A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) (53 page)

Aidan slowly looked up from the sheets of paper.

Rick raised his hands in surrender, quietly chuckling. "Down boy. Your guy's not on my radar. I know messing with him is the same as screwing with you. And I know better than to play with a rabid dog."

"Is this it?" Aidan asked with a sneer.

"You want my blood and urine too? Firstborn?"

Aidan's stare never wavered.

Rick sighed. "Yes, that's it." He clasped his hands and leaned forward, an odd peacefulness seemed to wash over his features. "You have my word," he said earnestly. "Each of those names will turn on themselves to try to save their own asses. Cameron is directly linked to my case and Mackler only. And you trimmed that list down to just me. Didn't you?" he said, giving Aidan a steady, knowing look.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Rick leaned back and half smiled. "You have a wonderful poker face."

Aidan didn't flinch.

"If you hold up your end of the bargain, I'll make sure no one lays a finger on Cameron and his boy toy. But I need at least one week to get the word out. So don't jump the trigger just yet on getting them back home. Work that list for a bit so you know I've held up my end and those leads are valid. I will get a message to you when everything's in place for them to return. Now…I would appreciate you holding up your end of the deal."

Aidan nodded curtly.

"Just so we're clear, your end of the deal is where you transfer my brother to Strassburg, not me into the arms of a kink-loving cellmate."

Aidan chuckled.

"You're twisted enough to do both, so I need to make sure we have a clear understanding," Rick said with a wicked grin.

"You have my word."

* * * *

"Nice of you to show up," Manny said, looking up from the file he was reviewing. He had a scattering of folders set out on the round table in their usual meeting room. He looked irritated, as if ready to pick a fight.

Aidan sighed, biting back the snippy comeback on the tip of his tongue. He could do nice…especially if he wanted something. "I was here earlier, but I had to leave to see someone. How did your depo go?"

Manny glanced at him suspiciously. "You want something. What is it?"

Fine, he could cut to the chase. Aidan shook his head. He damn sure couldn't deny he'd tried to be nice. He pulled out the chair next to Manny. "I want us off the special victim cases we take on. Sunny and I can stick to all the other cases but nothing having to do with shit like the Butterfly Killer."

Manny grabbed his mug and sipped his coffee, staring in that odd, dissecting way of his. "You
and
Sunny?"

Aidan nodded.

"Sunny can't handle it?"

"She's fine. I don't want to do them anymore. It takes a special set of skills and tolerance to handle those cases and I can't do it. I want to kill the bastards and that interferes with the whole
let's-bring-in-the-perp-alive
thing we're supposed to do."

Manny continued to stare.

Fuck, he hated that shit. That creepy stare was his way of assessing every word and filtering through the bullshit.

"If she's fine, then why take her off as well?"

Aidan sighed. "She's day to my night. Makes sense to keep us together. Besides, this is the longest partnership I've had. I don't want to mess with it."

"Why can't you handle it?"

Aidan took a slow, calming breath. There was no way in hell he was steering the conversation in
that
direction. "I already told you, my instincts on those cases are counterproductive to the end game."

"Bullshit," Manny said, taking another sip of his coffee and continuing to stare. Fucker had the stare down to a science.

"It takes a special breed to handle those cases. You're great at it—"

Manny set his mug down with a thunk. "Don't blow smoke up my ass. Is it because of Vega and what happened to him?"

Aidan sighed and shook his head. His teammate was persistent as hell. He looked up and gave him an equally scrutinizing stare. "It's personal. And I'm not discussing it. I'm making a request and I would appreciate you respecting that."

Manny crossed his arms and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Everyone has issues, Calloway. It's the reason I specialize in these cases. It's something
I
need to do, but I do understand it's not for everyone. Personally, I don't know how the hell you and Sunny handle homicides. At least when the victim is still alive, I feel there's some hope. But seeing so much death…" He trailed off and shook his head.

Aidan looked at Manny thoughtfully. Okay, so maybe the asshole wasn't that much of a prick and maybe it was all an act to get a rise out of him and spur him on.

"Are you guys fine still working those cases if you're off the site visits and interviews?"

"Yeah. Those are the kickers."

Manny nodded. "Good. Because I give you a lot of shit, but I know your track record. I definitely want to keep you on the team."

A grin tugged at Aidan's lips. "You want me behind you."

Manny scoffed. "Fuck you. Not behind me." He quietly chuckled and shook his head. "By my side."

"Aww. I'm feeling a little Reyes love here."

"Fuck you, Calloway," Manny said with a hint of a smile. "I'll talk to Travis and Wall and have them do the initial walk-through for those cases. As long as you guys stay on the team, we'll figure it out. By the way, I've been meaning to give this to you, and since we just had a moment, it's the best timing I've had in the last two weeks." He reached over into his briefcase on the table and withdrew an envelope.

"A moment? Reyes, seriously, I think you need to have a chat with your fiancée about who you prefer to stand
by
you."

Manny scowled and threw the envelope at Aidan. "Jerk."

Aidan laughed and picked up the envelope, opening it and reading the enclosure. He looked up, more than a little surprised. "You're inviting me to your wedding?"

"Marcela insisted you and Vega be there." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I told her about that night when I had a gun aimed at my head. She…didn't take it very well."

"Is she giving you shit about the job?"

"Not really. She's always known this is what I need to do and she knows the risks. But something like that shines a spotlight on the what-ifs and makes it real."

Aidan nodded absently.

"She thinks you're my guardian angel."

Aidan chuckled.

"I tell her you're an asshole, but she doesn't believe me. She knows about Vega, his case, all that stuff. She thinks you're…adorable," Manny said with a cringe. "The way you were always there at the hospital."

Aidan was dumbstruck—stuck somewhere between the "adorable" reference and the fact that Manny talked to his fiancée about him and his personal business.

"Her word, sure as hell not mine."

He blinked. Repeatedly.

"That was exactly my reaction when she said that. She really wants you two at the wedding." Manny reached up and rubbed the back of his neck again. "
I
want you guys there. The team is going. Wouldn't be the same if you weren't there."

Aidan flicked the edge of the invitation with his finger but couldn't think of an appropriate response. Yes or no would fit, but this was a big step…for the both of them. And he knew better than to say the wrong thing and mangle the olive branch Manny had waved between them. He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the stack of papers and handed them over to Manny. "I have an early wedding present for you."

Manny took the sheets and thumbed through them. He scanned each paper and turned them over, reading each line scribbled in crayon. He finally looked up; the wide-eyed shocked expression on his face couldn't disguise the excitement that vibrated off his body. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Yes."
It means my friends can come home.

Manny looked down at the papers again, thumbing through each sheet as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "He just gave you all this?"

"Not exactly."

Manny's focus darted back to Aidan. "Did you make a deal with the devil?"

"That's one way of putting it." Aidan stood from his seat. "I want to start working the list to make sure it's valid before I make any moves on his request."

"I'll get Travis on this right away," Manny said, returning his focus to the list as if it were the Holy Grail. "I can already see a few names he's been trying to nail on other issues in his division."

"Well, while you're both salivating over the list, I'm going to let Sunny know about our chat." Aidan walked over to the door and stopped while gripping the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder. "I'm RSVPing."

Manny stopped thumbing through the sheets and glanced up.

"You can add two to your guest list," he said before escaping the room.

* * * *

"Hey, Calloway, got a minute?" Travis asked, catching up with Aidan in the hallway before he left the precinct with Sunny that afternoon.

Sunny extended her hand, palm up. "Give me the keys. I'll go grab your truck."

"Hell no. I just had lunch and want to keep it down."

Sunny gave him the stink-eye and Travis shook his head while Aidan hid a smile. He had to admit, he did enjoy spending time with his team. He looked over to Travis. "What's up?"

"Well, I looked over the list you gave Reyes this morning. And…it's…well, it's long."

"Yeah?"

"So, I had a thought."

"That's dangerous."

"Asshole," Travis said, slapping Aidan's arm with the folder he held. "The list requires a hell of a lot of research to have enough legal bite to take each of these guys down. Some of these are cases I've been after for a while in my division, so I know it's going to be tough to uncover some of this shit. Especially if he refuses to testify. So…I was thinking…"

Aidan crossed his arms, impatiently waiting. "Spill."

"How would you feel about bringing Vega in to do the legal research? To gather enough intel on these guys for a rock-solid case. Vega is thorough and fast at finding shit. He did all the research for Cam's case so far, so he's more familiar with it than any analyst we'd get to start working it. And the research he did to nail the additional charges on the counterfeit parts ring secured several arrests. He's worked for the DA's office, he knows—"

"I'm cool with that. You don't have to sell me on the idea."

"Yeah?" Sunny and Travis said in unison.

Aidan's eyebrows drew together. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh, well. Because you guys—"

Aidan raised his hands to stop Travis. "He's the best at what he does. Period. You just admitted that. With that targeted list, I have no doubt he would not only be able to find shit on all those names quicker and far more thoroughly than any other person who's tasked with the job, but, with his legal background, he'd also be able to list all the possible charges, which an analyst wouldn't be able to do. As long as the rest of the team's okay with it and the captain approves it, I'm fine with it."

"Captain already approved it, and Reyes is heavily drooling at the prospect of closing out these cases quickly." Travis slapped the folder repeatedly against his hand, obviously just as anxious as Reyes to tackle the list.

"So call Jessie and ask him if he's interested. If you want to offer him a consulting job, then make him an offer."

"Would you be fine with him working from here?" Travis asked.

"Up to him. I know he does most of his legal research from home."

Travis flinched. "Yeah…but we can grant him full access to the different agency databases from here. Agencies are all on board with whatever we need on these cases, but they're a no-go regarding remote access outside of the designated terminal we have in-house."

Aidan wouldn't deny he'd be at peace with Jessie nearby rather than alone at home or off visiting a client. "The decision is his."

Travis nodded in acknowledgment and headed toward the captain's office.

Sunny stood at his side, crossing her arms and mirroring his stance, watching Travis head down the hallway. "And you know you're dying to have Vega close by with everything that's happened."

"Damn right."

"So are we," she said solemnly.

He looked over at his partner. "I had a feeling you were in on this."

"Of course." Sunny gave him a sideways glance. "He makes you happy…and tolerable." A snort of humor escaped her, evaporating all seriousness from the moment.

"That's so attractive."

"Shut up. We're going to love sitting back and watching him walk all over you. Vega's got you by the balls."

Aidan's laugh echoed through the corridor—at both the truth of Sunny's statement and imagining Jessie standing there smiling at the mention of balls.

Aidan walked through the door at the end of another long day, smiling when he spotted Jessie sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open. "Hey."

Jessie returned the smile and stood. "Hey yourself." He wrapped his arms around Aidan's neck and delivered a kiss, slow and sweet with an unmistakable undercurrent of want and need.

"Mmm." Aidan snaked his arm around Jessie's waist. "I love coming home."

Jessie bit his lower lip, ducking his head and brushing his nose along Aidan's stubble. "I lost track of time wrapping up this case file I have to finish up. Do you mind if we order in?"

"Not at all."

They separated from the embrace, Jessie returning to his work while Aidan stripped out of his sport coat and holster.

"Um…" Jessie began, turning in the seat then hesitating. "I got a call from your captain today."

"Yeah?"

Jessie nodded, draping his arm across the back of his chair. "He offered me a consulting job."

Aidan pulled the shirttails out of his pants and began unbuttoning his shirt. "I know."

"To research names from a list Rick gave you." He worried his lip. "I'm assuming he wants something in return. Is it doable without getting into trouble?"