Unseen (Will Trent / Atlanta Series)

around like that. Peeing in a bag. People touching me like I’m a baby.” He asked Lena, “What’s the point of touching somebody who’s in a coma? What if they don’t want you to? They can’t stop you. They’re just trapped there. That’s some creepy shit.” He shuddered. “And don’t let my mama dress me up in pajamas. You know she’d get crazy like that.”
    Lena felt her lip start to tremble.
    He stared at her, confused. “Are you crying?”
    “Yes, I’m crying, you dipshit.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Why would you talk about dying in the hospital when I’m carrying your fucking baby?”
    “Jesus,” he muttered. He pulled a tissue out of the box on the counter. There was only one left. He handed it to Lena. “Don’t be crying like that when the doctor comes in. He’s gonna think I hit you or something.”
    Lena blew her nose. “Talk about something else.”
    He easily found a different subject. “How’s the raid going?”
    Jared had tipped her off about a shooting gallery on Redding Street. He was following the case like a gambler who’d placed a large bet.
    She told him, “It’s going to shit, is how it’s going.” She used the dirty tissue to wipe her eyes. “I need more Kleenex.”
    He opened the door and called, “Nurse? Can we get some more Kleenex?” He waited in the open doorway, asking Lena, “You get anybody to flip on Sid?”
    “What do you think?” She wiped her nose again. “Denise is about to have a stroke. She’s convinced this is our way into Big Whitey.”
    Jared rolled his eyes. He liked Denise, but girls like Marie Sorensen ran off all the time. Using Big Whitey as the bogeyman took some of the blame off her shoulders.
    Lena felt the need to take up for her friend. “He could exist. Denise found his name on a wire out of Florida.”
    Jared shook his head with the sort of disregard that made her want to smack him. “I’m with Lonnie on this one. It’s a dead end.”
    “Sid Waller is the key,” Lena insisted, though she had come to accept lately that Waller was still going to be walking around free when her kid graduated from high school. “Once he’s locked up, he’ll start singing.”
    “Mean ol’ Big Whitey will kill Waller before he lets that happen. Right?”
    Lena narrowed her eyes at Jared. He was giving her shit again.
    He said, “Trust me, as soon as Sid Waller’s dead, Chief Gray is gonna get out of the Big Whitey business. It’s just too dangerous for him right now. And we both know he lost his edge when his son died.”
    “Right,” Lena said, her tone matching his. “Lonnie Gray is going to back down for the first time in his life.”
    The nurse handed Jared a fresh box of tissues. He told her, “Thank you,” then pivoted back to Lena. “Maybe Lonnie is really Big Whitey. Did you ever think about that?” The door clicked shut. He grinned at Lena. “How crazy would that be? Chief Gray is secretly a dope-swingin’ kiddie pimp.”
    “Stop talking out of your ass.” Lena grabbed some tissues and blew her nose as loudly as she could. She hated that his stupid idea actually made a weird kind of sense. Gray had started out in Florida. Over the years, he’d either worked or consulted in several towns up and down the coast, including Savannah. All the mayhem they were seeing in Macon had coincided with Gray coming on board. If Denise was right and there was a mole in the department, then it had to be a mole who knew everything. What better cover was there than being the chief of police?
    And what bigger idiot was there than a woman who believed every harebrain theory that came out of her husband’s mouth? Less than five minutes ago, Jared was saying Big Whitey didn’t even exist. Last week he claimed he’d heard from a guy that Fort Knox had been robbed of all the country’s gold. Why on earth was she listening to him now?
    Lena shook her head, hoping to God she was suffering from pregnancy hormones and not losing her mind.
    He asked, “Why are you shaking your head?”
    She didn’t answer, knowing there was no point. “I’m stressed about the raid crapping out. Denise and I are both putting ourasses on the line over this, and you know Lonnie doesn’t forgive or forget.”
    Jared moderated his tone. “Lookit, something will come up.” He waited for her to blow her nose again. “Something always comes up. You’re a good cop, babe. You’re smart and driven and you never give up. You’ll make it