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However, he also wouldn’t rest until he’d solved his partner’s murder. Jack would be completely unwilling—unable,really—to let it go, and he’d like to think Tommy would be the same way.
What did it say about Holden and Matthew’s relationship that Holden hadn’t jumped at the chance to reactivate this case?
Needing to test this theory, Jack reached over and snagged his phone from his nightstand. Squinting at the screen’s blue glow, he found Tommy’s contact info and called him. It was after midnight, but…
“Jack?” Tommy’s groggy voice came through the line.
“Hey. Sorry to wake you up.”
There was a rustling sound, and Jack figured Tommy must have been getting out of bed. One corner of his mouth lifted as that simple move nearly proved his point, which actually made him feel a little guilty for disturbing his friend’s sleep over something he could have talked to him about the next day.
“No worries, brother. You need something? Everyone okay?”
“Yeah, everyone’s fine, and you’re gonna kill me, but I had to run something by you.”
“Okay…”
“Hypothetically speaking—”
Tommy chuckled.
“If I were to get killed on the job,” Jack went on, wrinkling his nose when he heard Tommy’s sharp intake of breath. He clearly hadn’t expected the conversation to go here, but at least Jack knew he had his friend’s attention. He cleared his throat and pushed forward. “If I were to get killed on the job, and the case went cold, what would you do?”
“Roast that sucker with a blowtorch until it got hot again.”
Suspicions confirmed, Jack nodded into the dark. “Right. Same here. So if someone seemed fine with letting a cold case like that stay cold…”
“He’d be my number one suspect.”
Even though Jack had made this call for a reason, the idea of blue-on-blue treachery of this magnitude was so disgusting that he hadn’t been able to formulate the exact words in his mind. It was more of a feeling at the base of his neck, and now that Tommy had spoken it aloud, an icy sense of dread spread over his shoulders and into his fingertips.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Jack said quietly.
“Please don’t tell me you’re talking about a real situation. I know I laughed when you said it was hypothetical, but Ireallyhope it’s hypothetical.”
“Unfortunately it’s real. But this is all based on a hunch. I have no evidence that supports it, so I’m not gonna do anything yet. Well, other than watch my back.”
There was a long pause. “You’re talking about your current partner?”
“Yeah. Well, technically, no. But close enough.” Jack sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feeling restless. “The officer who passed away wasRobin’s husband.”
Tommy knew all about Robin, and that he’d never been willing to make a move on her because she wasn’t interested. But that was all he knew. Jack hadn’t told him about her husband being an officer who’d died in the line of duty, choosing instead to deal with Tommy’s teasing about Robin thinking he was ugly or dumb since he’d been unwilling to tell him it was about his job and her past. But in the silence that followed, he knew his old partner had connected those dots.
Tommy was silent for a beat, then he sighed. “Bro.”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful,” he warned in his most serious voice.
“I know, I know. Thinking this way about a guy who’s basically your partner is rough.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Jack tilted his head. “Okay, what then?”
“Does Robin know you’re looking into this?”
“No.” He’d planned to tell her, but he’d wanted to wait until he had something concrete.
