Page 154 of Sticks and Stones
Gene sighed.
“Yes, but not at Corbin and what he said, but at myself.”
Oh, boy.
Guilt had no place in the here and now.
They had a job to do.
Someone needed to get his head in the game, and fast. This was a clusterfuck in the making, and now, he was tied to it. Greyson had enough issues on his plate.
Running an office.
Closing cases.
Oh, and dodging a certain ME who was trying to get in his pants.
Sasha was always trying to get him alone, and that was one reason he was more than happy to be in the field right now. She’d sent him about ten texts today, and the last thing he wanted was to talk to her.
Why?
He was avoiding his own demons.
Redheaded ones.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
Gene turned his head, and Greyson could see the trouble in his eyes. This agent was normally steady, and could handle everything, but now, he was off balance.
WAY.
OFF.
BALANCE.
Gene shrugged.
“I just feel guilty. That’s all. I knew the baby detective needed a babysitter, but I’ve been so wrapped up in other things, and going away, that I put it on the back burner. He can’t be left alone for a second.”
Clearly.
Because it was his job, more times than often, Greyson played Devil’s advocate on this one.
“You’re not his father, and you’re not his keeper. You shouldn’t feel guilty. He’s a grown ass man who walks around with a badge and gun. He’s not a child, Gene.”
Oh, he was well aware, but Gene knew that the only reason he had said badge and gun was his mother—and the shortage of cops inPhiladelphia.
Now, after this, it was clear that Corbin had been given his gold shield way too damn fast.
Only, that was something that couldn’t be undone. If it was up to Gene, he’d send him back to the beat for five or six more years.
To lose that green.
“No, but I’m his family,” he said. “Like we’re your family. If you needed my help, I’d show. If you needed us, we’d come back to deal with it. There might come a day when you need Ethan or myself, and we’ll be there. That doesn’t make us your keeper. It makes us family. So yeah, I do have to babysit the baby detective.”
Greyson appreciated that they would be there for him if he needed them.
He’d never forget that.
