Chapter 16
It was no big surprise that Dane found himself in jail. But it still stung. Even to his solidly cynical sensibilities, this was not acceptable. He sat on the cot in the basement cell at state police headquarters with his head in his hands.
It was Cap who had put him there.
His so-called friend told him it was for his own good, had gotten him a good lawyer. Or so he’d said. It had been a very long time since Dane had needed a lawyer. He usually had the governor shield him from charges being brought. But not this time.
This time was different.
He’d shot Whitey Nash in the back. Then he’d shot him again in the face.
Not to mention Whitey was from Australia.
As Dane had suspected in the beginning, Whitey had some kind of connection with someone in the justice system.
Someone with enough sway to demand prosecution.
Loudly. Underestimating Whitey’s juice had been a strategic error on his part.
He knew he should have found out more about why and how Whitey got let out of prison. But he hadn’t.
And now he was in jail. Hopefully he wouldn’t go to prison.
But Dane knew there were a lot of people, some of them in high places, who were applauding the fact that his butt was behind bars.
He wouldn’t put it past certain of those people to wield all the influence they had to try to keep him locked up as long as possible.
A couple of FBI types came to mind. At least one each from the CIA and the ATF.
Maybe even one from Homeland Security, high up.
Dealing with doing time in a cell aside, the worst thing about his situation was Shana. Not being able to see her, not being there while she fought for her life. It was twenty-four damn hours since her surgery and she was still in critical condition. That, above all else, was not right.
Keeping thoughts of her being on the edge of life and death out of his head was his single biggest challenge right now.
But he had help. Joe, Peter, Madeline, Jones from the Lucky Parrot, Acer and even the Reverend Hall, from the Church of Saint Rose, visited with him.
They’d kept an eye on him like they were on a vigil.
This was probably Madeline’s idea. She was a shrink by trade and couldn’t help herself.
But it didn’t take a shrink to know why Dane was on the edge of despair.
It was all about Shana. He needed for her to be okay. Needed to see her again. Soon.
Ronnie and Sassy came in finally after she was released from the hospital. She’d cried. She’d thanked him profusely over and over for everything, but especially for killing both Eli Hughes and Whitey Nash.
Only Cap didn’t visit. Not because he hadn’t wanted to, or because he couldn’t. Hell, it was his jail. No. Cap didn’t visit because Dane forbade it. He didn’t want to see the man’s face. Cap was the one who’d put him here in the moment when Dane should have been at Shana’s side.
Cap had discretion. He could have used it. He could have let Dane go.
Cap didn’t have to arrest Dane.
But he had.
Dane heard footsteps and looked up.
Ronnie and Sassy came down the stairs flicking the light switch on to blaze life into the otherwise empty and dark basement hallway. It was early morning.
“You’re awake,” Ronnie said. He wore a tentative grin along with his cadet uniform.
Dane didn’t bother responding, but he gave the kid a half smile to reward his forced cheer.
Sassy said, “Your lawyer contacted me to let you know she wanted to come by at eight a.m., and she’d be able to get you out.”
“She contacted you?” Dane stood and faced the bars, but didn’t stand up against them like he’d seen so many prisoners do.
It made the bars seem too real to him. He needed to keep them foreign, away from his psyche, away from entangling and messing with his already dejected mind.
Especially while Sassy and Ronnie were here watching him.
“Yeah. Funny, huh? She said I was the only one of her friends, as far as she could tell, who wasn’t some kind of law enforcement official and she didn’t trust any one of them.”
“Not even the governor?”
Sassy shrugged. She was more subdued than her usual self, but doing well considering what she’d been through. Dane suspected that had to do with Ronnie’s support. “All I know is she’s very certain she’ll get you out of here this morning. So you can see Shana. Soon.”
The words echoed in his mind. He could see Shana. Soon. He didn’t ask how Shana was doing. Apparently, he’d turned into a damn coward over night, but he couldn’t take knowing when he couldn’t see her, couldn’t be there. He would wait until he was at her bedside and ask her himself. In the flesh.
He nodded at Sassy. She knew him well enough to know that was a thank-you. Then he turned to Ronnie.
“Looks like you’re headed back to the Point soon.”
“Yes, sir. Right after Shana’s surgery.”
Sassy nearly shrieked. “No. Ronnie, you shouldn’t have told him, you weren’t supposed to say anything.”
Dane went still. Very still and cold, almost to the point of shivering with his fear. But he spoke in a quiet calm voice, the one he usually saved for deadly enemies when he meant business.
“Shana’s having another surgery?”
Ronnie nodded. “I’m sorry, Dane. But they say she’s still bleeding internally. They have to go back in and find out why and see if they can repair it.”
If they can repair it?
He kept himself together, kept hold of his mind, his sanity, kept himself from yelling out his despair and held onto his hope. He held onto the fact that he’d be getting out of here—lawyer or no lawyer he’d find a way—and he was going to see her before she went into that surgery.
“You said my lawyer, Ms. Kimble, will be here at eight?” He spoke in a calm, measured voice as he gathered all the inner strength he had. All he had left.
Sassy nodded, her eyes sad and tearing up. He looked away from her and spoke to Ronnie.
“What time is Shana’s surgery?”
“I think it’s at ten—”
“Find out for sure.” His voice was tight, matching every muscle in his body as he thought about how he would escape the cell if he had to. He would use Ronnie and Sassy—didn’t even care if he got the boy in trouble and ruined his West Point career.
“Calling Dr. Aoki right now.”
Dane nodded at him without guilt as he plotted. But his attention was drawn to the stairs as he heard footsteps and voices. Two voices. One female and one Cap’s.
The visceral reaction to the man’s presence was immediate, turning the dormant rage white hot in a nanosecond. He did what he’d said he wouldn’t, gripping the bars to get himself back under control as the two reached the bottom of the stairs and into the hall to join Ronnie and Sassy at his cell.
Cap looked at him. He met the man’s cool eyes. There was no apology, no remorse, no nothing. He had a blank look. His was almost as good as Dane’s blank stare, but his eyes were still alive, they still had a spark. In that spark Dane could see his humanity. His imperfect humanity.
“Good to finally meet you in person, Mr. Blaise.” Ms. Kimble spoke and he snapped his eyes from Cap’s.
Sassy and Ronnie had been holding their breath, waiting out the tense moment. Dane tossed them a small smile of reassurance. It was real enough because he was fond of them. Then he turned to Ms. Kimble and nodded as he studied her.
She was short and nicely rounded with unruly dark hair that she let go in a riot around her smart face.
Her big owl-like brown eyes were magnified with super-size glasses.
But her smiling mouth was remarkable and lush and he’d bet she had plenty of men wanting to kiss those lips.
Dane wouldn’t have been one of them, even if he hadn’t been hopelessly in love with his girl.
But maybe Ms. Kimble could use her feminine wiles along with her intelligence and legal expertise to get Dane out of there within the next thirty minutes. Tops.
Because that’s all Dane figured he had before Shana became inaccessible. Normally he wouldn’t let pre-op procedures stop him from getting to a person, but this surgery was too important. He had to get out of jail pronto.
“Captain Lynch, you can leave us now so that I can have a private chat with my client.”
Cap nodded, looked at Dane like he might say something, hesitated, then left.
Guess Cap is still a coward today. Same as yesterday.
Sassy stepped close to the bars half whispered, “Cap is just doing his job. He knows you did the right thing. This will all blow over. No one is going to convict you of murder for killing that horrible nut job.”
“We’ll leave you—” Ronnie started to say, taking Sassy by the arm.
“No, Mr. Ryan, is it? I’d like you to stay. I want to hear your part of the story while I have you here. It’ll give me a more complete picture of what happened.”
“Sure. What do you need to know?”
“Tell me what happened from when you arrived at Sassy’s home.” Ms. Kimble gave Sassy a soft smile and grasped her hand and held it as if to brace her for the retelling of a horror story.
“I went to Sassy’s by myself. Reconnaissance.
Ahead of the others. Everything was quiet.
There was no vehicle at the house. My guess was that Whitey was using Sassy’s car to do whatever he had to do.
I hadn’t seen him leave on the surveillance feed so I figured he left while I was in transit.
” Ronnie took a breath and held onto Sassy’s other hand.
Sassy looked at the floor. Dane let go of the bars and stepped back while he listened to the kid—or rather young man.
He hadn’t heard about this part. Although he’d been keen on rescuing Sassy, most of his attention and energy had been focused on protecting Shana.
Especially that morning. Yesterday morning.