Her Last Word

Flames roared around Adler, licking up the walls and skimming along the ceiling. The flesh on his back burned as he gripped his partner’s coat collar and pulled. With each jerk, Logan screamed, begging him to stop.

Adler’s phone buzzed, startling him awake. He ran a trembling hand through his hair. He’d hoped to rest his eyes for just a moment but must have drifted off for the last hour. He didn’t recognize the number, but clearing his throat, accepted the call. “Detective Adler.”

“John Adler?” The woman’s crisp voice cut through the haze.

He pressed his fingers against his closed eyes, hoping he could chase the sleep away. “That’s right.”

“Janet Yates at the rehab center. I have you as the emergency contact for Greg Logan.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Yes, that’s right. Is he okay?”

“Not really. Since he and his wife split, he’s been unmotivated. A visit from you might help.”

“He and Suzanne split?”

“From what I understand, it wasn’t pretty.”

He shoved out a breath as he moved past paint cans and drop cloths to the coffee maker. “He’s getting physical therapy now?”

“Yes. We’re making adjustments to his prosthetic leg, and he’s frustrated.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Perfect.”

Adler ran his fingers over the scars on his hand and reached for a mug and an espresso K-Cup on the makeshift counter. Five minutes later he had changed and, coffee in hand, headed out the door. Ten minutes later he pushed through the doors of the rehab center, showed his ID, and made his way to the ward. In the large room, multiple PT stations had a patient working out either alone or with a physical therapist. He spotted Logan standing between two parallel bars, balancing poorly on his prosthetic leg.

His military haircut had grown out and skimmed his ears, and his faded ARMY T-shirt was drenched in sweat. His muscled arms had grown in size while his face was leaner.

Adler understood a few things about feeling useless. After the explosion, he’d felt desperately inadequate when all he could hear were Logan’s repeated pleas for painkillers.

He watched as Logan struggled to draw his right foot forward. Sweat was dripping down his arms. His face twisted into a grimace. The physical therapist before him was in her late twenties, not much taller than five foot, and had tied her red hair into a thick ponytail. Her name tag read JANET.

When Logan stumbled and then cursed, Adler came around so he was standing in clear view. Logan caught a glimpse of his partner’s polished shoes and raised his gaze.

Gritting his teeth, Logan lifted his left leg and moved it forward a few inches. “Is that what you came to see?”

“If you’re looking for someone to hold your hand or tell you that you’re still pretty, I’m not your guy,” Adler said.

Logan tightened his grip around the parallel bars. “So you’re Suzanne’s stand-in now?”

The anger was expected, and Adler didn’t take it personally. No sane man went through this kind of shit without getting really pissed. “We’re all pulling for you.”

“Why are you here? I’m off the force. I’m just an ex-cop on full disability unless I want to ride a desk.”

Logan loved being a cop, and a future assigned to a desk job was almost unthinkable. Adler had barely been able to look at Logan when he’d told his former partner he was returning to homicide. “Do you want me to leave?”

Silence. Logan looked to Janet. “Did you call him?”

Adler shook his head. “Why don’t you worry about your job?”

“Job? Last I checked, I lost it.”

“Your job is to walk. And last I checked your detective’s skills are still intact.” Adler shifted his gaze to Janet. “Mind giving us a moment?”

“Sure,” she said. “I could use a coffee.”

Adler walked behind Logan and pushed his wheelchair up behind him. When Logan kept standing, Adler nudged the back of his legs. “Sit.”

Logan shoved out a breath and lowered himself. When he was seated, Adler pulled the wheelchair away from the bars and grabbed Logan’s jacket hanging nearby.

“Where are we going?”

“I need fresh air.” He pushed the wheelchair into the main lobby through the double automatic doors, and kept moving along the sidewalk still damp from the morning rain. They arrived at a secluded bench under a small tree. He sat while Logan locked the brake and tugged on his jacket.

“So is this a pep talk?” Logan asked as he shrugged on his jacket.

“God, no.”

“A welfare call?”

Adler shoved out a breath. “What happened in that house was shitty.” His throat tightened with anger. Up until now, he’d not been able to talk about the explosion. Now they had no choice. “I’ll never pretend otherwise.”

Logan drew in a slow, ragged breath. “Easy for you to say. You came out with hardly a scratch.”

Adler took the jab. He wanted Logan to vent. “You’re one hell of a cop, and you’ll return to the job.”

Logan stared toward the redbrick facade of the old section of the hospital. “Someone tell you this bullshit to motivate me?”

“No.” His former partner wasn’t making this easy, but then again Logan hadn’t deserved what happened to him. “I always said you were destined for great things.”

He glanced at his prosthetic as if it were an unwelcome visitor. “Right.”

Adler caught Logan’s eye and leaned forward. Several cars came and went. “Your wife left you?”

“Yep. Couldn’t handle all this. I’m not the pretty face I was before the explosion.”

“You never had a pretty face,” Adler said, grinning.

Logan shot him a look of annoyance, not sure how to take the remark.

“Come up to Ashland. Move in with me. I’m renovating the place, and you’re welcome.”

“I don’t want your pity.”

“Good, because I’m fresh out. I do have a first-floor room, and after you install the handicap bars in the bathroom shower, you should be good to go.”

Logan arched a brow. “Me install the bars?”

“You’re good with carpentry work.”

“Do I have to buy them as well?”

“I’ll order them today.”

A crooked smile rushed past the anger. “You make it sound so tempting.”

“Telling it like it is. The first-floor bedroom, bathroom, and shower are set up so you can roll right in. The kitchen is a work in progress. New cabinets come next week and then countertops, but there’s a temporary sink, stove, and refrigerator. Also, I have a nice yard looking onto the train tracks.”

“I’m kind of fond of trains.” Logan grinned slightly.

“You’ll see a lot of them in Ashland.”

“And then what?” Logan asked, turning serious again.

“You keep coming here. You keep working.”

“And then?”

“And then you get back to being a cop,” Adler said.

“I don’t have two legs, remember?”

Adler tapped his index finger against his own temple. “Does this still work, or are you unable to think any more?”

“I think too much.”

“Join the club.” Adler focused on the metal leg feeding into the Nike tennis shoe. “You’ll make it work.” He scratched under his chin. “Besides, you know the old saying. Chicks dig scars.”

Logan laughed. “Bullshit.”

Adler was silent for a moment, then when he trusted his voice, said, “This kind of shit weeds out the pussies.”

Logan sighed. “Fuck me. I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

Logan rubbed the calluses on his palm. “So what’re you working on these days?”

“Homicide. Stabbing. Hell of a case.” Seeing Logan’s interest pique, he steered the conversation toward the Ralston murder, which he recapped in detail.

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Logan shifted in his chair. “A shitload of planning.”

A thought occurred to him. “You’re taking classes at the university while on disability?”