“Just a damn minute!” Joshua snapped.
“Sergeant, we need to be sure that your interrogation is legal and will hold up in?—”
Colin surged to his feet. “Agent Parkinson, I was anactivelaw enforcement officer for a decade, working as the sergeant in charge of all assault cases at the University of Virginia.” He leaned toward the agent. “I’ve interrogated hundreds of rape victims, and Iknowwhat I’m doing. My questioning of Ms. Stamford was perfectly legal. It will hold up in any court in this country since I amstillan officer of the court, working now as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney for the city of Charlottesville. My oath of office is on record.”
“And if that’s not enough,” Joshua blurted out, getting to his feet. “He’s on goddamnvacation!”
Colin placed his hand on Joshua’s shoulder and gently pressed him back onto the bed. “I interrogated Ms. Stamford because the security officers on this ship had been givennotraining on how to properly conduct that type of interrogation. I was trying to help themandensure that lawful attention was paid to Ms. Stamford’s case.”
“But he’sdonenow!” Joshua insisted, again, getting to his feet. “So if you don’t mind…” He pointed to the door. “We have a breakfast date.”
Agent Parkinson glared at Joshua. “Sir, we are within our legal rights to?—”
“To question a cruise passenger with absolutely no connection to the crime?” Colin finished with an easy smile. “I don’t think so. First off, you’re talking to a prosecuting attorney, so spare me your FBI bullshit. Second, my husband is quite correct. We have a breakfast engagement in an hour or so, and I am all done playing Officer Krupke. You have my report, and if you don’t find it sufficient, you are free to interrogate Ms. Stamfordyourself.” He opened the stateroom door and pointed to the hallway. “And stop calling me ‘Sergeant’. I am properly addressed as Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Campbell-Abrams.”
“Campbell-Abrams,” Agent Payne sneered while tilting his head toward Joshua.
“You have aproblemwith that?” Joshua exploded, taking a quick half-step toward the agent.
“OK, we’re all done here,” Colin said, his voice smooth. He stepped in front of Joshua and ushered the agents and Officer Sinclair into the hallway, where Sinclair turned and touched his arm.
“Sorry, Colin.”
“No sweat, Blake. Not your fault.” He glanced at the FBI agents, shook his head in disgust, and reentered his suite. “Have a nice day, gentlemen,” he said, then closed the door and turned to face his husband, who stood before him with fists clenched, white-hot with anger. “Well,thatwent well!”
“Homophobic, son of a bitch!” Joshua fumed. “Someone needs to teach him some goddamn manners!”
“But my darling! It’s notniceto beat up your local FBI agent,” Colin said, laughing as he moved Joshua back into their stateroom. “It’s a good way to find yourself spending time in a federal slammer!”
“I wasn’t going tohithim,” Joshua fumed, jerking himself free of Colin’s grasp. “I was going to…”
“Yes?” Colin teased.
“I was going toeducatethe bigoted son of a bitch since clearly he needs it! And why aren’t you angry?”
“I’d rather go to breakfast,” Colin said. “And Iwasangry! I am still angry! But I also was acting as an officer of the court representing the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. And, if you’ll recall, I swore an oath to honestly, professionally, andcourteouslydemean myself in that office.” He grinned at Joshua. “I don’t want those guys ratting me out to my boss. I’m more scared ofEstherthan I am of them.”
“They didn’t ask you a damn thing about the asshole whoroofiedyou!” Joshua raged.
“They had bigger fish to fry. Blake told me that the guy was kicked off the ship. That’s good enough for me.”
There was a soft knock on the door leading to David and Nate’s stateroom, and a second later, Nate’s head poked through. “What thefuck!”
“Everything’s fine,” Colin told him, grabbing a pair of jeans from the closet. “Josh was just beating up on an FBI agent.”
“I wasnot!”
“The FBI?” Nate said, wandering into the room. “Wow, Josh. I thought it was the Irish who had a temper.”
“You think Jews don’t get angry?” Joshua asked, scooting over to make room for Nate to sit beside him. “Have you ever heard of, oh, I don’t know…Israel?”
Nate huffed out an ironic laugh and nodded. “Yeah. Point taken.” He indicated Joshua’s sweatpants. “You wearing those to breakfast?”
Joshua glanced down at his attire and grimaced. “I think they’re Colin’s.”
“Well, my friends, it’s been quite the morning,” Colin said, pulling a sweatshirt over his head. “So far today, we’ve managed to get up, get dressed, and piss off the Federal Bureau of Investigation. What’snexton our list?”
“Finish off the cake from last night?” Nate suggested.
