“Glad to hear it. Also glad you came in.”
“In under an hour, too.”
“You look better. Smell a hell of a lot better.”
“I had only one way to go.”
“You hungry? Beth offered to cook breakfast for us.”
Mitch patted his middle. “Thank her, but the tummy isn’t quite settled yet. Even coffee didn’t sit well.”
John nodded but did so absently. He kept his eyes lowered as he contemplated the toes of his boots, then he lifted his head and said quietly, “Before I left the house this morning, Beth brought it to my attention that yesterday was the second anniversary of—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Did the date have anything to do with your bender last night?”
“Isaid, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, that’s too bad, Mitch. You’ve got to talk about it.”
“Wrong, bro. I don’t gotta.”
“You do gotta. I’m making it mandatory.”
Mitch recoiled as though he’d been clipped on the chin. “Excuse me?”
John repeated the simple statement, adding, “I consulted the superintendent this morning and got his backing. His fullbacking.”
Mitch took a swift look around the large room. The detectives and uniformed officers scattered throughout it had made themselves appear busy, but he knew that they were attuned to what was taking place at his desk. Everyone in the department knew that his relationship with John was an unshakable, long-lasting friendship.
It had begun when they were partnered as detectives. Working together like a well-oiled machine, the partnership continued until Mitch was recruited by the DEA, based on his covert mission experience in Afghanistan.
Then, a few years later, and coinciding with Mitch’s decision to quit the undercover work, John had cracked a cold case, the famous Crissy Mellin case, which his now-wife Beth had documented on the true crime TV seriesCrisis Point.
The fallout from John’s investigative work, and Beth’s compelling documentation of it, had culminated with the exposure of rank corruption within the CAP unit. The head of it was indicted, tried, and convicted of numerous felonies, including the murder of one of his own henchmen. He was presently serving what amounted to a life sentence.
John had subsequently been appointed to take over the leadership position of the unit, and one of his first moves had been to bring Mitch back into the PD. They’d picked up where they’d left off years earlier, working in tandem. Although it wasn’t official, it was universally understood that Mitch was John’s second-in-command.
Everyone in the department knew the strength of their bond. They had few, if any, secrets from each other. They’d seen each other at their ideal best and at their most miserable worst. For years, they’d served as each other’s sounding board. Evenif they disagreed, nothing had ever created a fissure in their friendship. No one had ever seen John pull rank on Mitch. He never had.
Until this moment.
“Let’s go into the office,” John said. “We’ll talk there.”
“I’m not going to talk about it in there, or out here, or anywhere. You ordered me to resume my duties. That’s what I’m going to do.” He swiveled his chair around and brought his computer to life.
John swore under his breath, then reached over Mitch’s shoulder and laid a sheet of paper on his keyboard. Mitch picked up the sheet, read what was on it, and turned his chair back around to face John. “What’s this?”
“Exactly what it looks like. A list of names with their contact info.”
“Huh.” Mitch raised the sheet closer to his face and scrutinized it. “I can’t help but notice that all these people are designated as doctors.”
“Of psychology.”
“Shrinks?”
“Therapists.”
