Read Online Blind Spot by Maggie Kavanagh - Free Book Online

possessions in the fire, save some childhood things stored along with old family possessions in a small rental unit. He had never cared for material goods, but sometimes he wished they could get a new place and start fresh as equal adults. It was a moot point, since there was no way he could afford it on his salary.
    Maybe one day, if his hard work paid off. If they were still together.
    “Thanks,” he said simply.
    “So, how long have you two known each other?” Eric gave him another appreciative up-and-down, and Sam finally placed his accent. Louisiana Creole.
    “A while, but we’ve only been together a little over a year,” Sam said. “I used to do landscaping for Nathan and Emma.”
    “You don’t say? Damn shame what happened to that gal. She was a real sweetheart.”
    “Yeah. She was.” Sam glanced toward the kitchen. He didn’t want Nathan to overhear them talking about Emma, but Eric seemed happy to change the topic on his own.
    “Gotta say it’s strange being up north again. But it’ll be good to work with Nate.”
    Sam smiled tightly. Maybe they should talk about the weather. “How long have you known Nathan?”
    Nathan reentered the room with the coffee and a glass of water, and Eric leaned forward and took both drinks with a smile.
    “Thanks, bud.” Eric raised his occupied hands and waggled his eyebrows. “Double fisting, my favorite. So you never told your boy here about how we met?”
    Nathan grimaced, obviously not fond of the story.
    “Well, I’ll tell you—first time I met Nate at the academy, he’d never even fired a gun. When was that now? Eleven years ago? I was a new recruit too, but I’d been through hell and half of Georgia already. This guy, he was so proper, almost like royalty. We thought there was something huge lodged up his ass—”
    Nathan raised one mildly irritated eyebrow. “Ah, come off it, Eric. I wasn’t that bad.”
    Sam was still trying to process the information. “Wait a second. You trained together?”
    “Yep.” Eric polished off the glass of water with a few large gulps. “Soon as I left the corps, the Feds swept me up. Been with ’em ever since.”
    The conversation continued, and Sam learned about a Nathan he’d never known. Eric was filled with stories about the academy—including pranks the new agent trainees used to play on one another, like stealing each other’s clothes during shower time.
    “And Nate,” Eric said as he wrapped up another story. “He ran the last five miles with his head held up, even with his sprained ankle. Nope. He wouldn’t let it get him down. He was a real trooper. But he had class. You know? Looks like he still does.”
    There was nothing ironic about the statement. In spite of the joking, he seemed like a genuine guy. Sam was starting to like Eric Duquesne.
    “After training we went our separate ways. My field office was in Texas, and Nate was just married.”
    “So, what have you been doing since?” Sam asked—maybe too abruptly.
    “I was down on the border for the last five years. Messy business. Lots of people dying out in the desert.” He shook his head and made a noise of disgust. “Such a waste. I’m looking forward to the change of pace, to tell you the truth.” He arched an eyebrow at Nathan.
    Sam cleared his throat. “So, have you been… uh, trained, like Nathan has?”
    “You mean in BDSM? Hell no. I’ve been in the community for about eight years now.”
    “Oh.” So he was experienced. Very experienced.
    “And I’m a switch, if you’re curious.” He aimed his amused gaze at Sam. “That’s an offer. You wanna maybe do something together? Get rid of the tension?”
    “I think we better focus on the case for now,” Nathan said darkly. Sam hid a smile behind his hand.
    Eric seemed bemused. He shrugged. “Well, if you boys decide you want to play sometime, once this is all over, you give me a call. The more the merrier, I always say. Life’s too short for monogamy.”
    Sam snorted,