Read Online A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) by Jaime Reese - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jaime Reese
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conversation and return to Jessie's side.
"Now get your ass up off my chair and come with me so I can introduce you to the team." The captain stood and made his way to his office door.
"I want to work Jessie's case."
Harry turned and crossed his arms. "I already told you, I can't do that. I'll make sure you're updated on anything we find out."
Aidan shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "What else have you found out?"
"Not much. We have the description Vega provided. When CSI processed the scene, they pulled DNA from the blood on the broken glass and the wall as well as some strands of hair they found. They all match the same suspect, but there's no match in CODIS for comparison."
Aidan ran his hands through his hair. "How can someone who's done this not have a damn record for something? Have you checked—"
The captain reached out and grabbed Aidan's shoulder. "We're not sitting on this, I promise you. We'll keep a guard posted at his door in the hospital until I can't justify it anymore. Okay?"
He hesitated but eventually nodded. He could grant his captain a little wiggle room while he got his head straight. His captain was a rock-solid guy and sure as hell wouldn't twiddle his thumbs waiting for something to happen. But damn it all to hell if they thought he was going to sit on the sidelines and go strictly on a play-by-play recap. There had to be some way he could be involved.
"Good, now let's meet your new best friends."
Aidan followed with a groan. More people. More curious, meddling people who probably didn't want to be anywhere near him.
Lovely. Just fucking lovely.
* * * *
"How'd it go?" Hunter asked when Aidan entered Jessie's room.
"I don't want to talk about it." He walked over to the corner and set his laptop and stack of files on the small round table.
"That bad?"
Aidan tossed his duffle bag on the chair and flipped open his laptop, powered it on and launched Skype. He sat in the chair and leaned back, absently glancing over at Jessie lying on the bed. "Any change?"
Hunter stood and walked over to him, leaning on the small round table that didn't seem as if it could hold the weight of much more. "You know he won't wake until they wean him off the meds. In the last hour while you were away, the doctor came in twice and three nurses have circled. They're watching him so you just need to sit back and give it time."
Sit back.
Wait.
Give it time.
Bend.
The exhaustion of hearing the same shit, over and over like a scratched record wore him down. Why the hell did things need to change? Why did fate need to come in and screw around with his semi-perfect world? Correction. It was a mainly fucked-up world, but whatever, he'd been able to dog paddle in that cesspool and survive. Why did something have to happen to Jessie? He could handle just about anything thrown at him… But why Jessie? He was always nice, always helpful, always—
"Stop it. Whatever is running through your mind, stop it the fuck right now."
Aidan looked up, blinking to focus on his friend's face. "Why did this have to happen to him?" Hunter was all-knowing in that odd paternal way, always righting the star alignments and making sense of things that didn't seem to balance in the world.
"Why does anything happen?"
Aidan grunted. "Don't get philosophical on my ass, please. I'm just trying to make sense of this."
Hunter took a seat in one of the neighboring chairs. "Sometimes, shit happens that doesn't make sense. If you try to find reason in an unreasonable situation, you'll drive yourself crazy. Focus on your work. Focus on being there for him. That's all you can do right now."
"I hate it when you use logic."
Hunter half smiled. "It's my secret weapon against you and Cam. You two always seem to think the world is out to punish you."
"Can you blame us for thinking that with everything you know?"
"No. I can't. But I also know the two of you well enough to know that neither of you could have done anything in
"Now get your ass up off my chair and come with me so I can introduce you to the team." The captain stood and made his way to his office door.
"I want to work Jessie's case."
Harry turned and crossed his arms. "I already told you, I can't do that. I'll make sure you're updated on anything we find out."
Aidan shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "What else have you found out?"
"Not much. We have the description Vega provided. When CSI processed the scene, they pulled DNA from the blood on the broken glass and the wall as well as some strands of hair they found. They all match the same suspect, but there's no match in CODIS for comparison."
Aidan ran his hands through his hair. "How can someone who's done this not have a damn record for something? Have you checked—"
The captain reached out and grabbed Aidan's shoulder. "We're not sitting on this, I promise you. We'll keep a guard posted at his door in the hospital until I can't justify it anymore. Okay?"
He hesitated but eventually nodded. He could grant his captain a little wiggle room while he got his head straight. His captain was a rock-solid guy and sure as hell wouldn't twiddle his thumbs waiting for something to happen. But damn it all to hell if they thought he was going to sit on the sidelines and go strictly on a play-by-play recap. There had to be some way he could be involved.
"Good, now let's meet your new best friends."
Aidan followed with a groan. More people. More curious, meddling people who probably didn't want to be anywhere near him.
Lovely. Just fucking lovely.
* * * *
"How'd it go?" Hunter asked when Aidan entered Jessie's room.
"I don't want to talk about it." He walked over to the corner and set his laptop and stack of files on the small round table.
"That bad?"
Aidan tossed his duffle bag on the chair and flipped open his laptop, powered it on and launched Skype. He sat in the chair and leaned back, absently glancing over at Jessie lying on the bed. "Any change?"
Hunter stood and walked over to him, leaning on the small round table that didn't seem as if it could hold the weight of much more. "You know he won't wake until they wean him off the meds. In the last hour while you were away, the doctor came in twice and three nurses have circled. They're watching him so you just need to sit back and give it time."
Sit back.
Wait.
Give it time.
Bend.
The exhaustion of hearing the same shit, over and over like a scratched record wore him down. Why the hell did things need to change? Why did fate need to come in and screw around with his semi-perfect world? Correction. It was a mainly fucked-up world, but whatever, he'd been able to dog paddle in that cesspool and survive. Why did something have to happen to Jessie? He could handle just about anything thrown at him… But why Jessie? He was always nice, always helpful, always—
"Stop it. Whatever is running through your mind, stop it the fuck right now."
Aidan looked up, blinking to focus on his friend's face. "Why did this have to happen to him?" Hunter was all-knowing in that odd paternal way, always righting the star alignments and making sense of things that didn't seem to balance in the world.
"Why does anything happen?"
Aidan grunted. "Don't get philosophical on my ass, please. I'm just trying to make sense of this."
Hunter took a seat in one of the neighboring chairs. "Sometimes, shit happens that doesn't make sense. If you try to find reason in an unreasonable situation, you'll drive yourself crazy. Focus on your work. Focus on being there for him. That's all you can do right now."
"I hate it when you use logic."
Hunter half smiled. "It's my secret weapon against you and Cam. You two always seem to think the world is out to punish you."
"Can you blame us for thinking that with everything you know?"
"No. I can't. But I also know the two of you well enough to know that neither of you could have done anything in
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