It.
Heading into the coffee shop, they saw the two people sitting in a corner. Gene sent Ethan to them, and he grabbed them coffee and something to eat.
He was starving, and he knew Ethan likely hadn’t eaten today. The man just didn’t think about food like he did.
Constantly.
Now, Gene had to hope and pray his partner was on his game, because Gene…oh, he was not.
That was for damn sure.
When he reached the detectives, Blackhawk pulled out a chair and took a seat. The coffee shop was empty because it was late at night, and only the people heading into their third-shift jobs were out and about.
“Thanks for meeting us here,” Ethan said, taking a seat. “Gene will be right over,” he stated. “We can begin. He’s quick to catch up on things.”
That worked for them.
Dannie wanted to get down to business so they could figure out where they stood in all of this. His partner had been driving him insane on the way over here.
Leah was one leap away from free-falling off the cliff. She wanted to work this in the worst way.
Hell!
She wanted to run this one desperately.
“We know that you’re going to hit the ground running tomorrow morning. Oh, and you need to make some time to see the homicide captain. He’s going to want an update as soon as you’re able to give him one.”
It was already on his list.
Blackhawk knew how to do this, and the proper protocol. It wasn’t his first case.
Hell.
It wasn’t his fiftieth.
“That will happen tomorrow after the autopsies,” he stated. “I like to get my non-interviews done first, before I head out to talk to friends, families, or associates. I’ll knock that off right after we get autopsy results.”
Well, at least their boss wouldn’t be pissy, and was getting what he wanted. Then again, the man was all about the show and very little into the actual work.
From where she sat, Leah was curious.
“Are you good at what you do?” she asked point-blank. “Because this needs someone good.”
Ethan blinked, and then he was honest. The last thing he needed was for the local law to get the wrong impression of him or Gene.
“No. I’m not good at what I do. I’mexcellentat what I do. You have nothing to worry about with handing this off to us. We aren’t hacks. We handle all kinds of homicide cases, from serial killers to child murders. In fact, we’ve handled cases just like this one, due to the similarities.”
She didn’t mince words.
Oh, and he wasn’t shocked.
Not.
At.
All.
“I still want to be involved. I want to help. Both of us do. This is our town, and we want to make sure some outsider doesn’t drop the ball.”
