Page 7 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Corbin was a mess. Whoever did this to him worked him over, planning on killing him. This wasn’t a fight but a murder.

Somehow, Corbin survived it.

His face was battered, he was missing a tooth, and one was broken in his mouth.

His cheekbones were swollen, and his one arm was in a cast. His neck, legs, and arms had angry red slashes on it like someone took off a belt and used it to whip his body relentlessly.

Around his throat, there were handprints like someone had choked him out.

A few times.

What they did to him was nothing less than brutalization.

That rage simmered, but his first instinct was to protect and soothe. After his abduction, Corbin had tried to help him each time he saw him.

“Hey,” Ethan said, gently brushing some of his hair from his face as he risked some bodily contact. When he didn’t flinch, Ethan ran his hand up and down his unbroken arm to soothe him.

“I’m a mess,” Corbin whispered. “It’s bad,” he said, not having seen it, but he was feeling it. He’d never felt this bad in his whole life.

His body hurt.

His jaw and mouth were screaming in pain, and he didn’t know how he’d come back from this.

At his comment, Ethan was honest.

“Yeah, you’ve seen better days, Corby, but these injuries will heal. I promise. With a little time, they’ll fade,” he added, knowing what wouldn’t.

The sexual assault.

That would take therapy, time, and patience.

With tears in his eyes, he stared at Ethan.

“I need a favor.”

He waited.

“Get me out of here,” he whispered through his hoarse voice. His throat was raw from all the screaming he’d done during his assault, and when he’d called for help from the dumpster. “I don’t want to be here. Can you please get me out of here?”

When they heard the door open, Corbin cringed, and tried to hide again. Only, Ethan reassured him that it wouldn’t be Alice, but instead, someone safe.

“It’s going to be Gene. He was calling Greyson to get us this case,” he admitted. “You don’t have to hide,” he added.

Hearing his man explaining, Gene knew he needed to move slowly, and at Corbin’s speed.

When Gene peeked his head around the corner, he waited to see if Corbin wanted him in there. He saw Ethan sitting beside the bed, and worse, Corbin a mess.

Holy fuck.

He’d never seen an assault victim look worse, and that was saying a lot since he’d worked plenty of cases. In that moment, he swore he’d get justice for the man.

No.

Matter.

What.

“Can I come in?” he asked, willing to stay out if Corbin needed him to. In fact, he prayed he would tell him to leave.

Gene’s temper was simmering, and it was going to be a problem at some point.

For the assholes who did this.

Ethan waited to see Corbin nod.

“Lock the door, Babe,” he said, no longer in work mode, but instead looking out for Corbin’s best interests. Ethan knew Corbin didn’t need Feds now.

He needed friends.

FAMILY.

Gene did, and then stepped into the shadowy, dim-lit room. As he did, more of the injuries were evident.

Jesus.

Gene had an overwhelming need to cry.

“Hey, Corby,” he said, going to the other side of the bed. “Are you okay?” he asked.

The man didn’t nod.

Or shrug.

He just sat there, numb.

Instead, he looked at Ethan, knowing he’d understand what he’d need more than anything.

“Please,” he whispered.

Because he needed Gene to know, he went there for Corbin’s sake.

“He wants out of here. Corbin needs to get out of the hospital.”

Well, Gene wasn’t sure if that was going to be possible. The man was a mess.

Medically, he was concerned.

“I don’t blame him,” he offered, not sure what he could say now that he’d seen what had been done to his friend.

Ethan continued.

“What did Greyson say?” he asked.

Gene was struggling to focus on anything but the man in the bed. They’d worked him over good. It was going to take a while for him to heal, and the emotional scars…

They were going to be there for a long time.

Somehow, he managed to focus and answer the question.

“He said he’ll meet me at the office. He was in the field, but willing to help me with Gabe. It’s going to take him to get this case pulled from the cops,” he stated.

Then, he focused on Corbin.

“Did your boss assign a detective yet?” he asked, needing to know.

He shook his head.

“He didn’t see me. He spoke to me on the hospital phone,” he admitted. “I asked him not to do it yet. I don’t know if I’m pressing charges.”

Oh, yes, he was.

The hell these sickos were getting away scot-free. Gene would make sure of that. They were going to make sure that whoever did this to Corbin paid one way or another.

Dearly.

“I don’t want anyone I work with to know about what happened to me.”

They knew why.

Gene covered for Corbin.

“Okay, well, I’ll handle that too,” Gene admitted. At that moment, he wanted to do anything in his power for Corbin. “We’ll keep this in the FBI hands, and see what we can do to seal the file.”

Yeah, they would advocate for him now.

When Corbin focused on Ethan, he was still holding his hand.

“Please get me out of here,” he whispered. “Please, EJ. Please. I can’t be here. I won’t survive here. It’s only a matter of time before my parents get in here, and that’s going to make it worse. I can’t deal with that right now. I have to protect what’s left of me.”

Blackhawk understood where he was coming from, so Ethan made up his mind.

“Gene, can you go out to the car and get my go bag. I have some things in it that Corbin can wear. There are sweats in there we can use when we sneak him out.”

And there it was.

It appeared they were breaking Corbin out of the hospital. Now, he only hoped he was medically okay, or they had other issues.

He was to the point.

“Corbin, if we spring you, you’re going to have to do this without pain meds. Can you do that?” he asked.

The man nodded.

“I’ll be okay,” he whispered. “I have to get out of here or I won’t make it,” he said again.

That was to the point.

Gene knew that Corbin was going to need full-time babysitters when they did spring him.

“Okay, Corbin. Hang tight. Let me get you some things to wear.”

So he’d have some dignity.

Honestly, Gene wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Being in there was making him sick seeing Corbin like this. He was feeling rage as he wanted to punch something.

Mainly the person, or persons, who did this to a man they considered their brother.

Nah.

He wanted to kill them with his bare hands in the name of justice.

As he headed out, Ethan tried to soothe him.

“How bad are your injuries?” he asked. “Tell me, so we can be prepared to take care of you.”

Corbin closed his eyes, and said one word.

“Bad.”

Ethan needed to know.

“I see that your arm is broken. What else is broken?” he asked, wording it differently.

Corbin clung to Ethan’s hand like it was a lifeline. Honestly, he knew when he didn’t let Alice and John see him, that they’d go to the two men.

His mother was predictable if nothing.

“They broke a few ribs,” he said. “My cheekbone is fractured, and they dislocated my shoulder,” he whispered.

Ethan now had confirmation. It was more than one person, and that was a start for him. They were likely going to have to piece it together so they could get Corbin justice.

“How many of them were there?” he asked, his thumb moving up and down his pulse to soothe him.

Corbin closed his eyes not to remember, but to hide. The tears were coming.

He could feel them.

“I’ve got you, Corby. You’re safe now, and no one is going to hurt you. I promise.”

Hearing that, finally, he answered.

“Five,” he whispered. “There were five of them who did this to me. I tried to fight, but…”

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

No wonder he was in bad shape. There was no way Corbin could take on five bikers who were hellbent on hurting him.

Well, Gene and Ethan would level the playing field when they found out which five assholes had done this to him.

Yeah, they’d find them.

When Corbin opened his eyes, he stared into Ethan’s. In that moment, he wanted one more thing.

“Can’t we forget about this?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “Please don’t investigate it.”

That wasn’t a possibility, and Ethan knew it from his own assault by David Neives. They had to make a case file, so that when they were found, they’d pay.

Gently, Ethan reached out and wiped the tears from his cheek using the sleeve of his sweater.

“Corbin, listen to me. We have to find them. What they did to you is wrong.”

He whimpered.

“I can’t face them in court. I can’t let the detectives I work with know… I can’t…”

His heart rate was going up because his pulse was jumping in his wrist.

To calm him down, Ethan put his hand on his leg, and thankfully, Corbin didn’t flinch.

So, that was a start.

“Do you trust Gene and myself?” he asked.

Corbin didn’t hesitate.

He nodded.

“Then, I need you to let us handle this. We’ll protect you and make the best decisions for you. I promise. We’ll mitigate this and keep it quiet. I promise that we’ll make sure no one knows who doesn’t need to know.”

That seemed to help.

Now, Ethan had one more question.

“Do you want me to call Will?” he asked. “I can call and…”

Only, Corbin wasn’t having it.

The man shook his head.

“No. Please. Not him.”

When his pulse jumped again, Ethan backed off and instead, he patted his leg.

“Okay, I won’t call him, and do you want me to talk to Alice and John, or how would you like me to handle that?”

Corbin was honest.

“If you tell Alice anything, she’s going to do something stupid like head to Bull’s and commit homicide. You can’t let her do that. My parents will get hurt, and right now, I have to focus on me—not them.”

With what he was saying, Ethan understood.

“Okay. We won’t give them any information. How about a kit? Can we get you to submit to a kit so we can get the DNA from the men?”

He whimpered.

Ethan knew how this was going to be a struggle for Corbin, but he tried. They needed that DNA to bring the men up on charges.

And to solve this.