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CHAPTER TEN

LOGAN

“ T his isn’t going to be pleasant,” Logan said as he stood in the kitchen area of the top floor at Callahan Security.

The kitchen is where he felt most balanced, most in control.

The courtroom came second. But none of the locations touched the balance he experienced with Lacy in his arms. That was pure bliss.

“Prison never is,” Gage retorted. He pulled out a stool and sat down on the opposite side of the counter.

“That sounds like you’ve spent time in one before. Is there something you haven’t told me?” Logan asked with a chuckle as he added some tomatoes to the sandwiches he was making for the two of them.

“There are aspects from my time in the military I can’t talk about.”

Logan’s head shot up, and he stared at his brother. “Are you serious?”

Gage did not respond, but his expression said everything.

“Holy shit. That might have been something to share with the class,” Logan snarled.

“As I just said,” Gage reminded him, “I’m not allowed to share.” He let out a long breath. “I wasn’t in long, and it was for an op, but yeah, it stuck with me. I gotta tell you, Logan, I don’t think I’ll make it if they do put me inside for this stupid break-in.”

Logan focused on adding the finishing touches to the sandwiches as he pondered Gage’s worry.

“You have an exemplary military record, this is your first time being mixed up in anything.” He glanced up at Gage again.

“That they know about, and there was no weapon involved. It was, for all intents and purposes, just a break-in. You won’t get hard time for it. ”

“You’re supposed to tell me I won’t get anything for it since I didn’t actually do this.”

“We made a promise a long time ago not to lie to one another. I’m not going to start now.

” Logan put the sandwich on the counter in front of his brother.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you out of jail.

I will call in the top defense lawyers in the city to represent you if, in fact, you do get arrested.

But,” he paused because this next part hurt him to say as much as he knew it hurt Gage to hear, “I can’t guarantee anything.

There’s a driving force behind this that we are unaware of.

One that seems to have a lot of power. It might take some time to get everything sorted out.

If that’s the case, you might have to spend some of it behind bars. ”

Gage stared at the sandwich but didn’t take a bite.

“Eat,” Logan encouraged him. “It might be a while before your next meal and I’m not sure what it will be.”

Gage sighed again and took a bite of his sandwich.

Logan did the same, but chewing it was like eating sawdust. This whole situation was killing him just as much as it was hurting Gage.

It had always been the two of them growing up.

The two of them against the world. Mitch had had his own life and friends, or so Logan had thought.

It was only now that he realized his younger brother felt left out.

But that was a whole different story. No, it had been him and Gage, best friends as well as brothers.

It was soul-crushing to Logan that his brother was in this situation at all. ”

“I want you to go through with the wedding even if I am arrested.”

Logan shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. You and I both know there’s no way it will go forward if you’re not there.”

Gage frowned. “You and Lacy have worked so hard on this, and the world is coming, so just make sure it happens.”

“Fat chance, but I’ll give it my best.”

“Also,” Gage continued, “please make sure both Mitch and Alex know that I don’t blame them for getting me involved in this. No one does.”

“They both know that,” Logan stated. “And you can tell them yourself. You’re not going to the gallows. You’re going to a police precinct where you will be vigorously defended by the best.” He took a small bow with a hand on his heart. “Yours truly.”

Gage grinned. “Indeed. Sorry, it just kind of feels like the end of the world at the moment. I hate that Dani is stressing about this. It can’t be good for the baby.”

“Don’t worry about Dani. We will all take care of her, and so will you, because we are going to figure all of this out. Now eat.”

An hour later, Logan got the call. “Detective Connors. What can I do for you?” Logan asked.

“We want to speak to your client. We have enough to arrest him, but we are giving him the opportunity to turn himself in to us rather than come down to you. We come to you, we’ll cuff and perp walk him. I shouldn’t have to tell you that’s a courtesy that most people don’t get.”

“Of course. I understand.” There was no point in fighting. Going in under his own steam was the best that Gage could hope for, and Logan was surprised they even offered it. He glanced at his watch. It was three p.m. “Let’s say in an hour at your precinct?”

“Yes, that’s fine. And, Counselor, I don’t have to remind you what will happen if your boy doesn’t show.”

“No, John, you don’t.” Logan hung up.

All the occupants of the room were silent. They’d gathered there, sitting on the couches and chairs on the top floor. No one could work or worry about wedding details when they knew the call was coming. Five faces stared at him. He cleared his throat. “They want us at the precinct in an hour.”

“They aren’t coming here to arrest him?” Mitch asked.

“No. They’re letting him turn himself in.”

“So, we could go on DEFCON level five lock down and they couldn’t get in the building, right?” Dani asked from her chair. “I mean, then they couldn’t arrest him?”

Logan gave her a sad smile as Gage, who was sitting on the edge of her chair, put his arm around her. He said, “Honey, while true, it won’t help things. We have to face this head-on.”

“Agreed,” Logan said.

Lacy nodded. “This is hard, but we’ll get to the bottom of things. We promise.”

Dani bit her lip. It looked like she was trying desperately not to cry.

Logan’s heart broke for her. A thousand weeks pregnant, hormonal, and suddenly the man she loved more than anything in the world was possibly going to jail.

Shit, if it was him, he’d probably be on the floor curled into a fetal position. He wished he could help.

Alex leaned over and took Dani’s hand. “Don’t worry. Mitch and I have already started working on escape plans from the most likely prisons he might be sent to. You can help us work out the details. Worst case scenario, he’s only a way a few weeks before we break him out.”

Dani squeezed Alex’s hand. “That makes me feel slightly better.”

Logan grinned. “Of course it does. If all else fails, we’ll break him out. Really, this is just a temporary thing.”

Lacy glanced at him and frowned. He could read her expression, and he knew she was thinking he had finally lost his mind. But there was a method to his madness. He needed to get Gage out of here without any dramatics. It wouldn’t help Gage if he felt he was letting Dani down.

“Dani, actually, you might be able to help me. The rumor is that they have a video of Gage at the museum, which we all know is impossible. Why don’t you come with us? If we can get them to show the recording to us maybe you can gain some insight?”

Dani straightened. “Right. I’ll bring my laptop.”

Logan shook his head. “Probably best not to bring your laptop into a police station. I wouldn’t want anyone to somehow gain access to it.”

Dani snorted. “No chance of that.”

Logan tried not to sigh. “No, what I mean is if, for some reason, they have evidence of anyone else’s involvement, we don’t want your laptop available for them to take.”

Her mouth opened in a silent O. “Right. Okay then. What if I grab a new one from the third floor and bring it just in case? I can put some software on it that will be useful to analyze the video, but nothing else that might cause problems.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

She started to wiggle to get herself to the edge of the chair. Gage pulled her to her feet. “I’ll come help you.”

“I’ll meet you downstairs in forty-five minutes.”

Logan nodded and watched the two of them leave the room. He turned back to the others. “I have no idea how this is going to go, but just be ready.”

“For what?” asked Mitch.

“Anything.” Logan let out a long sigh. “Did you know Gage had spent time in prison for some operation when he was in the military?”

Mitch nodded. “Yeah. I knew at the time.” At Logan’s frown, Mitch immediately continued. “I had the same clearance level as him at the time, and he wanted someone to know where the hell he was in case it didn’t go well. Not that he didn’t trust his people, you understand, but just in case.”

Logan tried not to let Mitch’s knowledge, when he hadn’t known himself, get to him.

He knew that since he was a lawyer in the JAG Corp, he didn’t remotely have the same experiences as his brothers, one a SEAL and the other a high-ranking official in Naval Intelligence.

Who was he kidding; Mitch knowing while he didn’t stung like a bitch.

“I guess I can’t blame him. I would want the SEALs to come get me if I was stuck in some hellhole somewhere. ”

“Why are you bringing this up now?” Alex asked. “Did something happen?”

Logan’s gaze locked with Mitch’s.

“I don’t think he did so well behind bars,” Mitch supplied.

“It takes a certain mind set to be able to come to terms with a loss of freedom. It’s not easy, and it breaks a lot of people.

Granted a New York prison isn’t the same as where he was, but any time behind bars will be difficult for him.

It will bring up the other experience, which was nightmarish. ”

“Great,” Alex groaned. “This is all my fault.”