Desperate Souls Read Free

you’re in too good of shape.”
    “Eleven months without a cigarette,” Jake said, giving Martin a high five.
    “Yeah, well, this two-on-one thing ain’t cutting it anymore. I need help. Maybe I should ask Vasquez to join us and even things up.”
    “You would invite a woman to come along on Guys’ Day Out?” Jake winked at Martin. This wasn’t the first time Edgar had introduced his current partner, Maria Vasquez, into a conversation. Jake appreciated his friend’s intention, but he had no interest in dating. Sheryl had been dead just under one year, murdered by the serial killer called the Cipher. Jake still carried a piece of his wife’s soul inside him.
    “You’re just afraid she’ll dance circles around your ass.”
    “Used to be you didn’t need any help. You beat me and Martin without breaking a sweat. What’s wrong? You feeling your age?”
    “I don’t get to make my own schedule the way you do. I have a
real
job. Responsibilities.”
    Cracking his neck, Jake observed a medical helicopter crossing the cloudless blue sky. “So quit and come into practice with me.”
    Martin’s eyes widened. “Yeah!”
    Edgar snorted. “What, give up my pension to play private eye with you? I don’t think so.”
    “Imagine how the bad guys would tremble in their underwear if they knew Helman and Hopkins were working the street together again.”
    “Bad guys? What bad guys? The only bad guys you tangle with are cheating spouses and deadbeat dads.”
    Jake shrugged. “I’ve had my share of scrapes. And I don’t get to call for backup. I’m a lone wolf.”
    “You’re supposed to call in backup anytime you get in a jam,
lone wolf.
That’s what makes you ‘private’ and me ‘professional.’“ Edgar nodded to his son. “You gonna stand there listening to this man’s nonsense, or are you going to run a few laps? Give me half a mile.”
    “All right,” Martin said. “Don’t leave until I get back, Jake.”
    “You know it, partner.”
    Martin took off, all legs and arms and enthusiasm, and circled the track.
    “I can’t believe how big he’s gotten,” Jake said, meaning it.
    “Tell me about it. We can’t keep him in the same clothes for more than a season.”
    “I remember when he was only half as tall. Seems like just last year.”
    “I think time speeds up the closer we get to our own deaths.”
    Jake glanced at his friend. “Aren’t you the morbid one?”
    “Not at all. I live each day like it’s my last. How about you?”
    Jake returned his attention to Martin, who had circled half the track. “I’m working things out. But I think I’ve got a pretty positive attitude considering …”
    Considering
he had resigned from the department in disgrace rather than submit to a mandatory drug test after killing two bad guys during a tavern robbery he had foiled.
Considering
Sheryl had given him his walking papers after discovering he had been on the take to support his cocaine habit. And
considering
the love of his life had been murdered by his enemies. Then there were the considerations Edgar didn’t even know about.
    Edgar clasped his shoulder. “You’re doing well.”
    Martin passed them and increased his pace.
    Knowing he would never have a son or a daughter of his own with Sheryl made Jake love the boy even more. “To be that young again, with that kind of energy …”
    “I think the same thing every time I see him.” Edgar chuckled.
    “He’s a great kid. You’ve done a good job with him.”
    Edgar shrugged. “His mother deserves the lion’s share of the credit. She’s the one who’s there for him every day. I’m just a weekend father and only then if the job doesn’t get in the way.”
    As partners, Jake and Edgar swung by the Jackson Heights house where Joyce and Martin lived whenever their caseload permitted it. Joyce and Edgar had never been married and maintained a friendly enough relationship for Martin’s sake. “You’ve set a good example for him.”
    “I