AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 5
Luke was discharged from the hospital the next day. Since the doctor didn’t want him to be home alone just yet, Caden volunteered to pick him up and let Luke crash at his place for a few days.
“Thanks again for letting me stay with you. I was starting to go stir crazy in that place.” The last time Luke spent any length of time in a hospital was when his mom was dying of terminal lung cancer even though she’d never smoked a day in her life. Being there unsettled him in more ways than he could say.
“Not a problem. I wasn’t able to take off work though, so -”
Luke chuckled. “I don’t need a babysitter.” As it was, he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage having a conversation with an actual person, while hiding the ongoing chat he was having with the woman in his head. And there was no way he was going to let Orly out of his life without a fight.
Luke followed Caden up the stairs to his second floor apartment, when Orly’s voice suddenly came into his mind. Please don’t tell him about me.
Looking down at his shoes, Luke smiled to himself. He loved hearing from her, and no matter what she said or what he was doing, it never felt like an intrusion. I won’t. Orly, you can trust me. I swear.
“How do you feel about homemade burgers for dinner?” Caden unlocked his door and let Luke inside.
“Sounds good.” It had been a while since Luke had a good burger. “Just don’t expect me to sit on the couch while you serve me.”
Caden grinned, his steel gray eyes shimmering in the rays of the setting sun against his mocha colored skin. “Wouldn’t dream of it. You can make the fries.”
The guys usually hung out at Garrett’s house, simply because he had the space, but Luke had been over to Caden’s apartment many times before. He kicked his shoes off into the hall closet, and proceeded into the kitchen and living area. There was an oversized sectional and a lazy boy chair that faced the flatscreen mounted on the wall, and a couple of bookshelves along the side wall filled with books, a few framed photos, and other knick knacks. The galley kitchen had white cabinets and appliances, and a faux stone countertop. It wasn’t fancy, but Caden kept it fairly clean. Luke spotted his suitcase leaning against the wall and looked to his friend.
Caden caught his gaze. “I stopped by your place earlier and brought some things for you. I haven't had a chance to bring it into the guest room yet.”
“Thanks,” Luke said. He hadn’t even thought about what he might need over the next few days. Maybe his doctor had been right and he did need a day or two to get his head on straight. He brought the suitcase into the guest room, setting it down next to the bed. It didn’t surprise Luke in the least that Caden had gone to such trouble for him. The man would literally give a stranger the shirt off his back if he needed it. That was just the kind of guy Caden was. Which was why it bothered Luke so much whenever they went out and people stared at Caden, eyeing him like he didn’t belong in their establishment simply because of the color of his skin. If they only knew his heart and mind, they’d welcome him with open arms, just like Luke and their friends had.
When Luke came back into the living room, he spotted the stack of binders on the coffee table. “Is this what I think it is?”
Caden nodded. “I need you to take a look at those as soon as possible. The faster you can I.D. the guy you saw talking to Bones, the sooner we can bring him in.”
Luke remembered every moment of his captivity in vivid detail, but the man in question, the one Caden was referring to, was the only person involved that Luke never got a very good look at. He’d been several yards away, and Luke had still been reeling from having just been beaten by Knuckles. The man had blonde hair and was medium build, but that was all Luke could recall. It didn’t help that he’d only seen the man in profile until right before Knuckles let the door slam shut.
Luke plopped down onto the couch and did his best to bring the image of the guy to the forefront of his mind. He could be the key to everything and Luke didn’t want to let his friends and colleagues down. Reaching for the top binder, Luke started leafing through it, taking in the face of each man. Three pages in and none of them looked anything like the guy he remembered seeing through the doorway. This was going to be a long night.
“I didn’t mean right now,” Caden chuckled. “The guys are coming over in a bit. You want them to bring anything?”
“I’m good,” Luke said, distracted by what he was doing. The guy was blonde, but he could’ve just as easily dyed his hair, so Luke made sure to study each and every face before moving on to the next one.
“Don’t forget the fries,” Caden said. “Oven is done preheating.”
Luke sighed and stood, leaving the binder open on the coffee table. He joined Caden in the kitchen and tossed the frozen pre-cut fries onto a pan and put them in the oven. But it was the aroma of the burgers Caden was making on a skillet that were making Luke’s mouth water.
They ate in front of the television watching a baseball game. The Astros were playing the Cubs. Not long after they cleaned up, there was a knock on the door, and Caden’s apartment quickly filled with their closest friends.
Garrett Cooper sat in Caden’s oversized recliner in the far corner of the room nursing a beer, his calloused knuckles on full display. As much as Garrett loved being a Texas Ranger, he loved doing construction work just as much, and often spent his time off working on different projects around his home. Garrett chuckled at an off-handed comment their friend Martin Ebbert made about the game that was in the fourth quarter. The Astros were clearly going to win.
The stack of binders still called to Luke, but he averted his eyes and glanced around the room instead, taking in the sight of his friends. This was what he would’ve missed the most if he hadn’t gotten out of that warehouse. Thank you. He thought, a surprising wave of emotion hitting him like a bolt of lightning. He felt more than saw a soft smile fill his mind, and it took everything in him not to get up and leave the room. He wanted to say more to her. He wanted to hear her voice in his head. But he also wanted this time with his friends.
Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time, laughing and joking around. “I think the last time the Cubs won, I was still recovering from being a Candidate,” Martin said, then took a swig of his beer while everyone laughed.
The horrors that Martin’s fire chief at the time had put him through just because he thought Martin should have to prove himself and not be allowed to ride on his father’s coat tails were well known amongst the group. It didn't matter how hard Martin worked or what he did, Chief Bronson never let Martin forget that he was not his father, who’d unfortunately died in a fire when Martin was a little boy. Luke knew little else about the heroic firefighter, except that he was of Dutch descent, which was where Martin got his six foot four frame and green eyes. Martin’s mother was of hispanic descent, which is where Martin got his dark hair and almond toned skin. The exotic combination made him a hit with the ladies, which Martin took full advantage of when he wasn’t busy fighting fires. The man was so good at his job he’d recently been promoted to Fire Chief of his own station, the youngest in Dallas.
Then there was Blake O’Connell, the newest addition to the group of friends. Caden took him under his wing for the first six months of his career at the FBI and the two of them had become fast friends. It wasn’t long before Blake was being invited out with the group for occasional nights out at Madigan’s, a local bar and grill, and even nights like tonight where the guys were just getting together at the last minute. Blake and his sisters were raised by a single mom after their stepdad was killed in a car accident, so Blake took his role as man of the house seriously from a young age.
“Luke,” Caden said. That one word pierced his thoughts like a perfectly aimed bullet, and had Luke jerking to look at his friend, but all eyes were on him now.
“Sorry,” Luke said, feeling foolish for blanking out on them. “What’d I miss?”
Except for Garrett who was in the recliner and Blake who’d planted himself on the floor against the bookshelf with his legs stretched out in front of him, they were all seated on the oversized sectional, their feet propped up on the coffee table with drinks in hand.
