Page 74 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

“Did you have any classes with Elliot?” he asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, we had political science together. That ended right before Christmas.”

And there was a connection.

“Tell me about the professor.”

The kid had a scrunched-up brow, like he was trying to figure out why he wanted to know.

“Professor Dunne is about as exciting as a rash,” he said. “It was torture to sit in his class, and have to listen to him drone on for an hour. Do you know the hell it is at eight in the morning to listen to someone talk about global destabilization?”

He was looking at Ethan.

“Uh, no. I had economics at eight in the morning. I loved hearing about supply and demand. It was titillating.”

The kid looked horrified.

Only, Gene knew that Ethan was being sarcastic. He had resting bitch face, and unless you knew him, you’d think he was serious.

He wasn’t.

In fact, Gene knew that he skipped it more times than not to watch cartoons or nurse a hangover.

“How did Elliot feel about him?” he asked.

Derek considered it.

Finally, he answered.

“He loved that class. He had all A’s, and he used to say he was going to TA for him at some point.

He liked how ‘smart’ the professor was. By smart, I think he had a crush on him.

Again, he was gay as the day was long. He was delusional, but he was a twink with dreams,” Derek said. “You know how gay dudes are.”

No, how were they?

Gene hoped this kid wasn’t going to hetero-splain gaydom to him.

That would be annoying.

“What does that mean?” Gene asked, lifting a brow. Was he shocked there was some homophobia going on in a college?

Not exactly.

Colleges tended to be more accepting, but there were still people who didn’t like the idea that their classmate, or roommate, was gay.

“It means he was very effeminate. You know…how gay men tend to be.”

Yeah, he knew.

They liked dick.

Oh, and lots of it.

Only, he was hyper-masculine, played football when he was younger, and did ‘guy’ things. So that shot his theory out the window.

He was a bear.

Not a twink.

“So I’ve heard,” he said. “Back to the professor. He liked him, and wanted to be his TA at some point. Anything else?” Gene asked.

“And that he was gay. That’s all I can come up with,” he said.

Gene noticed he looked as if he was rubbing his two brain cells together to come up with a thought.

Instead of saying anything, he bit his tongue.

Gay men also had to let a lot go.

“Yes, you mentioned the gay thing. Other than that, anything else?” Gene asked, trying to be patient.

Derek considered it.

“Not really. He spent a lot of time out of the room at night. He said he was out studying at the library. I don’t know if he was or not. Who studies that much though?” he asked.

Ethan went there.

“Smart people who don’t want to live in their mother’s basement?” he asked, annoyed that the kid had made a shitty comment about gay men.

It made him want to protect Gene.

Ferociously.

Derek stared at him.

“What does that mean? My mother said I could stay there when I’m done,” he offered.

Yeah, no shock there. Someone needed a mommy to clean up after him. They could tell that by just checking out his pigsty of a dorm room.

“One last question,” Gene stated, seeing that this kid really had no clue.

“Sure, hit me with it,” Derek said.

Honestly, Gene wanted out of there.

The room was making him itchy. It smelled like eighteen-year-old boy, sweat socks, and tortilla chips. It was one hell of an odor. It was kind of like the smell dog’s feet got after a while.

“Elliot got a scholarship. What do you know about that?” Gene asked.

The kid laughed.

“I know that the only reason he could go to school was that scholarship. He was feral about it, and that tied to the studying at the library at all hours. He was out looking for internships to work over the summer.”

That was pretty common.

Derek continued.

“What I know is that he didn’t want to let his grades slip at all. If they did, they got a call from the scholarship committee.”

Ethan made notes.

This was information they didn’t have before from Corbin’s questioning.

“Whenever Julian called, Elliot tended to get twitchy. The one time his GPA dropped a little, because he had Mono, so he had to go to the committee and explain it.”

Yowza.

That was strict.

That explained the kid always studying.

“And does this Julian have a last name?” Gene asked, already knowing about the guy from Ethan’s research.

The kid nodded.

“I think it’s Mercer. All I know is that the dude was very hands-on when it came to the scholarships. They were always in contact. Elliot had him in his phone and on speed dial. I told him to just get student loans. It was stressing him the hell out way too much.”

Yeah, they could see that.

What they also knew was this wasn’t anything surprising.

Julian Mercer was on their interview list for later today.

Unfortunately for Gene and Ethan, when it came to finding information, it was time to bounce.

This kid didn’t have much for them to use.

“We appreciate your help,” Gene said, standing up, when he and Ethan were done.

“No problem,” Derek said. “I’m sorry about Elliot,” he added. “Really, I am.”

They didn’t doubt that.

Outside of the room, they walked toward the elevator before talking.

Once inside it, they shared what they were both thinking about what they’d learned.

“The kid sounded stressed,” Gene admitted. “What do you think we should do about the Julian dude?” he asked. “That he was in touch with him and the kid was calling him…”

Ethan thought about it.

“I mean, we know he’s wealthy, and from what the five, dipshit bikers said about the supplier, he had a nice car and money.

That tracks with the scholarship guy. I don’t think we can skip a step, so we have to talk to him and maybe ask what kind of car he drives.

It is weird he was in the kid’s phone, and up his ass about grades. ”

Gene knew his partner was onto something. He had that look on his face like something about the case was bothering him.

“Like I told you guys yesterday, I had a lot of scholarships, and I never once heard from the people who awarded me with it. I had classes which dropped my GPA from time to time, but nada. That’s unusual. With a scholarship, you just had to stay above a certain GPA or lose eligibility.”

Yeah, he figured.

It had sounded weird to him too.

“We should ask the rest of the interview people about Julian Mercer, and then hit him up after the last interview,” he suggested. “Well, him and the professor. They’re neck and neck with being on my suspicion list.”

On that, Gene agreed.

“Yeah, let’s see what the other interviews net us, and then go from there. Then, we’ll see if it’s off to see the scholarship guy, or the professor first. We can’t forget him. The kid had a crush on him, so maybe that crush got him in trouble.”

That was a good point, and no, they couldn’t skip steps.

What Gene was hoping was they found a lead that they could use.

If not, today was going to be a long, ass day.

For sure.