Gene shook his hand, and he kept his body in front of the victim for the time being.
“Call me Gene,” he offered. “I’m sorry we’re meeting like this.”
The man nodded.
“Yeah, me too. We were notified by someone out of thePhillyoffice that we had a crime scene.”
Oh, he could say that.
Gene was still watching the area, and there was another man heading his way.
That had to be the ME. He was putting down his kit as the other techs lit up the beach so they could work.
Lucas was confused.
“They said you were running a case now, and we don’t understand why.”
Oh, well, he was about to find out.
“Unfortunately, when an agent finds a body, and the agent doesn’t work for the local office, that person is tagged in,” he admitted.
Lucas lifted a brow.
“Uh, if the body is tied to our office,” he stated. “You left that part out.”
Gene stepped to the side, and pointed.
On the beach behind him, with the surf receding, was the body.
“I believe this is Jarod Shand. I went to training with him back at Quantico a few years ago. If that’s him, once your ME gives positive ID, your office can’t work the case.”
The man gasped.
“Jarod?” he asked, staring over at the body in horror. “What the fuck?” he asked, heading toward him.
Gene followed.
When they reached him, the man crouched down and shook his head.
“Oh, shit. Jarrod, what the hell happened, buddy?” he asked. “Was it a boating accident?”
Yeah, Gene wished he knew. What wouldn’t he give to have it be a simple boating accident? Let’s just say his fingers were crossed that this was as simple as that.
That would mean not spending precious time on their vacation dealing with a case, instead of having moments to make a memory.
“If only the dead could talk,” Gene said, taking it all in. Corbin was staying back, thankfully.
Lucas sighed.
“This sucks! Jarod basically ran our office. He was damn good at it, too. We thought he was going to get the director position.”
Well, that wasn’t happening.
Not now.
Lucas looked up.
“How did you find him?” he asked.
