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 standin 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.
Logan shifted in his chair. “A shitload of planning.”
A thought occurred to him. “You’re taking classes at the university while on disability?”
“Yeah.”
“Ever heard of a teacher named Kaitlin Roe?”
“No.” Logan dug his phone from his pocket and pulled up a site dedicated to rating professors. He typed in Kaitlin’s name and pulled up her profile.
Adler studied the image. Her blond hair was swept in front of her face, effectively hiding half her features. White teeth flashed as if the camera had caught her laughing. A collection of bracelets hung from a slim wrist as she appeared to brush a wisp of hair from her face.
“She’s hot,” Logan said.
Adler rubbed his neck. He’d noticed. “What’s it say about her?”
Logan scrolled through the comments. “Hates it when people are late to her class. Grades hard. Fair. Will organize extra Saturday study sessions if the class needs it. You have a hard-on for her?” A slight grin teased the edges of his mouth.
He’d thought about her a lot. She wasn’t anything like his ex-wife or the women he’d dated since. Intense with a fierce drive, she wasn’t afraid to shake up the status quo to get what she wanted. She also had a tight ass he thought about too damn much. “Her name came up in this murder investigation.”
“I remember her now. And Gina Mason. How do the Mason case and the Ralston case relate?”
“I’m not sure yet. My priority has been Thursday night’s stabbing. I spent the better part of the night going through the victim’s financials and background. Bottom line is, Quinn and I don’t have time to read the full Gina Mason case file.”
“Keep talking.”
“I need someone to go through it. How about you?”
“Me?” He laughed, but his eyes sharpened with interest.
“You were a good cop, Detective, and you still are.”
“I don’t know.”
“Is that a no? Are you saying you’re too busy chasing university skirt and doing homework to help?”
“Screw you.”
“Detective Logan, I could use the help.”
“What’s the rush?”
“That stabbing I mentioned. She was one of Kaitlin’s interview subjects. And a former witness in the Gina Mason case. There is also a prisoner, Randy Hayward, in the city jail who says he’ll trade what he knows about Gina for a reduced sentence on a murder charge he’s facing.”
Logan’s shoulders relaxed. “I can do this.”
Adler reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys. He removed a second house key and handed it to Logan. “Pack your stuff and move in. The case file is at our house.”
Logan reached for the key and fisted his fingers around it. “You sure about this?”
“The room on the first floor is yours. And if you ever thank me, I’ll punch you.”
“Take your best shot.”
Adler clamped his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Get your ass in gear.”
Logan grinned like a schoolboy. “I’m not going to cramp your style when you make a move on Kaitlin Roe, am I?”
“Doubt that’ll happen.” Adler laughed. “And no one gets in my way when I make a move.”