Thankfully, there wasn’t a deadbolt because they took longer.
Gene touched his lover’s arm.
“I love you. Don’t get shot, or stabbed,” he said. “I’m going to be bitchy if you do!” he whispered in his ear.
Oh, that wasn’t what he was planning.
Honestly, he wanted to get this woman safe and get out of here. Coming home sucked.
Big.
Time.
Ethan could safely say he’d not be back until Hell froze over. That’s how much he hated it here. What he wanted was to be home in their bed, in their condo.
“Just have my back,” Ethan whispered, knowing Gene wasn’t supposed to even be there, so he couldn’t try to apprehend this person.
Gabe would kill them both.
At his words, Gene knew one thing. He was absolutely going to have his husband’s back.
Bet.
On.
That.
When they opened the door, thankfully, it didn’t make any noise, and they were able to sneak into the mud room off the kitchen. Peering around the corner, they saw him grabbing the woman around the neck to choke her out.
He was going to burn something onto her tongue while she was alive.
They had to stop that.
“FBI, Rodney,” Ethan said, stepping around the corner so the man saw him.
He jumped.
And when he turned, he began laughing.
Hysterically.
Then, he started clapping like the true nut he was. From where he stood, gun out, watching the man, Gene made sure to keep it trained on the lunatic.
It wasn’t a big kitchen, and Ethan was pretty damn close to the man.
From the table, the woman jerked at her bonds, trying to get free.
“You figured it out. You found me before I killed the last one. Aren’t you smart?” he asked. “You scared me when you came to the school, but I was pretty sure I had you fooled.”
Yeah, this dude was a nut.
Focused on Ethan, he began moving closer.
“I wanted to hurt them all because they took my father from me. He loved me. He loved me so much.”
Gene knew that he couldn’t shoot him. He was carrying a gun that he wasn’t allowed to have, and getting shitcanned would mean Ethan was working alone in the FBI.
This was beyond a pickle.
