Liz winced as he landed on his arms, his hands trapped beneath the back of the chair. “I know that must have hurt, but you can complain to me about it later.” She tilted his head back, pinched his nose, covered his mouth with hers, and blew two hard breaths in. Placing her hands in the center of his chest, she pressed down and pumped hard and fast.
“Come on, Paul, you gotta tell me who did this. Stay with me!” Each downward press pushed a puff of air from his lips. She couldn’t remember if it was twenty pumps or thirty. What did it say about her that she could break out of handcuffs and steal cars, but wasn’t sure about how to administer CPR? Liz counted out thirty presses and covered Paul’s mouth again, all the while she kept up an unconscious litany of words.
Over and over she pressed on his chest, willing him to stay breathing. With each compression, she fought the rising tide of despair. Her surroundings, the drug ring, everything else faded into the background as she struggled to keep Paul’s heart going.
He coughed. Gratitude filled Liz at the sound. The noise he emitted couldn’t be construed as words, but it was obvious he was trying to say something. Liz leaned in, “I can’t understand. Can you say it again?”
“I’m sorry…” He began to cry, silent tears tracking out of the corner of his eyes and into the hair at his temples. His voice took on a hazy quality. “I never meant to hurt you…”
A lump grew in Liz’s chest. “Shh, whatever you did, it will be okay.” Who was this withered old shell of a man that had replaced the strong, vital person she’d come to see as a second father? How had they gotten themselves in this terrible position? Emotion welled in Liz’s chest. Her voice quivered as she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have helped you.”
He gasped as another shudder overtook him. Liz leaned forward. “Paul, no!”
Chapter Forty
Liz wasn’t sure how long she attempted CPR. It could have been a few minutes or a few weeks, but she refused to admit defeat. His lips and fingers had turned a slight bluish color. She could feel his heartbeat slipping through her fingers. A sob bubbled up and out of her throat.
“Awww.”
Liz whipped around at the sound. Dammit. It had been careless of her to forget where she was. Josh stood looking down at her from the kitchen doorway. He gave her a cruel grin. “Having a bad day?”
He stepped into the room and loomed over her. “I’m here to clean up the trash. Who knew I’d get such a bonus?” He nudged Paul’s body with his toe. “You’ve been a hard person to track down, Liz. I gotta admit, I’m impressed.”
She scrambled to her feet, wiping tears away with her sleeve. She would be damned if she’d let him see her vulnerable. “You son of a bitch!” All the hurt, anger, and grief rose up and crystallized into a solid, breathing beast within her. She lunged, satisfied to feel her nails scrape across his face and carve deep gashes across his cheek and chin.
He roared in surprise and pain, but Liz was animalistic. No longer willing or able to hold back her rage. She bucked against him, just avoiding being caught in his vise-like arms, and slammed her foot down against his instep.
Howling, he grabbed at her, this time managing to get his arms all the way around her. He lifted her off the ground, his arms squeezing hard enough to crack a rib. She thrashed from side to side, but her movements were limited with her arms pinned.
Liz screamed. She kicked her feet out, desperately hoping to find purchase in something soft and vulnerable. Her whole body twisted and jerked as she tried to free herself.
“Damn you!” Josh grunted with the effort to control her. “You fucking hellion!”
Liz tossed her head forward and caught him on the underside of his jaw, cutting off whatever else he may have said. He yelped as his jaw slammed shut on his tongue. “Bitch!”
Her forehead throbbed where it had connected with bone, but that didn’t stop her struggles. The fist Josh slammed into her jaw did. Pain ripped through her cheekbone as her head snapped back on her neck. Liz slumped forward on legs no longer able to support her.
Josh flung her in a heap at his feet. He leaned down and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, twisting it at the collar so tightly that it nearly choked her. She could feel his spit as he pulled her face close to his. “I’m going to hurt you so bad. I’m going to take you someplace where they’ll never find your body and I’m going to make you scream for days, weeks…maybe even months. You’ll be begging for me to kill you by the time I’m done with you.”
Liz stared into Josh’s eyes and a cold spear of fear stabbed her through the heart. She was looking into the face of pure evil.
“Police! Freeze!”
Shocked, he whirled around to see two men standing in the doorway pointing their guns at him. Another officer came down the hall, his gun trained on Josh.
Liz was horrified as a mask of normalcy fell over Josh’s face. He smiled and stood facing the cops, propping her up in front of him. “’Bout time you boys got here! I caught our most wanted suspect right after she murdered her partner.”
“That’s not true!” Liz protested. She tried to twist out of Josh’s grasp, but he held on to her tightly. Instead she gestured toward Paul, still tied to the chair and lying on his back on the floor. “Please! You have to help him!”
Another man stepped in from the kitchen and walked towards them. It was the same person who had captured Alex. He seemed to be assembling something in his hands as he walked over to Paul and checked his pulse. Everybody in the room held their breath, wondering what he’d find.
“You,” Hagen pointed a finger at one of the uniformed officers, “get an ambulance here now.” His voice was calm and controlled, belying the tense situation. The officer immediately began calling dispatch and stepped out of the room.
Shoving the plastic applicator up Paul’s nose, he pressed the plunger, and then proceeded to do the same with the other nostril. Within seconds Paul was gasping for breath. Liz couldn’t help the hysterical tears streaming down her cheeks. Relief flooded her system, her own dire situation temporarily forgotten.
Another thought occurred to her. “Jimmy! They may have kidnapped Jimmy, too. Please, you have to believe me!” Liz was practically bent in half by the way Josh was holding her around her collar. She craned her neck up, trying desperately to make eye contact with the other man.
Josh clenched her shirt tighter in his fist.
Agent Hagen’s voice was clear and firm, leaving no doubt about who was in charge. “Thank you, Officer Carver. You can release her. We’ll take it from here.”
Indignation and defeat filled Liz. Everything she and Alex had feared would happen was coming to pass. Of course they were going to believe an officer of the law, one of their own. In a he said / she said situation, Liz was never going to win against him.
Her frustrated gaze sought out this new man and was surprised to see a flicker of kindness and compassion cross his face. “You don’t understand, he’s evil! He’s the one who is behind all of this! Please. If you lock me up, he’ll kill me.”
He took her firmly by the elbow and guided her to one of the officers. “Will you please escort Ms. Harper to the car?”
“Yes, sir, Agent Hagen.”
Liz turned back towards Josh as she was led away from him. The smug little smile on Josh’s face was infuriating.
Her hands fisted by her sides. Dammit, the bastard was going to get away with it. The young officer ushered her out the kitchen door.
Chapter Forty-One
Agent Hagen stepped up to Josh and gave him a pat on the back as if to congratulate him, and then, in one fluid motion, disarmed him.
“Hey!”
“Josh Carver, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…”
“What the hell are you doing? Is this some kind of joke?”
Anger, raw determination, and something that looked like disgust crossed Hagen’s face. “The only joke I see here is you
wearing that uniform, asshole. You’re a disgrace to this entire unit.”
Cold ferocity infused his voice. “Our investigation has suspected for some time that there might be a link to the drug ring working within the department. I went back through the files of past drug activity for this department. You know what I discovered? You were the officer working nearly every single case.”
“We also discovered a partial fingerprint – one of yours – at the murder scene over in Brunswick. A crime scene that was out of your jurisdiction, which means you had no official reason to be there.”
“But it was interviewing Alex this morning that truly got us on the right track. He had a lot of interesting things to say about what happened that night. Accusations that had us checking the GPS tracker on your patrol vehicle. Imagine our surprise when your log proved that you had been at the garage hours before the time you stated in your report.”
“This is all circumstantial! I told you that I’d noticed some suspicious activity at that location. I was on patrol. It was my duty to keep an eye on the place.”
“Perhaps,” Agent Hagen grinned like a shark that smelled blood. “Then how do you explain the recording?”
Josh’s face blanched. “Recording?”
“Yeah. Another thing Alex mentioned was that he’d tried to record what was happening in the garage.” Agent Hagen smirked as confusion and outrage warred on Josh’s face. “Ah, but you destroyed his phone, didn’t you? He said as much.”
Hagen’s voice turned almost conversational. “You know, I lost my phone once. Left it in the back seat of a taxi. By the time I realized what had happened, somebody had stolen it.” He moved closer, crowding the other man. “I was bummed. It had pictures of the Red Sox game I’d attended the weekend before.” He stepped back and continued circling Josh. “But then a great thing happened.”
Suspicious of where the conversation was going, Josh was hesitant to ask. Hagen waited, letting Josh sit in silence until he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. “What happened?”
“Ever heard of the cloud?”
“The c-cloud?”
“Yeah, the cloud. There’s a way to back up the photos and video you take on your phone to the cloud, instantly and automatically. Lots of people use it, including our good friend Alex Weston.”
The blood drained from Josh’s face. He swallowed, thinking about what must have been recorded on the damning phone. Hagen leaned in, close enough to practically whisper in his ear. “Technology is such a wonderful thing, isn’t it?”
Josh reared his head back and threw his hands up to shove the other man aside, but Hagen was expecting it. Quickly countering the move, he caught his arms and wrenched them behind him. Josh soon realized it was no use. Every cop in the room had their gun trained on him. The click of the handcuffs sounded like a death knell.
“We have enough evidence without Ms. Harper’s testimony to ensure you stay behind bars for many years. We’ll have even more if Paul Rowland manages to live.” Agent Hagen clucked his tongue. “An ex-cop, in prison? They’re going to be long, long years.
Chapter Forty-Two
Liz slid onto the vinyl seat and fought to keep the panic from rising up the back of her throat as the young cop closed the door. The bars separating her from the front seat made the space feel even smaller. Liz gripped her seatbelt and struggled to keep her breathing even.
Getting into the backseat of the police cruiser had been difficult, especially given the last time she’d been in one. At least this time she wasn’t handcuffed. She watched as an ambulance swung into the driveway. Two paramedics carrying a stretcher made their way into the house.
Willing Paul to be okay, Liz focused on the red and blue lights flashing in the driveway. She saw Paul on a stretcher and being put into the ambulance. They took off moments later with their sirens blaring.
It was nearly an hour before the officer who had placed her in the back seat came back. “Is Paul going to be okay?”
The officer rushed to reassure her. “The paramedics got him stabilized and he was conscious.” He turned in his seat. “I’ll get a report from the doctors for you when we get back to the station.” Liz felt the knot in her chest ease. She smiled back at him, appreciating the officer’s empathy.
Even after everything that had happened, she was thankful Paul would live. Some part of her sensed that resolving her feelings about him would be a long process. He’d betrayed her trust, set her on this destructive path, and ruined her reputation. Yet, despite recent events, his death would have left a gaping hole in her heart.
Why hadn’t he come to her?
Liz suspected this entire incident would have her questioning her judgment for a long time. She was so cautious about who she let into her inner circle. Until yesterday, Paul would have been included in that handful of people. But now?
How could she have worked with him every day and not noticed the stress he was under? Was she so wrapped up in her own head that she’d missed the clues? What kind of friend did that make her? It was time to admit that her emotional walls caused her to fail the very people she should have been relating to.
The officer started the car. “Where are you taking me?”
“To the police station so we can take your statement.”
The little knot sitting in her chest loosened slightly as he turned in the direction of the station. Hoping conversation would help cut the tension further, she asked, “How did you guys find me, anyway?”
The cop glanced in the rearview mirror before returning his attention to the road. “I’m sorry, Agent Hagen will have to give you those details. This is still an active investigation. I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”
Liz leaned her head back on the seat. “I understand. Things would have ended much differently if you weren’t there. I owe you my life.”
“Just promise me something.”
Caution entered her voice. “What’s that?”
“Next time, come to the police. We’re not all bad apples, you know.”
“I know.” She sighed and turned her head to watch the landscape go by. “Can I ask you a question? What’s going to happen to me? Do you know?”
He made a left turn into the police station’s lot and parked in a spot close to the front doors. Leaning back, he turned to face Liz. “Well, they could charge you for running and evading arrest, but given the extenuating circumstances…it’s only my guess mind you, but I don’t think they’ll be charging you with much. Especially if this whole situation leads to the apprehension of the largest drug ring in the state.”
Liz smiled at him, reminded again of the fact that most officers were good people that want to help their community. “Thank you for that.”
He shrugged, as if embarrassed to by his kindness. “Let’s get inside. I’ll set you up in an interrogation room and then Hagen will fill you in on the rest of the details.”
“Am I under arrest?” Liz asked.
“No. We just have some questions to go over with you.”
As she walked into the station, Liz spotted Olivia, Fiona, and Mason standing in the lobby. The last ball of tension in her shoulders eased.
“Oh, thank goodness! Liz!” Her sisters ran across the room, both wrapping their arms around her in a giant hug. She winced, but the pain in her ribs was nothing compared to the comfort of being with her sisters again. Inhaling deeply, she let their love and concern wash over her.
“We were so worried!” Fiona said, giving her an extra squeeze.
Liz returned the embrace for another moment before stepping back. “I was worried myself for a while there.”
The sound of a throat being cleared caused the whole group to look over at the officer who was escorting her. He glanced apologetically at Mason. “I’m sorry to break up this reunion, but we still need to interview Ms. Harper.”
Olivia’s face fell in disappointment. “Even now, with Josh in custody? I thought we might be able to skip all that.”
Mason p
ut an arm around her shoulder. “We’re going to have to do everything by the book, especially because we’re connected. It wouldn’t do to have it look like she got special treatment because of her relationship with us.”
He gave Liz a reassuring look. “Don’t worry. Agent Hagen has a good idea of what’s happened here. He’ll still want to sit down and ask you some questions – just to get the details. You should go with the officer now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.” Liz gave her sisters another big hug. “Where’s Alex?” They’d been so inseparable over the last few days that it felt strange not having him with her. Olivia and Fiona exchanged an uncomfortable look. “What?”
“I’m sorry. We haven’t had a chance to tell you. Alex’s father has been admitted to the hospital and is in critical condition,” Fiona said.
“What?!” Liz couldn’t believe it. After everything they had been through, couldn’t the universe have cut him a break? “When?”
“Last night.” Olivia put her arm around Liz. “Last time we checked, he was still alive, but not doing very well. We haven’t gotten an update for a few hours, though.”
“That’s terrible.”
The officer stepped forward. “Look, I know the timing is bad, but we need to get you inside.”
Knowing that cooperating would get her out faster, she smiled at him. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s do this.” She turned to Olivia. “If you hear from him, let him know I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry, honey. I will.”
Chapter Forty-Three
The room Liz waited in was little larger than a walk-in closet and sparsely furnished with a table and two chairs. It wasn’t long before the door creaked open.
“Hello, Liz. I’m Chief Hamilton.”
“Oh.” Liz shook the hand he proffered. “Hi.”
He smiled, setting a cup of coffee down in front of her. “You look nervous.” Liz leaned against the wall as he propped a hip on the table. It didn’t seem like a natural position for him, almost like he was trying too hard to appear nonchalant.
Secret Need (The Harper Sisters Book 2) Page 20
