Page 140 of Sticks and Stones
Oh, well, that would be fun.
All they could hope was the man didn’t show up so they could avoid that drama.
“Let’s focus on one clusterfuck at a time,” Gene said. “The rest is giving me a headache. What do you have so far?” he asked Ethan.
His real partner clued him in.
“I wasn’t able to work much. I had to help Corbin shower, and then he fell asleep on me. My laptop was running the names of the people you sent me. I can go over them now.”
Gene grabbed his laptop off of the coffee table, and brought it to him.
“Okay, let’s start at the beginning,” he said. “From what Oliver said, Kip Rivet, and Payton Eastcott, the two Vice detectives we ran into last year, needed a cop to help out. The commissioner’s office thought Corbin would be a good choice since he cleared big cases.”
Ethan stared at him.
“We cleared big cases. Corbin tagged along,” he said, taking a bite of his hoagie.
Oh, he was aware.
“I said that, and Oliver didn’t give two shits. They threw Corby to the wolves. The Vice detectives knew this was dangerous, and Oliver knew he wasn’t ready. He actually blamed us for closing the cases and in response that did nothing but inflate his career.”
Ethan sighed.
“Is this our fault?” he asked.
Before Gene could say anything, they heard him.
“I’m a good cop,” Corbin said. “I took this case knowing the risk. It’s not on you guys. It’s on me. I know now that I wasn’t ready.”
They all looked over, and Corbin was standing in the doorjamb in Gene’s robe. It was big on him.
Immediately, Ethan stood up.
“We know you’re a good cop,” he said. “Come sit and eat,” he offered.
Corbin headed their way.
“Nothing was meant of that, Corbin,” Gene said. “Don’t read into it. You’re a very good cop.”
Just green.
Corbin sat down, and was to the point.
“Let me help. You shouldn’t have to clean up after me. I can do it. I need to do it.”
Gene knew that was a bunch of bullshit.
There was no way he was up for this. The man had shadows in his eyes, and big bags under them. His face looked like he’d gone a round with a boxer, and his body was stiff from a beating.
Corbin should be in a hospital, and they had already broken that rule. There was no way he was going to dive in and relive this.
That would be detrimental to his well-being.
Getting up, Gene headed toward his bag and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. He dumped a few into his hand, and then grabbed Corbin’s food.
“Take these,” he said. “Keep taking them until you stop hurting so much. You’re in pain.”
Oh, well, he absolutely was, but he’d told the men that he could handle it.
