Protector - Laurel Dewey [104]
“Okay,” Jane whispered, “give him a message for me. I have to go away on business and I might be gone for a while. Tell him that—”
The clanging sound of a metal tray hitting the ground echoed through the hallway, startling Jane and rousing Dale.
“I guess you can tell him yourself,” Zoe said turning to Dale. “Hello, Mr. Perry. Look who’s here to see you!”
Zoe walked away, leaving Jane in the doorway. Dale squinted toward Jane.
“You gonna stay in the doorway?” Dale slurred in an acid tongue. Jane moved forward, stopping several feet from his bedside. “What in the hell are you doing here? If you want money, you’re shit out of luck.” Jane remained silent, standing stoically. Dale turned and watched the muted program on Court TV. “You pick up that stuff from the workshop like I asked you and give it to the boys at DH?”
“Yes.”
Dale turned to Jane. “You didn’t fuck with anything in that workshop, did you?”
Jane noticed his evil eye staring back at her, but somehow it didn’t affect her. She felt a swell of indignity well up inside of her. “Why would I fuck with anything in there?” As the words came out, she realized how strong and unafraid they sounded.
Dale analyzed Jane. He tried to penetrate her being but his failing health made it difficult. “Don’t use that asshole attitude on me. You know what it’ll get you.”
Jane moved closer to Dale’s bed. “Why don’t you tell me what it will get me?”
“You think you can fuck with me now. Is that what you came here to do?”
“No.”
Dale checked out Jane’s body language and realized she was not her usual fearful self. A slow smile, laced with a sneer, melted onto his lips. “I’ll be in your head ’til the day you die.” Dale waited for the words to sink in and watch his daughter’s reaction. Jane stayed solid for a few seconds and then he could feel her beginning to doubt herself. “God, you’re so easy,” he said with a delirious glint in his eye.
Jane felt herself slipping. “I’m going away,” she blurted.
“Oh, yeah? Where?”
“It’s confidential.”
“Confidential?” Dale said with a heavy dose of mockery. “Well, let’s see. It has something to do with that Lawrence double murder.”
“Why would you say that?”
“The guys at DH keep me up to date with what’s goin’ on. You gotta hit the road after what went down two nights ago.” Jane stiffened. She had no idea that Dale knew about Martha’s murder. “You know, in all my years on the force, I never fucked up as bad as you did two nights ago.” Jane couldn’t argue with Dale’s comment. She had been telling herself the same thing ever since it happened. “So, the Department is sending you away for a while.” Dale surmised. “Or, maybe not just you. Maybe they’re shoving the kid onto you. Yeah, that’s how it works. That’s how it always works.”
Jane wasn’t sure where she had lost control of the conversation but she knew that if she didn’t get out soon, Dale would read her like an open book. “I have to go—”
“They’re sending you away to some shithole small town,” Dale declared with that same devious look in his eye. “They got you a house and they’re giving you cash and they told you to ‘blend in’ for as long as it takes. What they didn’t tell you is that you’re walking into a fuckin’ land mine.”
Jane studied Dale’s face. “What are you talking about?” “It’s gotten too messy. The whole Department will not be taken down because of your fuckup. Decisions had to be made.” Dale’s tone was succinct and brutal. “You take the two lambs and you sacrifice them for the good of the others.”
Jane felt a shiver radiate down her spine. “That’s not it at all.”
“Don’t be a fuckin’ idiot, Jane. You mark my words. Something will go wrong. And you’ll be all alone in some backwater town with no backup. Just you and that kid and the one who will finish the job.”
Jane let Dale’s words filter through her system. “What if I don’t let that happen?”
“You think you got what it takes? You think you have the guts to point a loaded gun at someone and pull the trigger? Or would you rather just lay down and get the shit kicked out of you until you die?