He sighed.
“I’ll be fine. I’m back inHolladay. What do you want me to do?” he asked.
Elizabeth could tell from the tone that he wasn’t good, and that it likely didn’t go well with Alex.
“I’m about to head to the cemetery caregiver’s house to talk to him about his mother. We just found out that she died of mysterious circumstances. I’m going to send over her name. Are you up for research?”
Yes, yes, he was.
The bottom line was that Corbin didn’t want to think. He’d done plenty of that on his way back. Now, he wanted to just work through this, as best he could. Work would distract him.
“I’m good. Send it. I’ll get on it. Want me in the field?”
She didn’t.
“No, but can you also check in with the two detectives? They quit their jobs, but we found that this person is playing a game. I need to know where everyone is at this point to make sure we’re all safe. This was dropped into their laps originally, and they might be part of this chess match. I can’t be too careful.”
He could do that too.
“I’ll handle it. I’ll transmit anything I find via email,” he offered.
She was grateful.
“Thanks, Corbin. Oh, and give it time. Alex is a tough nut, but once he softens up, he’s logical and knows a good thing. He’ll come around.”
He laughed.
“Then, he should avoid me like the goddamn plague,” he admitted. “Because I’m not a good thing.”
The line went dead.
Well, that was one more thing she had to handle at a later date. The last thing she needed was losing another Fed in this mess. That was problematic for her, and the division.
She was running low on team, and it would take some time to get Tora and Mac up to speed. They’d have to run a case with Gene, so he could train them, and she couldn’t lose her partner right now to training.
It was balls to the wall from here on out.
“Update, husbands, Corbin struck out with Alex, and that’s a mess. Only, we don’t have time for this,” she admitted. “It’s going to have to wait.”
Gene sighed.
“I’ll deal with the baby agent later. Let’s get this handled. Corbin can hold on for a bit. He’s pretty stable, and not at risk tosink too much into that self-loathing. We had that phase a while ago.”
She hoped so.
There were far too many balls in the air.
As she went to say something, Gene gave her the heads-up as he saw something coming over her one shoulder.
“We have company,” he said.
The homicide captain was escorting a woman toward them, and she was crying.
Already, Elizabeth knew who this would be.
A victim’s mother.
They all turned, and Raphael braced himself, standing behind Elizabeth and Ethan. His hand was on his gun, and he was watching ever move.
