Toni was still holding him tightly as he shook off the nerves from the dream. He could never get used to the nightmares, and they took a lot out of him. But now, he felt somewhat grateful that the dreams were turning into conversations with Carlos. To hear his voice was a blessing.

Toni examined Jaiden with a questioning look. Jaiden knew that as a detective, he was naturally inquisitive, but he didn't voice a single question.

"Did I yell?" Jaiden asked.

Toni gently rubbed his back. "A little."

Jaiden sighed. "Sorry. I tend to do that."

Toni ran his hand through Jaiden's hair to try and comfort him. "You calmed down after a while, but you were still crying."

Jaiden could tell that he was hesitant to bring it up.

Jaiden kissed him lightly. "I tend to do that too. Cursed, remember?" He gave a self-deprecating laugh.

He didn't want to, but still forced himself out of Toni's arms and sat at the edge of the bed with his back facing him.

He knew that this was an automatic response. His body was used to creating distance.

The fire had almost flickered out and the chill crept into the room again. He and Toni had fallen asleep without bothering about clothes. So, leaving the warmth of Toni and being completely exposed to the cold air made him shiver.

"The nightmares are a little more frequent this time of year." Jaiden said quietly.

He could feel the bed dip behind him, and Toni's arms were around him again. He placed kissed on his shoulders and neck.

Death happens in this line of work. Sometimes you need to defend yourself. Other times you respond to a call and are just too late. On the other side of the coin, any cop could tell you about someone they had lost in the line of duty. A friend, colleague, family. Loss was just a part of the terms and conditions of the badge.

The details of Carlos' passing were kept confidential, and many didn't know what Jaiden had witnessed. They knew he called it in, but they didn't know how he had hold on to Carlos' body as he died. His last words and his last breath were now a carved into Jaiden's heart.

Toni still didn't ask for and explanation or even voiced his assumptions. He continued to hold onto to Jaiden.

"If you let me, I'll be here to wake you from your nightmares." He whispered.

Jaiden felt the comfort of hearing those words. Since the moment he heard those gunshots at the church, he had been living in a nightmare. Maybe Toni could wake him up from this lonely hell.

"I think... I would like that..." Jaiden said quietly.

Toni was surprised from the reaction. He felt like he took a risk by asking Jaiden to not only be vulnerable but to trust him. He anticipated that he would be pushed away again, but contrary to expectations, Jaiden accepted. It was another wall crumbling away. Toni held on to him a little tighter, fearful of losing this moment.

Without sharing another word, Toni pulled Jaiden back in bed with him and held him closely. It was like he knew what Jaiden was dreaming about and refused to let him run away from him.

Before the sun broke through the horizon, Jaiden work up, feeling restless. He slipped out of the bed and pulled on some joggers and a sweatshirt. He slipped out to the back patio and sat on the chair that let him overlook the Sandias. The sun started to peak over the mountains, and the sky started to glow like honey. He sighed as he watched the spectacular show that came with every morning.

Toni woke up shortly after Jaiden left and frowned when he saw the empty side of the bed. But it was still warm, so he knew that Jaiden wasn't gone for long. He climbed out of bed and threw on his sweatpants and looked around the house. When he couldn't find him in the house, he started to feel panic setting in. He went back to the room and picked up his phone to call him but noticed a figure sitting outside on his porch. He stepped into the doorframe and felt the chilled air hit him, but didn't feel cold at all.

He was mesmerized by Jaiden who was looking towards the mountains, unaware someone was watching him. The golden light of the sun danced off his curls and his tan skin glowed under the natural light. He was more enchanting than the sun itself, and Toni decided at this moment that Jaiden was the only light he needed in his life.

Toni was about to call out to him, but the phone in his hand rang, making Jaiden turn quickly towards him. The warm smile that Jaiden flashed his way made him speechless. "Morning, Toni." He said with a small laugh, but his eyes flicked to the phone. "Aren't you going to get that?"

Toni cursed a little. "Buenos dias." He said to Jaiden with a small smile. He then picked it the phone and answered with a short, "Alvarez."

He was silent and Jaiden could see him straighten up with interest. "Good job. We'll be there shortly."

He stood up as he placed the phone back on the end table. "One of the victim's friends has some information for us. She heading to the precinct in a couple of hours."

Jaiden sighed and habitually ran his hand through his hair. "Time for work then."

Jaiden and Toni were sitting across from a nervous looking woman. She was one of the women who they had reached out to because she had many conversations with the victim and was not associated with the church. They really wanted to connect with her because she was one of few people the victim contacted before she went off the grid.

She was tightly gripping onto the mug of breakroom coffee. Her knuckles were pale, and her eyes were red and darting around. Her trembling lip would indicate that she wanted to say something, but then she would hesitate.

Toni was becoming impatient, and his fingers tapped the table a little. Jaiden wanted this to be done and over with as well. He could feel the weight of the piles of paperwork being left on the desk.

He watched her take a drink of the coffee and grimace a little. Jaiden put on a friendly face. "Sorry for the shit coffee. I would offer something stronger, but the higher ups will probably have my hide."

She laughed a little and her shoulders relaxed. "A bottle of wine would go a long way right now."

Jaiden's face softened. "May I call you Darlene, or Ms. Baca?"

"Darlene..."

Jaiden smiled and continued with his gentle appearance. "I know you're probably in shock right now and this is the last place you want to be. I'm sorry to make you do this, Darlene."

She shook her head. "No. No, I should be here."

"She was a good woman." Jaiden said, his eyes carefully watching her, and he noticed her wince.

"Right." She whispered.

"We just want to put together her story. Once we have the events of her week plotted out, we may see a bigger picture. You may think that it's pointless or unnecessary, but we think every detail is precious." He said with a smile and patted her arm. "I know this is hard for you, Darlene, but your very brave for being here."

She blushed a little and looked down at her cup. "I... am scared that her husband, Danny, will find out. I don't want to hurt him more."

Toni was fuming in his chair because of the affection Jaiden was displaying. However, when he heard her say this, he leaned forward, realizing that Jaiden was successful in making her talk. He still didn't like him being so friendly.

"I understand." Jaiden said with a deep sigh. "But right now, he's hurting because he doesn't know what happened. We want to help him find the closure."

Her eyes darted around the room, and she let out a sob. "She was seeing someone. She would meet him at some club. Danny was out of town, and she was going to have some rendezvous with this man."

"Do you know anything about this man?"

She shook her head. "No. She never would tell me where she met him, or what he looked like. She only told me that he made her feel like she was young again, invigorated... she did say that he had a difficult past that she wanted him to overcome. Something about being injured when he was a kid and losing his sister. Then his brother was recently murdered... she pitied him and called it love.

"We were friends for a long time, since high school. She was always on the wild side until she met Danny. She cleaned up her act, but there was still that rebellious side."

"Do you know when she went to the club?"

She shrugged. "Saturdays..."

Jaiden was quiet. "Danny never noticed?"

She started to cry. "No... I was going through a bad divorce, and I guess she would tell him that she was meeting me. I didn't know until he brought it up to me. I... regretted not telling him about knowing she was seeing someone. I hated myself even because he was always genuine and caring... but Cynthia was my best friend for so long... But when I heard that she was using my circumstance to sleep with some man, I was furious. Friday morning, she called me for a wine recommendation, and I laid into her. My last conversation with her was just me yelling and calling her the worst names possible."

Jaiden took some time to calm her down and then checked back with Toni to make sure they got everything they needed before sending her out.

Jaiden sunk into a chair at his desk and rubbed his eyes. "We're going to have to talk to the husband again."

Toni nodded stiffly. "I'll go through his alibi again."

One of the techs dropped a file on his desk and tapped it. "That pill you found was benzodiazepines. A high dose too. It matches what's in her blood system too."

"A sedative? That makes sense then. It would probably wreak havoc on the body when mixed with alcohol." Jaiden said which made the tech surprised.

"That's... right." The tech stuttered. "Um... I'm going to go back to the data."

Toni raised an eyebrow. "You know what that pill was?"

Jaiden nodded. "I looked into a lot of alternatives to help me sleep. I didn't like the side effects."

Toni frowned a little. "So now we have the drug, a possibly jealous husband, and a woman who you flirted a statement out of."

Jaiden coughed as he was trying to drink some coffee. "Flirted?"

Toni let out a frustrated laugh. "You were quite suave there."

"I was being nice!" Jaiden defended himself, but his voice was a little louder than he intended and caused others to look his way with surprise. Not many were able to get a rising emotion out of Jaiden before.

Jaiden tried to hide his embarrassment and lowered his voice. "If I was stone faced, I wouldn't have gotten anything from her. I had to play nice."

"So, you flirted." Toni was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. His jaw tightened a little. A vein creeping up his neck perturbed a little and throbbed.

Jaiden suddenly smiled and tried to cover it with his hand. But this only made Toni's face darken more.

"Fuck." Jaiden whispered as he looked Toni up and down. His eyes darkened and he licked his lips discreetly. He ripped his gaze away from Toni and once he confirmed that no one was in hearing distance, he leaned forward. "Jealousy looks good on you."

Toni's eyes widen, and his jaw twitched. "Mira, I'm not jealous."

Jaiden grinned. "That's too bad. That would have been sexy as hell."

He pulled back and flipped through the report. He could feel Toni's eyes piercing into him. "My interrogation techniques will differ depending on who I'm talking to. Some need a delicate touch, but it will never be flirting. If you don't know the difference, then I guess I'll have to try harder tonight." He said without looking up.

He heard the hiss from Toni and caught him rubbing his jaw. Jaiden could swear he looked embarrassed and chuckled to himself.

Toni sighed and ruffled Jaiden's hair. "You asshole. You can't say things like that here."

"And why not?"

"Isn't it breaking your rules... distractions and focusing on work?"

Jaiden shot him a quick wink. "Didn't I say, 'fuck the rules' last night?"

"Mierda. You are trouble." Toni grumbled but his smile contradicted him.

Jaiden hit him with the file. "Now stop distracting me."

Toni chuckled. "Cabron."

And like this, the days started to bleed together. Days were filled with interrogations and questions. Their eyes strained from watching camera footage, but nothing to indicate that someone was hunting her down. Even the grocery store on that Friday revealed nothing except for her looking at wine. It was odd though. Darlene had mentioned that she had a bad argument with Cynthia that morning, but Cynthia showed little to no emotion. Was she already taking the sedatives?

They started to search for a possible prescription in hopes to see if these drugs could possibly turn into a lead, even if it was miniscule. Right now, he felt like they were just grasping at straws.

They did check the security footage for the clubs as well around the cell tower pings on Saturdays, but it was like they were looking at static. The quality was poor, and it was hard to find any identifiable features. One club still used VHS tapes and they had to run to an old storage facility to grab a VHS player, but even that seemed like a bust.

After some more questions and verifying his statement, Danny's alibi was clean. And so, they were left with a mysterious man who seemed to be more like a ghost.

Jaiden hated admitting it, but they had nothing to go off of.