Page 9 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

The Escape

Saturday

Late Morning

W hat Corbin wanted was no easy task. Slipping an injured man out of the hospital was going to be something that had the potential to blow up in their faces. Only, he needed this, and as his friends, and family, they were going to make it happen.

Honestly, it was the least they could do.

First, they waited for the nurses to be busy in another room with a patient having a heart attack before making their move.

It was well timed for them, and ill-timed for the man in room four twenty-nine.

As the medical staff rushed in to deal with the other patient’s life-saving measures, Gene saw the moment of escape, and he was to the point.

Corbin would be slow.

Someone was getting carried, and since he was the biggest Fed there, he was becoming the baby detective’s pack mule.

“Do you trust me to touch you?” he asked Corbin, making sure the physical contact wouldn’t freak him out. Gene was being cognizant of what happened to his body, and how he’d been violated.

Instead of speaking, Corbin nodded.

Well, then, it was time to make the detective go ‘POOF’ .

“EJ, you lead and be the lookout. I’ll carry Corbin. The stairwell is ten feet outside of the door and right before the lounge where Alice is pacing. Get us there,” he said, scooping Corbin up in his arms before the cop could complain.

Gene was accustomed to carrying Ethan to bed, to the shower, to…

Only, this was going to be a workout.

He had to carry Corbin down four flights of stairs. This was definitely a test of his cardiovascular health.

Someone might need to start working out more if this was difficult.

Then again, if this was Ethan, he’d carry him for miles over broken glass if need be.

So, he’d get it done and do the job for his friend.

Carefully, he held Corbin up in his arms. The whole time, the man held on, and in that moment, Gene was infinitely grateful for his gene pool.

He was bulky and big, and able to get them the hell out of there.

FAST.

Luckily, Corbin was about the same size as Ethan.

At the door, Ethan peeked outside. A nurse was heading their way, and when she ducked into the one room where the man having the heart attack was, he motioned them that they were clear.

It was time to move out.

They could hear Alice not far away, as she was talking to the doctor about Corbin, and she sounded irritated that she wasn’t allowed into his room.

It was going to escalate.

NO.

DOUBT.

They heard ‘uterus’ , ‘labor’ and ‘over the doctor’s dead body’ , and those were the calm words used. The erratic ones?

Oof.

Someone was in danger.

Well, that was about right.

The poor guy didn’t know what the hell he was up against.

“Please,” Corbin whispered, and Gene heard him. “I can’t deal with them now.”

There was no surprise there.

“Don’t worry, Corbin. We’re getting you out of here,” he promised.

As they crept closer to the stairwell, they could hear the doctor objecting, and telling Alice, again, for what had to be the thousandth time, that she couldn’t see her son.

There was no doubt that he was taking his life in his own hands.

For.

Damn.

Sure.

At the stairwell, Gene went in, and Ethan made sure to go back and close Corbin’s door, locking it. There was no doubt that it would take them a little time to figure out that there was NO ONE in there.

By then, they would be in the clear, and if lucky, back at their place.

That would bide them some time before Alice and John figured it out, and were on their tails.

Once back in the stairwell, Gene navigated the stairs, well aware that they were on camera.

Only, Corbin wanted out, so they would deal with that later. It wasn’t kidnapping if the patient had asked for a hospital breakout.

Right?

It looked like Greyson was going to have some paperwork on this one too.

Yeah, their asses were grass.

At the lower floor, they exited, and Ethan jogged ahead, going outside to get his ride. As he did, Corbin finally lifted his head that had been tucked into Gene’s neck.

“Thank you,” Corbin said.

Gene didn’t mind.

“Now we’re married in some cultures,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Someone is going to have to tell Ethan, and it’s not going to be me.”

Surprisingly, that made Corbin laugh.

It was a weak laugh, but it was one, nonetheless. The bottom line was that it was a win for them. Corbin might have a fighting chance at coming back from this yet.

He was still in there.

All he needed was some time, and for them to get him justice.

Which they would.

“I’m sorry that I fucked up your vacation plans in Puerto Rico ,” Corbin admitted, as Gene watched to see when Ethan parked in front of the one door.

Gene tried to keep it light.

“Well, at least you’re consistent, Corby. There’s that,” he stated, feeling all kinds of emotions at that moment, and none of them were good.

He.

Was.

Pissed.

Oh, and not at Corbin, exactly.

He was angry at whoever did this to him, and he was even more irate that some boss at his job thought that Corbin was ready for an undercover stint looking for some sex trafficker.

This could have gone completely differently. He could have been taken and shipped off. This was the best of the two possible incomes.

And that said a lot about the kind of case he’d been working on.

Despite him joking about it, Corbin really felt bad.

“I know you were looking forward…,” Corbin began, but was cut off.

Harshly.

Gene snapped.

“Stop. Okay? You matter more than a fucking vacation, and that’s the end of it.”

Immediately, Corbin stopped talking.

That silence hung there, and Corbin just couldn’t let it go. They were his lifeline, and now, he needed to find a way through this mire back to being who he’d once been.

If that was ever possible.

“You’re angry,” he finally said, breaking the silence of the stairwell.

Gene felt like a dick snapping at the wounded man, but he was terrible with emotions when they overwhelmed him.

The bottom line was that he loved this man, and considered him a brother. He might bust his balls all of the time, but he’d protect him because he was important to their family.

The family he and Ethan had created there.

“Yeah, I’m angry,” he said.

Corbin needed to know why.

“Want to talk about it? You know since we’re married in Bali and possibly Tahiti?”

Gene said nothing, and he wouldn’t look at Corbin directly. The wounded man knew that wasn’t good.

“Please don’t shut me out. You and Ethan are all I have now. I need you to show me how to survive this. I am a baby detective, and I see that now.”

Well, shit.

Gene couldn’t be angry with him.

Oh, he definitely wanted to, but he couldn’t kick Corbin when he was down. It was like taking your anger out on a puppy.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked.

“Why would you take an undercover job at Bull’s .

I told you it was a bad place, and that you weren’t ready to play that kind of a game.

More importantly, what kind of dumbass would put you in to do this?

Anyone who has worked undercover, and put their asses on the line could see you and see the green.

Corbin, this was so incredibly dangerous and stupid. ”

The whole time, Corbin said nothing.

He understood his anger, and he hadn’t been ready for that case, now that he could see the outcome. He’d nearly died.

It had been a close one, again.

Something had to give.

“You need to start listening,” Gene said, out of control with the anger that he was feeling.

“You need to put away that convoluted idea you have that you need to take on the world to prove how good of a cop you are. You need to start learning how to be that cop. You’re so hung up on being Alice’s son that you didn’t see that this was a clusterfuck.

They saw you coming. There’s no fucking way anyone thought you were some badass biker, looking for flesh to call your own. ”

There.

He said it.

Honestly, getting it off of his chest didn’t help Gene at all.

“I know,” Corbin finally said. “I’m sorry. I fucked up again. Don’t hate me.”

Well, shit.

He didn’t hate Corbin at all.

If anything, he loved him.

In fact, he loved his stupid humor, and his inappropriate questions that made him batshit insane. He loved his kindness, and how he protected Ethan when he’d been hurt by David Neives.

Yep.

Now, Gene felt horrible.

Since the man was saying nothing, it was time for Gene to cut him a break. He’d kicked the puppy, goddamn it, and now he felt like a total dick.

“No, Corbin. It’s me who is sorry,” he said. “I’m taking it out on you. I’m wrong here. Don’t stress it. I’ll get over it, and we’ll make it better. I could never hate you.”

Would he?

He wasn’t so sure.

But Gene knew he and Ethan would try.

Gene knew that they owed it to Corbin, and they owed it to his parents. They came here alone, and the Price family took them in. They made him and Ethan feel like they had a place.

What wouldn’t Gene do for the people he loved?

The answer was anything.

Corbin was curious.

“Can I ask why you’re sorry?” he asked. “I’m the one who fucked up. You’re right. I wasn’t ready.”

Gene stared into his eyes.

“I feel bad because I should have seen this coming. You went MIA for two weeks. That’s not like you. Normally, you’re so far up our asses with needing help. That’s on me for not paying closer attention.”

Corbin said nothing.

“Then, I’m pissed at myself because you’re our brother. I feel like I let you down. Maybe if I’d helped teach you how to do this job, instead of doing it for you, then you wouldn’t have stood out like a goddamn sore thumb.”

Corbin had plenty of time to think about what happened in that bar.

He’d thought about it during the rapes.

He’d dwelled on it as he was tossed naked into a dumpster.

Oh, and he thought about it when he dragged his broken body to the mouth of the alley after somehow getting out of the dumpster.