When the nurse arrived with the wheelchair, Lana looked around. There were four uniformed officers as her escorts, but the person she really wanted to see wasn’t present.
Her mind had been playing havoc with her all through the night; replaying their conversation over and over again, trying to find another explanation, any other way to interpret what Crank had said, but failed. She wanted to see him; to see if maybe in her slightly drugged state she’d misread him and taken something the wrong way, but his absence confirmed that he’d said what he meant, and meant what he’d said.
Having Crank willing to go to such lengths to protect her both warmed and horrified her. She couldn’t condone the killing of another person in cold blood and without a trial, no matter the provocation. She’d sworn an oath to uphold the law and she couldn’t, no, wouldn’t break it, even if it meant her life. To do so would make her oath meaningless, and that was worse than death.
Lana and her entourage stopped at the front doors of the hospital, the nurse pulling the chair into a corner away from the panes of glass. She pushed herself out of the wheelchair, grimacing in pain, as Officer Wincutte left to fetch the van. When the windowless black Chevy with the police shield on the door rocked to a stop, Officers Singleton, Ryder and Callahan surrounded her as they hustled her out of the building and carefully bundled her into the back. Callahan and Ryder crawled into the back with her, sitting on the floor, as there were seats, while Wincutte and Singleton sat up front.
“I can’t leave you alone for even a minute without you getting into trouble, can I?” Ed teased as the van accelerated away.
Lana grinned. “I guess not. I think you forgot to train me on the part about avoiding being shot.”
Ed smiled at her, but there was no humor in it. “I’m glad you’re okay. When I heard what happened, I nearly shit. I came as soon as I found out, but you were in x-ray or something.”
Lana took his hand, seeing how upset Ed was. “It’s okay.”
Ed nodded. “I would have never forgiven myself, and your dad would have killed me if anything had happened to you.”
Lana squeezed his hand in support. “I’m a big girl. You don’t have to protect me.”
He nodded, but his eyes had a haunted look about them.
They rode in silence the rest of the way to the station. Wincutte pulled the van onto the sidewalk with the sliding door facing the building. The four officers surrounded Lana and hurried her inside. Lieutenant Dane was waiting for her.
“How’re you feeling, Winters?”
“Fine sir. A little sore, but ready to return to duty.”
“That’s good to hear. I need to speak to you in my office.”
Lana felt the chill of impending doom but said nothing as she followed Dane into his office.
“Have a seat, Officer,” Dane said as he closed the door behind them.
Lana sat; her heart pounding in her chest. Dane was being very official, and that didn’t bode well for what was coming.
He sat behind his desk then leaned forward onto his elbows, interlacing his fingers in front of him. “I’ll come straight to the point. I’m placing you on administrative duty until further notice.”
Lana felt like she had been slapped. “Yes, sir,” she said, pursing her lips in anger and frustration.
“At ease, Officer,” he said. “This is no reflection on your performance.”
“Then why, sir?”
“Several reasons. First and foremost, you’re a target. Sam told me what was going down. Until we apprehend Conrad, or whoever the shooter turns out to be, putting you back on the street simply paints a target on your back.” Dane smiled. “It reflects poorly on me if one of my officers gets killed, so I’d like to avoid that if possible. The second reason is you’re not one hundred percent by your own admission. The final reason is because we don’t have another vest for you. We don’t keep extra female vests in supply since we have relatively few female officers.”
She didn’t like it one bit that her dad had meddled. “So once my new vest arrives, and I’m back to one hundred percent, I can return to duty?”
“Lana, you’re not being suspended. You’re being temporarily assigned to administrative duty. It’s for your protection, and before you say anything, yes, if any other officer were being targeted like this, I would pull them off the street, male or female. We go out every day with the chance of being shot or killed. I’m not going to put any of my officers at extra risk unnecessarily. If we have the shooter in custody, you can return to patrol as soon as your vest arrives.”
“When will that be, sir?”
“About a week.”
She relaxed. She was toughing it out, but her chest did still hurt like a bitch. In a week, she should be back to full speed. “But if Conrad isn’t in custody by then?”
Dane frowned. “Then, I’m sorry to say, you’ll remain on administrative duty until we either catch the perp, or we’ve determined you’re no longer in immediate danger.”
“And if he starts targeting officers at random?”
“So far he hasn’t been targeting officers, except for you. If that changes and he begins to fire on other officers…” Dane paused, his mouth going hard. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“But if he does?” she pressed.
“If he does… then we’ll need all the help we can get, and you’ll have to take your chances just like all the other officers.”
She nodded in understanding, and then licked her lips. “Any leads?”
Dale grimaced and leaned back in his chair. “Only the name you gave us. It looks like a solid lead. We contacted the Paris PD yesterday, and they did some checking for us. Seems Mr. Silas Conrad hasn’t reported to work for almost six weeks and nobody can remember seeing him, or his car, for about the same amount of time. We’re throwing everything we’ve got into bringing this… guy… to justice.”
She nodded and gave a weak smile. She had the impression Dane almost called Conrad something other than “guy.” They had a lead to be sure, but even if they caught Conrad in Amberton, that didn’t constitute proof. As much as she hated to admit it, Crank had a point about not being able to hold him. They needed something, anything, to tie him to the murders, or in her case, attempted murder.
“Understood, sir.” She didn’t like it, but his reasoning was sound. So long as he didn’t keep her on administrative duty forever, she could live with it.
“Any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Very well. See Sergeant May for your assignment. Dismissed.”
She stood, came to attention, then pirouetted on her toe and walked out. Callahan had brought her uniform to the hospital, and she was technically released for duty, so she didn’t have an excuse to not work.
As she stepped out of Dane’s office, all the patrol officers and most of the administrative staff were standing there and began to clap. Somebody had printed an Ironman mask and glued it to a piece of cardboard with cutout eyeholes and an elastic band. Beaming, Ed stepped forward and slipped it over her face.
“Okay, everyone, remember! If we’re in a firefight, everyone stand behind Lana!” Ed said, causing everyone to cheer as he stepped back.
She smiled behind the mask, allowing her brothers and sisters to have their fun, using the time to gather herself so she wouldn’t cry. When she thought she had enough control, she pushed the mask to the top of her head.
“Oh my God! Ironman is Lana Winters!” an officer cried out in mock surprise.
Lana grinned as she pulled off the mask. “Know what you call Ironman without his suit? Stark naked.”
The assembled officers laughed, groaned and made disparaging remarks about her sense of humor.
Dane stepped out of his office. “Is there anyone out there protecting the good citizens of Amberton?” he asked, but his tone was mild, and he was smiling. “Back to work, people. Officer Winters has some filing or something to do. Callahan, Ryder, you’re on protection detail today.”
“Yes, sir,” Callahan said then looked at Lana. “Be back in few hours to take you home. Don’t go anywhere.”
Lana looked around as the group began to break up. “Where am I going to go?”
***
“I have a name,” Crank said. The Legion was meeting in one of the private rooms of Pioneer Grille. “Silas Conrad. I want him. I want him bad.”
“Who the fuck is Silas Conrad?” Shiv asked as he looked around the room to see if anybody recognized the name.
Crank’s gaze traveled the room, meeting each brother’s gaze for a moment, before moving to the next. They wouldn’t blame him for what had happened, but he still wasn’t eager to admit that he, however inadvertently, was the one that had brought so much death to the Legion.
“He’s, was, a sniper in Bravo Company, my old unit,” Crank said, his voice growing quieter as he looked at his hands on the table in front of him. “I was his spotter, and I had him thrown out. He served some prison time and was dishonorably discharged.”
“You had him thrown out of the army? How?” Goose asked.
“I reported him to the brass for targeting non-combatants, and testified against him.”
The brothers of the Fallen Legion looked at each other. Crank’s time in the army was an enigma, and with only the little bit he’d just told them, they finally had their first inkling of what he’d done while serving his country.
“What does this have to do with us?” Shiv asked.
“Nothing. He’s targeting the people I care about in order to hurt me. That’s just like him. He’s a sadistic son-of-a-bitch, and killing me would be too easy. He wants me to suffer first.” Crank paused. “He shot Lana yesterday.”
“The cop chick? She was the officer involved in the shooting on the news?” Hilt asked.
“Yeah. That means he’ll target women, and probably children too.”
“Is she…?” Shiv asked.
“No. He missed. No, I take that back. He didn’t miss. He hit her square in the chest, but I think he was going for a headshot. He was so far away that the ballistic vest protected her.”
Shiv nodded. “She’s okay?”
“Yeah. Sore, but okay. Unfortunately, if he’s willing to take a shot at a cop, he’ll take a shot at anyone. Nobody connected to me is safe. Not you, not your old ladies, not the club girls, not your children. Those of you that have old ladies and kids, if you haven’t already, you need to get them to somewhere safe. Away from Amberton.”
“Pecan, Wheels and Motor’s funeral are in a couple of days,” Shiv said softly.
“I know. It’ll be a perfect killing field for him. He has to be staying in a motel, somewhere, and we’re going to find him before then. We’ve got to put enough heat on him to flush him out, and when he runs, we’re going to be there. Shiv, take charge of that. I don’t care what you have to do, but make it happen.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to watch Lana.” He could see the disbelief in his brother’s eyes that he was choosing a cop over his own. “I know what you’re thinking, but there’s a reason for it. He missed her. That’s going to stick in his craw and I betting he’s going to take another shot at her. When he does, I’m going to be there, watching for him, and I’m going to stick my hand up his ass and rip his fucking heart out.”
Crank’s gaze went around the room again as he rose up out of his seat. “Let’s make this happen, brothers.”
***
Lana was riding in the front seat of Ed’s cruiser. It was almost like old times, except she wasn’t on patrol, she was being escorted home. Ryder, in his own cruiser, was tailing along behind them.
She’d spent the entire afternoon booking and processing in people accused of crimes ranging from theft to possession of drug paraphernalia, to her personal favorite, the intoxicated man Willoughby caught urinating on his cruiser. She smiled as she thought about it again. As Willoughby said while she processed in the drunk, “If you pee-pee on the po-po, it’s off to jail you will go-go.”
While she found Corporal Willoughby’s case amusing and spent the rest of the day spreading the story to other officers, she was anxious to get back on the streets. She hadn’t wanted to become a police officer to process in drunks.
All units. All units. Respond to shooting at Liberty Elementary School. Two dead or wounded. Emergency medical is in transit.
Lana reached for the mic, but Ed put his hand on it before she could pick it up.
“No,” he said as Ryder roared by, his strobes and siren fired up.
“But, it’s a—”
“No!” Ed said firmer as he flipped on the lights and put his foot down. “I’m going to drop you off at home then respond.”
“No! We need to respond now,” she said as she reached for the mic again.
“Put that down, that’s an order,” Ed commanded. “If this is Conrad, he could be trying to draw you into the open. That’s not going to happen.”
“Car right!” she called an instant before Ed braked hard, so that he didn’t rear-end the SUV that pulled out in front of them, then whipped around it when traffic gave them an opening. As they passed, the driver stared at them with wide eyes, his phone still in his hand.
“Dumbass,” she muttered. “Look, I’ll stay in the car, Ed, until the area is secured.”
“No. Not going to happen.”
“You can’t always protect me!”
“No, and once we get this Conrad bastard, I’ll gladly step out of the way. But Dane put me on your protection detail today, and I’m going to take care of that first.”
Lana sat and fumed as Ed hurried the car, bounding it into her apartment complex after giving the siren a blast to clear traffic so he could make the left.
“At least just let me jump out and run. If Conrad is at the school, he can’t be here.”
He nodded as he twisted and turned his way through the complex. “Get ready,” he said just before he skidded to a stop in front of her building. “Go!”
She yanked her door open and bailed out, dashing for the stairs as he roared away. Her heart thudding, she pounded up the steps to her apartment, keenly aware that she wasn’t wearing armor and any shot now would likely be fatal.
She stopped at her door, unlocked it as quickly as possible, threw it open, and then slammed it shut behind her.
With a sigh of relief, she leaned against the door for a moment, then crossed the room and turned on the television. Any shooting at a school was going to be a major news event, and if she couldn’t be there, she at least wanted to know what was going on.