Page 88 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

The FBI Building

Greyson Croft’s Office

Noon

T he last thing Greyson wanted to do on a Sunday was come into work, but he knew that if he worked today, as soon as Ethan and Gene closed this case, he could take a weekday off to make up for all the hours he’d put in.

That was his priority since he was trying to evade Sasha. Last night, as he was watching Corbin, she’d texted him a few times.

And he’d not answered.

In her case, it was best if he kept his distance until he could get to the bottom of the situation.

And he would.

Because he was hellbent on figuring it out.

So, now with his work done, and a borrowed laptop, the one that Ethan and Gene had been given by the CIA to do research if they needed it, he was going to do some research of his own.

Was it risky?

Yeah, but he didn’t care.

He was going crazy trying to figure out what Sasha was doing there. The more he thought about it, the more he needed to know what her game was.

Hopefully, Ethan and Gene didn’t mind that he borrowed the laptop. They’d been told to destroy it after their side gig last night.

And he’d give it back as soon as he had some answers.

Booting it up, there were no log in credentials, and he was grateful for that. It might look like it was Ethan or Gene doing research.

Not that he’d lie and blame them.

No, if he got caught, he’d own it.

Putting in her name, he began researching her. He searched for Doctor Sasha Harper and Seattle .

And NOTHING came up.

What?

How was that possible?

Taking off her title, he ran the name again, and he found a few articles regarding the woman. As he cracked into them, he began reading, and with each line, he began getting more and more uneasy.

His gut was screaming.

‘Sasha Lenore Harper was laid to rest today by her loving family. She was placed beside her husband, while her children looked on. At eighty-nine, she lived a full life, tending her garden, planting the seed of knowledge as a teacher, and being a loving mother to five kids. She will be missed by her family and community.’

As soon as he read it, he stared at it.

What the hell?

That was Sasha’s full name. She’d told him her middle name, and that definitely wasn’t her.

Unfortunately, there were no more hits to that name.

Greyson had to keep digging.

Going into the CIA database, he found Sasha’s name, and pulled up her driver’s license. On it, there was an address in Seattle.

Taking that back out, he used the GPS software to pull up a picture of the location.

And it was nothing.

It was a piece of land that had not been used for any structure.

Something was going on.

Something was making him uneasy.

As he kept searching, he tried to remember where she said she went to medical school. When he remembered the name, he ran that school, pulling up the database with the annals of graduates.

Lo and behold, there was no Sasha in there. There was no listing that she’d gone there, let alone graduated from there.

Now, he had more questions than answers.

She didn’t exist.

Sitting there, he strummed his fingers on the desk, and that’s when he had an idea. Greyson knew his next step.

Pulling out his phone, he had a picture of him and her on the couch at his place. She’d taken it and sent it to him.

Connecting his phone to the laptop, he uploaded the picture, and sent it through facial recognition on the laptop.

He watched as the faces flew by.

This would take some time.

But Greyson had nothing but time, and when there was a mystery…

He was going to solve it.

As far as he was concerned, there was something going on under his nose. Gabe was involved, and for him, getting to the bottom of it was paramount.

Sasha Harper wasn’t who she said she was.

And now, Greyson knew one thing.

He had been sleeping with the enemy.

Until he solved this, she was just that.

A PROBLEM.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Julian Mercer’s Home

Living Room

After Twelve

To say that they were caught off guard would be an understatement. They suspected that the man was having inappropriate relations with the students getting scholarships, but they hadn’t a way to prove it.

After all, it would be his word against the stories that the roommate and friend told. The only one who had been able to corroborate the possible blackmail with sex was Spencer Witmore, Wesley’s roommate.

He’d seen it in action.

Now, Gene had to regroup because the man just admitted to it.

Holy.

Shit.

It was time to back pedal and reframe this interview.

“I’m sorry, pardon?” he asked as the man went behind the bar in the living room and prepared more drinks for them.

Drinks that they absolutely weren’t going to consume and for a plethora of reasons.

That they were working being the first one. Honestly, with Snow floating around, and this man possibly being behind it, even sitting on the leather couch freaked Gene out.

“Let’s have a drink and talk,” he said.

Gene stopped him.

“We’re on the clock.”

He was focusing on Ethan.

“How about you, Agent Blackhawk? Would you like a libation? You know, to wet your whistle?”

Ethan had promised to keep his mouth shut.

So, he just shook his head.

When they declined, he made only one, and then Julian carried a fresh drink over to sit across from them.

“If you insist. Can I get you coffee?” he asked.

Yeah, again, that wasn’t happening.

“No, but thank you,” Gene answered. “What you can do is explain what you’re doing sleeping with college kids in order for them to get your scholarships. I’m sorry, but that’s all kinds of wrong.”

He’d hit him up with the abductions next.

“Oh, they got the scholarships through the board. I don’t give those out. I just like to check up on some of the students.”

Gene went there.

“The gay ones?” he asked.

The man smiled.

“Yes, the gay ones. Being I’m a gay man, that would be more my thing. Why would I want to waste my time on a straight one?”

Was this dude for real?

The man had no filter, and just kept giving them ammo to do their jobs.

Before he could ask anything else, Julian was focused on Ethan.

“Agent Blackhawk, does the cat got your tongue?” he asked.

Ethan could speak for himself.

“Not at all. When I have something to say, I’ll add it to the conversation.”

He grinned, and then he focused on both of them.

“Do either of you know how difficult it is to find quality gay men in this city?” he asked. “Men who aren’t after me for my exorbitant amount of wealth?”

Gene wasn’t sure where to take this candid conversation.

Honestly, this dude sounded like he was a few screws shy in the head.

“No, because we’re both straight,” he said, knowing that there was no way in hell they were making the same mistake twice. “In fact, let’s start with what you said. How about you share the reasoning in your head to sleep with college students?”

He laughed.

“That’s simple, Agent. I slept with them because I like sex, and they wanted to join me in some fun.”

Ethan was profiling, and it wasn’t looking good for Julian Mercer.

Not.

At.

All.

Julian kept talking.

“Elliot and I had a few one-night stands. He got skittish when I had to ask him about his grades. Part of his scholarship states that he has to keep his GPA up. I admonished him after a date, and he was avoiding me.”

That tracked with what his roommate had shared with them.

Julian shrugged.

“He and I never progressed beyond that, and I took it as a sign when he avoided me. That happens a lot. I’m a lot to handle.”

Oh, Gene bet.

He wanted to avoid him too.

The hair on the back of his neck was standing up, and he felt…watched.

Gene just couldn’t put his finger on why.

Julian kept talking.

“As for Wesley, he invited me over to his dorm a few times. He was fun, and we had a good time. I’m going to guess you found out about us getting caught in his room.”

Gene went there.

“Oh we heard. How old are you, Mr. Mercer?” he asked.

He smiled.

“I’m the same age as you, Agent Cantrell. I’m thirty-one.”

Yeah, Gene didn’t like that the man had researched them. He also didn’t like how he had been given the heads-up that they were onto him.

Who shared this with him?

Did rich dudes keep an eye out for each other?

Yeah, nothing about this man was appealing, but he was a whole lot of sketchy.

That was for sure.

“And with Graham Sinclair?” he asked, wanting to get this done and out of there.

From where he sat, Julian sipped his martini, and considered it.

“Graham and I would often grab dinner, and he would come back with me. We would almost always have sex here. I mean, we did have sex in my car once.”

Oh, boy.

“He had political ambitions, and wanted to use any connections I had to get an internship for the upcoming summer. I have lots of friends in the government and in law enforcement.”

Was that a threat?

It felt like a threat to Gene.

“Is that so?” he asked, knowing that was what Phillip Winslow had mentioned to him. Well, the internship, not having sex with this man.

“We came back here, talked, and I made calls for him. He had a few meetings at the courthouse, and the city council building. He’d procured himself a nice internship with the mayor’s office. I was proud of him.”

Gene went there.

Honestly, he was rattled. They didn’t come in expecting this, and now, he was backtracking in his head. The man certainly wasn’t lying.

Gene detected no bullshit.

His fight or flight, on the other hand, was going off loudly in his brain.

“Then, you’re aware that they were found dead,” Gene said. “Since you checked in with them as often as you did.”

He nodded.

“At first, I assumed they had left school. Do you know the dropout rate? I was surprised by Graham, since he was ambitious, but the other two? Not really.”

Ethan was making notes. This man was something. He was definitely a character.