Read Protecting You (A McCord Family Novel Book 1) for Free Online

but I'm the smartest one around here. I brought beer to give us the brains to figure this shit out," Mahone said as he walked up with a case of beer. He plopped down next to Jimmy, grabbing three beers out of the case, handing one to each of them.
    "That was pretty smart, Mahone. Doesn't happen very often for you." Ava laughed.
    "Why'd you need a new couch, Jimmy?" Mahone asked, giving Ava a simple smirk and took a swig of beer.
    "To impress my brothers, so they wouldn't make me come back home because I can't handle New York," Jimmy said with a straight face.
    "Wow! You Minnesotans are weird. That makes no sense," Mahone said laughing.
    "What makes no sense? Why are we having a party in the hallway on a couch instead of in the actual apartment?" Markus asked as he walked up to them.
    "Jimmy has deep-rooted issues and buying a couch makes it all better," Mahone said sarcastically, handing Markus a beer, scooting over so he could sit down as well.
    "Makes sense to me." Markus grinned at Jimmy.
    Ava and Jimmy laughed as Mahone rolled his eyes.
    Ava downed her beer and grinned. "I think I know how to get the couch in now."
    "What for? It's working great out here." Jimmy grinned back as he reached into the case and grabbed another beer for her. "I think my brother's will be thoroughly impressed."
    ***
    The tears flowed freely as her mind shifted from memory to memory of Jimmy. The laughs they had, the jokes they shared, the disagreements even. It all tore at her heart, knowing he was gone forever.
    Her dad came back in, sitting down in the chair quietly. "The doctor will be here soon. Everything will be all right, Ava. I know what he meant to you," Peter said softly, putting a comforting hand on her back.
    Ava kept her back turned, the sobs increasing in strength.
    I know what he meant to you .
    He meant the world to her. He was the best friend anyone could ask for. She had plenty of great friends—Ashley and Julie, whom she had grown up with. Markus, Mahone, and a few other great detectives, but none of them, at the moment, compared to Jimmy. He had been the best.
    She continued to cry as her dad lightly rubbed her back. Her mind floated back to the incident, wishing the blackness would take her back over. She didn't want to think anymore. She wished she had never woken up. It all felt like a terrible nightmare.
    ***
    Ava was released from the hospital a few days later. Her dad wanted her to come home with him and recuperate, but she declined, wanting to be by herself. The choice wasn't his and he relented with a heavy heart.
    Her door had become revolving with many friends and co-workers coming to visit, offering their condolences, their sympathies. She wanted to disappear into oblivion, forget it all happened. She wanted Jimmy to knock on her door and bug her about anything with his infectious smile. It didn't matter what the reason would be.
    Her father told her shortly after she awoke that both officers who failed to secure the scene properly received suspensions until a full investigation into the matter was completed. She told him she didn't care and turned her back. Nothing mattered anymore. Jimmy wasn't coming back. Old Ava would have stepped into their faces with anger and irritation, informing them of the proper procedure. Now, she just didn't care.
    Some people hated that about her. Her abrupt in-your-face attitude. She could be hard on people. She chalked it up to being a cop's daughter, learning at a young age that you needed a hard shell to make it in the cop world. She supposed it had been inevitable, working for the police department in some capacity. Her father had grown up a beat cop, turning into a detective, and then slowly moved up the ladder to become the Police Commissioner. Some say she got her position because of her dad. What were those people saying about her now?
    She knew what she would say about herself.
    Austin even tried to call her a few times, but she gave up answering the phone—for anybody. He