NONE.
“We weren’t even close,” Gene said, bluffing.
He began making shit up to stall and save his lover.
“We thought it was the ME. If I had to make an arrest, it would have been Ben Crowley.”
Lucas paused, and Gene could see the curiosity in his eyes. Well, never let it be said that law officers weren’t curious.
Granted, curiosity this time just might kill the Gene.
“Really? Talk me through it,” Lucas said, leaning on the table.
Jesus.
This dude was batshit insane.
That he wanted to have a conversation before he tortured him?
Like they were buddies?
Well, when in Rome, stall.
Yeah, someone skirted by FBI testing because he wasn’t playing with a full deck.
For.
Sure.
Because he was making shit up, and trying to piece it together, he tried his best. Only, Gene’s head was groggy, and he wanted to throw up. Someone gave him a concussion, and some drugs.
No.
Doubt.
“We knew this wasn’t Esmeralda,” he said. “It was over the top. It was way too much Voodoo bullshit,” he said, slowly wiggling his wrists to see how much leeway he had so he could get free.
He was going to have to fight for his life if Ethan didn’t find him missing.
Quickly.
Lucas sighed.
“Okay, I may have gone overboard on that. I panicked. After I tortured Jaden, I had to cover it up, and I saw those markings on the wall, and knew his ex was into that kind of garbage. He’d fired her, and he hated her guts. I figured that was a good enough reason. You know how greedy assholes can be—present self-included.
Gene had to keep him talking.
“So, we started looking at how it could be someone who knew basic forensics. You left no trace. Let me guess, when you barehanded Samuel Padilla, it was to put your DNA on him, in case you fucked up and left some.”
He laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
Only, for Gene, this wasn’t the least bit funny.
“Goddamn it. You’re smart,” he said. “Yeah, I did just that. I wanted to drop him in the water, but he was a fat ass, and I couldn’t get him there in a timely manner. So, I had to let the chips fall where they would.”
