When James got back to Headquarters a little while later, Madelyn was sitting in the living room. “Well, that’s that solved,” James said as he got to the top of the stairs.

“How are you doing?” Madelyn asked.

“Tired.” He laughed slightly. “Are you on tonight?”

“Graham is, I’m not,” Madelyn said. “Amelia’s on her way back. She had to go over to Ashburnham to deal with the Delinskys. She sent Bradley home a little while ago, but I said I’d stay on comms til you got here.”

“You can head out,” he said. “I’m just going to have a quick meeting with McGovern, then I’m leaving too.”

Madelyn slowly stood up, and the yellow lamplight caught the livid scar over her eye. He thought about the way Janis had fallen, her body picking up speed every second as it crashed toward the floor. It must have been terrifying.

Madelyn must have been so scared.

As though she could sense his thoughts, Madelyn looked at him. “None of us are happy with this case,” she said. “We all see it. Don’t worry.”

James laughed. “At least I’m not alone.”

“Absolutely not. Good night.”

She started walking toward the door, her stride smoother than he’d seen it at all this week. As she left, James headed into his office. He didn’t need to call McGovern just yet. He could sit on the couch for a second and catch his breath. Then he’d get up, have that stupid meeting, and then go home and get some sleep before starting it all over tomorrow.

He walked into his office and nearly jumped backward into the closed door as he realized, yet again, that the couch was already occupied.

Bradley was lying on the hideous floral couch, clearly asleep. He didn’t move as James walked in. One arm dangled over the edge of the couch and on the floor next to him, James spotted a textbook with its soft cover half-crushed beneath its weight. A worn backpack sat next to it, its contents spilling onto the floor.

Trying to get his heart rate back under control, James stood over Bradley and shook his shoulder. “Hey,” he whispered.

Bradley muttered something but didn’t wake up. James tried again. “Hey, Brad, wake up, bud.”

“He’s your fucking cat,” Bradley mumbled, then rolled over so that his back was facing James.

Whatever, he could stay there for a while. James needed to get this meeting over with.

He went to his desk and opened his email to find the meeting invitation from McGovern at the top of his inbox. It was marked for fifteen minutes ago. He opened it, and after a moment, McGovern’s face was on the screen.

“James, there you are!”

“Here I am.”

He could see himself in the small square at the corner of the screen. He looked half-dead, dark shadows under his eyes and hair sticking up from running his hands through it so many times on the drive home.

“Agent Forester has updated me on everything you two discussed at the scene. It’s a shame things ended the way they did.”

“Agreed,” James said.

“The Delinsky family has been notified, of course. When this person, this conjurer, said the debt was paid, was she speaking to you directly?”

“It seemed like it,” James said. “Her voice carried over the comms line where Amelia heard it too. I don’t want to make assumptions, but it seemed like the death of the suspect fulfilled the terms of their agreement. Like, if she didn’t get her pay, she’d take their lives instead.”

“Did you find anything at the shop that might prove that? A contract or something?”

“No,” James said. “Polly Grace has a home in Ashburnham, but we’ve been unable to contact her there.”

“And the Foundation can’t make a habit of just breaking into people’s houses.”

McGovern chuckled, the sound grating on James’s frayed nerves. “No, I guess not,” James said.

“No injuries this time, correct?”

Aside from the barely-adult who had given her life for an angry, worthless cause? “No,” James replied. “No injuries to anyone on staff.”

“Good,” McGovern said. “Obviously medical care is important, but some of the higher-ups have been a little concerned about the costs in that department lately.”

James’s eyes flicked over to the couch, but clearly, Bradley hadn’t heard his and Amelia’s concerns come true just then. “We follow our safety protocols to the letter,” he said, aware he was stepping into dangerous territory.

“Of course,” McGovern said. “I don’t doubt that. It’s just money, that’s all. Don’t worry about it. Alright, how about you walk me through what happened?”

There were few things James would less rather do right now, but he launched into the story. He had just wrapped up when he saw Bradley sit up on the couch. The other man looked confused, then horrified as they made eye contact over the desk.

“I’ll be right back,” James said to McGovern, hitting the mute button.

He tilted the screen to make sure it wasn’t showing anything beyond his desk, then walked over to where Bradley was scooping up his belongings. “Fuck,” he was muttering. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be in here.”

“I don’t give a shit that you’re in here,” James said. “I have no secrets, it’s fine. Wait a few minutes for me to finish this meeting. I want to talk to you.”

“No, I’m leaving. I shouldn’t have-”

“Sit,” James ordered. “Or I tell McGovern you’re here and he invites you to this meeting with us.”

Bradley looked over at the computer, then at James, and scowled. “Fine,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just wait a sec, I think we’re almost done,” James said. “I don’t know. Keep napping. Review the next chapter. Whatever. Just let me finish this real quick.”

He went back over to the computer and sat down, unmuting the microphone again. “All set?” McGovern asked.

“Yeah,” James said. “Sorry, a teammate had a question. Is there anything else? I need to get that report done.”

“Yes, actually,” McGovern said. “The Delinsky family wants to continue having the Foundation’s protection. So we want your team to check in with them one or two times a week to help with any issues that might come up.”

“You mean, like, check in with the agents there?” James asked.

“Oh, no, the agents will be leaving once we’re certain they’re safe. But the Delinskys have asked the Foundation to continue offering protection. Your team will take care of that as part of your coverage of North Worcester County.”

James blinked for a second, sure he must have misheard this. “Okay,” he said slowly, glancing over the computer at Bradley, who looked back at him with similar confusion. “So, how are we supposed to handle the extra workload? Will we be getting more staff?”

“James,” McGovern chided. “You know how tight things are. You just got a new staff member a couple months ago.”

“But you’re asking us to add private security detail to our existing work,” James said, still hoping maybe he’d missed something. “How are we going to do that with the current workload?”

“I have faith in you,” McGovern said cheerfully. “If you send a rep over to their house on Monday, you can get it over with as the first thing in the week.”

“Unless they need help with something.”

“Of course.”

“And then, what? Does that take precedence over any cases the Foundation sends?”

“No, we still need you to do your usual job.”

Bradley went to stand, but James waved him off. “Due respect, sir,” he said. “We barely have the resources to do what’s expected of us now.”

“We talked about this,” McGovern said, a hint of frustration in his voice. “Things are tight right now. We’ll offer whatever support we can, but I can’t promise you resources that I don’t have.”

“Are the Delinskys hiring the Foundation on retainer for this work?”

“James, you know I’m not privy to the financial dealings of the Foundation. I can only give you the information I have.”

Yeah, but James was perfectly capable of putting two and two together. “Listen,” he said. “I’ve got staffers working doubles multiple times a week just to keep this place staffed. We still don’t have a vehicle and I know that Bradley’s sent in gas reimbursement requests multiple times for everyone who’s had to use their own cars, myself included. I get it, all the branches have to deal with these kinds of things. But you’re asking my team to become private security for a multi-million-dollar corporation on top of our already constant work schedule. I’m sorry, but no.”

“Captain, this wasn’t an invitation.”

The use of his title sent an unpleasant shiver down James’s spine and, glancing over at Bradley again, he could tell he wasn’t the only one. “I know,” James said. “But I’ve tried to be patient, I really have. This is too much, though. We’ll continue to do our work to the highest standard possible, but I’m not sending anyone to investigate every little noise that happens at the Cottage. I need them here.”

McGovern gave him a long look through the camera, and James kept his shaking hands out of sight. Then McGovern sighed.

“We can discuss it further later,” he said. “But I’ll bring your concerns up with my supervisors and see what I can do.”

“Thank you,” James said, meaning it.

They logged off the call a few minutes later, McGovern still chilly with him as he said farewell. James shut down his computer and rubbed a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered.

Then he looked up to where Bradley was still eyeing him cautiously. “Hey,” James said.

“I’m leaving.”

James stood up and hurried over. “No, no, wait.”

“What? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come in here.”

“I don’t care. Man, you’re like the third person I’ve found asleep on that couch this week. It’s no big deal. Come on, sit back down.”

Looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world, Bradley sat down on the couch. James considered bringing a chair over, then decided if he was already making things weird, he might as well sit on the couch for this, too.

“What’s going on?” James asked, sitting down next to him.

“Nothing,” Bradley said immediately. “I’m fine.”

James regularly wanted to smack Bradley, so the feeling wasn’t strange to him. But he also remembered that night over the summer when he’d reached his own breaking point and Bradley had been the one to pull him back from the edge. So instead, he sighed and took the plunge.

“Is it finals?” he asked.

Bradley froze. “No,” he snapped.

Then he let his head drop back against the couch. “Yeah. How long have you known?”

“Not as long as I should have, considering I live with a former college professor and I keep finding textbooks around. Are you doing school full time while you’re working here?”

Bradley nodded. “Yeah,” he said again. “I have two classes on Thursdays and do three online.”

“Jesus Christ. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s none of your business?”

James bit back any reply he could give to that. Instead, he just gave Bradley an even look. After a moment, Bradley finally looked him in the eye.

“It’s fine,” he insisted. “I’m just having trouble with one of these classes and can’t afford to fail the final. It’s no big deal.”

“Anything I can help with?”

“Not unless you’re a biology tutor.”

“I’m not,” James admitted. “But look, you can use my office to study or whatever you were doing. What were you doing?”

“Studying,” Bradley said. “I can’t focus in my apartment, it’s too loud. But I lost track of time and fell asleep. It won’t happen again.”

“I truly don’t care if it does,” James said. “When’s your final?”

“Thursday.”

“Okay, that’s three days from now. Listen, how about you take Wednesday off to prepare? I’ll cover your shift, it’s no big deal-”

“No,” Bradley interrupted. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine, really.”

He didn’t look fine. He had that same look James recognized from his college roommate’s face during midterms, just before he’d snapped and locked James out of their room. But James also knew he wasn’t going to win this one.

“If you’re sure,” he said.

“I am. I’ll get going. Really, I’m-”

“Don’t apologize again. It’s weird.”

Bradley glared at him, but it was halfhearted. But instead of arguing, he just looked at James. “You look like shit.”

James laughed. “Yeah, you’re one to fucking talk.”

Bradley huffed a laugh and James yawned widely, covering his mouth. “Go home,” he said. “Go get some rest.”

“Are you leaving too?”

He was about to say no. That he wanted to finish the report and wrap this case up forever. But judging from the expectations that McGovern and the Delinskys had, and the fact that Polly Grace had vanished, it was far from over.

“Hell yeah,” he said instead, standing up. “I’m going to bed.”

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 26