Chapter 28

The desk clerk looked up in surprise when Jenny entered the Ombrea police station that evening.

She didn't park in the lot. Instead, she chose to park downtown and make the walk up the hill to the station on foot. The idea of leaving her car in the lot like a sitting duck unsettled her. She didn't know what Chief Cartright might try and pull. Plus, it provided the added bonus of catching him by surprise.

“Miss Dale.”

Jenny forced a polite smile at the desk clerk's greeting.

“How may I help you today?”

“I'm here to see my brother again.”

Jenny stepped right up to the desk, this time not letting the older woman intimidate her. “Right away, please. It's important.”

The desk clerk raised her brow.

“You can't just walk in here and expect to see a prisoner whenever you want. This isn't a social club.”

“You can call whoever you need to call, but I have a right to see my brother. And I am not leaving until I do. He is still here, isn’t he?”

“He is. But he's being transferred in the morning.”

“Is that so?”

Jenny smiled at the very idea of it. So that was what Chief Cartright had in the works, was it? He was going to move her brother to a state penitentiary while he awaited trial. A trial, she reminded herself, that would never happen.

But what if something happened to Joey while he was in there? Her mind suddenly entertained all kinds of horrible scenarios, most of which she had seen on television late at night in her apartment. Joey could be injured or worse, killed in that kind of facility. Maybe that was what Chief Cartright had in mind when he planned to send Joey out there

“I need to see my brother. Now.”

The desk clerk reached for her phone. “I'll have to call through to Chief Cartright and make sure he agrees.”

“Forget it.”

Jenny pulled the strap of her purse higher onto her shoulder.

“I'll go speak to him myself.”

The desk clerk looked nervous. It was clear she didn't like protocol to be broken.

“But you can’t,” she said coming out from behind the desk. “That's not how we do it here.”

“It's how I’m doing it,” Jenny told her as she strode down the hallway.

The desk clerk hurried along at Jenny’s heels.

“If you think acting like this is how you are going to get your way, you are sadly mistaken. The Chief won’t stand for it. He will send you away without a second thought.”

The door to his office was closed, but Jenny knew Chief Cartright had to be in there. The desk clerk would have sent her away and told her he wasn't in if he weren’t there. She knocked once and then a second time a moment later. Not wasting any time, she turned the handle and pushed the office door open.

Chief Cartright was cleaning his service weapon when she entered. He dropped the gun in surprise. Luckily it was neither loaded nor in one piece or her entrance could have caused quite a tragic chain of events. He pushed it aside on the desk as he stood. Judging by his face, he did not liked to be interrupted and especially not by Jenny Dale.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he roared at the clerk. “We have an intercom system for a reason at this station. Visitors can't just walk around here doing what they damn well please!”

“That's what I told her, Chief,” his employee replied nervously, “but she demanded to see Joey Dale, and she wouldn't wait for me to page you.”

“That's enough.”

Chief Cartright waved her away with the back of his hand.

“Go back to your desk and get back to work. I'll take care of Miss Dale.”

Jenny glanced back to see the desk clerk nodding vigorously. Her face was white. She closed the door and left them alone together. Jenny could hear heels scurrying off down the hall.

“You've got some nerve, girl.”

Chief Cartright didn't sit back down. Instead, his steely blue eyes stared menacingly across the desk at her.

“You think this place is your own personal playground? In my police station, you respect my rules. You don’t just walk here unannounced.”

“I want to see my brother.”

“Why?”

Chief Cartright's lips tightened, his eyes squinting.

“I heard he is being transferred.”

His smile widened and she wanted to punch him in his idiot face. Just like Joey had done, she thought.

For the first time in her life, she realized she was proud of her younger brother. The bruise around Chief Cartright's right eye had faded, but it was still visible.

“I wanted to come and see him before you smuggled him away to another facility.”

“I'm not smuggling your brother away. He committed a crime. He has been arrested, and now he is awaiting trial. Our courthouse here is too small, so he has to go to the next town, one with a suitable facility.”

His smile didn’t fade as he spoke.

“It’s procedure, I assure you. It is all above board.”

Jenny laughed.

“Since when has your police work ever been above board?”

Chief Cartright's smile disappeared.

“Is that what you think, Miss Dale? Do you have some kind of complaint to file in regards to my police work?”

“I'm not here to discuss your shortcomings.”

“You're just here to see your younger brother.”

He nodded. It was clear to her that he was enjoying sparring with her.

“To say goodbye, or to talk about his shortcomings.”

At least he has never killed anyone, she wanted to say.

“I'm sure you are far too busy to stay here chatting with me.” Jenny smiled sweetly. “So why don't you just get that nice woman out there to fetch the key to the holding cell and I will get out of your hair.”

For a second, Jenny thought he would deny her request. He had the power to do so, after all. He could even have her forcibly removed from the police station if he really wanted to.

Instead, he reached for his desk phone and paged through to the clerk.

“Miss. Dale will be going through to see the prisoner. Make sure she’s in there no longer than a half hour.”

He placed the phone down forcibly in its cradle before he looked back up at Jenny.

“Will that be sufficient, Miss Dale? No one likes a long goodbye.”

Jenny didn't give him the benefit of a response. She turned for the door went back out into the hallway where the desk clerk would surely be waiting.

“Oh, by the way,” Chief Cartright's called out behind her, “I hope you didn't upset Lawrence too much when you went by the shop earlier. He is rather a sensitive man. Likes to keep to himself, you know.”

He was smirking when she glanced back at his face.

He was baiting her, and appeared to be waiting for another fight. He truly was making her uncomfortable, even though she fought to remain strong. She felt concern for Lawrence. They had visited him at closing time with the hope that they wouldn't be spotted. It seemed as if their best efforts had been for nothing. Chief Cartright had either seen them or been alerted by someone else.

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Jenny told him calmly. “We were there for a bottle of wine. Roy said Lawrence knew a good brand he thought I might like to try and was kind enough to let us in after hours to sample a glass. I hope that doesn't get him into any trouble, Chief.”

“What wine was that?” Chief Cartright asked.

“You might not know the brand since it's only sold in major cities. It's called Rosaceae. Comes in a neat, blue bottle.”

Jenny didn't give him a chance to respond as she closed the door firmly behind her. She knew her words had made an impact, even if she had not been there to witness it.

* * *

When Roy arrived back at the house with Isabelle and the dog in tow he found the cabin surprisingly empty.

It was Isabelle who found the note on the kitchen table and handed it to him. For one horrible moment, he had wondered if she had simply taken off for New York. He cursed himself for being so distrustful. He didn't want to doubt Jenny. He wanted to trust her completely. In the space of a few days, she had become everything that mattered to him.

He didn't like that she had thought to go to the police station without him. Chief Cartright clearly had it out for them, and it didn't seem right to send her into the lion's cage alone. They had planned on placing the call to the police commissioner as soon as he returned home. Now it looked like that would be delayed once again.

The note didn't state when she had left the cabin, so he had no clear idea of when she would return. He debated driving out to the station and to join her but he couldn't leave Isabelle. Jenny had already told him the dog had proven useless as a guard when the stranger had been creeping around outside. He slept right through it, in fact, more concerned with staying close to the girl than he was with keeping intruders at bay.

Roy sent Isabelle and her friend out onto the beach to play while he attempted to get his thoughts in order. He couldn't shake the idea that Jenny may be putting herself in danger. After all, Chief Cartright had to know by now that they were building a case against him. Roy had even come to the conclusion during the drive home that it had been the police chief he had chased through the woods the other night. He imagined Cartright had realized where he had dropped his badge and went back to retrieve it, only to find Roy had got there first.

Roy had originally left the badge locked away in a dresser drawer, but in the past two days, he had taken to carrying it around with him in the pocket of his windbreaker. He didn’t want Chief Cartright to break into his place in search of the badge. He had already done enough damage when he ransacked his truck. Roy had taped a piece of cardboard across the window until he could find the time to drive it down to the garage at the bottom of the hill and have the glass replaced.

He stood up from the kitchen table and looked out the window. He was hoping he would see Jenny's coming down the lane, but all was quiet.

He hoped she knew what she was doing.