Waves

Part 36

TW: Brief mention of self-harm

Eve's ears rang as she tried to process Adam's words; the familiar electronic humming she used to hear when her parents would fight flooding her senses. It was like her body developed an internal mute function to protect itself from the threats it perceived, working overtime to prevent them from seeping into her conscious.

"What happened?" she asked, her fingers white from the death grip she had on the marble island. "Call came into dispatch about an officer down off of Dille. When patrol arrived, they found Abrams slumped over his steering wheel with a gunshot wound to the head. There was a note taped to the passenger seat," Adam grunted.

"There's no way Adam. I–I just spoke to him. We prepped his testimony two days ago and he was resolute and calm and there's just no way," Eve stammered. She had met with Abrams over Zoom for hours to go over the case that week and while anything was possible, she had difficulty picturing the man she spoke to doing something like this.

"Morton is at the crime scene now," Adam replied, referencing his partner, "And they're going over everything carefully. I don't think the kid off'd himself but that's what it looks like to DCSI as of right now."

Staring out the sliding doors to the patio, Eve watched Joe toss his head back and blow smoke rings, seemingly oblivious to the explosion she was dealing with inside. Her vision pricked with tears of frustration as Adam rambled on about various scenarios and next steps before they hung up. There was simply no winning for Eve when it came to this case; every small step forward she took, it felt like a million more pushed her backwards.

Wiping her cheeks off, she tried to mask her devastation when she returned to the patio, plopping down onto the couch next to Joe. She didn't have time to fully process the bomb that had been dropped when he clocked the slight furrow in Eve's brow and got suspicious, cautiously asking her what was going on.

"Evie? What happened? Who was on the phone?" Faintly tracing the almost decade-old scar on his hand, Eve mashed her lips together while she mulled over how much she wanted to tell him in the moment.

"It was Adam and it was about the case and I promise, I will tell you everything later but please, can we just enjoy right now for a little bit longer?" Eve's eyes welled up again and she silently cursed; frustrated at her inability to control her emotions in the moment. Opening his mouth to push back, Joe stopped when he saw the first tear drop onto her face and nodded grimly, holding Eve to his chest instead.

The rest of their guests stayed for a few more hours before a line of Ubers pulled up to retrieve each tipsy reveler; all of them offering a drunken 'Who Dey' on their way out of the house. Eve let out a sigh of relief when the last player left and followed Joe upstairs to the bathtub where they climbed in before she tearfully relayed everything she knew so far about Abrams.

"Jesus Christ Eve. I'm so, so sorry baby. Is–is there anything I can do?"Joe reached out for Eve's hands and placed tender kisses on the top of them before pulling her into his lap, water sloshing over the edge of the tub as she straddled him. "No," Eve sniffed, "but I love you for offering. I can't even begin to process this but I'm starting to feel like the universe is sending me signs to drop this case." Wrapping his arms around her waist, Joe ran his nails against Eve's back, the sensation instantly calming her.

"If there's anyone who can overcome all this bullshit and still win this case, it's you. I know it's easier said than done but you gotta keep pushing. You and I both know that you can't drop this case nor should you. Rooks needs you. You've gotta see this through and you can," Joe reassured her. Burying her head in the warmth of his damp chest, Eve offered a muffled response that got a laugh out of Joe. "I'm going to take that as 'you're right Joe and you're always right and the best boyfriend ever,'" he chuckled.