A FRACTURE IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS ✓

JOSH

Happy Pride! Trans fuckers u n i t e

"A body?" Brad asked. "Did he say whose?"

Mark sent him a 'don't make me say it' look. "What do you want me to do with Smith?"

All of the color slowly left Brad's face. "Nothing. I- I'll take care of it." He kept his composure long enough to help Josh off the floor and into the arms of Jenna. Brad disappeared alongside Mark, who mouthed sorry to Josh before disappearing as well.

Jenna walked him to an empty desk, where he immediately turned limp in the spinning chair. She pressed an ice pack wrapped in a towel against the side of Josh's neck. There were shallow scratches on her cheek, forming small droplets of blood that ran down to her jaw.

"You're bleeding," he croaked, touching her cheek.

Jenna smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She didn't look at him directly, staring at her hands against his neck. "Don't talk, Josh. You'll strain your voice."

"Is he... he'll be okay, right?"

Josh could still see Tyler's legs from the interrogation room's doorway. He hadn't moved off the floor and nobody had gone to pick him up.

"Unfortunately, murder is a federal offense," she said jokingly, but it only made a lump form in the back of his throat. "Hey, now, don't cry. I know Tyler's... situation is hard on you, but we're going to get through this."

He tried to keep the tears back, but he couldn't. "He tried to kill me."

She gently put a hand on the back of his head, kissing his temple. "I know, baby. I know."

After he persisted, Jenna let Josh clean and bandage her cheek. He felt so tired, so he put his head down on Jenna's lap afterwards. She let him. He didn't sleep, and neither did she. They just sat together, Jenna in a chair pulled up from another desk, and Josh in another with his head in her lap.

"I didn't think this year could get any worse. After Tyler got taken, I thought that'd be the low moment for me. "He laughed sarcastically. "That was wishful thinking."

"Fuck wishful thinking," Jenna sighed.

"A truer thing has never been said."

"I think some part of me knew," Josh confessed. "I think I knew the whole time. I just couldn't bring myself to see he evidence."

Jenna ran her fingers through his hair. "It's not your fault. Nobody knew. Nobody could've known. This is... unprecedented."

If given the option, Josh and Jenna could've been sitting in silent for hours, but then it happened.

The commotion started off quietly. Josh heard one person yelling, then two people. He knew something was wrong when other officers started to run to where Spencer and Tyler were being held. 

Jenna had helped Josh stand when the gunshot went off. Despite their fatigue, he and Jenna ran to the holding cells, adrenaline kicking in. Josh steadied himself against Jenna as they walked past the first couple of cells, seeing Brad standing at the entrance of Spencer's, gun drawn and breathing heavily.

Spencer was on the floor of the cell, flat on his back with a hand over his abdomen. He was bleeding badly from his stomach, even some trickling from the corner of his mouth. Josh stayed behind as Jenna carefully approached Brad, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Heaton," she whispered with caution. "Give me the gun. Please."

Brad didn't move. The gun slipped from his hands, clattering on the cement floor. Josh went to grab it and handed it to a forensic officer who'd followed them in. Several other officers swarmed the room.

He walked a crew feet back, an swinging door catching his eye. Josh turned and stopped just short of Tyler's holding cell, seeing the barred square empty except for a pair of open handcuffs, his phone, and his badge. Thank God they confiscated the gun at the hotel room.

"Tyler," Josh crowed. "Where's Tyler?"

Jenna looked from the empty cell to Spencer's and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Josh. Only guilt men run."

Only guilty men run.

Josh didn't know what to do, so he walked back into the cubicles and sat there, not processing anything around him. He was so sure someone was talking to him, but he couldn't bring himself to look up and see who. Tyler ran, which was probably planned prior with Spencer.

Spencer Goddamn Smith, the man who betrayed them, was working with, or for, Tyler, the man he helped kidnap.

"- but he'll be fine in a day or two." Jenna's voice sprung him out of his daze enough for him to tune into what they were saying. "Mark and I will be holding the interrogation for now, but with the manhunt for Tyler, I hate to be sitting ducks."

"I think Mark and Josh should be searching for him," Brad said. "They knew him best."

"Which also means they're biased. The chief will never let us in on the investigation."

"Then force them to have you. This emotional connection could be our key to finding him. They'll know where and how he'd hide."

Josh heard Jenna sigh. "You better be right. It's your ass on the line now, remember that. I'm not the team leader anymore."

"I hope I'm right too."