Gabany nodded, red deepening in his cheeks.
“So, you, what? Zippered him back up?” Agent Kanas’s eyes were huge. She needed to work on her poker face.
“I didn’t want him found that way,” Gabany said defensively.
He’d messed with the body which could mean nothing or could mean everything.
“What do you think happened?” Dominic asked softly, shooting a quelling look at Kanas.
Gabany shifted his feet. He was obviously uncomfortable talking about sex in front of a woman. “I don’t know.”
“Well, there are two choices. Either he masturbated alone or there was someone with him.” Kanas had no such qualms. “Was there any evidence of semen?”
Gabany’s mouth dropped open in shock as if a woman wasn’t supposed to know about basic human biology. Yeah, tact was definitely not high on her list of attributes. Kanas had switched to full-on investigator and Gabany was still thinking about the death of his friend.
Dominic was trying not to think about Van at all. “Can I clarify a point?”
The man looked aghast but nodded.
“You adjusted his boxer shorts to cover his penis?”
A quick nod.
“What about his pants?”
Another nod. “I zipped them up and fastened the button.”
“He never mentioned another woman? Not even in passing?” asked Kanas. “Because he definitely didn’t mention anyone to me.”
Gabany shook his head, looking defeated. “No.”
Dominic paused. He wasn’t sure quite how this changed things. Perhaps Van had been knocking one out before ending it all. But would he really have wanted to be found that way?
Or was Agent Kanas right and someone else had been in the study, someone who’d helped that bullet find his brain?
Or had Van had a sexual encounter that evening and been so overcome by guilt and remorse and self-hate for cheating on his dead wife that he killed himself and left his humiliation right out in the open for everyone to see as some sort of twisted self-punishment?
The trouble with that scenario was that no way Van would have wanted anyone in the FBI finding him that way. Van understood the black humor and notorious urban legends that abounded within the Bureau. He simply wouldn’t have wanted that humiliating detail to be his legacy.
But if there was another woman involved who was she and when had she left? Before or after Van ended up with a bullet in his brain?
“Would you be willing to make an official statement?” asked Dominic.
“Will it get me in trouble?” Gabany sounded defensive now.
Dominic let out a breath through his nose. “It might get you a caution. But as long as you tell the truth I can’t see the District Attorney being keen to prosecute.”
Gabany went white around the mouth. “Does my wife have to know? Or the general public? I did it to protect Van’s reputation…”
“I can’t guarantee someone won’t find out,” Dominic told him honestly. “But no one inside the FBI wants to see Van’s memory sullied in any way. He was a highly respected agent whom we loved and esteemed. No one is going to release the information unless we have to.”
Gabany nodded slowly. “Give me your card, and I will send you a signed statement.”
It didn’t quite work that way, but Dominic would figure out how to handle it when he had the document in hand. No way would the DA go after a conviction for this. Dominic handed over his card, and Kanas did the same.
The poodle whimpered as they walked away and made Dominic think about his own dog who was probably curled up on his bed even though he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“What are you smiling at?” Kanas asked between gritted teeth.
He raised his brow at her. “You have a problem with me smiling?”
“Considering what we just learned about Van, yes.”
“Lighten up, Kanas. Van’s dead no matter the state of my face.”
Her eyes did a shocked flick around his features and darted away. She muttered something he didn’t catch.
He checked his watch. “I need to get back to Quantico.”
“What?” Kanas stopped and faced him, incredulous. “We need to go talk to the medical examiner. See if they took swabs for DNA. We need to trace Van’s movements the day he died. We might be able to place him with someone—”
“We’re not actively assigned to this investigation, remember?” Although he had an excuse as Aldrich had asked him to look at the files. Kanas didn’t. “You need to get back to the office before your boss notices you’re AWOL. I’ll contact the ME and the lab and—”
“No. No way.” She put her hands on her hips, her t-shirt stretching tight across her full breasts. He had to force himself not to let his gaze get distracted. Ava Kanas had the sort of body that could make a man break every rule in the book, and Dominic was not a rule breaker.
“You are not sidelining me on this,” she insisted.
And the sort of mouth that could drive a man insane. Not in a good way.
“Sidelining you?” Was she serious? “Taking the lead on something is not sidelining. Ever heard of teamwork? Cooperation? Or plain old saving your ass?”
“Saving my ass?” Gold flecks sparked in the depths of her eyes. “You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me.”
Dominic strove for his natural calm, the one that usually came so easily to him. “I’m trying to protect your FBI career from the kamikaze spin you seem determined to put it into.”