Page 35 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Oh, well, his lips were sealed because his partner was behind that name.

“Anyway, he said he’d help me, but it would cost me a third year working in Philly .”

She knew why.

“He’s protecting his agents as much as possible. By keeping you there, you’re out of his reach. Be grateful Gabe likes you. He’s put all of his favorite agents outside of the city.”

Gene was confused.

“LaRue, you’re his favorite agent.”

She was amused that he actually thought that.

“I’m the agent who pushes back the most, and stands her ground. Gabe appreciates a fun back and forth. He is amused by me and challenged,” she stated.

Well, Gene didn’t want to be that person.

“Anyway, we go back. He trained me, and I was his partner. He keeps me close because he knows I’m loyal, and I hear shit. I’m his backup in this mire.”

Now that he knew what was going on, Gene was so appreciative.

“I owe you, LaRue. We’re going to lay low from this director for now, and thank you for the information on Snow.”

She was dead serious.

“Gene, if you wrap this case, and see an influx of Snow, let Gabe know ASAP. It’s that serious.

We can’t let this shit get here. The creator of it wants to take over the world with this drug, and he actually could.

Can you imagine people so hopped up on it that all they care about is fucking and not that they are in danger? ”

That.

Was.

Bad.

“I’ll do that, LaRue. If you talk to him before me, you can give him the heads-up. I don’t mind.”

She would.

“Oh, and LaRue, watch your back, and I hope your father gets well soon.”

Her phone beeped.

“Oh, holy shit,” she muttered. “It’s Gabe, and it’s like he has goddamn ears all over the place. I swear that if you mention his name, he can hear you with that spell that he bought from the Devil.”

He laughed.

“I’ll let you take that call,” he said, knowing how she felt. Gabe called at the worst times.

“Thanks,” she said. “Fight the good fight, Cantrell. See you back in DC, someday, if I survive this nightmare.”

Then, the call went dead.

Oh, Gene was so goddamn grateful to Gabe that he could kiss him.

Now, he wasn’t so paranoid.

Oh, he was still worried about Gabe breaking him and Ethan up, but if Elizabeth was right, they were safely tucked away because they weren’t on his shit list.

Honestly, he trusted her—more than he trusted Gabe—that was for damn sure.

Heading back to the table, he found Greyson still talking to the men, so he’d catch up, and clue Greyson in later.

When he sat down, across from Greyson, they were talking about brands on the victims.

Sitting, they all looked over at him.

“What did you find out?” Greyson asked.

Well, he was going to play dumb, for now.

“Nothing,” he stated. “There’s nothing at the FBI that gives us a heads-up,” he offered, lying to keep his word to Elizabeth. He’d tell Greyson as much as he could when they were alone.

“Damn,” Kip said. “We really need to know what’s going on,” he admitted.

Because it was time to go, and that Gene had to believe Greyson asked all the questions they needed, he got the show on the road.

He pulled a card from behind his badge and handed it to the one detective.

“If you hear more about this drug, let me know. I’ll see if the FBI has anything at a later date and help you out.”

Yeah, well, he wouldn’t be doing that.

If the CIA had run an OP in Colombia, there was no way they would want ANYONE , especially law enforcement divisions to know about it.

Hopefully, Elizabeth was right.

They shut it down and this was just what product was here was here before her mission.

Greyson clued him in, so they were on the same page.

“In New York, law enforcement caught a victim who had a brand on his body—like the ones found here. That’s how they are connecting them. Only, he didn’t survive for long. He died under hospital care.”

He knew about Corbin’s brand on his thigh. He’d seen it when he was standing sentry as Ethan swabbed him and helped him dress.

“What was the brand?” he asked, not recalling it from Corbin’s notes, and they’d yet to get the ME’s autopsy notes.

Payton clued him in.

“It was a skull. They marked their prey so people would know the place where it came from. You know how some druggies dye their product, so people know if it’s safe or the good shit?”

God damn it.

Gene knew what that meant.

Corbin had been branded.

It was crystal clear that had the bikers not believed they killed Corbin that he might have been trafficked. He was young, and that would have solved the problem for them of a cop infiltrating their bar.

It also told Gene that they were working in tandem with whoever was trafficking the people and drugs. If that brand was given to him during his assault, and it was on every victim they found, that meant they were in deep.

Renegade had to know something.

This was looking more and more like they were going to have to head to a bar.

Damn it.

That was the last place he wanted to go if Corbin had burned their cover story.

“We’re glad someone who can finally handle this is now at the helm,” Kip admitted. “Not the newbie cop.”

Oh, that pissed Gene off.

Greyson kicked the man under the table, but someone was already off to the races.

“And you guys thought an inexperienced cop was a good undercover person when you initially passed it off to the detective? Funny…you dropped it so fast, and it doesn’t seem to me like Corbin knew about the drug angle tied to it.

He was working on a case regarding flesh peddling.

This is a deeper mire, and he was thrown in the deep end with a blindfold on! ”

Kip shrugged.

“His boss said he closed cases. He wanted in. We aren’t picky and we had to get this off of our desks to make room for the next Vice operation. As for the drug aspect, I’m sure we mentioned drugs were involved. How else did you grab someone off the street?”

When that rage overwhelmed him, Gene slammed his fists on the table.

The men actually jumped.

Well, not Greyson. He just gave him a warning look that told him to calm the hell down.

Only, it was too late for that.

“In your rush to clear your desk, he got hurt. They broke his arm, his fucking face, and left him for dead. Your rush to move on was detrimental to his existence! His arm was dislocated, and he had to drag himself all the way to the street to get help! This isn’t a joke.

So I’m not sure that mocking the newbie, someone who is my friend, is a good idea! ”

At his words, they both got quiet.

Then, Kip tried to defuse the situation. There were people in the fast-food joint staring at them, and he and Payton worked undercover.

The last thing they needed was someone IDing them, or seeing them with cops. Both men were wearing badges and guns.

He lowered his voice.

“We didn’t know. I’m sorry. We’re working multiple cases at once, and Corbin said he’d call us in as backup if he found something. When we didn’t hear from him, we assumed he was good.”

Well, that hadn’t happened.

“He went to the bar alone to try and tie up the unanswered questions. He didn’t have the drug angle in his file, so he wasn’t working with the full picture! What happens to UC investigators when they don’t have all of the information?”

Payton’s eyes got huge.

“Why would he go in alone?” he asked. “You always have backup when you’re going undercover!”

Oh, well, there was a good reason for that.

“Yeah, because he’s a baby detective, and no one was wrangling that,” he stated.

And the fact that he felt like he had to prove something because of his mother’s notoriety as a damn good detective.

He was living in a shadow that made him make bad choices.

Kip apologized.

“We’re sorry that he was hurt. Really. He’s a decent guy and a good cop. What can we do?”

Gene knew that this was going to be out of their hands because Elizabeth didn’t want him letting anyone into that classified loop.

So they were on their own.

“Nothing. We’re working on it now. Do you have any notes that might help us?”

Both men shook their heads.

“Other than what we mentioned about the drugs and the one victim who escaped it, not much. Corbin had the official files. We passed it off before the toxicology was in on the remains. Reed might be able to give you something.”

Gene had read the files, but it appeared visiting the ME was high on their list.

He needed to know if it was the same drug, and he was curious to know how long the victims had been dead before they were found.

“Then, we’re good.”

When he went to get up, Kip stopped him.

“The commissioner has made this his pet case that he’s all over. He wants it handled with kid gloves, and for it to be kept out of the media. His aide has mentioned this to us, and once to Corbin. You should be aware.”

Oh, he bet.

Why would he want the public to be aware of the danger that was in their city?

He was an asshole too.

“Let me give a fuck about what your commissioner wants done,” Gene said. “Okay, I did, and now, I’m going to run this the way the FBI does.”

With that, he got up and walked away.

ANGRILY.

Greyson stood, and shook their hands to try and keep this from blowing up in their faces. If the men got pissy, and called their boss, that meant Gabe was calling him.

He hated it when that happened.

Heading out to find Gene, he found him standing outside in the snow.

Well, good.

Maybe that would calm his temper down a bit because he was bitchy as hell.

“My dude, you gotta breathe,” he said. “How does Ethan wrangle you when you’re like this all the damn time? Take a breather from being cranky.”

He had no idea.

Only, Greyson was about to get bitchy too.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I found out some things you’re not going to like.

That drug is a big problem, and the FBI has been fighting it in tandem with the CIA outside of the country.

The person I spoke to said they shut it down, but if for some reason some slipped in, we need to handle it. ”

Uh-oh.

He was right.

Greyson didn’t like that at all.