Cell Mates (boyxboy) (Book 1: Behind Bars)

Chapter 26: Jyle

Chapter  26

~John’s POV~

These days if I managed to get a wink of sleep I was lucky. Too many thoughts, too many unwanted emotions, distractions, hopes and fears; they all kept me up at night staring at the ceiling of my too large room and this night was no different. In the morning Nate and I would be heading out to question the kid’s mother and my mind was on everything but that all important meeting.

 I rubbed my thumb over the palm of my left hand again and again as the thoughts swirled in my mind; the most prominent one being Eddie; my friend, my brother.

I still refused to believe he was gone; not him, a man like that deserved to have the years he’d been promised, deserved to settle down and marry his woman then grow old with a flock of kids at his feet. A guy like that didn’t deserve to have his life snuffed out without even his friends around to offer comfort in his last hour.

Nate had to be wrong. Our Eddie was a fighter, always had been and it definitely wasn’t his time to go, but then Nate was always one to work with the facts placed before him. He’d never been one for hope and optimism; a fucking realist through and through.

I took a breath.

Every time I closed my eyes I was bombarded by memories of a man closer to me than a brother. I’d practically begged Nate not to let him in on the assignment. He was a damn good agent but he had too much heart, he was too kind, too sensitive to the plight of others; undercover work didn’t suit a man like that and now my greatest fear had been realized.

I took a breath.

He couldn’t be gone. I felt the persistent pain in my chest at just the mere thought of him lying in a cold grave; lifeless and I shook my head trying to clear it. I was sick of these thoughts, these distracting emotions. I had to focus.

There were only two people in this world I gave a damn about and if Eddie really was gone then I had to do everything I could to make sure Nate was safe, which meant I had to focus on our trip tomorrow; not get worked up over things I couldn’t change.

I took a breath.

I continued running my thumb against my palm, fighting with my mind to think of something else, anything else; like maybe the ease with which we’d escaped from the penitentiary; it suggested an inside job and I couldn’t ignore the feeling that this was somehow connected; that it was all connected.

“Johnny?” I looked toward the door when I heard my barely whispered name on the other side and shook my head.

I hadn’t been able to listen to the news since our escape but as soon as I could I would. If I could get an idea of the men who had escaped it would give me at least a clue into-

“Johnny! Are you awake?” with gritted teeth I listened as Kyle jiggled the door knob, testing to see if it was open.

If I knew who escaped it would at least answer some of the questions I had and would quite possibly give me a clue into-

“Johnny!” then the knocking came, soft and controlled but with the almost stifling silence of the place it sounded annoyingly loud.

I looked up at the ceiling with a muttered curse. This was just another one of my problems; Kyle; the persistent throb in my side that would quite possibly never go away.

“I can practically feel your glare through the door…open up I have something to tell you.”

I shook my head. “Then tell me and go to bed.” I called back.