, so it was clear that he was hurting in so many ways, but someone had to be the voice of reason between the two of them.

That someone was him.

Because of what he did for a living, he could be objective, and they needed that now. Corbin had the right to be pissed, but so did Gene.

They all did.

Plus, on top of that, Ethan knew that Gene considered himself the hero, and he didn’t like to drop the ball. He was taking this on as his fault, but Corbin didn’t see that.

Not.

At.

All.

Gene was sick over this, and while Corbin didn’t realize it, that didn’t make it untrue. Someone needed to be made aware of that.

Gene was going to do anything in his power to help Corbin, even if he did it while being pissed off.

“Yes?” Corbin asked, sensing that man staring at him. “Let me have it. I’m ready.”

Yeah, no.

Ethan wasn’t going to rub his face in it either, and if Corbin thought they would…

He didn’t know them well, at all.

Behavior like that was shitty and unkind. He was simply going to point out the truth of the matter, and that was that Corbin had family who loved him.

But this had been way too close.

Taking these kinds of risks, while alone were dangerous. While he was pissed at himself for making this mistake, he shouldn’t take it out on them either.

When he didn’t speak right away, Corbin went there.

“I get it. He thinks I’m an idiot, and he’s right. I fucked up.”