Page 156 of Sticks and Stones
Ethan wanted to put as many closed cases in his personnel file as humanly possible. Cleaning upPhillyand closing a lot of cases meant one step closer to moving up the food chain to Director of the FBI.
And getting the hell out of here.
He’d be up for it.
“He’ll be fine with it,” he said, speaking for him.
Greyson shook his head.
“What?” Gene asked, not sure why he was hesitating. You’d think the man didn’t want a high closure rate.
Greyson explained.
“It’ll be like having a newbie all of the time. That would make me insane. I swear to God if the FBI makes me train some green agent, I’m going to lose my nut.”
He laughed.
“You just jinxed yourself. I’d find some wood to knock on or you’re definitely going to have a trainee who is just like Corbin. Then, you feel responsible for them, and you adopt them as your own.”
Oh, shit.
He had jinxed himself.
“But I mean it, Gene. It’ll be annoying. You’ll need to stay calm.”
His mind was made up.
“I’ll do it,” he stated.
Oh, well, Greyson did what Greyson did best. He played Devil’s advocate.
“Like you were calm at your condo? Or like you’re calm now?” he asked.
Gene stared at him.
“You’re an asshole.”
It made Greyson laugh.
“Hey, pointing out the obvious. If you want me to give you those cases, and tie you to Corbin over and over again, you need to act a little more in control.”
They stared at each other.
The whole time, Gene was trying to calm himself down, and what he wanted to do was make a shitty comment about control.
Like Greyson’s lack of it with an ME who was now obsessed with him, but he didn’t.
“I’ll be calm,” he promised.
When he didn’t erupt, and the red receded from his neck, Greyson saw some control, and he appreciated that. He’d been poking him to get a response, but he reined it in.
So he passed.
“Okay, I’ll make it happen, but you owe me one for this. I’m going to have to listen to you bitch for three years.”
Gene thanked him.
“I appreciate it, Grey.”
