Page 84 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

“My love, I have no idea how my name came up. Apparently, they were in my class, and my TA. I was blindsided by this. I saw them on the security cameras loitering around our cars.”

Gene wanted to laugh.

Loitering?

That was funny.

“All I saw was these two casing our cars. I thought they were trying to steal them.”

Ethan stared.

Steal his cars?

Really?

Harrison kept going.

“I don’t know every one of my students. I have over three hundred. As for my TA, kids dropout of school all of the time, I have more than one that helps me.”

Ethan was curious.

“I’m sorry, Sir, can we have your name? It’s for our file and investigation. Now that you’ve joined us, we have to keep it on the up and up.”

The man didn’t hold back, but he absolutely, positively did NOT look happy to comply.

They weren’t shocked.

Old money and scandal were not good in the same sentence in their social circles.

“I’m Stafford Townsend III. Harrison is my lover,” he stated. “In fact, we’re soon to be married. I’m sure there has to be some kind of a mistake.”

Oh, there was.

That this man thought that Harrison wasn’t involved, and that he was marrying him for love.

Where was that annoying college student now, so Gene could show him what OLD was.

“Well, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, Mr. Townsend. We’ll try to keep it short,” Gene said. “I know that you likely don’t want us here, especially before your wedding,” Gene admitted, making it seem like if they were seen there, people would talk.

Ethan was amused because Gene was playing exactly how he needed to. Both men looked nervous and twitchy.

Now, they needed to see why.

Gene continued.

“Harrison isn’t being cooperative. We have to do this interview, since it’s our jobs. At first, this case was being handled by the local law, but unfortunately, with three brutal homicides, drug implications, and human trafficking, the FBI tends to get called in.”

Gene was making it sound the absolute worst that he possibly could. He was betting they would tell him anything to get him the hell out of there.

At the word ‘trafficking’ , Stafford sat down.

“I’m curious to hear this,” he said. “I’d love to hear how you’ve connected my significant other to the deceased men.”

What was there to hear?

They just told them.

Was he hard of hearing?

Only, before Gene could say anything more, Harrison didn’t miss a beat.

“There’s nothing to hear. I don’t know the students, and my TA disappeared. I used one of the backup ones. I paid no notice to them.”

Stafford was curious.

“And you said they are missing?”

Gene shook his head.

“No, they’ve been found. Unfortunately, they were dead, and mostly bones. Thus, the murder part of the investigation. We’re here to talk to Harrison to see why his name has come up a few times.”

Neither man spoke.

At first.

Then, Harrison battled back to try to get into control of the situation.

“Am I under arrest?” he asked, as his soon-to-be husband was staring at him. “Because if I’m not, I’d like you to leave. You’re ruining my Sunday.”

Oh, they bet.

Someone was ruffled.

Know who wasn’t?

Stafford Townsend III.

He was watching them with steely blue eyes, and saying nothing, but the look was telling. He wasn’t happy that they were there. In fact, Gene was willing to bet he was pissed.

“No, you’re not under arrest. This is a voluntary interview, where we come to you. If you were in our interrogation room, that would be more official. We do have to ask why you’re so upset about answering us.”

The man sputtered.

“Maybe because you came onto our property, insinuated that I had something to do with the homicides, and now are questioning me like a common…person.”

Oh, they had news for him.

“Mr. Dunne,” Gene said. “You are a common person. When it comes to homicide, don’t take it personally. You’re getting incredibly upset over a simple questioning. All we wanted to know was if you could tell us anything about the disappearance of the three young men.”

When he went to open his mouth, Gene kept talking.

“You know, like you saw them talking to an unsavory commoner, or that they were acting funny—like they were drugged,” he said, fucking with the man now.

There was no doubt in his mind one of the two was going to lose their temper.

“Maybe you were staying after hours to grade papers, and Graham mentioned something private to you?”

He was putting his money on Harrison to lose his temper first.

“I told you that I don’t know them. Again, I have over three hundred students. To be able to identify them…,” he said, pointing at their driver’s license pictures.

Ethan and Gene kept digging.

Angry people talked.

Ethan’s notebook was on his lap, and he knew Stafford was watching them.

Studying them.

So, he wrote something next to Harrison’s name.

‘Suspect number One. Suspicious. Believed to have secret affair with teaching assistant.’

Then, he waited until the man saw it before he closed his notebook.

And that was how one mind fucked someone.

Gene kept focused on Harrison, trying to get him to crack. He looked like he was about to cry. He was looking back and forth between him and his lover.

To see if Stafford was angry.

Oh, and now, he was. He was flushing red, and staring at the younger man.

“You didn’t tell us how many cars you own,” he stated. “Just tell me what you drive, and we can start marking you off the list. That is if you haven’t had contact with the men outside of the colleges.”

Harrison stared at him.

“Two. I have a black Lincoln, and I have a white Jaguar. I do NOT have contact with students outside of the university. What kind of pervert do you think I am?” he asked, but his voice wavered, and he looked to the left.

Blackhawk caught it.

Someone had just lied, and that wasn’t the first time either.

Then, both Ethan and Gene both looked over at Harrison, a man almost forty years his senior.

“You should leave before we get our attorney,” Harrison said.

Well, Gene had called that one.

Harrison cracked first.

Gene heard the ‘L’ word, and he knew they were done there.

“Thank you for your time, Professor, and Mr. Townsend, again, congrats on your upcoming nuptials. Oh, and thank you for speaking to us,” Gene said, giving them the standard line.

Together, they got up and headed toward the door. Behind them, they could both hear the whispers from the older man asking him what the hell was going on, and the panic from Harrison.

Oh, boy.

Someone was going to be having a bad day now.

Outside, Gene laughed.

“Someone likes wrinkly old man. I hope when I’m old, my hot man will still want to climb all over me.”

He laughed.

“Well, the odds are in your favor. Stay bulky. It’s my kink. As for you being wrinkly…I’ll be wrinkly too.”

Getting into his car, it was covered with snow. Gene turned on the windshield wipers and heater.

“Did he seem incredibly irritated that we were there?” Gene asked. “Because that was a bizarre interview. I wasn’t even that angsty in there.”

Ethan laughed.

“Fifty bucks says someone lodges a complaint with Greyson that we browbeat a rich, old man’s sex bunny.”

That term amused him.

“That’s a picture I don’t want in my head. First it was the sexed-up Phillip with the rolodex of daily girlfriends, and now the professor is trying to marry an older man. Here’s what I’m thinking,” Gene said, switching gears.

Ethan waited.

“He’s gay. What if the college kids were meeting with their teacher after hours, and that’s how they were scooped up? Does it fit?”

Ethan thought it out.

“I’m willing to bet he was having sex with Graham,” he admitted. “He recognized his name, and I’m going to say giving head to a shriveled-up dick all the time isn’t nearly as much fun as a kinky rendezvous with a younger grad student who idolizes you.”

Gene considered it.

“I mean, I’ve done it.”

Ethan stared at him.

“Pardon?” Blackhawk asked.

That made Gene laugh.

“Yeah, I had sex with a teacher in college. Like I said, farm-boy-gone-wild days.”

Blackhawk stared at him.

“I don’t know if I should ask, or if I should just picture it in my head,” he admitted.

That amused Gene.

“Ah, Doctor Nickols. It was a required art history, and let’s just say I didn’t give a fuck who Renoir or Picasso were. I cared about my father getting pissed I was failing.”

Ethan stared at him.

“So, when he said there could be extra credit in his office if we wanted it, I wanted it. Mr. Nickols gave me an A. I thought he was sexy, and I was intrigued.”

When he glanced over, he was curious.

“Disappointed in me?” Gene asked.

Yeah, no.

“I’d totally fuck you if I was your professor. Who am I to judge?” he asked. “I’m adding that to our sexy role-playing box. I’m intrigued.”

That was amusing as hell.

Since they needed to work, that was put on the back burner.

Ethan thought back to his profile, and it wasn’t easy since he had an erection thinking about Gene.

“Well, I said white man, older, and Harrison fits. He’s desperate for money and to fit into his fiancé’s world. He wants to come across as better than everyone.”

So far, Gene agreed.

“The gay part fits. For all we know, they were having sex with the man for better grades like you did with Mr. Nickols. We know that Wesley was getting boned in his dorm room by his scholarship provider, so why not his teacher too?”

Gene considered it.

“His sugar daddy had to be what? Eighty?”

Ethan nodded.

“Close to it.”

Gene tried to make it fit.

“So he’s out having sex with younger men because Daddy can’t get it up? Or he’s just into Daddy for the money?”

That was what he was thinking.

“Yeah, that would explain why he was so freaked out. Just from his reaction, and how he didn’t want to talk about it…it was off.”

Gene agreed.

“Normally, people will tell us to keep it quiet, or do we have to put their name in a report? This guy was panicked. I’m going to bet his older fiancé is the reason. That’s a lot of wealth.”

Which made him curious.