Cold Case Unit Series by J.M. Dabney

Time Didn't Heal All Wounds and the Scars were About to be Ripped OpenStevensonWhen I'd moved from Homicide to the Cold Case Unit my friends headed, I'd thought it would be a new start. The minute my marriage fell apart I'd lost my purpose. Years passed and I hadn't found myself until I'd helped my friends catch a serial killer, but I'd also found friends and family. As I'd searched for a case among dusty boxes, a decades' old murder and missing person case caught my attention... moreTime Didn't Heal All Wounds and the Scars were About to be Ripped OpenStevensonWhen I'd moved from Homicide to the Cold Case Unit my friends headed, I'd thought it would be a new start. The minute my marriage fell apart I'd lost my purpose. Years passed and I hadn't found myself until I'd helped my friends catch a serial killer, but I'd also found friends and family. As I'd searched for a case among dusty boxes, a decades' old murder and missing person case caught my attention. The autopsy report send me to the M.E.'s office and the man I'd avoided for months.DocMaking death my job didn't allow for normal friends, but the dead needed an advocate and it was the only purpose I'd known. Being an Medical Examiner was all I'd had for decades and I didn't know what to do outside my job. I had a group of friends, all worked in law enforcement and forensics, but one thing was missing. Short, adorable middle-aged men weren't getting swept off their feet. When my secret crush, needed my help with a case to the detriment of my sanity I said yes. All I had to do was not be my weird self and blurt out everything in my head.When a missing person case turns out to be more than it appears can Stevenson keep Doc safe from a twenty year old threat?(TW: Mentions of childhood sexual, physical and mental abuses. Passive Suicidal Ideation, self-harm and mental illness. These are mainly off-page, but there are details flashbacks and conversations of said acts. Yet if these are triggering for you, please feel free not to read the story. Your self-care and mental health are more important. Thank you.) less

An unknown enemy wanted to take everything from us.GravesI'd spent all of my forty-plus years paying for mistakes when I'd simply been human. Living my life in the shadow of the happiness my friends from the Cold Case Unit found grew harder every day. I didn't mind being the odd one out; didn't mind being considered the unloveable straight-laced-ish one to their mayhem. Acceptance after a lifetime of not measuring up was nice. I'd found my rhythm and my place among the weirdness of my unit... moreAn unknown enemy wanted to take everything from us.GravesI'd spent all of my forty-plus years paying for mistakes when I'd simply been human. Living my life in the shadow of the happiness my friends from the Cold Case Unit found grew harder every day. I didn't mind being the odd one out; didn't mind being considered the unloveable straight-laced-ish one to their mayhem. Acceptance after a lifetime of not measuring up was nice. I'd found my rhythm and my place among the weirdness of my unit. That was until Marcel Douglas the new ego-manic in Homicide decided he had to pick apart every case I'd left behind.DouglasLeaving Chicago hadn't been in my plans, but my daughter needed me. I'd do about anything to make her happy. When her mother was transferred out of the States I'd moved so my daughter could stay with her friends—the place she'd come to love. Being at the bottom of the hierarchy and earning respect didn't sit right with my pride. I wasn't afraid to admit that. And I'd made one hell of an enemy. Graves and his Cold Case Unit frustrated me and I didn't understand their method. A series of body dumps brought me back to Graves for help, but he wasn't feeling charitable.We'd thought we were our biggest and bitterest enemies until the threats came, could we work together before the man gunning for us could finish the job? less

When your only goal is to save the world, who's there when you need to be rescued?
Boss
For most of my life, I'd been the savior and sought after when anyone found themselves in trouble. It could be to atone for sins of my past or because I was a natural caregiver. Whatever it was, I didn't understand how to do anything else... moreWhen your only goal is to save the world, who's there when you need to be rescued?
Boss
For most of my life, I'd been the savior and sought after when anyone found themselves in trouble. It could be to atone for sins of my past or because I was a natural caregiver. Whatever it was, I didn't understand how to do anything else. My Outreach program cared for everyone in the city who needed help, and I wouldn't say I hadn't made enemies, but when the protector needed protection, I wasn't prepared for Dolan Sharp.
Dolan
No one did anything for free or out of the kindness of their hearts. That wasn't how the world worked, and it was always survival of the fittest. I didn't care what anyone said about the man named Boss. When I witnessed Boss in action, what I thought I'd believed shattered, and I didn't know how to handle that.
There are always threats at every turn. It's just a matter of when they catch up to you, but when one jaded man and another with a seemingly deep death wish have to work together, who's going to survive the aftermath?
(TW: Mentions of childhood sexual, physical, and mental abuses. Passive Suicidal Ideation, self-harm, and mental illness. These are mainly off-page, but there are details flashbacks and conversations of said acts. Yet if these are triggering for you, please feel free not to read the story. Your self-care and mental health are more important. Thank you.) less

When two broken men find redemption together, will one survive to accept it?ChanceEveryone assumed I was a magnet for trouble, or maybe I searched it out on my own. By the age of forty, I almost destroyed my life. The tragic event that changed my entire perception of myself is haunting me. When a friend is in danger, I volunteer to keep them safe and momentarily distract myself from my problems. Yet my demons keep hunting me down... moreWhen two broken men find redemption together, will one survive to accept it?ChanceEveryone assumed I was a magnet for trouble, or maybe I searched it out on my own. By the age of forty, I almost destroyed my life. The tragic event that changed my entire perception of myself is haunting me. When a friend is in danger, I volunteer to keep them safe and momentarily distract myself from my problems. Yet my demons keep hunting me down.BartFor twenty years since my divorce, I'd completely cut myself off from all physical connection with another person. PTSD has taken everything from me, and a time bomb lives in my head—ready to go off at any moment. For the most part, I've learned to control it. When Chance needs help learning a healthier coping mechanism, I offer my assistance, but when he’s healed, will I be able to let him go like I'd promised?Nothing had prepared two traumatized men for each other. Can they heal and find redemption, or will the danger around them take one from the other before they realize they have more than their demons?(TW: Mentions of childhood sexual, physical, and mental abuses. Passive Suicidal Ideation, self-harm, eating disorders, and mental illness. These are mainly off-page, but there are detailed flashbacks and conversations of said acts. Yet if these are triggering for you, please feel free not to read the story. Your self-care and mental health are more important. Thank you.) less