Page 40 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

“Thanks for the files,” Gene said. “We’re sure there are more victims. Now, it’s just a scavenger hunt to find them. Hopefully, we don’t have any more.”

Reed hated that people stooped to these levels.

“Agent. Good luck,” he said, planning to dig into some files while he waited to see if he got any more calls from the police.

Because they were burning daylight, the two men headed out.

Out in the hall, Greyson’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket.

It was Gabe.

This had to be their call. That was funny though, since he’d said he’d text them, and it was to Greyson, but Gene didn’t question it.

Greyson was running their office.

Answering, Greyson didn’t get to say much. Instead, he was listening, and the whole time, he was staring at Gene with a look on his face.

And Gene didn’t like it.

Not.

At.

All.

This was going to be the ‘you’re about to be boned’ look.

Uh-oh.

This was going to be bad. He could tell by his body language.

“Yes, Director. I’ll tell him. Thank you,” he said, hanging up the phone.

When he put it in his pocket, Gene was curious.

“Well, what did he say? What are our instructions?” he asked.

Yeah, he had bad news for him.

“Now, don’t go crazy when I tell you something. Stay calm, and rational.”

That was weird.

“What?”

Greyson broke it to him.

“That wasn’t about the case we’re working. That was something completely different. We were just notified that Willis Finch, Javier’s bitch who turned state’s evidence, was just found dead in his cell. Someone sliced his throat this morning.”

Gene stared at him.

For a brief minute, he let that soak in, and the reality of it sucked.

Why?

Because he knew what was coming after that.

He’d worked in law enforcement long enough to know that this was a one-two punch.

This wouldn’t be the bad part.

Fuck Finch.

He had it coming.

The truly terrible part was about to hit any second now, and it would really suck.

“Now tell me the bad news,” he said, waiting for Greyson to do the deed, and if he was right, he wanted to weep.

“Unfortunately, since the ONLY non-FBI witness is dead, and Javier was locked in jail, he had no contact with anyone.”

Yep.

He was right.

“Javier’s attorney is petitioning the court for release on bail. They lost their star witness. He’s likely getting out now. They won’t be able to hold him.”

Oh, shit.

Gene knew they didn’t have a lot of time. Honestly, it had been really nice being able to move around without having a bullseye on his back.

Now, that looked to be over.

Soon.

“How long do we have until that piece of shit is out on bail?” he asked.

He told him, and he wished he didn’t have to be the one to break it to him.

“He’ll be out by Monday if a judge grants it. That’s the soonest.”

Well, shit.

This was about to be fun again—if by fun he meant dangerous as fuck.

The clock was now ticking.

Not only were they playing a dangerous game for the FBI, but in the next few days, once Javier bribed a judge, and he would, he was back out and looking for them.

Well, that was shitty.

He sighed.

“I should have put a bullet in him when I had the chance. I would have lost my job, but I’d have some fucking peace and quiet. Now, we have to sneak around again like before and hope no one can track us or I’m likely dead,” he admitted.

Greyson patted him on the back.

There was no way he’d let the man get ambushed. That wasn’t happening to one of his agents, and these two men were definitely his responsibility while in Philadelphia .

“We evaded before, so we can do it again,” he admitted. “Gabe said he’d let us know when he was sprung. He’s already been in contact with the prosecutor. He’ll be forced to have an ankle monitor on,” he said.

Oh, he hoped he did, but with Javier, one never knew. The man was sneaky, and he liked to bribe the shit out of everyone he could.

He wouldn’t do his own dirty work.

No.

He’d hire a hitman or someone to kidnap Ethan once more.

All Gene could hope was that whoever he hired to try and kill him next was just as incompetent as Diesel had been. That might be his only hope to keep him and Ethan safe.

Boy, he’d love an away case right about now.

Before he could say anything more, both his and Greyson’s phones chimed.

Someone was punctual and busy today.

That would be their texts that Gabe had mentioned coming in with what he needed handled.

Gene pulled his phone out, and he didn’t recognize the number.

It was likely blocked.

‘Meet in room five fourteen at the Four Seasons at Eight tonight sharp. Your instructions will be given to you then.’

Um…okay.

Gene reread it, and that sounded like Cloak and Dagger shit that was bound to get his ass in trouble. Now, he was curious about Greyson’s text.

Was it the same?

Were they handling this together?

Out of curiosity, he went there.

“What does yours say?” Gene asked. “Is it the same as mine to meet up tonight?”

He shook his head and showed him as they swapped phones.

Yeah, they had two very different texts. It appeared that Greyson’s was directly from Gabe since it was an unblocked and familiar number.

‘You’re going to be back up to Blackhawk and Cantrell tonight. As far as anyone is concerned, they were with you all night at their condo. Are we clear?’

The minute Gene read it, he knew one thing.

Elizabeth LaRue wasn’t the only one who was going to be playing reindeer games for the FBI.

Now, it looked like the three of them were too.

At least this time it was Stateside.