[Men in Blue 01.0] Night Is Darkest

by Jayne Rylon

  Mason didn’t need the details to put the pedal to the floor.

  21

  Lacey flew from the truck before it had lurched to a stop between a cruiser and an unmarked sedan that screamed copmobile parked in Rob’s usual spot in their driveway. She bolted up the stairs toward her house. Ty and Mason followed on her heels. Bright crimson splatters of blood stained the whitewashed boards in a thin but steady trail along the way.

  Lights sparkled from within but the cracked open door hinted at something amiss. She shoved inside then followed the sound of faint arguing to the kitchen. “Please, it’s not necessary. I’ve had far worse. I just have to talk to Lacey. I need to warn her.”

  The shaky feminine plea had her stumbling to a halt in the hallway. What if Jackson had been telling the truth? The guys stole her chance to consider when they steamrolled her, sweeping her into the midst of the commotion. Jeremy, Razor and Gina turned as one to face the clamor.

  She gasped when the gesture revealed the cause of the young cops’ concern. Gina’s left eye had swollen shut, blood dripped from her broken nose and sick bruises covered her from forehead to split lip.

  “Oh, Jesus,” Tyler whispered.

  “That bad?” The half-smile, half-grimace Gina managed didn’t upgrade their opinion of her condition. Her muscles drooped in contrast to the puffy injuries.

  Lacey ignored the four men on high alert ringing them as she approached Gina where she perched, shaking, on one of the stools at the island. Her nursing training rose to the surface. The truth could wait one damn minute. This battered woman needed immediate assistance. Gina gripped the butcher block surface in front of her.

  “You’re dizzy.” Lacey didn’t have to ask. “How long did you lose consciousness for?”

  “I need to tell you…”

  She cut the woman off by raising her hand, palm out. “If it doesn’t mean life or death in the next ten minutes, you’ll have to wait until I’m finished.”

  “You’re as stubborn as Rob is.” A single tear squeezed from her battered eye to paint another grotesque track across her cheek. “Was.”

  “How long? Do you even remember?” Lacey ignored the pain impaling her heart at the thought of her lost brother and what it would do to him to see his delicate girlfriend in this condition. The guys had been right, Jackson warped her perspective until she lost sight of the truth. She angled Gina’s chin with careful precision to examine her injuries in better light.

  “Not really.” Gina sighed. “I think just a minute or two at my apartment then I sort of fell asleep outside while I waited for you to come home.”

  “You drove here in this condition?” Razor choked on his outrage. He vibrated with tension Lacey had never witnessed in the fun-loving rookie. He’d been the life of several parties she’d attended. In fact, she’d even flirted with him a bit until Mason had chased him away. She’d misjudged his carefree attitude while off duty but now she understood what made him so well regarded on the force. The familiar combination of attention to detail, righteousness and protective instincts she’d witnessed in Rob, Ty and Mason oozed from his bunched muscles.

  “Help her to the living room while I grab a few things from upstairs. Settle her on the couch but stack lots of pillows behind her.” Though ugly, Gina’s injuries could be treated at home for now.

  She bolted upstairs while the testosterone entourage attended to the wounded woman. A mental checklist formed as she rummaged through the medicine cabinet. Gloves, gauze, ibuprofen, butterfly bandages, lip balm, Q-tips, peroxide, tweezers, an empty glass jar and an ice pack rounded out the selection.

  Lacey tugged on the hem of her shirt. She used the pouch it formed as it lifted above her navel to store her supplies. Things rattled and sloshed as she rushed to rejoin the concerned gang.

  Razor hovered over Gina’s prone form like a concerned mother hen just as he had at Rob’s going away party. Lacey dumped her cache on the coffee table then dragged it near the couch. “Ty, grab my bag from the truck, please?”

  He raced to do her bidding as she arranged the supplies into neat rows.

  “Jeremy, please bring me a bowl of lukewarm water, a can of soda and the bottle of brandy. Could you also fill this with ice?” She tossed him the waterproof bag.

  He nodded then disappeared into the kitchen where the distant clunk of slamming cabinets tracked his progress. Mason stood, feet braced shoulder-width apart, wrists crossed at the base of his spine. His eagle eyes never once strayed from where she knelt beside Gina.

  “Did anyone check her for weapons?” He addressed Razor.

  “Stand down, Clark.” He shot an incredulous look over his shoulder. “Can’t you see she’s the victim here?”

  “I don’t take chances.” He made no apology for the implication of his question.

  Jeremy’s quick stride faltered at the tension radiating from the two men when he returned. He must have caught the gist of the conversation as he neared. “I don’t either, Mason. I patted her when we hauled her inside. She’s clean.”

  When Razor turned to him with raised eyebrows, he shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of fucked-up shit on the job. No offense intended, Gina.”

  “None taken.” She sighed. “Please, just let me explain.”

  “When I’m through here.” Lacey refused to let her sidetrack them until she’d done what she could to alleviate the woman’s suffering. She drew on the latex gloves with a snap then nudged Razor’s bunched thigh with her shoulder. He never let his grip on Gina’s trembling hand slip though he positioned himself behind the couch to give Lacey room to maneuver. His other hand rested on Gina’s shoulder.

  “I’m going to do a quick manual exam. I’m pretty sure your nose is broken—” Razor’s curse scathed her ears, “—but since it’s still basically straight, a doctor wouldn’t usually call for x-rays. I just need to make sure nothing jagged is blocking your nasal cavity or pressing on your sinuses. I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”

  Gina’s throat flexed when she gulped.

  “Squeeze my hand if it helps.” Razor’s stormy eyes reflected his helpless distress. “No one will think less of you if you scream.”

  “Thanks.” Gina nodded to her. “This isn’t the first time, though. I’m prepared. Go.”

  Lacey followed the bruised but intact cheekbones to the woman’s nasal cavity. When the crackle of cartilage and bone realigning confirmed her suspicions, Razor groaned then clutched his stomach. “Is that necessary? Be gentle!”

  “She’s doing what she needs to. If you can’t handle it, get the hell out.” Mason leveled a no-nonsense stare at Razor but Lacey ignored all the misplaced aggression to focus on her patient. Tyler set her bag within arm’s reach then took his place, shoulder to shoulder with Mason.

  Next, she dunked the towel in warm water and wiped away the excess blood. When she could see, she cleaned the cuts, sterilized the wounds then applied the butterfly bandages to the tear bisecting Gina’s eyebrow and the split in her lip. Lacey placed gauze packing inside one nostril to stop the persistent bleeding. The other remained too swollen for similar treatment. She rounded out the first aid by checking for loose or chipped teeth. Thankfully, she didn’t find any.

  Finally, she spread brandy along the woman’s swollen gums, cheek and lip. She’d sat like a trooper through excruciating pain, impressing them all. Rob’s petite girlfriend had turned out to be tougher than any of them had given her credit for. When the initial burn of the alcohol eased into an anesthetic numbness, Gina sighed.

  Razor unclenched his jaw for the first time. He ran his thumb in a soothing pattern over the back of her hand. Lacey daubed the woman’s lips with a generous coat of lip gloss both to keep the cut supple and to prevent massive chapping while she breathed from her mouth. Then she unzipped her bag, glad to see Ty had removed Rob’s gun before handing it to her.

  She rummaged through the contents until she located the Vicodin her doctor had prescribed for her concussion. “I’m no doctor,
Gina, but I think you could desperately use one of these.”

  “You’re an angel. Really.” The grateful woman accepted the medicine as well as the can of soda, complete with a straw, to wash it down. All eyes were on her when she handed the half empty drink to Razor.

  Searing pain hadn’t caused her to shed a single tear but when Gina faced their expectant stares, her eyes brimmed then overflowed. Razor stroked her hair then whispered something in her ear but she shook her head and said, “I don’t deserve all you’ve done for me. It’s my fault Rob is dead.”

  Lacey’s legs gave out. She dropped flat onto her ass from her previous crouch before Tyler knelt beside her. She wanted to ask a million questions but none of them would cross her lips.

  “Explain yourself, Gina.” Razor’s encouragement seemed to give her strength.

  “The men who did this to me… They said you’d gone to see him in jail. That I’d ruined his chances of getting free.” It made her cringe to listen to Gina’s indistinct pronunciation but Lacey needed to understand. “So you must already know. I was stupid enough to date Jackson once. I believed his compulsive lies. I thought he loved me. He has an unbelievable talent for fabricating compelling emotion.”

  Lacey bit her lip, nodding. She wrapped her fingers around the woman’s free hand and squeezed.

  Jeremy turned his back but his ragged breaths were clear in the sporadic heaving of his chest.

  “Who the hell is Jackson? What aren’t you guys telling me?” Razor shifted his furious stare from one man to the other but none of them broke her trust. Their trust.

  Gina raised her watery stare to his. “He’s a monster. He’s in jail for abusing Lacey though, God knows, he deserved to go there for a lot more than that. And it’s all my fault. If I’d just turned him in when he beat me the first time…”

  Razor shushed her when her pitch climbed. “Take it one step at a time. This fuckwad was your boyfriend?”

  She nodded but refused to meet his stare.

  “And he hit you?”

  Another nod.

  “More than once?”

  Her entire posture drooped. “I’m an idiot, I know.”

  “Stick to the facts. This bastard preyed on young, naïve women. Why did you stay with him once you realized how sick he was?” Mason earned a glare from Razor with his line of questioning but he didn’t seem to care or even notice.

  “That’s just it. I tried to leave. First he beat me harder then tied me to the bed and…” She couldn’t finish.

  “He raped you.” Razor turned an unhealthy shade of purple.

  “I don’t know. I mean we were dating and then we weren’t and I don’t remember a lot of what happened…”

  “He raped you,” Razor repeated.

  “I guess. The next day I packed up and left while he was at work.” More tears streamed down her face. “But it didn’t matter.”

  “He came after you?” Mason asked.

  “Worse. He slid a folder of photos under the door of my motel room.” She choked. Razor tilted the straw to her lips so she could wet her scratchy throat. “Thank you.”

  “What kind of photos were they?” Mason pursued the lead.

  Gina’s bloodshot eyes begged Lacey to understand. “Pictures of a woman. Tied. Whipped. Bleeding. Crying. Burned with cigarettes. I’ll never forget. Oh God. It was my fault!”

  “You can’t control a lunatic.” Razor gripped the cushion hard enough Lacey expected his fingers to poke through the upholstery.

  “No. He controlled me. On the bottom of the worst picture he wrote, ‘Come back or I’ll have to play with another.’” Sobs wracked her frail frame as violent memories punched to the surface. “What else could I do? I went back.”

  The wail of misery that escaped the other woman’s throat sent shivers up Lacey’s spine.

  “But it got worse and worse. He tested me. One day, he got angry at some perceived slight and broke my arm. I felt it snap and something inside me fractured with it. I hit him in the head with a lamp. I thought I’d killed him. I ran and ran. He couldn’t find me but the pictures kept coming to my email. Dozens of women. Tortured. Raped. All because of me. I was afraid to go to the police. He said he’d kill me if I ended his fun. Th-that’s what he called it. Fun.”

  Lacey cried with her now because she knew what came next. Yet, when compared to this woman’s suffering, her tragedy seemed like child’s play. She tugged Gina’s hand until she hugged it to her breast over her heart. “It’s okay. I understand. They would understand.”

  “One day everything stopped. I was so stupid. I thought he’d given up. I thought I was free. Until I got an email from him saying he’d been locked up. He thought I’d ratted him out. He blamed me for getting caught but I knew someone else had saved me. I researched the court documents and found several references to Officer Daughtry.” Her battered face contorted at the mention of his name. “When I tracked him down, I called him once. Anonymously. I told him my story. He was so kind. So understanding. I think I fell a little in love with him right then.”

  Her voice trailed off as she got tangled in her memories.

  “This had to have been years ago, Gina. What happened during all the time in between?” Mason’s relentless focus on the truth earned another frown from Razor.

  “When I talked to Rob he said we needed proof to make sure Jackson never got the chance to destroy another woman. He said the emails I had saved wouldn’t be enough until we could track down some of the victims. Otherwise, they could have been consensual partners. Jackson was careful never to write anything damning in his emails. But I knew.” She ducked her chin again. “I was too frightened at first. I was sure Jackson would find out and kill me like he had threatened. I-I hung up on Rob.”

  “No one is going to judge you. You did what you had to in order to survive.” Razor wiped the tears from her cheek with a gentleness Lacey wouldn’t have believed he possessed.

  “There were times over the next three years Rob came close. He called my apartment. I moved again. He found my email but I didn’t answer. One day, I was working the night shift in the grocery store when he walked in. God, he was so handsome. I remember watching as he held the door for a pregnant woman who came in for ice cream when her cravings drove her out of bed then he carried a gallon of milk to the counter for Mrs. Hallister who’s in her late eighties. I didn’t think there were people like that in the world anymore.”

  Her eyes turned glassy either from the drugs or the memories, Lacey couldn’t say which.

  “When he came to the register with a candy bar, he looked at me. Really looked. I felt like he saw all the way to my soul with those blue, blue eyes. He knew. All along, he’d known it was me. He said, ‘Don’t run, Gina. I want to help. You can trust me, I swear. Think about it and I’ll come back tomorrow. Just to talk. That’s all.’” The undamaged corner of her mouth tilted in a tiny smile. “He paid for the snack then left. And he never broke his promises to me. Not that time and never after, either. And it’s because of me he’s dead.”

  For long minutes, they couldn’t console her as she suffered from agony far worse than any physical pain. When Mason finally asked his next question, his gentle delivery brought a wave of relief to everyone in the room. The clear leader of their group had granted absolution. “Were you and Rob conducting your own investigation to identify Jackson’s other victims?”

  “Yes.” She sniffled then winced. “I have all the emails. All the horrifying pictures.”

  “What made Rob pursue this on his own instead of taking the evidence to the force?”

  “He showed the chief first but Leigh said we didn’t have enough for a new trial. He said Jackson wasn’t getting out anytime soon and told Rob to dig more before they made an official move. So we did. Together. Over the last year, we’ve gotten close. So close, to several of the victims, but nothing had come through by the time we got word Jackson would be up for parole for good behavior.” She sneered the description. A flash of hatr
ed, so violent it stole Lacey’s breath, obscured the pain in Gina’s uninjured eye.

  She scooted back a few inches, into Tyler’s open arms.

  “Why was Rob in the alley that night, Gina?” Mason put her back on track.

  She gulped then squeezed her good eye shut. “We got a lead. A stripper in the district hit on one of our victim’s names. Irene Stolkholm. Rob wanted to arrange a meeting with her but she refused. I went to see her. I begged when I told her Jackson was going to get out if we didn’t have another witness. She agreed to meet us in the alley after work. Rob called the chief but he decided there wasn’t time to put a team in place—that we should back off.”

  Gina covered her face with her frail hands. Sleek red nail polish stood out against her pale skin. “I convinced him to ignore the orders. I forced him to go with me. But, it was a trap. The woman was still under Jackson’s spell. That bastard must have contacted her from prison, spun a web of lies to taint her opinion of us. She pulled a knife, went crazy, ranting about how much Jackson loved her. About how we wouldn’t lock him away for good.”

  Jeremy sat on the edge of the coffee table. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands. Gina kept right on going as though she no longer saw the room in front of her but, instead, the horrifying night she described.

  “Rob pushed me out of the way. He screamed for me to run. I thought he could subdue one skinny woman. I figured he’d be fine, so I did it. But, when I turned back, I saw he didn’t even fight her. He raised his arms to block the knife but he wouldn’t hurt her to disarm her. He never broke his promise. Even when the knife glanced off his forearm and buried in his neck. He just took it. I couldn’t watch. I ran.”

  Lacey had thought the uncertainty of not knowing her brother’s fate was the worst part of his death. But hearing, knowing what his last moments had entailed, scarred her deeper. She could imagine every gory detail of Gina’s retelling as though she watched it herself. There’d be no erasing this from her mind. No escaping the nightmares it would inspire. The truth shattered her. She collapsed in Tyler’s shaking arms but Gina kept talking as though she hadn’t just destroyed a piece of Lacey’s heart.