Indivisible. Part 43

Lauren came back. "Where do we go?"

"Is that Jay?"

"Mmm hmm."

Huh. He gave her Tia's address, then pocketed his phone. Tia murmured a.s.surances all the way to the house. Jonah scooped Piper up and carried her to an overstuffed recliner that looked more comfortable than the antique settee. Tia went into the kitchen.

Lauren arrived in Jay's truck. Jonah looked from one to the other, then told Lauren, "The first gla.s.s of wine was clean. She had about half the doped gla.s.s."

Lauren prepared for the task, inserted the needle, and drew blood into a vial. She pressed a label onto the vial and gave it to him. He initialed beneath Piper's name, the date and time, then bagged the vial.

"Can you check her vitals?"

Lauren c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "You think?"

Right. He stepped back and looked at Jay. Jay looked back. Jonah c.o.c.ked his head, and Jay's mouth quirked.

Lauren spoke up. "You're not very observant, Jonah."

"Tell that to Piper." Did he only notice criminal behaviors? To Jay, he mouthed, "Dena?" "Dena?"

Jay shrugged. Jonah rewound the past weeks. Had Jay been there the nights he'd invited Lauren to stay after working with Sarge? Probably. Jay was like furniture, always there when you needed to sit down. He'd obviously been there when Lauren recalculated her odds with the chief of police.

"Sorry I interrupted your plans."

Tia came in with a tray of cheeses, flatbread, and pear slices. She set it on the table and sank to her knees beside her semiconscious friend.

Lauren said, "She probably shouldn't eat or drink until she's over the side effects. Rohypnol is a sedative and muscle relaxant." She lifted Piper's limp arm. "She'll be like this for four to six hours, and then she'll probably be confused and hung over."

Tia's features tightened. "Will she be okay?"

"The drug increases intoxication, causing imbalance and impaired speech. I don't detect respiratory depression, and I wouldn't from a half gla.s.s of doped wine." She looked up. "It's a good thing you stopped her finis.h.i.+ng it. Even so, she may experience vomiting and insomnia. And she probably won't remember this part of her night."

"So it is the date-rape drug."

Lauren seemed confident, as he was, but said, "The lab will tell for sure."

Tia's eyes were burning embers. "Bob won't get away with this, right?"

Jonah shook his head. "Not if I can help it."

"You're the chief of police."

"The DA brings charges."

"There are witnesses. There is evidence. Tell me-this time-you can do something."

"I already did." He hadn't seen her so shaken in years.

She gripped Piper's hand and murmured as the girl's head lolled.

Lauren gathered her things. "Seizure is possible, so I wouldn't leave her alone. If she doesn't wake up after eight hours, rouse her. If you can't, get her to the hospital."

He nodded. "Thanks, Lauren."

She gave him a slow, knowing smile, then followed Jay out.

When Jay and Lauren left, Tia stood up, hands to her hips. "Sarge's nurse?"

He spread his hands. "What?"

"Were you two serious?"

"We never got started."

"Did you want to?"

"What is this?"

"I saw that look between you."

"That look was her identifying the love of my life."

Tia's whole body shook. Piper's helplessness and the fear of what could have happened ripped through her protective layers to a vulnerability that terrified her. She felt as powerless, as defenseless as Piper. And there'd been heat in that look, whatever Jonah claimed it meant.

"Liz. Lauren." She huffed out her breath. "Nine years, a husband and four kids, yet I'm not convinced Reba's over you."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't want to be hurt." She pressed her hands to her face. "If these nine years have shown anything, it's how much we can hurt each other."

"Yeah, it hurts." His eyes went black as obsidian. "Because we love harder, we can also cut deeper. The happier-"

"You think I'll make you happy? I'm the other other Manning, remember? The one you didn't choose." Manning, remember? The one you didn't choose."

"I've been in love with you a long time, Tia."

She looked away, fighting what she saw in him.

"Even Reba knew it. She had just been programmed to believe no one could prefer her renegade sister. And yeah, for a time I lost sight of it too."

"How can you say she knew? She was devastated."

"Yet she made a way for you to stay here with me."

Tears burned her eyes. "What? Why would she-"

"You were the one they rejected. But did you ever think how it was to be her? Trapped in their smothering love."

Her unwilling mind filled with the thought of Reba still obeying Stella's imperious commands, adored and ... accursed? She'd almost seen it in Phoenix, almost realized.

Jonah gripped her elbows. "She didn't desert you, Ti. She set you free."

No. Please. Why wouldn't he stop? Didn't he know that would break her heart? For Reba to have given in the midst of her betrayal ...

Shaking, she slipped her arms free. "I need to be alone. I'll take care of Piper."

Frustrated, Jonah left the house. He'd gone from hero to heel with one look, condemned for something that never happened but sure dredged up everything that had. Maybe they couldn't get past it. Maybe there was so much water under the bridge, it had washed the bridge away.

His Bronco roared to life. The desire for drink kicked in. He'd expected that, unfounded accusations a trigger every time. Yes, Lauren was attractive, and he had entertained thoughts of her. And resisted.

That's why it mattered. What use was fidelity without temptation? What good was resisting anything you didn't want anyway? His throat cleaved. His palms sweated. He jammed the vehicle into gear. She wouldn't hear him now. Not when the rest of what she'd said had weight.

He'd chosen Reba over the one who had the power to lay him open. Never mind, Liz. His attraction to Tia was the fatal one. How much longer- His radio came alive with Sue's voice. "All units alert. Caldwell's on the move."

"Officer Donnelly, where are you reporting from?"

Silence.

"Answer my question, Sue."

"I'm tailing Caldwell. He made Beatty and Newly. He hasn't made me."

"I want you to stand down, Sue. Back off now."

"I'm not going to lose him, Jonah."

"I put you on leave. Then I let you sit in. Now I'm ordering you to back off."

"I'm sorry, Chief. I can't do that."

Twenty-Eight.

Fidelity is the sister of justice.-HORACE Every tendon tightened. He rechanneled his frustration. "What's your location?"

"Heading up G.o.dfrey."

The only undesirable part of town, a street named for a notorious trapper who'd wiped out the beaver population for half a century, homes like warrens tucked into old pines with dirt roads and dumps of old rusty cans and appliances. Survivalists, whom he didn't mind, and slobs, whom he did.

They had patrolled there, but nearly every dwelling could conceivably house a meth lab. Now Sue was in pursuit of a dangerous man in a dangerous area. She was a good officer, a great one for talking down domestic disputes. Short, compact, swaggering-she loved it when guys thought they could disabuse her of a traffic ticket. But she had no experience with this kind of trouble.

"Sue, listen to me. I promised Sam."

"I made him talk, Jonah. I made him give up what you needed to nail this slime. I did that."

"We did it. And there was no way we could know."

"He was just a scared man. I'm a cop."

"You're a good cop, Sue. But this is not your collar. I need you out of the way."

"I'm not going to lose him."

Clenching the wheel, Jonah put out a call for all available officers. The sheriff came back with the news that the local office had been hit by flu. County support would have some miles to cover. Newly and Beatty checked in. No word from McCarthy or Moser. He gave the location. "Code two. I don't want them scared off."

"Copy, Chief."

Then directly to Sue's car. "I've got cover cars coming. Do not engage, do you copy?"

"I'm staying back."

"If you see him, chances are he sees you."

"We may not get another chance."

Jonah gunned it through town to the fringe where she'd gone. He pulled the weapon belt from the lockbox between his seats. The second gun rested against the small of his back. Moser called in. He briefed him. "I'm code eleven on G.o.dfrey."

The pavement ended. The trees pressed in. Night was darker in the warrens. He had his window open, listening. Crickets. Dogs. Distant hollering. A lot of silence in between.

Sue came on. "Turning. No marker."

"Coordinates."

She gave them. He plugged his GPS. "Wait for backup."

"Negative. I'm keeping a visual."

Tension pulled his neck tendons taut. He raised his guys to confirm they'd heard. "Do not engage. You copy, Sue?"

No answer.

His heart pounded. But the rest of him grew calm. He understood physical threat, knew with every fiber how to resist the fear of whatever came. His father's legacy. But the others were green. He clenched his jaw, then slowed his quickened breath. Lord. Protect my people Lord. Protect my people.

Branches rasped against the Bronco's sides, moonlight catching in the overhang. He turned where Sue had said. Creeping along with no headlights, he caught a flash of taillights about two hundred yards ahead and almost hit a vehicle half off the road. Sue's. He yawed off behind it, parked, and radioed his location, suggesting they look for an alternate route.

He attached the weapon belt and pulled on his Kevlar vest, then disabled the dome light before opening the door. He crept as silently as the needle-strewn ground allowed. The Jeep was empty. Fists clenched, he moved forward, searching the trees.

"Jonah." Her whisper carried sharply from behind a half-buried stove. "Shack."

He nodded and squatted beside her. She was not in uniform. In her dark hoodie and ball cap she looked more like a high-school girl hoping to score dope than an officer of the law. No wonder Caldwell hadn't picked her out.

Jonah swallowed. "Where's your vest?"