Page 56 of Sticks and Stones
Cops were particularly bitchy when someone they worked with got hurt, and the FBI ripped the case right out from under them.
“I’d give you my notes, but they were in my car. I think it was stolen after I was dumped. They took my keys, and I don’t know where my notes, wallet, badge, or gun are.”
Yikes.
This kept getting worse—if that was possible.
Now, Gene was curious.
“You didn’t wear a badge and gun into that place, did you?” he asked.
Corbin shook his head, meeting Gene’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
“No. They were in my car. I parked it down the street. I was trying to get there when I pulled myself out of the dumpster so I could drive myself to the ER. It was so cold, and I tried to get to it to get help. I could see it was gone…”
Ethan focused on him.
“It’s okay, Corbin. We have a spare room. You can stay with us until it’s all cleaned up. You’re safe. No one knows where we are, and we’ll find your things.”
He just nodded, freaking the fuck out over the idea that he’d be sleeping in his home, and they could get in.
That horrified him that they could find him again.
“I don’t feel so good,” Corbin said, his belly rolling with that panic as the back seat was starting to spin.
Uh-oh.
That was all Gene had to hear.
For a big man, he moved fast.
“Don’t puke in the car,” Gene said, pulling over and hopping out so fast as he yanked the seat forward to give Corbin space.
Immediately, Corbin leaned out, and he puked.
They both knew what that meant.
It appeared that Corbin had a concussion to go along with his parting gifts from the assholes.
As Corbin was puking, Ethan was leaning on the center console, running his hand up and down Corbin’s back to reassure him.
“It’s okay. We’re here,” he said.
The whole time, Gene just kept scanning the area, and making excuses as people passed by and saw Corbin heaving up his pancreas.
“Hangover,” he admitted when an old woman with a little yappy dog stared at them in disgust. “He had too many Pina Coladas at a party.”
She hauled ass, and it would have been funny had it not been so upsetting.
When Corbin was done, Ethan pulled him back inside the vehicle, and rested him against the seat.
“Better?” he asked.
He nodded.
Only, that was a lie.
Corbin was scared, and he knew that would likely never go away. This was his new norm, and he didn’t know how he was going to find his way back to normal.
