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“I want to look him in the eyes and ask him why.”
“What will that solve?”
“I don’t know, but I need it. Will you come with me?”
Jake didn’t want to. That was as obvious as the nose on his face. Joe and Skip used to tease Jake about being the handsome one in their group. Women had loved Jake, but he’d never wanted anyone but Val. That seemed like a hundred years ago now. Life had a way of kicking the innocence out of you.
“Yeah, okay.”
“It’s not an order.”
“I know. When do you want to go?”
“Now. Right now.”
“Give me ten minutes to tie up some loose ends. I’ll meet you outside.”
“Thank you.”
“Sure.”
In the past, Joe would’ve asked Skip to make a run like this with him, but Skip was gone, and Jake had tried his best to fill the massive void that Skip’s death had created for Joe. Jake and Skip had been close, too, but not like Joe and Skip had been from the day they first met.
They’d been brothers to each other, and he’d give anything for Skip’s wisdom and sage advice right now. He’d always known what to do. Even after his devastating injury, Skip had been Joe’s go-to guy when he didn’t know what to do about something.
Joe gathered his phone and keys, grabbed his jacket and headed out of the office. “I’m not sure if I’ll be back today,” he told Helen, “but I’ll check in after a bit.”
“I’ll be here and will let you know if anything comes up.”
As he started to walk away, he turned back to her. “Thank you, Helen, for a million and one things over the years and for your unwavering loyalty.”
His comment seemed to catch her off guard, and for a moment, he feared she might cry. “Thank you, sir. It’s an honor to work with and for such a fine man.”
“I’m not sure I deserve such praise.”
“You absolutely do, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Now it was his turn to swallow a lump in his throat. “Thank you, Helen. I needed that.”
“Any time you need to be reminded, I’m right here.”
He gave her a nod and a warm smile before he walked away, thankful for the people he could count on. That number seemed to get smaller with every year he spent as chief of police. In six months, he’d become the department’s longest-serving chief. If he made it six more months. With the way things were going lately, he’d be lucky to make it six more days.
He exited through the morgue to avoid the media gathered outside the main door. They were coming for his jugular lately, not that he could blame them. His department had handed them enough juicy stories to keep them satisfied for years to come. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the impulse to blame the guy at the top. He got that. He really did. It was just amazing to him, he thought as he got into his department-issued SUV, that they didn’t get that he would’ve doneanythingto stop Stahl’s reign of horror.
If only he’d known about it.
If he had, there wasnothingJoe wouldn’t have done to stop him.
He’d said as much in multiple interviews as he expressed his anguish over the trail of heartache Stahl had left in his wake.
The passenger door opened, and Jake got in, bringing a blast of early spring chill with him. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“I wasn’t waiting long. Let’s get this done.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The two men didn’t exchange another word until Joe had parked in a visitor spot outside the prison in Jessup.
