Chapter 22

Green case foldersfanned across the lackluster steel counter, each one encapsulating the end of a life. Jake didn't bother glancing at them. He'd already found what he'd come for. Dana was right. His trip to the morgue didn't make him feel better.

Seeing the cold slab of flesh didn't make Jake feel anything at all.

He didn't know what he'd expected.

Absolution from his guilt?

Satisfaction that Norton Hayes was no longer breathing?

Whatever Jake had been hoping to find eluded him.

But still, he stood before the open drawer unable to pull himself away. The temperature-controlled unit hissed its protest, spilling chilled air into the cavernous space. Jake couldn't tear his gaze away from the mangled corpse of the man who'd taken so much from him.

The brutal lacerations across Hayes' throat should've evoked some kind of emotion from Jake, but they didn't.

Maybe it'd finally happened. The job had fully desensitized him.

Jake was contemplating his profession when the peaceful inner sanctuary of the D.C. Medical Examiner's office was rudely interrupted.

"Shepard! Do you have any idea the shitstorm you just caused me?"

"Hi Jenks, I see you got my message."

"Don't give me that attitude! I just got pulled out of a meeting with the DOJ so I could talk down the Chief ME who was convinced ‘my guy' was making threats."

Jake waved off her accusation. "I wouldn't call them threats. More like stern suggestions."

"Shep, this isn't a joke. I told you to back off this case loud and clear. I need you to hear me."

Jake dropped his nonchalant act. "No, I need you to hear me. I know you think I can't handle this case because Hayes is the reason my team came home in pine boxes, but I would've hoped I've proven myself to you over the years."

"Yes, Jake. Threatening your way into the morgue to feed your sadistic vendetta against Hayes has given me the utmost faith that you can handle this."

"I needed to see for myself."

"Jake. I get it. I have my demons, too. I'm sorry you weren't the one who got to slay this dragon, but it doesn't matter. Nothing is going to bring back the men you lost. I know you know that, and the only thing you're proving right now is that I was right to keep you out of this in the first place."

Jake laughed. "If you think I'm going to back off now that this bastard has tangled Claire and Dana in his web of self-serving bullshit you haven't been paying attention."

"No, Jake. You're the one not paying attention. I've told you from the beginning that this one is out of our league. Today that was made official."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why do you think I was meeting with the DOJ?"

"They're taking over?"

"Of course they are."

Jake scratched his head, pacing away from Jenkins as he digested the news. "The only reason the Department of Justice would get involved is if they suspected this goes higher up than just some congressional misconduct." He stopped pacing. "Why was Hayes in rehab?"

"Jake, the man's dead. Let him rest in peace."

"He's a public official. There's no way his murder doesn't get press. If there's dirt to find, it'll come out."

Jenkins sighed in defeat. "Hayes was in for substance abuse."

Jake's temper spiked, his first thought of his fallen comrades. "Drugs? How far back does it go? Because if that's why he made that call in Ghazni?—"

"Jake, don't go dredging up the past. It's only gonna make those families relive their losses again. It's time to let it go."

"I tried to let it go, but I watched Hayes get away with murder, and then get rewarded with a cushy Congressional office. I'm tired of watching politicians build their careers on the backs of good men and women they view as disposable."

"This goes higher than Congress. Hayes was on the short list for the VP ticket. They planned to announce it when he got out of rehab."

"What? They were going to put him in the White House?"

Jenkins shrugged. "Word is he was willing to back POTUS's agenda."

"Is that all it takes? Hayes would back anything if it served his personal agenda. And I'll tell you one thing, I'm gonna find out what it was, because my gut tells me it's why he's lying in the morgue."

"You can give your gut a rest, Jake. You're not getting assigned to this case."

"Assignment or not, it's still my job to serve this country." Jake jabbed a finger at Hayes's corpse. "That's why I'm gonna make sure this spineless prick's agendas die with him."

Jenkins sank down onto the cold metal stool with a heavy sigh. "I know you're not gonna let this go, so let's hear it. I know you've cooked up a theory already."

"Jenks, think about it. There's no way Hayes was qualified to run for Vice President. That means he has something on someone powerful enough to make that happen. To anyone who didn't want him in office, his death may look like dodging a bullet, but what I'm worried about is the bullets left in the chamber."

"Jake if you dig into this, I'm telling you, one of those bullets is gonna have your name on it."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Hayes was at Passages for more than just substance abuse. He was caught with a minor."

"What the?—"

Jenkins held her hands up and rushed to finish her explanation before Jake could fully fly off the handle. "The girl was a 17-year-old junkie and says the whole thing was consensual."

"That doesn't make it okay!" Jake punched the closest thing to him, denting the metal cooler. He held onto the pain stinging his knuckles, but it wasn't enough to quiet the rage roaring through him. "He's lucky he's already dead, because if I find out that son of a bitch even looked at Claire wrong …"

"Jake, I've got no love for the man, or the way Hayes ran the DOD when he was there, but you can't go around crying scandal about a decorated Veteran and Congressman who was almost decapitated by someone playing Grim Reaper. Everything I told you is off the record, and it needs to stay that way."

"I'm not looking to smear his name, Jenks. I just want to make sure whatever got him killed isn't gonna roll down hill and land on Claire or Dana, or even Meredith for that matter."

The cool exterior Jenkins always exuded slipped. "Did you find out what she has to do with this?"

"She and Claire share the same therapist. He apparently thought they could learn from each other, so he hosted a few group sessions for them at Passages."

"Jesus. Has anyone checked that woman's room for a Grim Reaper costume?"

Jake knew Jenkins was only half serious, but it was refreshing to find someone who shared his sentiment when it came to Meredith Kincaid. Dana was too blinded by guilt to see that the woman who she'd once considered a friend might be beyond saving.

"Now do you see why I need to be a part of this investigation?" he asked.

"Jake, you're under the misguided notion that I have any say in this matter. I told you, it's out of my hands."

"Then I'll offer my services to the Department of Justice."

"The hell you will. You're still on leave after your last case, and if you even think about throwing your hat in the ring with the DOJ I'll tell them you're not mentally fit to return to duty."

"Jenks—"

"Don't Jenks me! It's not gonna happen. Even if you could manage to talk your way into this, they'll boot you the second they find out your history with Hayes."

"Then tell me what to do, Jenks! Because the star witness in this case is Claire, and I'm not throwing her in a room with the DOJ if I don't have a seat at the table."

Jake watched his mentor's face pale. "Claire witnessed the murder?"

"Yes," he pulled his notebook from his pocket. "She repressed it, but her therapist helped her remember and I got it all right here."

"Jake, if you don't hand that over, it's obstruction of justice."

"You think I don't know that? It's why I'm trying to cement myself in the investigation."

She shook her head. "It's too late. Metro has 24 hours to turn the investigation over to DOJ. Hartwell's overseeing the evidence transfer. You need to give him Claire's witness account."

"In exchange for what?" Jake demanded.

"Good faith."

Jake fumed. "That's not enough."

"It's gonna have to be this time, Jake. I worked this thing with Hartwell from ground zero. You know everything we do. DOJ has got this buttoned up tighter than a gnat's ass." Jenkins stepped between Jake and Hayes's lifeless body, silently sliding the drawer back into the refrigerated core and shutting the locker. "Jake, it's time to let this go."

"And do what?"

"I don't know. Get back to having a life?"

"Is that what you'd do?"

Jenkins gave him her patented don't test me glare. She used it on him so much in his youth that he and Wade coined it ‘the look'. "No, Jake. I don't have a life to get back to because I never knew when to stop putting the job first."

Jake cocked an eyebrow in her direction. "You realize you're asking me to do something you couldn't."

"Okay, you don't wanna go home to Dana and Claire, fine, but I'm pretty sure there's something else that should be higher on your priority list than picking a fight with a dead man. And from what I hear, you don't have a lot of time to make good on your word to your uncle."

"Wade told you?"

"Of course, Wade told me. That man never met a thought he didn't share."

Jake smirked. "He sure loves the sound of his own voice, doesn't he?"

This time it was Jenkins who grinned. "Don't I know it. He tells me everything. Even the things I don't wanna know."

"Do you think I should do it?"

"What I think isn't relevant."

It was Jake's turn to give Jenkins ‘the look.' "Since when?"

"Fine. I get your reservations. After what your father put you through, I'd have them, too. But this isn't about us. If Wade says this is what Helen needs, trust him."

Jake threaded his hands behind his head and exhaled, suddenly drained. "It's that simple?"

"It can be."

Resigned, Jake followed Jenkins out of the morgue. The midday sun stung his eyes. He'd gotten used to the shadowy depths that entombed D.C.'s deceased. It made him think of Dana and her library. He'd always thought it was creepy, but he'd recently seen the appeal.

Things that were already dead, couldn't hurt you. And right now, that was all he wanted. To stop everyone he loved from hurting.

Claire, Dana, his mother, Wade, Jenkins.

Not finding a way onto this case made him feel like he was failing them.

Maybe Jenkins was right. If he had to let Hayes go, he could still do right by his mother and Wade. He just needed to find a way to protect Claire and Dana at the same time.

Jenkins turned to face Jake when they reached the parking lot, but he was the one who spoke first. "We've been through it haven't we, Jenks?"

"Sure have."

"I don't think I've ever told you how much it's meant to me that you've always had my back."

"Any time, soldier."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

In a rare show of affection, she put a hand on his arm. "Jake, if I've helped shape your life in any way, the privilege has been all mine. But promise me one thing. If you've learned anything from me, I hope you don't repeat my mistakes. Life is short. Don't wait too long to start it."