Page 383 of Sticks and Stones
And there was no surprise Corbin was on their nice list.
“You tend to be cranky. Do you want to hear about Julian Mercer, the man whose family is handing out scholarships? Or do you want to piss him off without knowing?”
Gene laughed.
“Tell me about him. I like to know, and you’re well aware of that.”
He was.
Ethan was about to do just that whenHISphone rang. The second he looked at the number, he knew they were officially screwed.
“Oh, hell. We said his name twice, and manifested him. How much do you want to bet someone’s getting their ass chewed?” he asked.
He showed Gene.
“Goddamn it,” he muttered as Ethan took the call. It appeared the commissioner moved fast, and had Gabe on speed dial.
This was about to be fun.
If your idea of fun was having your fingernails pulled out, one by one.
“Yes, Deputy Director,” Ethan said with the phone on speaker. “What can I do for you?”
Gabe sighed.
“Agent Blackhawk, why is the commissioner of thePhiladelphiapolice calling me on a Sunday, while I’m at home with my family? Why is he saying that Agent Cantrell is being a dick? I mean, I know he’s a dick, but why is he behaving like one to the local police? Who pissed in his cereal this morning?”
Ethan rolled his eyes.
Gene, on the other hand, was riled up.
“Maybe he missed talking to you when you yanked this case away from him,” Gene said.
Blackhawk slapped him on the arm, getting him to stop. Gabe wasNOTto be played with, and they knew it. When he was angry, everyone’s day was shit.
Worse than normal.
“Funny, Agent. How about an update before I get cranky and yell at you because I can?” Gabe asked. “Then, how about I can come visit and be up your ass more than I already am?”
The only reason he was calm was the men did the job last night, and the CIA Spider had nothing but good things to say about them.
Gene shook his head. Having Gabe there was the last thing he wanted.
“Well, we handled the situation from last night and with minimal issues.”
Oh, Gabe was aware.
“Yes, I was updated by the CIA. They have the five men at a facility. They safely arrived this morning, and were already…debriefed.”
They were willing to bet that the facility was Guantanamo Bay.
Call it a hunch.
Gitmo had some visitors.
“And?” Gene asked. “Did they give the‘investigators’any information that might help us on the case?”
Gabe was amused how the man was pussyfooting around this.
