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Gray smiled for the first time in hours.
“We’ve got to cut him loose but I’d say we keep our eye on him. Because none of this makes any sense.”
“I’ll try to find out if there’s anyone who’d want to set him up. Are we looking into connections with Andreas and with the other vic?”
Thornton nodded. “I thought of that. If this guy didn’t kill her, there’s still got to be a reason why it was done at his house.”
“Could it be as simple as framing him because he was a former client?”
“It’s a sloppy as hell job if that’s what it is.”
Gray nodded. “Sure is.”
“Go talk to him. See if you can learn anything else, then head home and get some sleep.”
“Sir, I can?—”
“Go home.”
“Yes, sir.”
6
Gray hadn’t realized how tired he was until he had to deal with construction traffic around Duke East campus. He didn’t have the focus to dodge idiot students who thought it was a good idea to step out in front of his car or to weave around all the construction barricades that had been there for-fucking-ever. He longed to crawl into bed, but if he did, he wouldn’t sleep well that night and the cycle of exhaustion would go on.
Food and TV. That was the next best thing to sleep. He glanced at the time as he entered the house. Just past noon. He’d ignored Thornton’s directive and stayed several more hours looking for something that might connect his current case to the previous one, but he was basically beating his head against the wall. Jack’s shift would end at five. Mason was in his last semester to complete his chemistry degree, and Gray vaguely remembered him mentioning something about a study group. Gray pulled out his phone and looked back at the texts they’d exchanged earlier. Study group at three. Not supposed to last too long. So he’d probably be home around the same time as Jack.
Gray took a quick shower and dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, then pulled the pan of lasagna from the night before out of the fridge. A civilized person would cut a square and heat it, but he wasn’t feeling very civilized after no sleep, a murder scene, and still no leads. He grabbed a fork from a drawer, opened a bottle of beer, and carried the lot to the coffee table.
He scrolled through one of their streaming services, hoping for something good and mindless. Rush Hour 3. That would do just fine. He dug into the lasagna and continued forking it into his mouth until he’d polished off the whole pan. He considered getting another beer, but the idea of leaving the couch felt too vigorous. He settled on his side, propped up on pillows, and relaxed for the first time since he’d fucked Jack and Mason senseless the night before. A few seconds later, his eyes drifted closed. He tried to force them open but they didn’t want to go. He’d just rest them for a moment; that wouldn’t do any harm.
A few seconds later, a loud explosion from the TV made him stir. Don’t go to sleep. He sat up, but soon he’d convinced himself it was okay to lie down again. He could just rest his eyes a few more minutes.
“Gray. Gray! Wake up!”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Gray tried to sit up and nearly fell off the couch, forgetting he wasn’t in bed. “Did I fall asleep? What time is it?”
Mason snickered as he watched Gray from where he perched on the edge of the coffee table. “You were asleep and drooling when I got in.”
Gray rubbed his eyes, trying to fully wake up.
“Did you seriously eat all the rest of the lasagna?” Mason asked.
Lasagna? Had he eaten lasagna or only dreamed it? “Um… yeah.”
“Wow.”
“I was hungry.”
“Apparently you were sleepy too,” Jack said. Gray hadn’t even realized Jack was there. He really had been deeply asleep.
“I was up all night,” he said in his defense.
“Poor baby,” Jack said. “When did you get home?”
“Around noon.”
