Chapter Twenty #5
Yeah, pretty much.
“He took out his tracker, Jerry.”
“Why would he do that?” Jerry shouted.
“I'll have an answer for that just as soon as I get my hands on Lany.” Assuming I didn't wrap them around his pretty little neck and strangle him.
“I could bring him back to the house, you know. It might actually be a better idea if I go in alone. This is going to be a big clusterfuck anyway. No need to throw deadly intent in there.”
I didn't say a word.
Jerry huffed. “Fine, but you need to let me do the talking.”
“As long as they give me my husband, there will be no problems.”
“I swear you and Junior give me half the white hairs I have on my head.”
As Jerry hung up, I heard him yelling at his driver to go faster.
The ride from the airport to the East County Precinct seemed to take as long as my flight from Colorado. By the time the taxi pulled up in front of the three-story brick building, I was ready to climb out the window and run to get there. It might have been faster.
As soon as I stepped out of the taxi, several men dressed in SWAT gear climbed out of the SWAT vehicle parked next to us. Two more men climbed out of the black SUV parked next to it.
I sent Clarke a glare as I tossed my bags into the back of the SWAT vehicle.
Clarke's eyes dropped. “I'm really sorry, Sal.”
I didn't say anything.
“We brought your stuff,” Marcus explained as he and Dmitri walked up to us. “Figured it might hold more weight if you were in your SWAT gear.”
That was actually a good idea. Panicked husband might not get me very far. Commander of SWAT Team One would. After taking off my shirt, I reached for the shirt that Marcus held out to me and pulled it on, thankful for their forethought.
They even had my tactical vest, gun, and gun belt.
Once I was all geared up, I glanced at everyone standing there, the people I trusted to care for my family in my absence. “We all need to sit down and have a conversation when this is over. Lany never should have ended up in this situation.”
Marcus grimaced. “Sal—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “I am very well aware of the fact that Lany is a trouble magnet. Our job is to try and minimize the damage when he gets into trouble.” I narrowed my eyes at Marcus. “No matter what Lany said, I should have been called the second he disappeared.”
Marcus nodded and dropped his gaze to the ground. “I know. I was just really hoping he wasn't in some sort of mess again.”
Lany not in a mess?
We all just stared at him.
Marcus huffed before tilting his head back and staring up at the sky. “I know. It was stupid.”
It was.
I turned my attention to Clarke. “It is not your job to teach Lany a lesson. You are not his parent, and you are not his husband. If he does something stupid, you tell me, and I will punish him.”
“Technically,” Clarke said, “I was under a court order to arrest everyone in that house.”
My eyes narrowed once again. “You know what kind of trouble Lany can get into just walking across a room. Even if he had to be arrested, you should have sent someone with him to make sure he was safe.”
“Sal—”
“Lany may be a trouble magnet, but he doesn't go looking for trouble. And his heart is usually in the right place. You know that.”
“I know,” Clarke replied in such a downtrodden tone that I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
“We have no idea why Lany was in that house, Clarke, and we won't until I speak to him. He could have a perfectly good reason for being there. Did you ever consider that?”
“No.” Clarke sighed. “To be honest, as soon as I saw him, I just panicked. I wanted to get him out of that drug house as fast as possible.”
That I could understand.
“I get that, I really do, but next time send someone with him.”
Clarke nodded. “It won't happen again, Sal.”
“It had better not, or you won't see your bed for a very long time.”
Clarke winced.
I was fully aware of what it took to get back into my bed when I had pissed Lany off. Considering Lany and Lyn were best friends, I had no doubt that Clarke had to jump through the same hoops to get back into his bed when he pissed Lyn off.
“Let's go.”
Marcus, Dmitri, and my team followed me inside the police precinct. I walked straight up to the reception desk. The officer behind the counter glanced up and then nodded respectfully.
“How can I help you, Lieutenant?”
“I'm Lieutenant Salvador Delvecchio. I'm looking for Police Commissioner Harris. I'm supposed to be meeting him here. Has he arrived yet?”
“Yes, sir,” the officer was quick to say. “Commissioner Harris has already gone back to one of the interrogation rooms to speak with Detective Sparks.”
I seethed with anger. “Take me there.” I turned to look at the others. “Marcus, you come with me. The rest of you wait here.”
I wasn't sure just how much damage control I'd need to do before I could leave with Lany. I wanted Marcus there to stand with Lany while I tried to defuse the situation. Normally, his sole focus was on protecting Lany.
I had no idea what had happened this time.
I clenched my hands into fists as I followed the officer through a secure door and then down the hallway to one of the interrogation rooms. I had no idea what I would find inside, but I certainly didn't expect to see Jerry sitting in a chair with his head buried in his hands and Lany going toe-to-toe with a detective.
“Enough!” I shouted as I took in the hostile scene. I don't know what Lany had been up to or what had occurred before I got here, and at the moment, I didn't really care. I just wanted to get to Lany. “What in the hell is going on in here?”
“Sal!” Lany dashed across the small room, throwing himself into my arms.
I hugged him tightly for a moment, relishing the fact that he was safe in my arms and unharmed.
And then I let my anger show through.
I grabbed Lany by the arms and pushed him back far enough that I could look down into his face. I did a quick assessment, clenching my jaw when I saw the bruises on his cheek and his swollen eye.
Someone obviously needed to die.
I narrowed my eyes at my love. “What have you done this time, Lany?”
Lany's eyes rounded. “I can explain.”
I couldn't wait to hear it.
Chapter Five
Lany
Yeah, I was in trouble. There wasn't much I could do about that, at least not right now. I wasn't about to tell this asshat detective that I had been working undercover for the DEA. I didn't really want to tell Sal either.
He was going to have kittens.
I just needed to figure out what I had to say to get me out of here. Once I was alone with Sal, I'd tell him the truth about what was going on. I also needed to figure out just how much Sal knew. Knowing how deep in shit I was would make things a little easier.
Maybe.
I leaned in close as if hugging Sal and whispered in his ear, “Not here.”
“Mmm.”
I shuddered with relief when Sal tucked me in to his side. This was the safest place in the world as far as I was concerned. Sal would move the heavens and earth to make sure I was always protected.
I needed to remember that.
Guilt started to swamp me as I realized none of this would have ever happened if I had just told Sal the truth from the very beginning. It wasn't like he kept me from doing the things I wanted to do. He just made sure I was safe while doing it.
I had a lot to make up for.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
Sal spared me a quick glance and a nod of acknowledgement of my words and then went back to glaring at the detective. “What evidence do you have to hold my husband?”
“He was at a drug house and—”
“Being at a certain location is not reason to hold someone.”
The detective bristled as if offended by Sal's words. “He knows who was running that drug house. I want a name.”
“And if you don't get one?” Sal asked.
“I'll keep him in custody until I do.”
I tucked in my lips when Sal raised an eyebrow.
This was going to be good.
“I'd like to see you try,” Sal remarked. “Not only do I have the police commissioner here as a witness to you holding my husband without sufficient evidence, but I have a decorated Marine.” Sal gestured to Marcus. “How badly do you want to fuck up your career?”
“I don't have a name,” I insisted. “If I had one, I'd give it to him.”
I seriously doubted the name the DEA had given me as the guy I'd be working with was really Alex SeRoy. More than likely, he was the Viggo Marcus that Detective Sparks had mentioned.
Sal turned to look at me, a bit of anger thinning his lips and pulling his eyebrows together. “Just what were you doing in that house anyway?”
I gave a small shake of my head. I wasn't supposed to discuss the case with anyone except the DEA. I'd make an exception for Sal, especially since my butt was currently in a sling, but I wasn't going to make the same exception for the detective.
Uncle Jerry was still a maybe but only because he always seems to get so stressed out whenever I did something like this. The poor man had been dealing with me his entire life. He had to have an ulcer the size of Kansas.
“The detective mentioned someone named Viggo Marcus. Maybe he's the guy running the show?”
Sal glanced at Detective Sparks. “You already have a suspect?”
“I have many suspects, including your husband,” the detective replied.
“Is he in custody?”
“Not at the moment, but he will be soon if I can get your husband to answer some questions for me.”
“Look,” I said, “I don't know who Viggo Marcus is. I'd never even heard of him before you mentioned him. I do not know who was running that drug house. I was in a little room with no windows. I didn't see anyone coming or going. I didn't see any drugs or drug deals. Nothing.”
The detective's eyes narrowed in on me. “You want me to believe you were seen coming and going from that place over the course of a week and you didn't see anything?”
“I didn't,” I protested. “Like I said, I was in a little room. I didn't even go into the rest of the house. I was just there repairing and upgrading a computer.”