A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) (40 page)

"You need to get your nose out of this shit until we tell you otherwise," Manny said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Captain's orders."

"It's been months." Aidan curled his hands into fists under the table, hoping to steady the radiating anger.

Manny leaned forward, resting his elbows on the small conference table. "You know the only place shit gets resolved overnight is in the movies. This is real life. We've found breaks in cases that have sat for months."

"Aidan found the breaks in the agency cases that sat for months," Sunny corrected.

True, but definitely not the time to shine a spotlight on that bit of wisdom.

"Reyes, back off," Travis said when Manny turned to give Sunny a spiteful glare. "It's only natural for Calloway to be pissed and frustrated. Hell,
we're
pissed and frustrated, and we're not Vega's…uh…"

Wall leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, looking at Travis. Both Manny and Sunny glanced at Aidan then back at Travis.

"We're not Vega's…what?" Manny said, undoubtedly forcing him to walk the plank and ride that elephant in the room.

Travis's focus bounced from Manny to Aidan, then to the other teammates. They all questioned his relationship with Jessie but knew better than to mention it.

"Reyes, just give me something to shut me the fuck up, please. And I don't mean give me a we're-following-up-on-leads line of crap." Aidan scrubbed a hand over his face and blew out an exasperated breath. Frustrated in so many ways, he needed some relief somewhere. And after last night, seeing, firsthand, Jessie breaking down, he couldn't handle much more of this. "Please."

Manny quieted, leaning back in his chair. He glanced at the other team members. "We have something. We're waiting on some information from one of the agencies. Once we have that, we'll need Vega to come in. I can't tell you more and I won't tell you more." He looked to the others and his focus landed squarely on Sunny for a few seconds longer than the others before returning to Aidan. "And that's all you're getting from
us
at the moment."

"So you have…something?" Aidan asked, his heartbeat drumming in his chest at a possible lead. He twisted his hands under the table, anxious for some bit of information to move the case forward.

"Something. Maybe. Yes."

Aidan rubbed his eyes. "That's vague, Reyes."

Manny sighed and tugged on the cuffs of his shirt. "I need you to keep your head in the game, Calloway."

"I can't keep my head in the game if I don't know the plays." He looked up, biting back the anger that simmered beneath the surface.

Manny scowled. "I meant the other cases. You're too close to this, Calloway. I'm surprised the captain allowed us to work on it." Manny leaned in and stared at him intently for a few moments before he spoke. "So don't fuck it up. If he pulls it away from us, you know you're screwed and so is Vega."

Aidan closed his eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. He hated this helplessness that consumed him. He wanted to be the one to make Jessie smile, to give him the news that everything would be all right.

"Okay, let's start with the drug cases. Travis, where are we on those?" Manny addressed the team, dismissing the previous conversation.

Aidan raked a hand through his hair, trying to shift his focus to the stack of cases in front of him. He opened the file and tried to follow along with the others but couldn't. He jabbed the heel of his hand against his forehead, trying to calm the wrath twisting and taking shape into a beast filled with unquenchable rage.

He wanted to find this bastard.

He
needed
to find this bastard.

Only then could Jessie have the peace he so freely offered in return.

* * * *

Jessie tilted his head back on the couch and glanced over to Aidan still fidgeting with the towel in the kitchen. "Do you want to sit and watch with me?" he asked, extending his hand to Aidan. He smiled when Aidan tossed the towel aside then came to him, wrapping his large, warm hand around his. Aidan claimed Jessie's touch was magical, but Aidan had no clue how easily he soothed Jessie's worries with a simple caress. And after the other night, he hated admitting how much clingier he had become with Aidan, yearning for the warmth and safety of his arms. Or maybe it was territorial now that he'd finally worked his way through the tiny crack of Aidan's iron wall. He didn't want to overthink things too much, knowing Aidan could slam that door shut at any moment.

"Did you pick out a movie?" Aidan asked, finally settling into his corner spot.

"Well, not really. It's some of your home videos. Remember, I had mentioned them before? We've just been…a little busy lately."

Busy
. Understatement of the year. He'd love nothing more than to return to their routine, snuggling on the couch, watching television and letting all the outside drama pass them by, but Aidan had become distant again in the last few days. Something obviously weighed heavily on his mind, but Jessie had no intention of awakening that beast.

"Yeah. I just thought they were VHS or something. I hadn't realized Ty had transferred them over to DVD." Aidan paused for a moment, lost in thought, then lowered his brow. "Did you get those from Ty or Cole?"

"Ty," Jessie responded with a smile. "Cole would have given me the embarrassing ones so I think you might be safe."

"I guess we'll see." Aidan propped his feet up on the coffee table and Jessie lay across the couch on his side, resting his head on Aidan's chest. He sighed when Aidan's arm snaked around his waist and pulled him closer, snug into their usual television-watching position. He pressed play on the remote and nestled into the warmth of Aidan's arms as the video started.

The video faded into a scene, panning across a grassy backyard. A tall man with dark hair who looked like an older version of Ty stood behind a barbecue grill and called out over his shoulder toward the house behind him.

"What is this?" Jessie asked, peering up at Aidan.

Aidan's focus remained on the video as if trying to recall a memory. "Oh! That's my birthday. I think my thirteenth. I had this big hang up about having to control the camera since I was now 'a teenager.' That's my dad behind the grill and I'm guessing Mom's in the house."

"Ty looks a lot like your dad."

Aidan smiled warmly. "Yeah, he does."

Suddenly, the video spun almost one hundred eighty degrees then back around again. "I'm totally going to kick your ass if you keep hiding from the camera," the young voice from the video said.

Jessie laughed. "Let me guess. That's you?"

"Yeah," Aidan said with a chuckle. "Ty kept walking behind me to avoid the camera. He insisted he should have had the camera because it was my birthday, and I should be the one on the video, not him."

Suddenly, the video panned back to the house, and a tall, lean woman emerged with a platter of food. Ty may have looked like their father, but Aidan indisputably mirrored their mother. The dark hair and hazel eyes were an exact match and the inquisitive stare a dead giveaway to their hereditary link. She smiled warmly to her husband, a lopsided grin that punctuated her blood tie to Aidan.

"You look so much like her," Jessie said in awe.

"She was amazing," Aidan said, his tone wistful. He blankly looked ahead, as if watching the television, but it was obvious his mind had probably returned to that very moment in time.

A young boy ran across the video and the camera turned to follow him. "You're not escaping," young Aidan's voice said. "Ty, stop running!" he yelled, then laughed before sprinting after his brother, the video image bouncing up and down, still recording as he raced through the yard.

Aidan chuckled and leaned into Jessie. "I'd always give him a head start. Man, he was impossible when he lost so I'd let him win sometimes."

The camera finally caught up to young Ty and a hand reached out to grasp his shoulder. "Gotcha!"

Young Ty turned and smiled. His brown eyes brightened with the glare of the sun. "Gimme!" he yelled as he laughed and tugged on the camera, finally pulling it away and turning the lens to focus on a striking young version of Aidan.

Jessie's breath hitched. Young Aidan smiled wide and laughed loudly as he struggled to regain the camera. He reached out and covered the lens with his hand. "It's my birthday. Give me that thing." He flicked his head from side to side, trying to avoid his face getting caught on video. His hair blew with the summer air—the top fringing just above his eyes and the sides long enough to curl around his ears and barely touch the top of his T-shirt. Young Aidan laughed as the camera finally focused on him, capturing his playful, mischievous grin.

And unbridled happiness.

"Say something for the camera," young Ty said. 

"Something."

Yeah, that's Aidan
. Jessie smiled and looked up at him. His smile faded at the now stern expression on Aidan's face. Jessie returned his focus to the video playback and watched as the brothers left the camera on the ground then ran in circles until they tumbled down onto the grass. Although they were quite a distance from the camera, their laughter echoed in stereo through the video, capturing a joy which could only be described as youthful innocence and could only happen between brothers or the closest of friends. Young Ty climbed onto his big brother's back, laughing as young Aidan trotted around the yard and neighed like a horse. Ty complained when they finally approached the camera, begging for another lap around the yard. Young Aidan's face filled the screen with a huge smile, flashing every tooth in his mouth. The sweat trickled down his forehead and the now wet hair tips stuck to his face. 

He neared the camera with his younger brother still arm-locked around his neck. "This birthday boy is signing out," he said, crossing his eyes and giving the camera fish lips. Young Ty peeked over his shoulder and stared into the camera and yelled "happy birthday" before young Aidan switched off the recording. The video immediately faded to black then resumed with another scene from the same day.

An oddly silent Aidan unwrapped his arm from around Jessie. "I'm going to review some of the files before the meeting tomorrow morning to try to catch something we might have missed." Aidan stood, then walk over to the door, double-checking the locks and alarm.

Jessie paused the video and waited. "Aidan?" Something seemed off, but he couldn't peg exactly what had happened to darken Aidan's mood.

Aidan returned to his side, reached down, and pressed his lips to Jessie's in a tender kiss.

Jessie wrapped his arms around him, unsure why a swell of emotions had suddenly risen within and tightened his throat.

Aidan inched back from the embrace and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Did you want to watch the rest of the video?"

Aidan looked at Jessie for a few seconds, hesitating before he spoke. "Nah. I'm going to do some work." He hesitated as if wanting to say something more. Instead, he turned away, his shoulders slumped as he retreated down the hallway to the bedroom.

Jessie sighed when the door clicked shut. He wouldn't push. Aidan would return and open up to him when he was ready…and not a moment before. He returned his focus to the television and resumed the video, lowering the volume so as not to disturb Aidan while he worked.

He sat upright on the couch and watched the young brothers continue to roughhouse and run around the yard until the recorded sessions showed the night sky and the exhaustion of the day. Each of their parents made video appearances and gushed about both of their young sons. Jessie hadn't realized how tightly he held the cushion in his hands until his fingers became numb or how the tears trickled down his cheeks until he wiped away the unexpected wetness. He rubbed at the ache in his chest as he watched the young Aidan in the video, smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. 

The smile.

An overwhelming sense of mourning overtook him as he watched young Aidan grab his young brother and rub his head, laughing hysterically as Ty protested but smiled.

Something had broken Aidan's spirit.

Jessie had come to a harsh realization each time Aidan confided a truth. It wasn't
one
thing that left a mark on Aidan's soul but a series of events, slowly adding another layer to the rising stack of heartbreaking milestones.

Jessie tightly clutched the cushion against his chest, mesmerized watching the young Calloway boys play on the screen. Their closeness, undeniable. Their happiness, indisputable. Their brotherly bond, seemingly unbreakable. Yet, something had happened to rob the joy from Aidan's soul. 

Jessie absently wiped the wetness trickling down his cheeks, no longer trying to control the outlet of emotion.
This
was
his
Aidan. The Aidan with infinite mischief who teased him to no end. The same protective Aidan with an abundance of love who spent nights by his bed watching over him just to make sure he slept through the nightmares while at the hospital.

The same Aidan who lay buried under the protective layers of armor, shielding himself from prying eyes.

Jessie loosened his hold on the cushion and took a deep breath, nodding to himself as he made a decision. With resolute determination, he took another deep breath and swore he'd do anything to bring back that joy to Aidan's life and awaken that intoxicating smile again for the world to see.

* * * *

"You're regressing," Dr. Engel said.

Aidan looked over his shoulder at the good doctor from his perch at the window. She sat in her chair, patiently waiting, staring at him—her way of telling him to open his fucking mouth and speak.

"Something's driven you back into your shell. How about we talk about that?"

Aidan sighed and returned his focus to watching the people walking on the street between the tall buildings. The weight of frustration and sense of hopelessness bore on him more than usual. He was just…tired. Always trying to keep it together, putting up a good front. But last night, he'd hit an all-time low and he'd been kicked in the gut, no longer able to deny what clearly stared back at him. "I saw an old video yesterday."