Page 49 of Shielding his Legacy
A forty-something officer with salt-and-pepper hair held the door open for her to exit. “I’m Officer Johanssen,” he said. “I’m here to take you to your daughter.”
“Wonderful, thank you.” Eva happily followed him out the door, relieved her time in front of the camera was over. Now she’d be taken somewhere safe while Marina pretended to be her in the second interrogation room. The trap had been set—now they just needed to wait.
If all went according to plan, the mole would go after Marina and HERO Force would pounce, snapping the trap shut once and for all. Eva could only hope the therapist whose weapons qualifications stopped at basic training was capable of holding off an attacker long enough for the cavalry to arrive.
25
Waiting was the eighth level of hell.
Gavin paced the length of Jacoby’s office, keeping an eye on the television screen. If he didn’t know better, he would think he was watching Eva with Abby. Marina was doing a fabulous job as a decoy, but he wanted to be down there with Eva instead of waiting in the administrative wing while the uniformed officers took care of his family.
He didn’t trust anyone to protect them except himself. If he’d been allowed to bring his private firearm past the metal detectors and onto police property, Gavin would already be down there.
Jacoby’s phone rang and he answered it.
Gavin knocked Sloan’s feet off the coffee table.
Jacoby turned his back to them and was talking in a low voice. Sloan turned back to Gavin, but pointed a sucker toward Jacoby. “I don’t trust that guy.”
Champion leaned forward. “How many fucking lollipops have you had?”
Sloan ignored him, continuing to talk to Gavin. “Any man who claims to own a cactus of that caliber yet doesn’t know its age clearly can’t be trusted.”
Gavin shook his head slowly and continued to pace.
Trace cocked his head. “I don’t know if horticultural lies make you a bad person.”
“Would you tell lies about a plant you owned?” asked Sloan.
“Well, no…”
Gavin ran his hand through his hair. “Oh my God, would you two please shut the fuck up?”
Jacoby put down his office phone and looked at Gavin with a concerned expression. “The organized crime task force disassembled close to thirty minutes ago. They’re no longer watching the video feed.”
Adrenaline shot into Gavin’s bloodstream. “Thirty minutes? They disassembled the group without telling us?”
“There was an incident involving an organized crime ring. The lieutenant got called away and didn’t realize the group had disbanded until just now. He apologized profusely.”
“Well shit, if he apologized,” said Champion, already on his feet. “That makes it all better.”
“I’m sorry, gentlemen,” said Jacoby. “But as you can see, Miss Livingston is perfectly fine. She’s right there with her daughter, safe as can be.”
But the men didn’t seem to hear. They were all headed for the door. “Take us to her,” snapped Gavin.
Jacoby’s head jerked back. “I’ll be happy to call for an escort to take you to Miss Liv?—”
Gavin pointed to the screen, feeling as if every blood vessel in his head was on the verge of exploding. “Howmany of those task force detectives have keys to that interrogation room?” he demanded. When Jacoby looked contrite but failed to respond, Gavin barked, “How many?”
“All of them,” the other man said. He nodded and headed toward the door. “I’ll take you.” But he didn’t get halfway to the door before four shots rang out from the television’s speakers.
Turning just in time to see the chair flip backwards from the force of the shots, Gavin saw blood… blood on the baby’s blanket, blood on the Marina’s chest. Someone was screaming.
Then they were running down corridors and stairs, running, running, an image of red hair and a bloody baby blanket paralyzing all thought and emotion. There was only running, blood, and red hair, while somewhere far away a baby’s cries echoed down a hallway.
A man who might have been Jacoby yelled, “We need an ambulance!”
The door to the interrogation room was locked, and Gavin rammed it with his shoulder twice before Jacoby got the key in the lock and opened it. Gavin pushed past him, the scent of blood reaching his nostrils first, the stillness of the scene before him taking longer to register.
