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over my chest while the other slowly reached down to
slide along the slick surface of my arousal.
I gripped tighter.
"Jack& "
It didn t take much longer along that line of fantasy
before the pressure released itself, and all evidence was
washed down the drain.
Jesus Christ. What was I doing?
Jack& Jack and I would never be together. I had to let
that go. I was his partner, but we wouldn t -- couldn t,
be anything else.
Knock, knock, knock. The rapid sound echoed from
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 77
the living room like a herald. A brisk knock. A cop s
knock.
"Just a minute!" I turned off the shower and climbed
out, drying quickly with a towel and putting on a fresh
pair of sweats and an old cadet t-shirt that just happened
to be the first one on top in the drawer.
I padded out into the living room and checked
through the peephole before opening the door. "Hey,
Pops." I swung the door open wider. "Come on in."
"I see you ve been busy," he remarked as he entered.
"Cleaning up for someone in particular?"
"No." I shut the door after he was in. "I d offer you
something to drink, but all I ve got is tap water."
"Oh?" He sat down on the couch. "That s fine."
"Okay." I grabbed a clean glass from the dishwasher -
- it was still a bit hot from the wash but that was okay --
and filled it from my tap. "I& I started AA again." I
handed him the glass and sat down next to him.
He took a sip and then set the glass down on my very
ugly coffee table. "Oh?"
"I& I realized that if anything happened to Jack
because of my drinking, I would never forgive myself. I
wouldn t be able to live with that." I gestured at the
apartment. "So I m cleaning. O Bryan took me off the
case."
"I heard that." He put a hand on my shoulder. "I m
glad you re in the program again. I really am."
"Step one." I gritted my teeth. "Admitting you have a
problem. Dad, I m an alcoholic. I m also addicted to
nicotine, but one thing at a time."
He squeezed my shoulder. "You re going to make it.
I know you are."
"I don t suppose you could stop serving wine at
family dinner?"
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 78
"Done." He smiled. "I want you to get better. I know
it s going to be hard, and I know you ll always have to
deal with this, but I also know what kind of person you
are. You re an Adder; family fights together."
Oddly enough, the last person who d said that to me
was a family member we weren t too fond of. My Uncle
Charles, Charlie, my dad s younger brother, was a topic
of conversation we did not touch. Charlie died a few
years back, drug overdose. Some people had said it was
a suicide, but Da had insisted it wasn t.
Da had an older brother, too, Mathew, who came
round on Christmas and Saint Pattie s day but that was
about it. He had a family and kids, but I d never got on
with my cousins. Shannon kept in touch with some of
them.
But Mathew lived in Columbus, Ohio now, and was a
police chief there. Didn t really matter where an Adder
ended up, it was always in law enforcement. Shannon
worked in the DA s office. I d never liked lawyers
much, but for Shannon I kept my mouth shut -- most of
the time.
"Yeah." I nodded. "We ll fight together."
"Now, speaking family, you should really talk to your
sister."
"Why?"
"I think she s aiming to marry that new fellow of
hers." Da frowned. "And I m not sure I like him."
"His background check was clean."
"I know, I ran one, too."
"Am I the only one she caught at it?"
Da grinned. "Yup. Your own damn fault, Fynn; you
never were sneaky."
I grimaced. "Thanks. Okay, I ll call her. If Roger
intends on marrying my sister without talking to the
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 79
family, you can be sure Connor and I ll have a few
words for him."
"Thanks." He took a very long breath. "I heard about
the IA investigation."
"Guy s name is Voight." I leaned back deeper into
my couch. "I haven t come up with much on him yet,
and I have no idea what he s investigating. He said the
shooting was only part of it."
"I did some digging. He used to be in Narcotics
before they bumped him to IA. From what I ve heard, he
likes busting cops for trafficking drugs."
"I m not a drug trafficker," I spat. "Is he out of his
mind?"
"I don t know what he thinks he has on you Fynn, but
watch your step. If he thinks you re dirty, he ll make
this crap stick. One way, or another. You should call
Reggie. He's worked with Voight a couple times."
"Reggie -- there's a thought. Okay. Thanks for the
heads up."
"All right. Well, I m headed home. Your mother has
rescheduled dinner for tonight, eight sharp; try to make
it."
"I will."
"Okay." He got up off the couch. "I ll see you then."
"Yeah."
Family dinner. Evil spirit killing people I cared
about. The possibility of a brother I d never known.
Ghosts.
The family dinner was possibly the most frightening
option.
***
I brought Jack a hamburger, because hospital food is
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 80
no way to get a man back on his feet.
"You are a saint," he talked around the burger.
"Just remember this the next time my performance
review comes up."
He snorted. "Yeah."
"So. Captain took me off the case. Gave it to Wilkins
and Peters."
"They re good cops," Jack said. "They ll figure out
who did it."
I wasn t even sure I would figure that out. And even
if I did, how could we arrest the thing that had done it?
"I hope so." I leaned back into my chair, the legs
rocking back as I balanced on the back two. "I ve got
family dinner tonight& when are these white coats
letting you leave?"
"Not sure. You ll go to Tara s recital?"
"Of course." I leaned forward to let the chair fall back
onto all four legs. "I ll be the loudest one there."
"Thanks."
"That s what partners do." I pat him on the leg. "I
better get going. If I m not there on time, my mother
will poison me."
"Good luck."
"Thanks." I stood up and took a long look at Jack.
You ve already found someone else.
My response had been to say he was straight. Did that
mean I didn t care if he was married or not? I d never
liked Cassie, but even if Jack was of the persuasion, how
could I break up their marriage?
"What?" Jack asked.
"Nothing. I ll see you tomorrow after the recital."
"Okay." With any luck he would never know what I
had said to him while he was unconscious. Our
partnership was too important to be disrupted by
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 81
something as silly as my infatuation.
***
"You seem very distracted this evening, Fynn." My
mother said, passing me the mashed potatoes.
"Sorry. I d be more attentive but Shannon keeps
kicking me under the table."
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