At the hospital, they turned Orlando Cortez over to the emergency room crew and waited for the officer to point him in the right direction. Sal checked to make sure they weren’t needed on the scene again and then confronted Ariana. “What the hell happened to you today? I barely had those wounds packed, and his lung was filling with blood while you stood around forever. That’s not like you, Ariana.”
She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to think. But she owed her partner something. “I’m sorry, Sal. I’m not sure what happened.”
“I do.” His tone was softer now, and she stared at him, surprised. He smiled. “Come on, Ariana, I probably know you as well as or better than my own wife. We spend about the same amount of time together, maybe more. You saw the guy from the bike accident the other night. I think you feel shitty about the fact that he’s going to jail. Would it make you feel any better if I told you that, according to the rumors, he wasn’t even armed?”
If only I could believe that. We were together less than two hours ago. How could he have left her and gone out to shoot someone? But she’d seen the evidence with her own eyes, and she knew he had at least one gun. She’d seen it in his house just this morning.
She told Sal, “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Ariana!” he called after her, but she ignored him. The fire station wasn’t far, and she could walk back and get her car. She had something she had to do, and it couldn’t wait.
Processing took less time than it had the last time Vince had come through this god-awful place. That would have been more of a relief if he hadn’t had an imprint of Ariana’s horrified expression stuck on his mind, in his eyes, since he’d been hauled off. The worst thing was, the only person who’d even fired was Scat, who wasn’t even supposed to be there. No one had expected the ambush.
“Well, well, well, you’ve been in here for all of five minutes, and you’ve already got a visitor.” The guard came up to the metal bars, hands on his belt, acting as pompous as a cat that just caught the mouse. The jackass hadn’t even been the one to book them.
Vince scowled at him. “Great.” He waited to see Cyril or one of his brothers and wondered why the hell they were here if they weren’t posting bail. But instead, Ariana appeared in front of him, her expression somber.
“Get out of here,” Vince snarled at the guard. The man ambled away with a chuckle, and Vince stood from where he sat on the bench to walk toward Ariana.
He stared at her, but her eyes were hard, impenetrable. “Ariana, I didn’t do this.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, her voice flat. “It doesn’t matter if you did it or not. You’re a part of this, Vince, and it’s exactly what I didn’t want you involved in.”
Something inside his chest squeezed at his lungs, and it was hard for him to breathe as she said those words. “Come on, I’ll be out in a heartbeat, and the charges will be dropped. We didn’t ask for this. Those guys rolled up out of nowhere. One guy pulled a gun, and he’s at the hospital right now.”
She nodded. “I know. He got hit in the shoulder. Do you realize two men are dead, and the third will be lucky if he doesn’t drown in his own blood?” She stepped away from the bars, out of his reach. “I told you I didn’t want to be at home, waiting and wondering if you weren’t coming back. If things had gone differently today, you’d either be in prison for the rest of your life or dead.”
“I told you I would be fine, and I am.” But he knew now there was no sense in arguing. She was angry, hurt, and frightened. He’d either lost her or needed to give her the space to come to terms with things. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn’t good, and Vince knew Pound had been right all along. He should never have gotten involved with her.
“Listen to me, Ariana,” he said, searching her face for any hint of softness. “I know you’re way out of my league, and we come from two different worlds. But you saw something in me that you liked, or you wouldn’t have asked me to meet your father.”
She laughed, but it was a sad sound. “We all make mistakes, Vince.” He watched her search his gaze. “Tell me something, Vince. When the police showed up, did you have a gun in your hand?”
He nodded. It was better not to lie right now. “I did. But I never raised it, and I never fired it. I pulled it in case I had to defend myself.”
“That’s not good enough.” She looked away. “I’m sorry, Vince. I really did feel something for you. But I can’t do this anymore. It was good while it lasted, and I hope the best for you.” She walked away without another word.
Vince sat down, covering his face with his hands. When had he let his emotions grow so raw and open again? He’d shut down after losing Kristi, but Ariana had just torn open old wounds, and he was bleeding inside.
Full of rage and the pain of loss, Vince called out, “Guard!”
The man came around the corner with an amused face. “Boy, you pissed her off pretty bad.”
Vince rolled his eyes. “Shut up, asshole. I’ve got a request, and you’d better listen.”
“Oh, really? And what if I don’t?”
Vince gave him a sinister smile. “You know why I’m in here. I don’t like when people get in my way. Now, I want to speak to Chief of Police Ronald Hunt, and I want him here in less than an hour. And when he gets here, you had better pray I’m not all kinds of pissed off at you. And that none of my brothers are pissed at you, either.”
“Whatever, you ragtag piece of shit. Why would Hunt want to speak to you?”
Vince’s grin spread further. “Because he’s an old friend of my father. And my Uncle Ronnie is pretty protective of his nephew.” The fear in the guard’s eyes gave Vince a sense of satisfaction that at least temporarily turned off the pain. He’d be out of this joint, along with Scat, Pound, and Traunch, before the afternoon was out.