dirt, and I just walked over and took off the straps. I didn't think twice about it. I even helped her out of the bed.'
He tried to press gently. 'Did she say anything else?'
'She apologized to me.' Sara laughed at her own stupidity. 'She was acting so scared. Her hands were shaking, her voice kept catching. I've never seen her so upset – not since Sibyl died. I fell for it completely. God, I'm such an idiot.'
Jeffrey wrapped his hand around her shoulder, not knowing how to comfort her. He was so furious at Lena right now that he could barely think.
Sara said, 'A drop ceiling. Of all the people who should know you can climb over a drop ceiling…'
He knew what had happened to her all those years ago at Grady Hospital, that her attacker had dropped down from the bathroom ceiling. If Lena had put a knife in his back, Sara had just unwittingly twisted it. He told her, 'It's not your fault, Sara. You're not a cop.'
'Then why am I here?' she demanded fiercely. 'I should have stayed in the damn car. I should've just stayed home where I belong.'
The elevator doors slid open. Two more sheriff's deputies were running through the lobby toward the stairs.
'Let's just get out of here,' he told her, taking her by the arm. They were at the sliding doors when Valentine called to them.
'Hold on there,' he said, jogging to catch up. He was out of breath, probably from running up and down the stairs. He held out his hand, palm up. 'Give me the keys to your car.'
Had Sara not been there, Jeffrey would have told the man to go fuck himself. As it was, he silently tossed him the keys, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.
Valentine saw the BMW logo on the keyfob and gave Jeffrey the kind of look you'd give a whore on the street. Cops didn't drive BMWs, at least not where Jake Valentine came from.
'It's my wife's,' Jeffrey told him. Sara had worked her ass off to be able to drive that car. As far as he was concerned, she could drive a Rolls-Royce if she wanted to.
Valentine pressed the button on the keyfob and the locks snicked up. Suddenly, he stopped. 'Laundry room,' he said, glaring at Jeffrey. 'You asked what was on the bottom floor.'
'I was making small talk.'
'Don't bullshit me.'
Sara said, 'I'll be over here,' walking toward one of the benches in front of the entrance.
Valentine gave him another nasty look before going to the car. Jeffrey knew the man wouldn't find anything there. Even if Lena had seen the BMW in the parking lot, there was no way to jimmy the door locks or open the trunk without the key. Breaking a window wouldn't do any good, either. One of the car's safety features was that if you engaged the central locking system from the outside, nothing could be opened from the inside. Jeffrey had actually been trapped inside the car once when Sara accidentally hit the lock button as she ran into the house to catch the ringing telephone. If the sunroof hadn't been open so he could crawl out, Jeffrey would've been stuck in the car for hours.
The sheriff could clearly see the empty seats and floorboards through the windows, but he still opened the door to make sure, taking off his hat, peering inside like he might catch Lena hiding under the center console. He walked around to the back of the car and popped the trunk. Except for Sara's first-aid kit and a couple of grocery bags to be recycled at the store, it was empty.
Valentine slammed the trunk closed. He told Jeffrey, 'Guess I'd look like an even bigger jackass if I put out an APB on a fugitive wanted for 'failure to show identification.''
'That's a fair assumption.' The sheriff was already on thin ice with the charges he'd trumped up against Lena. He had to tread carefully now. They both knew that any mistakes he made at this point could end up ruining whatever case he might eventually build against her.
'Well.' Valentine glanced around the parking lot. 'That's Darla's Jeep. The red Chevy belongs to the maintenance crew, the Bronco is George's, and that's Bitty's Ranger over in the corner; she's been here since Thursday when she drove herself in with a pain in her side and it turned out to be appendicitis.'
He had accounted for all the cars in the lot, but Jeffrey had to ask, 'Where's your cruiser?'
Valentine laughed, but not out of amusement.
'Don's got his best fishing pole in the trunk, so that was his first concern. Both our cars are out back. We're getting staff downstairs to check their lockers, see if anything is missing. I had somebody go over to Hank's to see if she shows up there.' He tossed the key back to Jeffrey. 'I reckon between your wife wasting my time and you jacking me around in the hallway, she could have up to a twenty-minute head start on me.'
Jeffrey wasn't going to argue the finer points, such as Valentine pulling some kind of power move by making them all go into the linen closet. 'At least.'
'Lemme ask you something. Does it bother you that you just aided an escape?'
His tone had turned nasty in the blink of an eye. Jeffrey pushed away from the car, answering, 'Not much.'
'That's how you old cops work, isn't it?' Valentine was obviously furious. 'Always stick together, no matter what laws you break. Gotta protect the brotherhood, huh?' His voice got louder with each word. 'I wouldn't be surprised if you and oP Don hatched this one up together. Pull your dirty tricks to make the new guy look like a fool.'
Jeffrey warned, 'You wanna be real careful what you say to me, Jake.'
'I could arrest her,' Valentine said, gesturing to Sara with an angry wave of his hand. 'I
He had Jeffrey's full attention now. 'We both know that's not gonna happen.'
'Yeah? Well, this is.' Valentine swung his fist -literally. His arm flew out roundhouse style instead of punching straight from his shoulder. This gave
Jeffrey plenty of time to block the hit and slam his fist into the other man's gut. A whoosh of air came from Valentine's mouth as he doubled over. He would've fallen to his knees if Jeffrey hadn't caught him.
'God,' the sheriff groaned, clutching his stomach. 'Jesus…'
Sara stood from the bench. Jeffrey shook his head, telling her to stay put. He told Valentine, 'Stand up straight.'
Valentine struggled, his knees not working.
Jeffrey pulled him up by his collar until the other man was looking at him. 'Just breathe,' he said, feeling like he was talking to a child. 'It'll pass.'
'Let go of me.' Valentine pushed Jeffrey away, but he still sagged against the car for support. 'Goddamn, you're stronger than you look.'
Jeffrey held out his hand to Sara, letting her know it was okay. 'Where'd you learn to swing like that?'
'I grew up with four older sisters,' he managed. Which explained why he hit like a girl. 'Dammit. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have hit you.'
Jeffrey didn't point out that the man hadn't actually managed to hit him. He changed his position to stand between Valentine and Sara, telling the man, 'Listen real careful, Jake. I already warned you once. You ever threaten with my wife again and I will beat you into the ground. We clear on that?'
Valentine coughed, then nodded.
