by Ravenna Tate
“Yeah, but fuck that. I’d have been freaked out, too.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it. You must have been terrified.”
“I was scared shitless. I thought I was going to die that afternoon. I really did. I mean, how was I supposed to know where the storm was? There’s no TV, no smart phone, nothing.”
“What happened after that?”
“I began having nightmares about being in dark, damp places and not being able to get out. The cell I was in smelled musty to begin with, but after the storm, it got worse. I don’t know if it really was wetter, or if I just imagined it, but I couldn’t get the smell out of my head. It also looked darker to me, although again I know it probably wasn’t.”
“That must have been horrible for you.”
“It was.” She stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts. “So when they sent me there again for the most recent stint, I was really afraid. I mean just walking through the halls brought back all those memories. It was freaky. Like I couldn’t even stop them, if that makes sense.”
“We can’t always control our reactions to frightening stimuli.”
“That’s for sure.”
Shivers ran down her spine as he brushed her arm in a comforting gesture. “That’s nice. Thanks.”
“Can you go on?”
Touched that he cared and was trying to make this easier for her, she nodded. “This time when I was sent to segregation, I told them I was sick and asked to see a doctor. They thought I was faking it, just to get out of going there.”
“Typical.” He shook his head. “Why were you sent that time?”
“Same shit, different day. You know how it is inside. No matter how much you try to keep to yourself and stay off the radar, if someone gets a bug up their ass about you and is determined to break you, they won’t fucking leave you be.”
“Yeah.” Jagger nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“Someone hated my hair. She was always on me about it. One day she got a hold of a pair of cuticle scissors and came after me in the shower with them, trying to cut my hair off. I managed to get away from her without getting cut or stabbed, but she ended up with a broken arm in the fight.”
“Did she leave you alone after that?”
“Oh yeah.” She snorted. “I suddenly had this badass rep, too. Ridiculous, but at least I didn’t have to fight anyone off about my damn hair again. There were no storms this time, but I swear those forty-eight hours were hell.” She was still too cold, so she snuggled closer to him. Jagger put his arms around her and held her close. “I had horrible nightmares, and it didn’t help that they’d had sewage issues the week before. So this time the place really did smell terrible, and that only made it worse.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“Jagger, the thing is, it hasn’t stopped. I still have nightmares, although I didn’t have one last night. But the memories come at odd times, like when you—”
“Oh my God.” He looked at her as if he suddenly realized he’d done something unconscionable. “When I tied you up. Fuck. Carolyn, why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I wanted to see if I could do it.”
“Promise me you will never do anything like that again.”
“All right. Don’t get upset.”
“I’m not upset. But the last thing I want to do is cause you anguish.”
“Well, you did say this wasn’t a vacation.” She was more than surprised by his reaction.
The touch of his hands on her shoulders was comforting. The loud sigh that accompanied the gesture was not. It made her feel like a child. “It’s not, but look. We’ve both come clean with each other. I have what I need. I know Tony is alive, and I know he’s the one who told you to tell the police that was me in the picture. That isn’t what concerns me right now.”
“What concerns you?”
“Does he know the story you just told me?”
“I meant what I said. I’ve never told anyone.”
“That makes me feel a little better than that he’d risk having you sent back to jail with this hanging over your head. But only a little better. I still want to know why he did this. I want to know why he’d risk placing you in a compromising position to begin with.”
The urge to hug him and thank him again for being so kind was strong, but she reminded herself why she was here. Instead, she steeled herself as she made up her mind to tell him one more secret. “Well, I have a theory on that, if you’d care to hear it.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
This was the worst betrayal she’d ever done to anyone, but there was no point in holding back now. He was right. Her beloved uncle had placed her in a bad position, and she wanted to know why as much as Jagger did.
“A few months before the Art Institute robbery, Uncle Tony talked about getting back into the game. He’d sworn to me, after faking his death, that he never would. But this time, he specifically mentioned an upcoming exhibit at an art museum, saying it was a sure thing.”
“Are you shitting me?” Jagger looked very upset.
“I wish I was. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, because you know how he is. He talks a lot. But when I heard about the robbery, I couldn’t help wondering if he’d been in on it.”
There. She’d put it out there. Now it couldn’t be unsaid, and Jagger would have to deal with it, too.
They stared at each other for long moments before Jagger picked up his laptop and clicked around. He brought up one of the news stories that featured the image of the man with the tattoo. “This could be any of them. It might even be your uncle with different hair.”
“I know.”
The odd look on his face sent shivers down her spine. “The police think he’s dead.”
Carolyn hugged her knees harder. “I know that, too.”
“If they knew he was alive, they might have a reason to look at him for this.”
“Do you think they’re looking at the others who did the job with you and Uncle Tony?”
“I have no clue what they’re doing.” He shrugged. “Did you see there’s another white van parked across the street?”
The hair on her arms prickled. “What do you mean another one?”
“I mean it’s not the same one that followed me to the police station. Close, but not identical. I’m convinced it’s the FBI, but I don’t know why they haven’t picked me up for questioning.”
Too many thoughts raced through her mind. She couldn’t pin them down, except for one. “I have to tell them he’s alive, don’t I?” Jagger didn’t answer, but the look on his face told her he agreed. “It’s the only way to get out of being a suspect, and it’s the only way to keep them from thinking you were in on this.”
“If they truly thought I was in on it, I’d be in a Federal holding cell already.”
“You have an alibi.”
“I suspect they already know that. All they have to do is check out the security system in this building. When they watch the tapes, they’ll realize I went out once that evening to get takeout. I have the receipt, and everyone there knows me.”
“That’s why they haven’t questioned you. But I don’t have one.”
“No, you don’t. Your building doesn’t have that kind of security.”
“Are you saying that’s the reason there’s another van watching this place?”
“I don’t know. Carolyn. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they returned now that you’re here.”
“And now that I’ve gone to the cops and told them a lie, it only makes me look guilty.”
“Guilty, or hiding something.”
“I don’t have a choice, Jagger. I have to betray Uncle Tony. I have to tell them he’s still alive. If I don’t…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. “I can’t go back inside. I just can’t.”
“You won’t have to. Neither one of us will.”
“But to ensure that I need to
tell them Uncle Tony is still alive, and I need to tell them what he said to me. Not only about you, but about wanting to get back into the game.”
Jagger nodded. “I don’t see any other way, Carolyn.”
“Won’t they see that as withholding evidence? I told the police he was dead.”
The frown that settled over his face scared her. He took out his phone and made a call. “Tim, it’s me.” He listened for a few seconds while Carolyn held her breath. “Great. Thanks.” He covered the phone speaker. “My attorney. He has the tapes from the building.”
“Tim, got a problem here I need your advice on.” Those words finally gave her hope she’d get out of this without violating her parole. Carolyn listened to Jagger outline everything they’d discussed. When he got to Carolyn’s questions concerning her lying to the police, his frown deepened. “Yeah, I know that, Tim, but I invited her here. She’s knee-deep in this now as well.”
How the hell had this become so damn complicated? She should have refused to go to the police for Uncle Tony. But if she hadn’t, she’d never have met Jagger. And her uncle would have found another way to tell the police that was Jagger in the photo. He’d been that adamant about it being him.
There was no need to hear the other end of the call. She could tell Tim was upset by what Jagger had done. She also couldn’t help notice he’d just lied to his attorney. Jagger hadn’t invited her here. But what mattered was that he was trying to convince his attorney to help her, too, and he certainly didn’t have to do that.
Should she remind Jagger she had no money to pay for legal services? She wasn’t here for charity, but she knew without some type of legal representation, she could be in big trouble. She also had to let her PO know what had happened, but wanted to wait until Jagger finished his call. She needed his advice on what to say.
As the voice on the other end grew angrier, Jagger rose and walked into another room with the phone. Carolyn stayed where she was, though the temptation to follow him and eavesdrop was strong.
Instead, she passed the time by glancing out the windows, where the van he’d mentioned was parked across the street. There were no markings on it. She couldn’t see the front plate clearly from this height, and the windows in the vehicle were slightly tinted so she couldn’t even tell if anyone was sitting in the front seats.
Why would the FBI sit on him like this? Was it because of the reason he’d guessed? Had they already viewed the tapes and concluded he couldn’t have taken part in the heist? Or was it because they were now watching her?
They had equipment that could listen in on their phone calls. They had high-powered cameras and could be watching her right now. If they had suspected he was in on this, they would have questioned him by now. They were either watching her, or it wasn’t the Feds at all. But if it wasn’t them, who the hell was it?
“There you are.” She turned, startled by the sound of Jagger’s voice. “You now officially have an attorney.”
“What?”
“Tim is going to represent you for free.” She merely stared at him. “Let me rephrase. If you need representation in the future, where this matter is concerned, Tim will do it.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Is it all right I asked him to do this?”
“Yes, but why? I mean, you don’t owe me that.”
“I know I don’t owe you that, Carolyn, but you showed me a great deal of trust by telling me what you did a moment ago. Making sure you have legal help when the cops and the FBI show up is the least I could do.”
“I was wrong about you. You’re not an asshole.”
Loud laughter filled the room. “Yes, I am actually. But only when I have to be.” He winked, which sent a shiver of desire down her spine. They certainly had no problems connecting in bed. “You want to get out of here for a while?”
“Sure, but is that safe?”
“Yeah. I feel on solid footing now.”
“Are we going to the cops?”
“No. Not yet. Tim asked me to wait. He wants to check out a few things first. He’s afraid if we go to them now with this story, we’ll both be locked up. Oh, and Tim wants you to call your PO, and give him his name and number.”
“That won’t be a fun call.”
“No, but you have to keep him in the loop.” Jagger handed her a slip of paper. “I don’t have any extra business cards for Tim so keep this with you.”
“After I call my PO, where are we going?”
There was that damn sexy grin again. “It’s a surprise.”
Under most circumstances, she liked surprises. The good kind, at least.
Chapter Fourteen
When Jagger listened to Carolyn tell her PO she’d found her phone, he hadn’t realized she’d told the guy that she had lost the phone in the first place. Obviously she’d done that because he’d hidden it from her. He now regretted doing so.
Although his intention at the time had been one of self-preservation, she had to keep in touch with her PO or she’d be put in jail for violating parole. He knew that as well as anyone. He couldn’t fault her for lying to the guy about why she hadn’t had the phone yesterday.
It sounded as if she’d emailed him, so at least she had been able to get in touch with him. Jagger reflected that if she had told her PO the truth, he’d probably be in jail right now. And, it’s not like he’d never told a PO a lie in the past.
But when she explained about Tim, Jagger could tell the man had more questions than Carolyn was ready and willing to answer. She was digging a deep hole, and it was his fault. He was part of this because he’d forced her to be here in the first place.
“I thought I should have an attorney in case something goes sideways with them mistaking me for a shoplifter yesterday.”
One thing he knew she couldn’t tell her PO was that Tony was alive, and Jagger understood why. She couldn’t tell an officer of the court that she’d been covering for a convicted felon who had faked his own death three years ago, and that said felon might well have pulled another job under a false name recently.
So now they each had someone upset with them over a crime neither one had taken part in. Perfect. It made sense to Jagger why Tim was upset about this situation. Tim was concerned that Jagger had become mixed up in something he had no business being part of. What Tim didn’t fully comprehend was that this was far more of a convoluted mess for Carolyn, and Jagger had become part of it the second he’d followed her to the park.
The difference was that Jagger was no longer on parole and owed nobody an explanation of any kind for his actions. Carolyn was, however. If her PO found out she’d been withholding this information, and that she had gone to the police and lied to them, she could wind up in jail anyway.
When he’d asked Tim for advice on that particular issue, he was told not to become involved any deeper. Jagger hadn’t told Tim he and Carolyn had made love, or that he intended to continue doing so with her.
Tim was right, though, and Jagger knew it. But Jagger had been where Carolyn was right now, so he understood that sometimes you lied to protect people you cared about. Sometimes you withheld information until you could figure out who was telling the truth, or why a person had lied. Jagger didn’t want things to turn out badly for Carolyn, but he needed to find the truth as much as she did. He had to see this through to the end.
Tony had been a huge part of her life since she’d been a child. Jagger could understand why she’d protected him. But he didn’t owe Tony that kind of loyalty. He wanted Tony to pay for placing him and Carolyn in this position to begin with. It wouldn’t be right if Carolyn went down because Tony had played her.
And the simple truth was that Jagger also wanted to clear his own name. He wanted Tony and the others to know he had not ratted them out eighteen years ago. And if Tony had been part of this crime three nights ago, Jagger wanted to know that, as well.
While Tim had agreed with him on getting to the truth, he also explained to Jagger that he did
n’t appreciate being placed in a position of knowing Carolyn had lied to or omitted the truth from her PO. Tim advised Jagger that they both could be implicated in those lies and omissions as well, because they now knew they existed.
It would give Jagger a headache if he thought too much about it. He understood the possible consequences of what they each had done. Unfortunately, the issue with her PO was mostly Carolyn’s mess to deal with. He’d helped her as much as he could by persuading Tim to represent her if it came to that. His mission now was to find out whether Tony had done this job, and to confront him for lying.
When Carolyn finally ended her call, she didn’t look happy. “He knows I’m not telling him something.”
“A PO is an officer of the court. If you tell him you went to the police and lied to them for Tony, you’ll also have to tell him why you did it, and you’ll obviously have to tell him Tony is still alive.”
“I didn’t know I was lying at the time I told them that man in the photo was you.”
“You told me you knew it wasn’t.”
“I know that now. When I first went there, I was only repeating what Uncle Tony told me to say.”
“All right, but you told your PO a lie about your phone.” She opened her mouth to speak, and Jagger put up his hands. “I know why you did it, and I appreciate that. But you also never went back to the police and told them you were mistaken about me being the man in that photo.”
A loud exhale came out as she plopped down onto the sofa. Jagger felt guilty, but his hands were tied. This was her decision to make. “Fuck. This isn’t fair. I lied to protect my uncle.”
“I know.”
“And I could have told my PO you kidnapped me.”
The urge to get away from all this for a while was strong, but guilt and a sense of duty won out. He sat beside her and stroked her hair. “I know that, too. Thank you for not doing that.”
“What do I do if Uncle Tony calls me again?”
“No fucking clue.” He was very surprised Tony hadn’t called back by now. Jagger had asked Tim whether he thought Carolyn should talk to her uncle, and Tim had advised that they both avoid Tony Vaccaro for now, especially since the police and the FBI thought the man was dead.
