The would-be highwayman killer’s case is closed, and Luis has been cleared to return to work. He and Donovan are starting their new life together, and while they’re both a little new at this whole “stable relationship” thing they’re determined to make things work. When people start dying at Assonet Ledge, it seems like a typical case for Donovan until one of the victims turns out to be a missing person from out of state, bringing the FBI into one of Donovan’s cases yet again.
The park ranger at the site is everything Donovan isn’t, and Donovan finds himself wondering if his partner isn’t falling into old habits. Luis struggles to understand Donovan’s jealousy, which puts a strain on their relationship and the case. To top things off, there may be forces at work here that go back long before humans showed their faces, forces Luis can’t hope to understand. Will those forces propel the case, and Luis and Donovan’s rekindled romance, off a cliff?
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Excerpt
Luis carefully dressed in his official FBI-issued dark suit and tie. Getting shot had sucked. Recovering from getting shot had sucked more, however much Donovan tried to help. At least Luis managed to find productive uses for his time. He’d gotten some help for his depression, which could only be for everyone’s benefit. He wouldn’t describe himself as “cured,” but he was doing better and that was the important thing. He should know. He was a professional, after all.
He’d sat down and written a book too. It was an account of the Rabbit Tracks Killer case, one he’d solved a few years ago back in Iowa. It had been an ugly, messy case before the Bureau was called in, and untangling it had taken everything they had. Luis had concerns about writing about such a recent case, but at the end of the day, the benefits outweighed the risks. People needed to be more aware of potential dangers closer to home. They had a mental image of bogeymen hiding in bushes waiting to ambush people, and sure, that happened. But most homicide victims were killed by people they knew. Even spree killers tended to go after acquaintances.
The Bureau was willing to let him publish it too. No one could have been more surprised than Luis, but the Bureau had taken a lot of public image hits in recent years. They’d do just about anything to burnish their reputation. Ultimately, writing had given him something to do and kept him productive while on leave.
He’d also spent some time chatting with Captain Lightfoot. Sometimes, he went to see the ghost. Sometimes, Lightfoot stopped in to see him. He tried not to think about it as weird. Eventually, he’d stop trying and just get used to it. Either way, he was adapting to this new skill whether he wanted to or not. If he was going to run around seeing dead people, he might as well learn to control it.
Doctors had finally cleared him to go back to work, and he was more than ready. He’d helped out from home when Kevin, his partner, asked, but that was different. He could answer Kevin’s questions while sitting in his underwear on his couch, or out walking in the woods. Now, he was putting his suit and tie back on and getting back into the swing of things.
A horn blared outside, and Luis ran to catch his ride. Kevin had one of the work SUVs today, the dark American-built SUVs with tinted windows that no one ever believed weren’t Fed cars.
“I see we’re jumping right into something fun,” he said with a grin as he slid into the passenger seat.
Kevin gave him a subtle little smirk. “It was actually Holcombe’s idea. You mentioned the neighbors had been calling the police.”
Luis’ cheeks grew hot. “I’m writing my congressman and telling him to ban painkillers,” he muttered. “Or at least to require anyone on them to be gagged for the duration.” He’d talked a lot in the immediate aftermath of his injury. He still didn’t know everything he’d said.
“Hey, don’t be ashamed.” Kevin pulled out onto the road, framed by a cacophony of honking horns. He returned fire with an upraised middle finger and continued. “Most of what you said was stuff we needed to know, even if you’d rather not have said anything. But, yeah—she figured the neighbors would have less to say about a Brazilian guy ‘poking around’ the condo if they saw you were in law enforcement.”
Luis squirmed and sat up a little straighter. It might be a winning strategy with some neighbors. Others wouldn’t care. It was a nice gesture on Kevin’s part though and on Holcombe’s. They were putting in the effort, so Luis needed to do the same.
“So what’s been going on around the office since I’ve been out?” he asked, to change the subject.
“They finally moved us out to Chelsea with the rest of the Boston field office. I guess they got sick of paying that prime downtown rent.” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Fontana got a date. I was shocked, considering how much time he spends bitching about how he can’t get laid. It’s about time, you know?” Kevin’s smile turned into a wicked grin. “And you know what? He found his date on Mixr.”
Luis’ brain shorted out for a second. “Wait a minute. Fontana likes guys?”
“So it would seem. Said Mixr tried to set him up with you too. Showed me the screen shot. Even though your profile said you didn’t want any white guys and was set to ‘inactive,’ it still tried to match you up with Fontana.” Kevin glanced at him for a second but had to look back at the road before he missed his turn.
Luis braced himself for the sharp corner. He could have sworn at least one wheel left pavement, but no one else seemed at all concerned about it. There had to be a special insurance rider just for Boston drivers. It was the only way Luis could see anyone being willing to insure anyone around here.
“They need to fix their algorithms. And they need to add another setting—no bricks.”
“Bricks? Is that a new slang term the kids are using these days?” Kevin sped up to keep someone from passing him on the right.
“It is. One I just made up, just for Fontana. He looks like a brick, he thinks like a brick, he talks like a brick. He’s a brick.” Luis wrinkled his nose. “Or has he somehow found a way to think outside the box now that I’ve been out of action?”
“No, he’s still a brick.” Kevin laughed. “Same as he ever was. Maybe he’ll loosen up now that he’s feeling more open about his sexuality.”
“We can only hope.” Luis relaxed a little and grinned as they eased onto the crowded highway and oozed their way toward Chelsea.
He’d hoped there wouldn’t be much fuss when he got back to the office. He’d never been the kind of guy to enjoy that sort of thing. Chances were pretty good he’d get his wish, since he didn’t get along all that well with his coworkers.
Dennis, the guy who ran the coffee kiosk on the ground floor, greeted him in a professional way and didn’t acknowledge he’d been out for an entire season. It was a good sign.
When he walked up to his desk to find balloons, cards, flowers, and a brand-new bulletproof vest that said WEAR ME instead of FBI on the chest, he had to bow his head to the inevitable. Somehow, it was worse than the cheering, hooting, and clapping that went along with his entry into the bull pen.
“Welcome back to work, Agent Gomes.” SSA Holcombe smiled as she strode in from her own office. She looked sincere at least.
Luis tried to remind himself that she was sincere. It was okay for him to be wary, but he was trying to learn to trust again. He should write this stuff on his hand or something.
“It’s good to have you back. We’ve had requests for your insight from Weymouth PD, from Providence PD, and from Naugatuck PD. If you’d like to take a look at those cases, they should be on your tablet.”
“Yes, ma’am. With pleasure.” Luis took his seat as the applause died down. He didn’t know how to take the response, so he pretended it wasn’t happening.
“All right. Borchard, you’ve got that wire fraud case. Wragge and Fontana, I’ve got a gem for you. Join me in my office. Rourke, you’re finishing up that child porn case, if I remember correctly.” Holcombe met each man’s eye as she spoke to him.
Kevin shuddered as he took his seat at the desk beside Luis’. No one liked working kiddie porn. It gave veteran agents nightmares for weeks. “Yes, ma’am. I cannot wait to go put some bracelets on these bastards.”
“Neither can I.” Holcombe rubbed her knuckles with a tiny, grim smile on her face. “It’s going to be fun. In the meantime though, let’s make a point of getting there first.”
“Got it.”
Everyone turned to their tasks, and the workday began.
Luis could hardly believe how easy it was to fall into his old routines. He’d been gone for three long months, longer than he’d been in the Boston office to begin with, but he fell right back into the rhythm of his work. The only difference between now and the spring was Donovan.
He got a selfie from Donovan at ten fifteen, just in time for a coffee break. The picture featured Donovan sitting on a bench at a picnic table, at some wooded location where the leaves were just now starting to turn. He looked amazing, with his dark, softly curling hair and his big dark eyes. Guess where I am?
Luis didn’t have to do a lot of guesswork. He’d read the news over his morning coffee. Someone had found a floater in one of the state parks in the southeastern part of the state that morning. Freetown State Forest.
No fair! You cheated!
Luis chuckled. I’m a well-informed citizen.
See? Cheating.
Luis sent him a selfie back, including all the flowers and balloons. He didn’t include the vest. Donovan still flinched when he saw the scar from the surgery after Luis had been shot. Luis didn’t think Donovan would see the humor in WEAR ME.