Between the Bars Pt. 06

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carsonshepherd
carsonshepherd
1,173 Followers

Kat fed us gourmet-shop chicken fettuccine she had stashed in the fridge. I wasn't truly hungry so I just picked at it, but Daniel ate his dutifully. Something he learned to do in the Army, eat whenever he could. Perched on the edge of a stool while we ate at the kitchen island, Kat got us up to speed.

"I'm supposed to meet Scott Wyman tonight outside the precinct so we can talk about the case. I thought I'd bring him back here, where you two will be waiting, and you can talk to him, Daniel, and convince him to get into the Chicago PD network and download your video files to my system, and I'll send them to the server at the Times for safekeeping. Once it's there, I can break that part of the story and you'll be instantly proven innocent in front of the world." She grinned. The Pulitzer Prize was probably dancing through her head.

"What if Wyman doesn't want to be convinced?" I asked. She blinked at me like she hadn't even thought of that when it seemed obvious to me. "You can't just break his fingers and force him."

"I can," Daniel said under his breath. He grinned at me, and at Kat who was looking worried, wondering if her plan had holes in it. "Don't worry. Once I talk to him, he'll do it. I'm very persuasive. And while he's here, he can tell me where he's keeping the rest of the evidence in the case against Adkins, and I can take him with me to pick it up, just in case he tries to fuck me over again."

Though he was just as matter-of-fact as always, I sensed a hard edge in his words. I also didn't fail to notice that he was using "I" and "me" again; it was back to being a solo effort. I knew it was only because he wanted to protect me, but if he thought I was just going to let him push me aside, he had another thing coming.

We talked over a few things while we ate and Kat typed a few notes on her laptop on the counter next to her. Her apartment, though pleasant and airy, was small and I couldn't help feeling claustrophobic. For once, I was the one pacing restlessly, while Daniel sat still at the center island carefully reviewing Kat's notes. When the door buzzer went off, though, we both jumped out of our skins.

Daniel was instantly on his feet, hand darting behind him for the handle of his gun before he realized it wasn't there. "Who's that?"

"Don't worry," she told us, going for the intercom. "That's just Alex Stanbury, a colleague from the Times. We can trust him." She pushed the button and said "Alex?" into the intercom. A male voice answered "Yup."

"Why'd you call him over here?" Daniel was still jumpy and displeased.

She paused before buzzing Alex in. "Because when I go to meet Wyman, it wouldn't be smart to go alone, and neither one of you can get that close to the station. I called him for backup, and he's also very good with computers in case we need help with Wyman."

Suspicion still lingered in Daniel's eyed but he knew Kat was thinking straight and he nodded his head. She hit the buzzer and a few minutes later, heavy footsteps came up the hallway. Kat opened the door and let in a big, round young man with a sweet face somewhere in the scruffy beard and wool cap. He smiled shyly and shook our hands when Kat introduced us all. Along with the teddy-bear cuddliness, there was a definite gay vibe in the way he looked at Daniel when he thought nobody noticed.

The minute Alex sat down at his laptop, his awkwardness disappeared. In just a few seconds, he was working with Daniel to get past the Tampa PD's intranet security codes. He didn't even need the USB. His fingers flew over the keyboard and when I saw Daniel turn and look at him with something approaching awe over a brilliant point he'd made, I actually felt a stab of jealousy. Fuck, I hadn't been jealous in so long I didn't even think I felt it anymore. I didn't like it and I squelched it immediately, so he would never suspect. I trusted Daniel and I wouldn't put the burden of being responsible for my feelings on him. Soon enough, I had myself almost convinced I'd never felt it at all. Nope, not me.

There was no way I could keep up with the technical aspects of the conversation between Alex and Daniel, even as Alex patiently explained everything in layman's terms. Kat was talking at great length into her cell phone, gesturing as she paced around the apartment, so I used her desktop computer to log into my own email. There were quite a few frantic and worried messages from friends who'd seen me on the news, and about a dozen each from my editor Nick and Lauren, my agent, but I couldn't answer them. The words blurred as I read fear and despair from Josie and Drew and Lauren. Bringing my dear friends such worry broke my heart. But if someone was watching them, waiting for me to make contact, an ISP address could be logged and lead to my whereabouts, and Daniel's, and all this would be for nothing.

****


Chapter 28

"I hope you're not planning on doing anything...-"

"Stupid?" Daniel supplied when I stopped to consider my words.

"I was going to say risky. But stupid works." I nodded and he laughed slightly.

"Don't worry, Ry. I didn't come all this way to fuck up now."

He stared out the windshield into the dark, lit by streetlights and the bright circles of slow oncoming headlights, squinting in concentration. In the front seat, Alex was at the wheel of Kat's SUV. The tinted side windows protected Daniel and I from being seen while we sat here waiting for Kat to arrive in Alex's car with Scott Wyman. Night had fallen and we were parked on a side street about a mile from the station house where Wyman had just gotten off his shift. Daniel thought this was a better, safer plan than sending Kat and Alex to bring him back to the apartment; he felt like less would go wrong if he were there himself. At first, he tried to get me to stay at the apartment, but when I pointed out he might need extra backup if Wyman freaked out, he couldn't argue with my logic.

"I think this is them," Alex mumbled softly.

I tensed up and expected Daniel to do the same, but he didn't. When I glanced over at him, he was casual and relaxed with no sign of nervousness. Just a cold gleam in his eyes that reflected in the headlights. He leaned back into the corner of the seat, staying out of the light, while we watched Alex's car stop of the other side of the street. Kat and a guy who had to be Scott Wyman crossed the snow-scraped street and came closer to the car. Wyman looked confused and skeptical, arguing with Kat as she opened the passenger side front door, right in front of me.

As he got in, he was protesting and then Kat slammed the door behind him. Alex hit the locks and Wyman's face dawned with alarmed realization, eyes flickering around, demanding what the hell was happening as the vehicle moved away from the curb. At the same time, Daniel sat up out of the shadow.

"Hey Scott," he said in a low, even voice. His gun was nowhere in sight, but I knew it could be in his hand in an instant. Wyman gasped and stared at Daniel with his mouth hanging open; and then I watched a huge grin spread over his face.

"Fuck. Danny. It's you. With this manhunt and what I heard about St. Louis, I didn't know what to think."

"I'll bet," Daniel said evenly.

"What in the hell happened, man?" Wyman went on seemingly oblivious to Daniel's demeanor. Odd, very odd. "They said you evaded capture but you were headed there to help them. Did somebody set you up?"

"You tell me, Scott."

The way the man's eyes flew open was almost comical. He was average looking, nothing special, not like Daniel. Just a solid-looking guy in khakis and a parka who probably had a wife and kids and a picket fence.

"You don't think I had anything to do with..." When he finally looked in Daniel's eyes in the dim light of the streetlights passing by, he started shaking his head adamantly. "I didn't, Danny, I swear. I didn't know anything about a set-up, the orders came down from the captain and I was just..."

"Just following orders," Daniel finished with a slight sneer. "Did you have the orders checked out? Did you follow up with them and then double check just in case, or did you just leave me out in the fucking cold? Yeah, I thought so."

"But the captain came in my office with an FBI agent and told me exactly what I told you, I didn't have any idea it wasn't legit."

"So your captain's in on it too."

Wyman's eyes bugged out. "Never noticed anything off before."

"We both know that's no guarantee." He growled, and I knew his thoughts were on Olmos, his own captain, the one person he thought he could trust.

"No, but you believe me, don't you Danny? That I didn't turn on you? You know I wouldn't do that, right?"

Daniel sighed wearily. Something about the way this guy was behaving, like an eager, slobbering puppy rolling over to the alpha male, the way he kept calling him Danny, rubbed me the wrong way. He made my skin crawl, so I was surprised when Daniel finally made a face.

"Yeah," Daniel said grudgingly. "It wasn't intentional but it was still sloppy and it almost got me killed. You can get my trust back by getting past intranet security on the CPD network and downloading my video feed."

"I can do that, no problem." Scott nodded eagerly.

"And as soon as we're done with that, you're going to take me to the rest of the evidence so I can finish this."

Scott's agreement was a little slower this time but Daniel seemed to accept it at face value. Honestly, I couldn't believe it. My instincts were all going against trusting this guy, but I told myself that Daniel knew him better than I did. They were in the Gulf together. I trusted Daniel's gut, but that didn't mean I wasn't watching Scott Wyman's every move. I wasn't taking my eyes off him for a second.

After introducing me to Scott without any explanation of who I was - he hardly needed it with my face all over the news - Daniel spent the rest of the trip back to Kat's telling him an abbreviated version of the events that got us here. When we pulled up in front of Kat's building, I followed along in silence behind Scott, Daniel and Alex as they all discussed the security within the police department's internal network. Yeah, Daniel had it all under control, and I wanted to be relieved. I really did.


Kat had beaten us back to her apartment and was waiting. In Kat's living room in front of Alex's laptop, Scott remotely accessed the Chicago Police Department's files where he had encoded and stored Daniel's video feed. Everything went smoothly though I could tell by the tension across Daniel's shoulders that he was expecting trouble after what happened to him in the Tallahassee network. With a USB cable, Alex directed it to Kat's computer, remotely hooked up to the Sun-Times' server. Daniel called me over from the couch where I was scribbling in my notebook to keep my mind off my unease.

"Rylan, watch."

They were huddled around a small box on the screen. I had to squint because it was dark, grainy and hard to see but when the action started happening on the screen, it was unmistakable. I wedged myself against Daniel's warm body and he leaned against me. My heart banged in my chest as we both stared at the tiny images.

I was seeing exactly what he saw that night, seeing through his eyes.

A door leading into a house. The camera shook with Daniel's steps and I could see his hands in the bottom edge, opening the screen door with gun drawn. Another cop with him, walking close. I could see bits and pieces of his body but not his face. Frowning, Alex turned up the volume but when nothing came out, he let out a growl and turned pleadingly apologetic eyes up to Daniel.

"Shit. The audio feed dropped."

"No matter." Daniel shook his head without looking away from the screen. He was grim, but calm. I had to force myself look away from him, back at the screen. I didn't want to look. I knew what was going to happen.

Through the door and down a cluttered hallway. Crappy house like you always see on Cops with a filthy floor. Dim shapes in room with a couch, men in police uniforms. Their faces are grainy but recognizable, for someone who knew them. I heard Kat make a little sound in her throat and I tensed because I knew what was coming. The man, the big cop on the other side of the room, talks to Daniel, his mouth moving silently, and the other cops in the room fidget around nervously, pacing and peering through the shabby blinds like they're waiting for someone.

The cop on the screen suddenly smiles right at Daniel. This is Sgt. Adkins. There is a scuffle as the officer he came in with knocks around Daniel. The camera jumps and jerks wildly then finally stops close to the floor. Daniel must be on his knees at this point and the periphery of the camera catches the toes of other officer's boots on either side, standing behind Daniel holding him down on the floor. One of the other officers, alert now, comes forward and then appears back in the camera's eye with a gun in his hand, which he hands over to Adkins. Daniel's gun. I just know it. They took Daniel's gun and now he's on his knees, unarmed and helpless. He's standing here right next to me unharmed and whole, but I still feel an overwhelming sick fear and my knees get weak. I want to look away but I can't. I stare at the tiny blurry image on the screen, we all stare as Adkins lifts the gun and points it at Daniel. Smiles and pulls the trigger.

A giant, soundless jolt; something drops onto the floor next to Daniel but beyond the camera's reach. After a moment of confusion, the camera turns and there is a leg, lying on the floor. A body and a river of dark blood. Officer McKee, the one who walked in with Daniel, the one who disarmed him and pushed him to the floor, shot with Daniel's gun. I know he dies.

The camera can't show us if he was killed instantly or if he's in a pool of blood, in agony. Adkins doesn't even look at him. He just stares at Daniel and grins while the blood seeps closer to where Daniel is motionless on the floor. At Adkins' command, another cop comes forward and drags Daniel to his feet from behind and pushes him face-first against the wall so that all the camera sees is the stained wallpaper.

And then the camera jolts, the picture turns to static, and goes black.

There was a brief silence in the room, broken by Daniel.

"There's your proof," he muttered.

I started to grab his arm but he moved away from me. I let him go but I looked him in the eyes to make sure he knew that I never doubted it, ever.

"What happened when the camera stopped?" Kat demanded. "How did you get out of there?"

"One of Adkins' men grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. When he did, the camera came loose. He spotted it and ripped it off me and smashed it." Daniel shrugged. "I figured I was already dead by then. Adkins shot McKee with my gun because he wanted everyone to think I was the dirty cop, that I had killed McKee and he was the big hero for bringing me down, to prove to IAD that he couldn't be touched. He was going to arrest me and make sure I was sent to death row. When they found the wire he was about to beat the hell out of me, just to get his point across before he took me in. With so many witnesses from the force, nobody would've believed me."

When I saw him that day in the café, he wasn't bruised and beaten. My mind went back and spun through our first meeting. He looked a little tired, but he didn't show signs of the terrible ordeal he'd been through. It awed me, how this all seemed routine to him.

"But then...?" Kat prompted gently after she'd given him a moment.

"But then whoever owned the house came home. Or a rival gang or something. I don't know what happened. Thugs were everywhere and shots were fired and I saw a chance to get the fuck out there in the confusion, so I did. When something like that happens, you don't question it. I didn't stop to analyze the situation, I just slipped out the front door though the gunfire and blood and I was gone. I drove around for a while to make sure I wasn't being followed, and then I headed to my safe house. You know the rest from there, I think."

The rest was that he ditched his vehicle, caught a Greyhound to Atlanta and hooked up with me. He could've died. If Adkins had had ten more seconds, Daniel would be dead. My legs turned to water and I had to sit down.

"That's amazing," Alex mumbled from over at the computer. His eyes worshipped Daniel shyly before he looked away blushing.

Daniel shook his head dismissively. "Nah. Just my job."

"Now that your story has been verified I'm going to put this on the wire," Kat said, going back to her hardened reporter persona. "It won't take long for it to be up on all the news sites," meaning soon, Daniel's innocence would be indisputable. He couldn't be arrested for murder and the police, FBI and ATF would have to move in on this investigation and take over. The relief was staggering.

"Okay Scott," Daniel turned to him as Kat disconnected cables and slid into her chair and Alex typed on his laptop. "Now where's my evidence?"

"Um, see... the thing is, I don't... exactly know."

"You don't know?" Daniel repeated after being speechless for a moment, while Scott squirmed under his ice-cold glare.

"Yeah. Well, when this shit all started to come down with you, I got nervous. I knew they'd figure out that you had a copy of all your evidence, and I knew they'd trace it back to me at some point. I didn't want it nearby in case they started watching me, so I hid it."

"And you don't know where?" Daniel was having a hard time staying calm. It was a rare and unnerving sight, seeing his jaw muscles tense as he struggled not to explode. He started to pace before his excess energy couldn't be contained.

"I... Not exactly. See, I put it in a geocache."

"A what?"

"A geocache," Alex spoke up in his usual shy mumble. "It's a sport, or a game... People put items into a container and post the GPS coordinates on this website forum... and then when someone finds it, they log it."

"Right," Scott nodded. "And I left instructions with the container asking whoever found it to move it to another set of coordinates. It's not lost...I know it's in the Chicago area. All I have to do to find it would be to decode all the coordinates and then track it on a GPS."

"That's all, huh? I can't fucking believe you put evidence in a major nation-wide criminal case into a fucking game, Scott. What the fuck were you thinking?" Daniel remained calm but only just barely.

"Hey, back off, man. I told you I got nervous and I have a family, remember?"

That headed Daniel off. I saw his little intake of breath and his eyes dropped to the floor. I knew he was thinking about Ray. He'd already lost his own family to this. That was enough.

"Okay. Okay. Let's just find this goddamn container of yours before somebody else does."

"No problem." Scott pulled a chair up next to Alex, who was already on the official Global Geocaching website. Daniel watched them, and so did I at first. But the long day of strain and anxiety had me totally drained so I sank down on the couch to keep an eye on Scott. Before I knew it, my eyes were so heavy, I thought I might just close them for a few minutes.

*****


Chapter 29

I woke up sleepy and confused. Daniel was half-reclining next to me in the corner of the big sectional couch, slowly running his fingers through my hair. It was dark except for the glow of Alex's computer on the other side of the room, where he was still hunched over the screen pecking steadily at the keys.

"Did you find it?" I asked in a voice that turned out much more sleepy and plaintive that I'd meant it to. Daniel smiled.

"Almost," he answered softly. I noticed that across from us, on the other side of the sectional, Scott was restless lump. Kat must've gone to bed.

carsonshepherd
carsonshepherd
1,173 Followers