Page 23 of Angel's Share

Jamie and Angel jerked their gazes to the stairs, the direction the comment had come from. Izzy was making her way down in similarly casual clothing, though thankfully not in more dreadfully offensive sportswear.

She climbed onto the stool beside Angel and bumped his shoulder. “He doted on you and Katie,” she said, then aimed a soft, genuinely concerned look at Jamie. “Is he really okay?”

“He wasn’t,” Jamie told them. “Not for a while. For eight months, no one believed him that Gabe and Tom were murdered. He thought he was losing his mind, but he knew it here.” He laid a hand over his chest. “He also knew he was supposed to die in that crash too. That guilt will always be there, that he walked away with only nightmares and pins in his arm, but he tries to survive for them.”

Izzy cast her gaze aside, swallowing hard. “I’m glad he has you.”

“I’m the lucky one.” Had been since the day Mel had assigned him to be Aidan’s new partner. Was even luckier that Aidan had taken him back after the secrets Jamie had kept. Was luckiest of all that Aidan had taken another chance on love and forever with him. “We’re all lucky to still have him.”

She swiped away a tear that raced down her cheek, and Angel circled her shoulders, holding her tight to him, the unit she’d spoken of earlier, each of them having the other’s back.

It was a quiet moment, a good healing one that he sensed they needed, and he hated that the beeping slow cooker interrupted it. The interruption that came a minute later, though, was much more welcome. Withdrawing his vibrating phone from his pocket, Jamie read the incoming text from Aidan and smiled. “Aidan’s back. They just pulled into the parking garage downstairs.”

“They?” Angel said, more hope and joy in that one word than Jamie had yet to hear in the teen’s voice.

“With Bev.”

Angel was off the stool and out the door before Izzy could holler, “Angel, wait!”

“Go,” Jamie said to her. “Stairs are to the left. I’m right behind you.” He flicked off the oven, then sprinted out the door behind them, emerging on the ground floor in time to see Angel and Bev collide mid–parking lot, arms around each other, laughing. Jamie looked past the two friends, to his husband whose autumn eyes shone with happiness and relief, and in that moment, Jamie had never been more proud to be Aidan Talley’s husband.

FIFTEEN

Aidan was soaking in the oversize tub when Jamie entered the dimly lit bathroom. “Everything good out there?”

“I modeled the Chevy on my tablet,” Jamie said as he stripped off his T-shirt and jeans, his athletic grace never ceasing to amaze him. All those long limbs and he rarely got caught in his clothes like Aidan often did. Often got caught in Jamie’s too, his husband leaving them strewn everywhere. “Also downloaded all the manuals I could find and called Celia for a list of potential modifications. Should keep him busy.” He tapped Aidan’s shoulder, and Aidan scooted forward, making room for Jamie to sink in behind him. “And he’s got his best friend back.” He wrapped himself around Aidan, arms over his torso and calves over his shins. “You did good out there today.”

The tight hold buttressed Aidan against the shudder-inducing memory of what they’d found at Deidra’s place.

“You want to talk about it?” Jamie asked.

The instinct was there to close his eyes and hide, but that would only bring the mental replay into sharper focus—dirty dishes piled on every surface, trash cans overflowing with food wrappers and takeout boxes, soiled clothes in a pile by the laundry room, and ashtrays full of cigarette butts. Flies in the stale nicotine-tinged air and a rat scurrying out of the kitchen and down the short hall toward where they’d found Bev camped out in a closet, the only neat and clean place in the entire house.

Aidan focused instead on his husband’s hands splayed across his chest, Jamie’s knuckles knobby from the hacking and basketball, the band on his left ring finger safely in place, just like Jamie kept him. “We hear stories when we’re working cases with fosters or when we interact with the kids at the Madigan shelters. I knew here”—he tapped his temple—“what some foster kids go through, but actually seeing it...” He scooted back against Jamie, trying and failing to disappear into him. “I was lucky to have the family I did.”

“So was I,” Jamie said. “So is Angel.”

Crossing his arms, he clasped Jamie’s biceps around him. “You did good today too, getting Angel more comfortable and talking.”

“He’s a good kid. He was just trying to do what was right to help his friend. Kind of like his dad.”

The thought had swirled around in the back of Aidan’s head all day, ever since they’d discovered Beverly Kildare and Angel’s connection to her. Tom had done the wrong thing too, but he’d done it to help Isabella’s grandmother, to protect his family. Did Aidan wish Tom—and Gabe, for that matter—had gone about things differently? Yes. Could he continue to hold on to those last vestiges of hurt and blame that occasionally haunted him? He’d forgiven Gabe, but not Tom, and maybe that was part of the reason he’d let Isabella push him away too, the pain of betrayal from the man who’d sworn to have his back still too fresh. Holding on to it still wasn’t going to bring Izzy and Angel back into his life. And he wanted that; no question after the last few days.

With a long, slow breath, Aidan let the ghosts go, once and for all.

Behind him, Jamie chuckled. “How long have you needed to do that?”

“Too long.” He rested his head back on Jamie’s shoulder, breathing with him and letting the warmth chase away the day’s chills. Letting each swipe of the washcloth Jamie made over his skin relax him further.

He couldn’t say how much time had passed when Jamie spoke again. “How long do we have Bev for?”

Aidan smiled, liking the way that sounded. For the time being, he and Jamie could give her a safe, clean place to stay, which Aidan suspected she hadn’t had for some time. “She’s technically a witness in protective custody. Rooster will want to question her. Maybe she overheard something, like who White is working for or who Angel was supposed to deliver those diamonds to. She didn’t mention either in her initial statement, but we didn’t dig too deep. It was more about the immediate circumstances.”

“Understandably. I’ll help finalize the protective custody paperwork tomorrow.”

“I’m hoping Rick has it filled out by the time we get in.” He lifted his hands, fingers spread wide. “Jazz Hands for the win.”

Laughing, Jamie laced their fingers together and crossed their arms back over Aidan’s chest. “What about social services?”

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