Broken Toy [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations) (28 page)

She shook her head and turned to Calder again, hooking her thumb back toward Martinez. “You believe this guy? What a fucking ungrateful asshole.”

“No, fuck you!” Martinez screamed, now panicking. The guards were struggling to keep him from turning around and bolting back to the gate. “Take me back to my cell right now! I want my fucking attorney!”

“I think they still need a few minutes to finish moving all your crap, buddy. But, hey, I’m sure Calder here will be happy to introduce you around while you’re waiting.” She looked up at him.

He slowly nodded, the skin at his left temple twitching, his jaw tightly clenched.

She barely tipped her head to him in a nod.

His eyes swiveled toward her and he slowly blinked before his gaze refocused on Martinez.

She was walking toward the exit at the other end of the corridor, which would take her through the secure checkpoint, when one of Calder’s guards came hurrying after her. She’d learned the guards liked Calder, because if they gave him respect, he gave it right back and tried to get his fellow inmates to do the same. That, and he had zero tolerance for sexual criminals of any kind.

Especially ones who committed sexual crimes against children.

“Big guy asked me very nicely to tell you thank you,” he whispered in her ear. “That he appreciates what you did. And that he was listening very carefully.”

She smiled and nodded, turning to look down the hall. She spotted Calder looking at her.

She touched her right ear with her finger.

He nodded.

She walked up to the door and hit the intercom buzzer.

* * * *

Gabe was halfway to the office when her work cell rang.

Walker.

She almost didn’t answer it, but then decided it had to happen sooner or later. If not on the phone, when she got to work. “Villalobos,” she said, faking a lilt she didn’t feel.

“What the
hell
did you do?” he said by way of greeting.

“Hello, Special Agent Walker. And how are you this fine morning?”

“Knock it off. What did you do?”

She hoped Martinez wasn’t dead already. That would put a kink in the case, although it wouldn’t personally bother her. “Well, can you be more specific, boss?”

“Today.
What
. Did you
do
.
Today
?” He sounded close to blowing a gasket.

“Um, I’m on my way in. I started out with a workout first thing—”

“Were you just at the freaking jail?” he yelled.

“Oh. Well, yeah. Why didn’t you ask me that?”

He let out a long groan.

“What?”

“I just got a call from the state attorney’s office. Martinez is begging to cut a deal. He’s got his freaking arms and legs wrapped around the bars of a door in the interview cell corridor and threatening to make them tase him if he doesn’t get a SA there right now to talk to him.”

“Huh. Wow, that’s convenient, isn’t it?”

“Gaaaabe—”

“Ask the guards. I didn’t say anything except to tell him the good news that he was being moved to general population.”

He groaned again. “And?”

“And what?”

“What else? He was babbling something about another guy.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah, there
was
another prisoner right there, come to think of it.”

Maybe I shouldn’t go to the office right now.

“Gabe, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?”

“Tell me what I did wrong?”

“You set up a defendant to get killed. I never authorized his move.”

“I did not. I was trying to accommodate his request to get out of solitary lockdown. And sorry, didn’t know you had to approve it first.”

Silence.

She checked, and the call hadn’t dropped. “Travis?”

“You have got to be the luckiest person on the planet, you know that?”

“Why?”

“He said he’ll give us the name of his boss in exchange for protection. He’s begging for the witness protection program.”

She laughed. “I thought only the feebs offered that.”

“He doesn’t know that. Yet.”

He hung up on her.

She couldn’t help the smile. It felt good to smile.

Textbook? No.

Illegal?

Well, that was different. Not technically, she supposed. Ethically, she knew the right attorney could probably get her fired, or reprimanded, at the very least.

She didn’t care. If it meant they could take the money man off the street, or at least get the media crawling up his ass, it would mean he couldn’t set other little girls up to be raped and abused.

And she’d
never
apologize for that.

* * * *

When she got home that evening, she grabbed a shower before settling in with leftovers from the pot of macaroni and cheese she’d made herself the night before.

I really need to start eating better.

She cruised through her e-mail and newspapers before skimming Facebook. She had a private message there from her cousin Jennifer. But then her Skype alert went off for Bill’s call and she never opened Jennifer’s message.

Heart thrumming, she clicked on the Skype icon to open the chat window. Bill asked her, “Hey, sweetheart. So, what happened today?”

“Travis asked me to take four days of my vacation time. ASAP.”

He winced. “Ouch. Things went that bad, huh? Sorry.”

“No, not at all. We’ve got a name. Martinez is finally cutting a deal.”

“Oh, well that’s good. Then why the forced time off?”

“Because Travis said he doesn’t know whether to slug or hug me, and both of those options can get him in trouble with human resources, one way or another. And that I still owe him time off from before and that for the sake of his sanity and my career, I’d better take it.”

Bill laughed. “Hey, remind him that you keep him on his toes. Life never gets boring with you around.”

“I did. That’s why he added two days onto the original two he ordered me to take.”

“How many does that leave you with?”

She ran through it in her mind. “At least another four weeks I haven’t used yet total. Including from before.”

“So when are you taking the time off?”

“I’m due in court tomorrow for another case, so he can’t get rid of me yet. He was not happy to hear that.”

“That’s the little workaholic I know and love.”

A thrill ran through her at his tone and words. Something about that loving, playfully teasing tone always drilled right through her core. They chatted for nearly an hour before she realized how much time had passed.

“I miss you,” she said.

“I miss you, too, sweetheart. I’m coming down this weekend.”

“Okay.”

Her eyes started to prickle. She both hated and loved feeling this vulnerable with him.

Now if she could just kick her hesitation out the window, life would be peachy.

Unfortunately, Maria’s voice still came to her from time to time, usually when it’d been too long since Gabe had hit subspace, chattering at her and killing what strides her emotional self-esteem managed to make. Frequently it happened when she was lying alone in bed, curled around the pillow Bill used when staying with her.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he said.

Now the prickle threatened to turn into a full-blown, tearful porcupine. “Love you, too, Daddy.”

The word had slipped, unbidden, from her mouth.

He reached his fingers out toward the screen and smiled at her. She reached out, too, touching her screen.

“Sweet dreams, my good girl,” he said.

“Sweet dreams.” She clicked off the connection first. Then she drew her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees, and cried.

The next Monday, Gabe ended her latest Skype session with Bill and struggled not to burst into tears. Once again she felt lonely. She’d had to go into work that day, her vacation time postponed yet again due to court delays on other cases and work issues that even Travis had to admit she needed to handle.

After having spent the weekend with Bill, she felt lonelier than ever without him.

How much longer can I do this to myself?

Tomorrow, however, began her ordered four days off. And he had depositions and court dates, meaning he couldn’t take any time off.

She’d spent a wonderful weekend with Bill, which made her wonder even more why she kept him hanging on when she suspected she would never be able to get past everything to finally allow herself the ability to fully love anyone.

She also knew he wouldn’t beg her to come visit him. She wouldn’t ask that of him, either, to beg her. She wouldn’t play games with him.

She wasn’t even sure she was the right person for him. It didn’t matter what he said, in many ways she felt too broken to be able to give him what she thought he needed.

Maybe I should just end it once and for all so he can find someone better than me.

The problem was, being with him not only felt right, she knew in her heart it
was
right. She could transfer up to the Sarasota or Tampa area. At the very least, he was only a three-hour car ride away if she stayed in Miami.

Now she was stuck with four days off that she didn’t even want, courtesy of her boss. As she stared at the stack of folders she’d brought home with her, which were sitting on the corner of her table, she let out a disgusted snort.

Who am I kidding? I hate taking time off. I feel like I’m slacking.

Another of Maria’s lessons still stubbornly slinking around in her brain.

Only losers relaxed. You had to work hard, all the time, to be successful.

She sat back and stared at her computer. Then she reached out and brought up her browser and logged in to Facebook. Now she had messages from Shayla, Leah, Laura—everyone.

Her friends.

She missed them. More than she ever thought she would. And, apparently, they’d all missed her. The munch had been that Sunday.

Being missed.

That
was a new experience for her.

Jennifer’s message from days earlier still sat there in her inbox.

She clicked on the message and read it.

Dear Gabe,

I don’t want you to take this message the wrong way. Please, don’t be mad at me. If you never want me to bring the subject up again, I won’t, and I completely get it. I know what you said years ago about this, and believe me, I agonized about it for a long time, whether or not to send it. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t at least pass the whole message along.

My mom told me that, two weeks ago, Aunt Maria was placed in a nursing home just outside of Chicago, because that’s where Mom and Grandma are. Maria’s got pretty severe Alzheimer’s. I guess her place was really run-down and filthy. One of her neighbors called the city, who put her in the hospital until they found family. They’ve cleaned the place out and are putting everything up for sale to pay for her care. She’s got practically no money left, I guess. My grandmother and mother were named her guardians by a judge in an emergency hearing.

When they cleaned her place out, my mom found some stuff, pictures and things, of your parents, and even some of you. She asked me to ask you if you want them. If you do, she said she’d be happy to ship everything to you, or to hold on to it if you wanted to come visit us and pick it up from her then.

Please, please don’t be mad at me. I know you hate Maria. I’m no fan of hers, either. I just wanted to pass all the news along to you.

In case you want the information, she’s in Willow Acres, room 424, bed B…

Gabe’s finger hovered over the touch pad to delete the message, then she paused.

The old bat’s in an ALF, huh?

Maybe that wasn’t the most charitable thought in the world, but it was the best Gabe could come up with under the circumstances.

She closed her eyes.
It doesn’t hurt to think for a moment.

She thought.

Then she tapped out a reply.

((HUGS)) I’m not mad, I swear. Thank you for writing me. Yes, please tell your mom to send me the stuff. I appreciate it. Let me know the shipping costs and I’ll be happy to reimburse her for it.

She sat back in her chair after sending the reply. Then she glanced at the time. It was a little after 9:00 p.m. She brought up another browser tab and typed into it, searching for flights from MIA to O’Hare and Midway.

She could be on one leaving Miami at 7:05 the next morning and arrive in O’Hare before lunchtime.

By the time she went to bed an hour later, she had already packed an overnight bag, laid out a set of clothes appropriate for cold Chicago March weather, and arranged for a rental car.