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“Thanks, Uncle.”
Jude started for the door, but Gary grabbed his arm, pulling him in for another bear hug that tried to swallow him up. Snow smiled. Jude was fighting to suppress all his emotions, but his family kept pulling him close. Whether Jude wanted to admit it or not, it was exactly what he needed.
“You or your mana need anything, you tell us, okay? Your Aunt Maria is making up a couple of special casseroles, and she’s planning to leave them in your mana’s fridge so she doesn’t have to worry about food for a bit. I think Shelly is going to cover this weekend.”
Jude gave a muffled thanks and finally got free again. Snow tried to follow Jude, but Gary pulled him for a quick hug as well.
“You watch over our boy there. He’s gonna need you,” Gary murmured low enough that Jude couldn’t hear it.
Yeah, Gary couldn’t be more right. Even if Jordan did survive these next few critical days and weeks, the long-term recovery was going to be just as difficult.With hard hat in place, Jude walked across the construction zone with Snow. At a quick glance, it looked like one of the buildings was close to being completed while the one they were walking toward was probably about a month behind. Windows were still being installed and as they got closer, it looked like some of the apartments needed to be drywalled. The development was just outside a large subdivision in Northern Kentucky and not too far from a busy shopping center. It was going to be a hit with the new residents when it was finished.
Their heavy footsteps echoed off the concrete stairs as they climbed. The sharp smell of sawdust assailed his nose as they moved deeper into the building. There were some people working on the first floor, but they didn’t hear the loud banging and sawing sounds of construction until they reached the third floor.
Stepping out onto the third floor, they found that they were still setting the wooden beams that would form the skeleton of the walls for the various apartments. There were four men working on the floor, but they all came to a stop when they noticed Snow and Jude.
“Hey, can we help you?” asked the oldest of the four men.
“Hey guys,” Jude said, giving a little wave. “I heard Jordan Torres works with you.”
A young man matching Gary’s description stepped forward. He lifted his hard hat and ran his gloved hand through his sweaty blond hair, leaving it standing straight up. “Yeah, Gary said that he was in the hospital. That he was in some kind of accident. He gonna be okay?”
“We don’t know,” Jude replied, his voice growing a little tighter.
“Are you Austin?” Snow asked.
“Yeah. Austin Finch.”
“Can we talk to you for a minute?”
The young man hesitated and looked back at his companions before he finally took a couple of steps toward Snow and Jude. “Are you guys cops or something?”
“No, family,” Snow said.
The guy’s entire demeanor relaxed with Snow’s answer, and he willingly walked across the hall to the other side of the building. Austin took off the thick construction gloves he’d been wearing and wrapped his hands around both of them tightly.
“What’s up with Jordan? Is it bad?” Austin immediately asked in a low voice.
“Yes, it’s very bad,” Jude said between clenched teeth.
“We’re trying to track down where Jordan might have been recently or who he’s hanging out with,” Snow said.
Austin immediately backpedaled, holding up both hands with his gloves clasped in his left. “Whoa now…Jordan and I just bullshit and talk while on the job. He’s a funny guy, and we joke around a little bit. I don’t know what he’s up to when he’s not on the job.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything,” Jude grumbled. “We just know that Jordan isn’t hanging out with his old friends. We don’t know what he’s up to when he’s not at work.”
Rocking from one foot to the other, Austin stared for several seconds at Jude. “You’re Jordan’s brother, aren’t you? You kind of look like him…in the eyes and nose.”
“Yeah, I’m his older brother Jude.”
Austin nodded. “The paramedic. He’s told me some of the stories you’ve told him, about some of your crazy calls. He cracks everyone up with those stories.”
Jude grunted. He and Rebecca had received more than their fair share of insane calls over the years. God help him, he’d take some Viagra antics or even a head stuck in a staircase railing at the moment, but that reality seemed so very far away. Felt like he’d never get back to that normal again.
“Shit…I don’t want him to get pissed at me, but you’re his family,” Austin mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath and dropped his hands noisily to his sides. “I know he’s got this friend. Anthony. Don’t know his last name. He meets up with him at a bar called Dana’s up in Norwood. I went with him once, but the place is kind of a gun-and-knife club. Not really my scene so I never went back.”
