Page 38 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Before he even said anything, all the heart monitors went off, setting off alarms at the nurse’s station.

Sam knew what was coming.

Goliath was going to get his ass up, and David was going to have to put him down.

For.

His.

Own.

Good.

“Charles, calm down,” Sam said, as he tried to get out of the bed.

The man didn’t mince words.

“I have to go with her,” he stated, trying to get Sam to let him go so he could leave with her. “She can’t do this without me. She’ll die. I have to go!”

Well, it was safe to say that Charlie was scared, and having a panic attack.

He was super protective of his daughter. Sam knew that he feared losing her.

“My love, she’s going to be fine. Elizabeth will be home before you know it. She’s damn good at her job, and she’s armed. Don’t stress it.”

He wasn’t buying it.

Not.

At.

All.

“She can’t do this alone. I have to go, Sam. She’ll get hurt without me. I can’t let my baby girl get hurt!” he raged, just as a nurse came running in with another behind her.

It was clear that the monitors alerted them at the desk. Now, Charlie was in trouble.

As he went to pull his IV, they grabbed Charlie’s hands, as Sam helped them pin him to the bed.

It wasn’t easy, but thankfully, he was still weak from being under. Even with that, he was so much stronger than a normal patient.

“NO!” he shouted.

The one nurse warned him as they began tying his wrists to the bed, so he didn’t destroy his wound or rip his IVs out.

“Mr. LaRue, if you keep this up, I’m going to sedate you. Someone doesn’t wake up well. We’ll put the murder mittens on your hands, and you’ll look silly.”

Murder mittens?

That reminded him of Elizabeth, and he was fighting hard.

It was when another nurse came in that they started injecting something into his IV.

The whole bed shook as Sam carefully rested over him, using his body weight to hold him down. He was holding onto the bedrails on the one side, and using all he had in him to contain his husband.

“Charles, calm down,” Sam said.

“NO!” he shouted. “You can’t knock me out. My daughter needs me! The cannibals will get her!” he shouted. “They’ll eat her face…”

And then he was drooling and saying nothing.

The medicine hit hard, and fast.

Thankfully.

They nurses were confused.

“What was he talking about?” the one asked. “Why does he think his daughter is going to be eaten by cannibals?”

Oh, well, where to take that?

There was no point going there. That would only take more time to explain.

“You’ve got me,” he said. “He doesn’t do well on anesthesia at all. You might want to keep him sedated the rest of today,” he admitted.

Yeah, well, they might just do that.

He was a big guy, and he could do some damage to his incision.

When they were gone, Sam leaned over the bedrail and gave him a kiss on his lips.

“I’m sorry, Charlie. Our girl will have to handle this one on her own. You’re in no shape to be hovering when you’ve just had surgery.”

And with that, Sam took a seat.

This was going to be a long few days, and he knew it. Trying to stop Charlie from getting to his only daughter was like trying to stop a train that was going downhill with no brakes.

A derailment was coming.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The Morgue

Three P.M.

Saturday

Because he knew better than to fall behind when it came to his job, Gene was staying ahead of this potential runaway train.

There was no way he was being blindsided by being complacent. There was no doubt he needed to follow the normal steps, and start from the beginning of the case.

He also knew when to make a call.

To Gabe.

This whole situation made him twitchy, and he didn’t like that Snow was Stateside, and now in his lap. His better judgment told him to let his boss know now.

Not.

Later.

Yeah, he was going to deal with it head-on.

Dialing, he hoped his boss had some good advice on how to handle this—or better yet, he yanked it from him. Gene wasn’t excited about Snow.

When the man answered, he seemed to be in a good mood. Hopefully, he stayed that way.

“Yes, Agent?” he asked.

Well, his fingers were crossed.

“Sir, I’ve come across something, and it’s worrisome,” he said, knowing he couldn’t out Elizabeth. So, he was going to play dumb.

“I’m going to assume it’s related to the case we discussed earlier?” he asked.

Oh, he could say that.

“We just found out from the police working this that there’s a drug connection. It’s a new one, and they think it’s from Colombia.”

As soon as he said it, there was dead silence on the line.

“They think that the traffickers are not only taking men, but using them as mules to get the drugs around the country from city-to-city. It’s looking like it’s tied to my case, but I’ll know when I speak to the city ME about toxicology.”

Gabe didn’t like this.

Not.

At.

All.

He’d believed they’d seen the end of El Gato and Addiction.

“Did they say what the drug was?” he asked, holding his breath. His fingers were crossed, and so were his toes. The last thing he needed was for this to be what he thought it was.

Gene had to think fast on his feet.

“Snow,” he said, using the name the two detectives used from their street rat who gave them intel.

The second he said it, he knew they were screwed if this got out of hand.

Oh, shit.

Gabe closed his eyes, and his mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to wade through this mess again.

He was under the impression that they had handled this in Colombia, and they’d stopped it.

Now, he had to figure out if it was an ongoing problem, or if it was a fluke.

“Snow?” he asked, repeating it.

Greyson glanced over at him.

The look said it all.

“Yes. What do you want us to do? Like I said, this seems like it is more than just trafficking. This has more potential to blow up in our faces. How big of an issue is this new drug?”

Gabe was quiet.

“Are you alone?” he finally asked.

Gene was honest.

“No, I’m with Greyson. We’re in Ethan’s car, heading to the morgue, but it’s only the two of us.”

Gabe sighed.

“Gentlemen, I’m going to read you into some information that is classified. You are not having this conversation because it is need to know.”

They both waited.

Gene was glad that Gabe was reading them in.

Now, he didn’t have to lie to Greyson to protect his source—Elizabeth.

“A few months ago, we had a CIA operation in conjunction with the FBI in Colombia. An agent was sent in to find a drug cartel who was pumping out a drug called Snow like it was spring water.”

Gene listened, and he knew who that agent was.

Elizabeth.

“This agent managed to find the source, and they systematically took out the drug dealer, with the help of the US military. Snow should NOT be here, for all intents and purposes, the seller has been eradicated. It should have been shut down.”

“Well, maybe it’s not Snow,” Greyson said. “How will we know?”

Gabe was to the point.

There was only one way.

Well, two.

They needed to test it, or they needed someone to accidentally get dosed, like Elizabeth had. The first was the way he’d prefer.

“If you find it, I need a sample sent to me, and I’ll have it tested here. Don’t get it on you, and don’t breathe it in. It’s highly problematic.”

Greyson was confused.

So, he did what he did best.

He.

Asked.

Questions.

As for Gene, he listened because he’d heard all of this already.

“What does it do?” Greyson asked.

Gabe was point blank.

“It’s a rape drug. It makes the user completely void of any ability to say no, or stop fornicating.

This is the newest drug we have on our radar.

Let’s just say that the whole campaign of ‘Just Say No’ hasn’t been effective, and this drug makes you unable to say no.

Once people get a taste for it, they can’t live without it.

It makes cocaine look like child’s play. ”

Oh, boy.

The two men were staring at each other, and they knew it was bad.

Granted, Elizabeth had told him how bad it was, but now, so was Gabe.

They had a situation.

Somehow, Corbin fell down this hole, and now, Gene, Ethan, and Greyson were being handed the mess.

Great.

“Again, if you get a sample, or see any of it, swab it, and send it to me. Don’t barehand it. Don’t breathe by it, and for the love of God, don’t get it on your skin. The agent who came across it in Colombia accidentally dosed herself, and it wasn’t pretty.”

So Elizabeth had said.

“Other than that, the game has changed. We have two options. You continue working this, but not how you’d normally do it, or you bail, and I send someone else in to deal with it.”

If they picked the second option, he was going to have to recall Elizabeth. He’d just sent her out on a case—or the Director had. She was the only one he trusted to handle Snow, and eradicating it here.

She would do exactly as Gabe wanted. It looked like either way, they were doing this off of the books.

The things that you did to keep the people of America safe and without them knowing…

Now, Gabe waited.

It was up to the men.

There was no way he’d force them to handle it.

“Uh, I’m not bailing,” Gene said. “The guys who hurt our friend are helping traffic men with this shit in their bellies. They branded our detective,” Gene said. “Had they not thought they killed him, they would have used him as a mule. I’m most definitely in.”

Greyson wanted to avoid Sasha, so he was more than happy to join them. Plus, if this was a big case, it would help him build his street cred.

His goal was to officially run one of the bigger offices for the FBI.

New York.

Atlanta.

Vegas.

With a big case like this under his belt, he’d definitely be closer to getting a pay raise and title change to director.

“I like an adventure. I’m in,” he admitted.

Gabe looked at his watch.

Well, then, he needed to make this happen. That meant calls, and being careful about it.