Possibility of the Future

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The morgue was on the same floor as the med center. They were on opposite sides with a sterile hallway between them to prevent cross contamination. I rode the elevator down and wasn't surprised when I saw my brother standing in the hallway, just outside the morgue.

I'd taken the pair of them back to my office, sat them down, and told them as calmly as possible what had happened to Mark. Neither of them took it well.

Aidan didn't believe me.

He left my office when the file came through and I showed him a picture of the crime scene as proof. They both came down here to see for themselves. It's not that they believed I'd lied to them. It was something else, disbelief. We'd all grown up together, experienced things as a group no one else had. There was a sort of invincibility to it, an immortality. We'd survived adolescence, we could survive anything.

I never thought I would out-live any of them.

I stepped up next to Sebastis and looked through the window. Aidan stood facing us, next to Mark's body. His face was blank. Mark's death was tearing us all apart but on the inside.

My brother reached over and took my hand. It was his way of extending comfort. Not enough but it was a start.

I squeezed his hand. It was the only thing I could do. The rest of me had gone numb while a black mood settled into my mind. Tuck it away for now, deal with it later when it wouldn't cause more damage than was already hanging over our heads.

After I dismissed the security teams keeping an eye on the pair, I opened the door and walked in with Sebastis on my heels. He stopped by the door but I kept going until I reached Aidan.

Kid gloves. I needed to handle this with care not only because the person lying dead on the table was someone we all cared about but also the manner in which he died. Some of the pieces surrounding these murders were falling into place while others-they were as elusive as smoke.

And Mark-I took a breath and looked down at my old friend.

He looked older than the last time I saw him, which was years ago. His hair was still the same shade of red. There were laugh lines around his mouth, familiar freckles smattered across his nose. He was so well-known to me but at the same time, so different.

There was no life in him and that was beyond unsettling.

It made him not real to me. The man lying on the table-wasn't Mark. Just his body. His life was gone and-

"We were supposed to have lunch today," Aidan whispered, breaking through my internal struggle. "He was gone for a week and he called when he got back to the city. I was bringing you and Sebastis as a surprise-it was going to be like old times-"

Aidan's eyes were darting around as he ran things over in his mind, what he could've done different. How it all went so wrong.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing I could say and I knew it wasn't enough.

He nodded, not looking up at me. "I don't understand-who's doing this? And why?"

I sighed and closed my eyes, knowing this was coming and having it smack me in the face were two different things. "I don't-I have a theory but it's only conjecture. Not a hundred percent. There are holes and I can't ferret out a clear motive."

"Tell me." His voice was stern but it softened when he added, "Please."

I opened my eyes and looked up. He wouldn't look at me. What he was feeling, it had to be bad. So I stared at the wall across from us instead.