Ethan was freaked out.
“What if he doesn’t take him there?” he asked. “We will have wasted precious time, and Gene won’t have much. There’s a small window, Corbin, and I don’t know what to do.”
Corbin made him face him, and stared into his eyes. He knew that fear.
“We have to do what we have to do, EJ. Let’s get moving, and as we head there, we can talk this out. If you legit found the hidey-hole, we can be there before it’s too late—but we have to go now. Trust yourself, and trust me. Gene is going to put his faith in you.”
He slowly nodded.
That seemed to work.
“Will, I need you to stay here. We’ll get back to you. Make sure the mob people all stay here. Stall them, and tell them that you’re with us. Ask them to sit with you. It won’t be them. I saw all of his bodyguards. He didn’t lie. They were being set up,” he said, eliminating suspects.
Will nodded.
“On it,” he said. “You’ll find him. I know you will,” he added.
Ethan wished he had that much confidence in himself, but his brain was a scattered mess.
Then, when Will headed in, he focused on Corbin.
“I’m going to need you to drive. I have to call Greyson and see if he spoke to Gene,” he said. “Maybe he told him something that will tell us who this is.”
He didn’t want to touch Gene’s phone too much, so he planned on using his own. There might be fingerprints, and he didn’t have an evidence bag to protect it.
Plus, that blood could be from a fight.
Corbin held out his hand, and Ethan passed him the keys. Then, they started jogging toward the car.
Once in it, it came to life, and Corbin hauled ass.
“Which way?” he asked.
Ethan was struggling.
His brain was information dumping all they knew about this case in an effort to figure out what the hell they missed.
What he’d missed.
Because this was on him.
“Left,” he said. “Straight past the resort, on the highway, and toward the coast.”
Corbin did as he asked, and as he drove, Ethan made a call.
To Greyson.
“Hey,” Greyson said, answering the call. “I’m still processing and looking,” he admitted. “Tell Gene having you call won’t make it go any faster. The ME isn’t on duty, and I can’t bug him at home. The techs are moving as quickly as they can—or so they say.”
Ethan said nothing.
At first.
“Ethan?” Greyson asked.
That’s when it all came out.
“I went outside to check on Gene, and he was gone. I found his phone, and it’s damaged and has blood on it. The killer took him. We have a very small window.”
