Heading out of the man’s office, he slammed the door behind him. Then, he made the walk downstairs to the lobby, out the door, and no longer a part of the one thing that saved him five years ago.
Gabe watched from his window as the man walked across the lot, and got into his rental car.
And he was legitimately shocked.
Yeah, he didn’t expect it.
He knew this was Ethan’s dream job. His ambition was his strength, and now, he’d given it up. There had been no contingency plan, and that was bad for agents.
Gabe knew one thing.
He was disappointed.
Ethan Blackhawk had given up too easily.
And now, the FBI had just lost a good Fed.
Outside, Ethan pulled out his phone.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t think.
He was scattered and scared.
All he knew was that everything that he’d worked for in the last five years was gone, and he needed to regroup.
FAST.
But how?
Pulling out his phone, he stared at it and knew that his lover would still be in the air, heading home.
So, he rattled off a text.
To Gene.
The whole time, that overwhelming need to run for it, was trying to overtake him, and he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t doing just that.
He’d lost his badge.
For Ethan, he needed a place to hide and regroup. Gene being out of reach was going to bite him in the ass. He couldn’t talk him down.
So, he left him a message. Hopefully, he wouldn’t hate him.
‘He asked if we were a couple, and I wouldn’t tell him, so I’m terminated. He knows about us, and he is separating us. He put me back in Puerto Rico, and you’re being reassigned a new partner when you’re back. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I could have handled that better. He told me you’re better off without me, and maybe you are. I’m sorry I let you get hurt. I’m jobless, and I’m getting on a flight. I’m scared. I just lost who I am, Gene. He’s breaking us apart, and I don’t know who I am anymore. I have to get out of DC. Don’t forget that I’ll love you forever. I’m sorry I dropped the ball. I couldn’t protect us. I’m just not strong enough.’
Honestly, Ethan wasn’t sure it even made any sense. Truthfully, he felt like he was just babbling in the text.
What he needed to do was escape.
That overwhelming voice in his head, the demon that had been pushed back for months, was back in control.
He was a failure.
He caused this.
All the things he’d learned by being with Gene were gone, and he was back to square one.
