Page 23 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets

TWELVE

B ryce paced the lobby of the police station while Sasha sat against the wall and watched him, head swiveling, nose twitching, ears raised.

She was on high alert in the new environment, so in tune to him that he couldn’t help dropping onto the bench next to her to place a hand on her head.

“It’s all right, girl, you did great. Thank you. ”

She licked his hand and seemed to relax a fraction.

He’d had a flashback. His first one in over a year.

Worse, he’d lied to Jade about it. Not intentionally.

The denial had just been the first thing to pop out of his mouth.

Probably because he was in absolute shock that he’d had one and didn’t want to admit it to himself, much less someone else.

Especially not Jade. He dropped his head into his hands and forced himself to think it. I had a flashback. I had a flashback.

And Jade had witnessed it, and this time he couldn’t disregard the incident as a bad dream.

The fact churned his stomach. He’d thought he was past all that, but everything that had happened in the last few days must have brought it all back to the surface.

Jade was still in the commander’s office, filling him in. Bryce pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the man who’d helped keep him on the right side of sanity.

“What do you want?” Titus growled in that gravelly voice Bryce had missed.

Bryce smiled, most of his tension and anxiety draining away for the moment.

“Nothing you’ve got, old man.” Titus Renfrow.

Former Army Ranger turned amputee, turned alcoholic, turned AA mentor, turned counselor.

A man who understood exactly what Bryce was going through.

He could picture him leaning back on two legs of the old leather straight back chair, daring gravity to do its worst.

“Bryce, my friend,” the voice softened to a low rasp, “really good to hear from you, son.”

“Thanks, good to hear your voice as well.”

“What’s going on?”

“I had a flashback.”

A pause. “Well, at least you admit it.”

“After I lied about it.”

“I see. So, what are you going to do?”

Bryce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tell her I lied.”

“Her?”

“Yes. Her.”

“I see. And?”

“And put it behind me so I can move forward, looking to the future and not living in the past.”

“Well, glad to see our sessions weren’t a complete waste.” Another pause. “What triggered it?”

“Someone shot at me.”

“What?” Bryce thought he might have heard the chair thump to the floor. “Why did someone shoot at you?” Bryce gave him the condensed version, and Titus let out a low whistle. “You sure do like to live in the adrenaline zone, don’t you?”

“Seems like it always finds me.”

“Where was Sasha?”

“She was there, doing what she does.” Which was probably why the flashback didn’t last as long as some of the others had. Okay, that was a positive.

“How long was it?” Titus asked.

“Ten seconds? Maybe a little more. Could have been slightly less.”

“Then I’d say that’s not too bad, considering you were shot at.”

So they were thinking along the same lines. “Yeah.”

“You going to be okay?”

After a deep breath and some serious thought about the question, Bryce released the air in a low sigh. “Yeah. I think I am.”

“You’ve already done the hard part.”

“Admit there’s a problem.”

“Right.”

Jade opened the door to the commander’s office and stepped out. “Thanks, Titus,” Bryce said. “It helped just knowing you’d pick up the phone.”

“Anytime.”

“I’ve got to go. Talk to you later.”

“Give Sasha my love.”

Bryce smiled. Sasha had been to every session and had won the crusty man’s heart.

He hung up and waited for Jade to approach.

“I think we’ve got everything in the system,” she said.

“I’ve turned over Frank’s notes and the pictures to the commander, and he’s going to be looking into Captain Colson and the others.

In fact, he’s already sent someone to pick them up and have them escorted to an interrogation room. ”

“Are you going to be doing the questioning?”

“No, the commander wants to do it.”

“So, now what?”

“We’re back to hurry-up-and-wait mode, but it’s not a mode I’m comfortable with.”

He lifted a brow.

“I want to hear what they have to say for themselves.”

“So…?”

“I’m going to request us to be allowed to watch the interrogation.”

With permission received, she and Bryce settled themselves behind the two-way mirror.

The commander sat across from Dylan, hands clasped in front of him. The pictures Bryce and she had found in Frank’s file cabinet lay facedown in front of him. An open file folder lay next to the pictures.

Dylan twitched nervously in his seat, popping his knuckles and rubbing his nose. “What’s this about, sir?”

“Captain Colson is tied up for the moment, so I told him I’d take care of this. Officer Fitzgerald, from what I can see, you have an exemplary record.”

“Yes, sir.”

“But, since there’s no report of you doing any undercover work, I need to ask you about these.

” The commander flipped one of the pictures over and slid it across the table in front of Dylan.

One by one, he did the same with the others.

Jade knew each picture showed Dylan in some way interacting with known drug dealers.

“Can you explain them?”

Dylan leaned forward and frowned. Even from his vantage point, Bryce could see all of the color leech out of the man’s face. For a moment, he sat frozen, then sighed and dropped his head into his hands. When he looked up, the commander was waiting. “Looks bad, doesn’t it?” Dylan asked.

“What would you think if you were sitting in my chair?”

“Probably exactly what you’re thinking, sir.”

“We’ve also run your financials.”

“I want a lawyer.”

“And that’s your right. I’ll let you make a phone call.” The commander stood.

“Wait.” The commander paused while Dylan fidgeted a second longer. Finally, he raked a hand through his hair. “If I help you bring down the ring, will you put in a good word for me with the DA?”

Commander Nelson settled back into his seat.

“It depends on how helpful your information is and if it really does lead to the dissolution of the ring and the capture of the top people involved. You have no idea how bad I want to bring this ring down.” His hand curled into a fist on the table.

“My best friend’s son is in the ICU thanks to an overdose of the stuff that’s being brought into this city. ”

“Well, that explains why he and Captain Colson are following this case so closely,” Jade said.

“Will Dylan face charges of murder?”

“I don’t know. I imagine that will be brought up as a possibility. Although if he helps as much as he says he can, then I would think he might get a much lighter sentence.”

At the commander’s insistence, Dylan called his lawyer while the commander spoke to the district attorney. When Nelson returned, he said, “The DA’s willing to work with you and your lawyer if this leads to the arrest of those involved in the drug ring.”

“All right,” Dylan said with a short nod, “let’s do this.

” For the next hour, he spilled everything he knew about the people involved.

Thankfully, he cleared Captain Colson in the process.

“One last thing,” Dylan said. “There’s a big shipment coming in tomorrow night around ten o’clock.

An eighteen-wheeler full of drugs at the old warehouse behind the bank. ”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course. I’m the one who set up the location since it’s part of my beat tomorrow night. I’m supposed to make sure it’s clear for the deal to go down.”

Commander Nelson closed his notepad. “Why do this, Dylan? You have a spotless record. You have a beautiful family and, on the surface, this just doesn’t make sense.”

Dylan closed his eyes. “My wife, Julie, has a gambling problem,” he said softly.

His lids lifted, and the sheen of tears in his eyes flipped Jade’s heart sideways.

“She got into debt with one of the guys in the drug ring. Drugs, gambling, and gun running are what these people do best. When this guy learned she was married to a cop, he came to me and told me Julie’s debt would be paid if I’d look the other way—and he’d let her and my kids live. ”

“I’m guessing things escalated from there to setting up the meetings?”

“Yeah. Yes, sir.” He swallowed hard and ran a hand over his face. “I know you’re wondering why I didn’t ask for help.”

“It crossed my mind.”

“When I was approached, they already had someone on my kids’ school and someone outside Julie’s work, and they’d put ten grand in my bank account.

“If I’d told a soul…” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now. I have to say I’m relieved—and terrified. Please, Commander, don’t let them hurt my kids.”

The commander narrowed his eyes. “They won’t get to your family. As long as you and your family do what we ask. You have my word on that.”

“He is something of a victim, isn’t he?” Bryce murmured.

“Yeah. I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing in his shoes.”

The commander stood and paced the room for a good five minutes before he took his seat and leaned forward to look Dylan in the eye.

“Okay, here’s the plan. We’re going to put surveillance on your wife and kids, make sure they’re safe while not tipping off any of those involved in the ring.

You’re going to be on duty tomorrow night to make sure this goes off without a hitch. Once the deal’s done, we’ll move in.”

“Sir, I want to help, I do. But these people are more than just dangerous. They’re killers.

They have no respect for life. If they think I’ve turned, my family—and possibly anyone around them—is dead.

Regardless of protection.” He used his sleeve to swipe the sweat from his forehead.

Jade noticed the fine tremor in his hands.

“This isn’t my first time doing this, Fitzgerald. I know what I’m doing and I work with a good team. You’re absolutely positive none of my other officers are involved in this?”