Unseen (Will Trent / Atlanta Series)

Kinko’s.” Faith nodded toward the doors. “Go downstairs and check with HR.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Had Raleigh been a few years older, he would’ve told Faith where to stick her order, but he was new enough to jump when she snapped her fingers.
    Ruth looked up at the ceiling, all business as she asked Will, “What do you think, Bud?”
    Will looked up, too. “I think something’s leaking.”
    Faith suggested, “Maybe we can move Mr. Long to a different room?”
    Ruth shook her head. “It’s just me up here for the next hour and I can’t move him by myself.”
    Faith offered, “I can help.”
    “We’re not really allowed to—”
    Will interrupted, “I’ll need the room cleared anyway.” He pushed up the ceiling tile and used the flashlight on his belt to look inside the drop ceiling. Will had been looking into ceilings inthe hospital almost every day of the last ten. He knew that his chances of finding at least one suspicious-looking pipe were good, but the nest of lines crisscrossing the ICU still surprised him.
    He pushed the tile aside so everyone could see as he tried to sound authoritative. “That’ll be oxygen, the condense line for the AC, PVC pipe, some old polybute. I’m gonna need a schematic so—”
    “I get it,” Ruth stopped him. “Let me call my supervisor and see if I can get her up here.”
    She left, Faith on her heels. Will kept his flashlight pointed toward the ceiling, but his eyes were on Jared Long.
    The young man’s face had blown up like a balloon. There were tubes sticking out of everything. His eyes were taped shut. Dried blood was caked around his nostrils. The flesh on his hands was a waxy, yellow color. No cop wanted to see another cop in a hospital bed. Will wasn’t normally superstitious, but he had to suppress the shiver working its way up his spine.
    Then again, Jared Long wasn’t the only cautionary tale in the room.
    Slowly, like she didn’t want to break anything, Lena uncurled herself from the chair.
    Will asked, “You holding up?”
    “No.” She stood on the other side of the bed with her arms wrapped around her waist. “Sara doesn’t know you’re doing this, does she?”
    Lena had always been an astute observer, but Will wasn’t going to talk to her about Sara. He glanced over his shoulder, checking Ruth. The nurse was talking on the phone. Faith was practically glued to her side.
    Lena said, “I won’t tell her. I haven’t told anybody.” She rubbed her lips together. They were cracked and dry. “You’ll find out eventually. I’m good at keeping my mouth shut. I’ve learned to do the right thing.”
    Will asked, “What happened last night?”
    “They shot him.” Lena stopped the story there, dismissing her involvement in a wholly predictable way. Still, Will could tell she was reeling from the aftershock. Her eyes were bloodshot. The bruise under her eye mottled the skin. She couldn’t seem to keep her balance. Her pupils were wide open, though he didn’t know if that was from the dark room or some kind of medication.
    He said, “Tell me what brought this on.”
    Her head moved slowly side to side.
    “Was it the raid last week?” He paused. “Two cops were hurt. Were you part of that? Were you on the team?”
    She paused before answering, “I’m not allowed to talk about the raid.”
    “You and I both know you don’t play by the rules.”
    “Ask Branson.”
    “I’m asking you.”
    Her head started shaking again. She looked down at Jared. Her voice was barely a whisper when she told her husband, “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”
    Will said, “Lena, something happened to set this off.”
    She didn’t respond.
    He tried to be diplomatic. “Did Jared pull somebody over who might want to hurt him?”
    She gave Will a confused look, as if it never occurred to her that a motorcycle cop working part of a drug corridor that ran up the Eastern Seaboard might find himself in a dangerous situation.
    She asked, “You think he got in the way of some traffickers?”
    “I don’t know. You tell me.”
    She seemed to think about it. “They would’ve shot him then and there.”
    Will knew she was right, but he still asked, “Jared didn’t mention anything?”
    “We weren’t really talking.”
    Will let her words settle. He wasn’t surprised there was marital discord. The first thing he’d seen when he walked through the front door of their house was a pillow and sheet on the couch.
    Will asked, “What about