“Catch you in a bit,” Gene said, hanging up.
When he looked over at his partner, Ethan was laughing.
“One of these days, we’re going to get our asses handed to us,” Ethan admitted.
Yeah, he was right.
All Gene could hope was that today wasNOTthat day because no one had time for that.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
The Police Precinct
San Juan
Monday
One Hour Late
When they walked in, they were directed to the homicide division on the second floor.
Once there, Gene and Ethan found a bunch of men standing around, and they recognized two of the detectives who had been at the crime scene.
“Hey,” Gene said, but before he could say anything else, the homicide captain jumped down his throat.
Like all the way down.
“You’re late!” he barked. “I don’t know what is wrong with the FBI, and why they can’t have competent people working forthem, but you made the family of a victim sit around and wait for you toFINALLYget here.”
Ethan put his hand on Gene’s arm, seeing the bright-red flush moving up his neck from beneath the collar of his shirt.
Oh, he was about to blow.
“I have this,” Ethan said, squaring up with the audacious cop who was about to regret that little outburst.
Ethan stood toe-to-toe with him.
“For your information, Captain Marrero, we weren’t out playing games. When we left the crime scene to come to the interview, we were taken atGUNPOINTby your local mob man to have a goddamn conversation about this case.”
That did what he’d intended.
It caught them all off guard.
“What?” Adrian Marrero asked. “Did you just say you were abducted?”
Blackhawk wasn’t playing.
“Yes, we were. So you can take that cocky attitude, bind it up in a nice ball, and shove it, and your condescending behavior, up your ass with the stick that’s currently shoved up there. What gives you the right to come at my partner like that? Is that how you teach your detectives to behave? And you have the audacity to call us incompetent?”
No one spoke.
Why?
He was right.
That was a foul shot, and they all knew it.
Captain Marrero regrouped.
