The Control Freak: A Kip and Ezra Novel

17.

"Gordon. We got another lead on Estes. Agent Kip?"

I tore my eyes away from my wife to face Jayden.

    "Where?"

    "Another auto shop near central Manhattan. Is Fox okay to come?"

    "I'll have to ask him. Let's go."

    "Gordon!"

I walked past Willow as she grabbed my arm. I shook her off.

    "We'll talk later."

I walked to Fox's office, my heart pounding with what felt like a hundred emotions. Why had she come here?

    "Gordon?"

I hadn't noticed I was standing in the door, stark silent.

    "Uh, we have another lead on Estes. You feeling well enough to tag along, Detective?"

    "Of course. Where to?"

He followed me out the door and I gave Willow one last glance before we raced to the scene.

When we got there, Fox pulled his car up to the curb as I got out and adjusted my vest and grabbed my gun.

    "Gordon..."

    "What, Fox? I-"

I stopped mid sentence as I saw the scene in front of us. There were at least four more bodies and the stuff inside all of the containers of auto parts was thrown around. Draws were open and tires were everywhere. Estes was nowhere to be seen.

    "Damn it!"

I put my gun back in my pocket and walked toward the open garage and knelt by one of the bodies.

    "Get the coroner here," I heard Fox say from somewhere behind me.

He laid a hand on my shoulder.

    "There was nothing we could have done, Kip. We got here as fast as we could."

    "Not fast enough," I said as I stood up and walked back to the car.

Why couldn't we just catch this conniving SOB?

For good.

Carter stood up and slid his dress shirt on, wincing as he pulled it closed and buttoned it. His hand went to his abdomen as he took a breath. It was gonna take some time but he was ready to put in the work. He pulled his phone and dialed, hesitant but willing to.

    "Hello?"

    "Christy. It's me."

    "What do you want, Carter?"

I sighed and bit my lip, knowing she would act this way.

    "I... just wanted to say I'm going back to the NYPD to help Gordon. Jackson is discharging me."

    "Good. Call me when you're on your way home."

And she hung up without another word. Carter sighed as he threw the phone down on the bed. A knock on the door sounded.

    "Come in."

    "Hey, Carter. Just wanted to get your signature for the discharge papers."

Carter took the pen from Dr. Jackson and signed the papers, handing the writing utensil back to him but his grip lingered.

    "If I may say something?" Jackson asked, his eyes narrowed slightly.

    "Sure," Carter said, his eyes narrowing the same way, in confusion.