Page 14 of The Long Game

“Babs—uh, that’s what he was called—Babs was known for breaking in the new guys.”

Grady’s brow pinched together, but he didn’t voice the anger or the questions in his eyes.

“He was the first guy who tried to…” Jack swallowed hard and tried to wet his mouth. “He sexually assaulted me,” he said, proud he kept his voice even. “I guess it was like first dibs.”

Grady finally blinked—that was all, just a blink—and Jack looked away.

He found Garrick mouthing the wordsfirst dibslike he couldn’t make sense of them. Barnaby appeared close to tears.

Jack snapped his focus back on Grady. “He jumped me the first week, and I was just a dumb kid who had no idea what was coming. Between being clueless and Babs knocking my head against a cinderblock wall, he managed to—” Jack cut off whenhis voice wavered.Shit. “He stripped me from the waist down before my head cleared, and then we got into it. Pretty bad.”

“Got into it?” Grady asked.

“We fought. I guess I surprised him, because I landed some good hits before he and his buddies could react. Then it was a beat down, but just…you know. Just a beating. He didn’t take another shot at…” Jack made a face, mad at himself for not being able to just say it. “Not that day, anyway.”

That was met with a long silence. Jack could still picture the cold, empty corridor, the gray walls and—

Jack startled at the brush of fingers over his knee, but he grabbed Grady’s hand before he could pull away. It felt…well,awkward as fuck, and not like something he should allow himself, but also like exactly what he needed.

Grady’s skin was warm, his touch grounding where their clasped hands rested on top of Jack’s thigh. Grady probably felt as weirded out as Jack did, but he held on, his thumb rubbing over the back of Jack’s knuckles.

“I’m sorry that happened,” Grady said, managing to sound sincere and concerned without any pity or disgust. “Please tell me what I can do.”

“If it’s not breaking any rules, could you look up Babs? Maybe see where he’s living? I’ve never seen him around here, and I’m hoping he was just passing through, but…”

Grady nodded. “Is he registered?”

“To vote?”

Grady smiled, though it was fleeting and sad. “As a sex offender,” he clarified.

Jack shook his head. “Oh, no, I think he was in for something to do with drugs? I can’t remember. It wasn’t for rape or anything.”

Grady cocked his head. “But then he assaulted you, and it sounds like others, in prison.” It was almost a question.

Jack was dismayed—though not particularly surprised—that a seasoned cop could be so naïve. “Yeah, no one would have brought him up on charges, even if I’d asked. That shit gets swept under the rug.”

Grady frowned and Garrick shook his head while Barnaby muttered a string of colorful expletives.

Jack tried to smile at Barnaby’s inventive language, but it didn’t quite take. He was strung out and exhausted, and at the same time wide awake and jittery. It was an awful, disorienting feeling.

“I’ll find out what I can,” Grady said.

Jack squeezed Grady’s hand. “Thank you.”

Grady returnedthe clench of Jack’s fingers and wished he had a better way to convey how moved and honored he was that Jack trusted them with something so painful from his past. Grady understood this was a big deal for Jack. It was obvious Garrick and Barnaby hadn’t known either, but he’d managed to tell all of them at once.

That he did it while holding Grady’s hand made him feel warm and proud—and maybe a few other emotions he was firmly packing back into the box labeledThings Grady Can’t Have With Jack.

What he could do was learn everything there was to know about John Babcock. Grady wasn’t just digging up his fucking address. By the time he finished, Grady would know everything down to the fucker’s shoe size, favorite sandwich, and the results of his last proctological exam.

He squeezed Jack’s hand again, then told himself to knock it off before Jack wondered if Grady was trying to milk him like a cow. He didn’t know if he was supposed to let go or not, so he went with what he wanted and held on. He hadn’t feltthis awkward and stupid since he’d been forced to walk down the aisle during Christmas services while holding Ruth-Ann Gilbert’s hand in the third grade.

Jack smiled weakly. He looked wan and tired and like he might shut down all together if they made him talk about it any further. A change of subject was in order.

“I’ll let you know what I learn,” Grady promised,notsqueezing Jack’s fingers like an udder. “In the meantime, tell me how plans for tomorrow are going. Are you ready?”

Jack’s smile warmed and he launched into a list of the four hundred ways he was super fucking ready. As far as Grady could tell, Jack had mobilized half the city to see that the clinic went well.

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