“So let me get this straight. I’m a conflict of interest because I am from here, but you both want to work this because you’re from here. Does that sound like a sack of bullshit, Detective? Let me clarify what you’re really thinking. You don’t want an Indian working it. Period.”
Well, that set the tone.
This could only go one of two ways, and Gene knew it. So, he sat there, glaring at the two cops as he waited to see what kind of people they were.
Because if they thought Ethan was less qualified due to his ethnicity, he was about to smack their heads together for shits and giggles.
Why not add suspension to desk duty?
Immediately, Dannie raised his hands.
“Woah! We didn’t say that. We haveNOTHINGagainst your ethnicity!”
Well, it didn’t sound that way to him. In fact, it sounded like the opposite.
So, Ethan went in for the kill.
“Then stop making statements that make you look racist. Because there’s only a few things different between us. We both have gold badges, and we’re both are from here. Let’s see…what’s left?”
That hung there, daring them to take that route.
Instead, Leah leaned in and kept digging the hole. She either couldn’t read the room, or she liked poking the bear.
Clearly.
“That’s not what I meant. You’re trying to take it there.”
Honestly, he didn’t care.
Why?
Well, maybe because if he had a dollar for every time he was faced with this exact situation, he’d be able to buy them tickets back to Puerto Rico for another vacation.
“Well, to me, someone from here, you screaming conflict of interest when you’re also from here is wild. That’s hypocrisy at its best. As we’re both cops, just at different levels, there’s only one factor that is different—my ethnicity. So, see how that makes me, a seasoned investigator, go there?”
Oh, there was tension at that table, but that tended to be normal.
When the cops looked at Gene, like he was going to talk his buddy down, he simply shook his head.
“Nah, I’m with him,” he said, jerking his head toward his partner. “I may be white, but I’m notTHATwhite. I’m not racist,” he added.
Ethan was grateful that his partner had his back.
“So, the bottom line is that I’m more than capable, and if it matters, I’ve already profiled a piece of this.”
The two cops said nothing, but both Gene and Ethan didn’t miss how Dannie gave his partner the side eye.
Well, he should give her that.
Someone was way off base on this.
Ethan continued, sharing a little so they’d see this wasn’t his first rodeo.
“Someone isVERYangry. I saw the one body after the snow was brushed away. The victim was stabbedMANYtimes.Her torso was eviscerated by the blade of that knife. That’s rage. I can also tell by what was done to them that they saw something, and likely were being silenced because of it, or because of them talking about it.”
Gene let his partner do his thing, and he just placed a bagel with cream cheese in front of him as he ate his own.
“Thank you,” he said to Gene.
