“Let me guess, they wanted to draw out the perp.”
“Just the opposite, actually.” Pat turned off the engine. “They wanted to make sure the shooter didn’t try for her again. What none of us expected was that Mac would take things into her own hands or that someone else would try to kill her.”
Tanaka leaned back, her expression hard. “That bitch Wysocki tried for the captain, didn’t she?”
“She did and that is why we’re here.”
“Then let’s go, LT. There are a few questions I’d like to ask Wysocki before she is moved.”
“Trust me, Shelly, I have more than a few questions myself to put to that bitch.” And that was putting it mildly. “Let’s go see what Mac has to say.”
* *. *
“I swear, if you don’t let me talk to her, I’ll fight my way out of here.”
Mac tried—again—to sit up, only to be foiled by a firm hand from her nurse. If that wasn’t bad enough, Marie and Jael stood side-by-side, a united front of disapproval. They’d remained silent as Dr. Patek and the nurses re-stitched Mac’s injured shoulder before bandaging it. Then, after making sure none of her other wounds had been aggravated, Patek once again secured that arm in its immobilizer.
“Mac, you need to rest. Whether you want to admit it or not, your body just went through a second trauma, one it wasn’t ready for,” Patek said.
She did what any self-respecting shifter would in similar circumstances. She bared her teeth and growled deep in her throat.
“I need to see that bitch and I need to see her now.”
“What you need to do is listen to me.” Patek folded his arms across his chest, a mulish expression on his face. “If you don’t, I will call Jackson and tell him what happened.”
“Go ahead. Do it.” She didn’t care what any of them said. She was going to talk to Wysocki and find out who ordered the hit on her. Nothing anyone said would dissuade her.
“You two talk some sense into her.” Patek jerked his head toward the door and followed the nurse out.
“I swear to God, Mac, I’ll call your grandmother if you keep acting like an idiot,” Jael said as the door closed behind the two.
“Do it,”
“Don’t tempt me.”
The two glared at one another, neither willing to yield.
“Why, Captain?” Marie asked.
Mac narrowed her eyes at her admin. By calling her by her rank, Marie forced her to think like a cop. Not like one of the pride’s alphas. Not as a member of the Tribunal. Most of all, not as a victim. And, damn it, it made her think before answering.
“Wysocki’s scared right now. Hell, she’s terrified. She’s scared for the safety of her children. She’s scared for her parents and even for herself. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she’s not scared about the loss of her reputation. Everything she’s worked for all these years is about to go up in smoke. Everyone in DPD will know that the head IAB rat is the most corrupt rat of them all. She’s lied about her private life. She’s covered for her bastard criminal of a husband while she’s gone after good cops without a second thought. She’s been complicit in trying to kill another cop. Who knows how many other laws she’s broken over the years. That bitch never should have held a badge.” This time, neither Jael nor Marie tried to stop her when she sat up. Progress at last.
“Keep talking,” Jael said, still not convinced.
“She’s on a deadline. We don’t know for certain when it is, just that it’s soon.” And that was something she needed to correct. “She’s terrified whoever is behind all this will know she failed. Know that we have her in custody. That means she’s being watched or thinks she is. The fact she will do whatever it takes to protect those kids is our wedge.” Sitting on the edge of her bed, wishing she felt stronger, Mac carefully cradled her injured arm in her good one. “Jael, Marie, we need to give her an out. Give her something to hang some hope on.”
“Would you be satisfied letting me question her if I arranged for you to listen in?” Jael asked.
Mac shook her head. Then, seeing the flash of hurt and frustration that crossed her friend’s face, she eased off the bed. The minute her bare feet touched the floor, she braced herself. The last thing she wanted or needed was for her knees to betray her and buckle. Whether it was determination, a remnant of the adrenaline from the confrontation with Wysocki or something, else, Mac didn’t know and didn’t care. All that mattered just then was the room didn’t spin and her legs didn’t fold beneath her.
“Jael, I trust you, both of you, with my life. But you know I’m right about this. I need to be the one to question her.”
Jael cursed softly and then gave a curt nod. Relieved, Mac gratefully sat back down.
“But not yet and not here,” Jael said.
Now it was Jael who waved them to silence. As she paced up and down the length of the room, muttering to herself, Mac waited. She’d learned to recognize the signs back during her rookie year. Jael was weighing the pros and cons of the situation. All Mac could do was wait—and hope her former training officer realized she was right. Life would be much simpler if at least Jael took her side on this.
And if Marie didn’t decide to call Jackson or Ellen and let them know what happened.
“Lie back. Mac, please.” Marie spoke softly, concerned.
Mac did as she said. Not only because she didn’t want to worry Marie but because the adrenaline had worn off and she felt like shit. She wouldn’t, couldn’t tell them that. The moment she did, they’d refuse to let her talk with Wysocki. Worse, they’d tell Patek she might be relapsing and that would lead to one of them telling Jackson and her grandmother, not to mention the rest of the family, what happened. Then any hope she had of finding out what was going on would fly out the window.
When Jael pulled out her cellphone, Mac opened her mouth to stop her. But one look from the woman silenced any protests she might have. At least Jael didn’t leave the room. Instead, she reported to first General Flynn and then to Mateo, outlining what happened. At one point, she even gave Mac the cellphone to answer some of Flynn’s questions.
Even after the conversations, Mac knew she faced an uphill battle. Questioning Wysocki in the hospital wasn’t going to be enough. She needed to get out of there. She needed to be on hand when they finished this. She didn’t care if it meant breaking the cover story Culver and Flynn so carefully crafted. She didn’t care if no one else understood. She had to do this for herself and for her unborn child.
She had to find out not only why Wysocki had violated her oaths as a police officer but also who had forced her to try to commit murder.
“Jael.” Mac ground out the woman’s name when she sent for Patek. “You heard them. They agreed with me.”
Well, not exactly, but they agreed it was hopeless to try to fight her on this. In her book, that was pretty much the same thing.
“Shut it, kid.” The look Jael sent her was all mother dealing with recalcitrant teen. “They also said it depended on what your doctor said. So we’re going to ask him. Keep fighting me on this and I swear to God I’ll call your grandmother and ask her to step in.”
Knowing better than to argue, Mac lay back and closed her eyes. As seconds turned to minutes, her frustration grew. Didn’t they understand the clock was ticking? Wysocki’s panic couldn’t be faked. It went beyond being caught in the act of trying to kill a fellow cop. Mac worried that if they didn’t move soon, they risked costing those kids their lives. Mac wouldn’t be able to live with herself if anything happened to them.
“What’s wrong?” Patek asked as he entered the room after what seemed an eternity.
“We’re having a bit of a disagreement here, Doc,” Jael said.
Mac snorted. Jael could be the master of the understatement when she wanted to be.
Patek looked from Jael to Mac and back. “About?”
“Two things, related and not. She wants to question Wysocki. That’s the first part. The second is that she doesn’t want to do it he
re,” Marie said before either Mac or Jael could answer.
Patek didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His expression said it all. His brows drew together in a frown. His lips firmed and he shook his head. The he closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath. Mac waited, praying. She needed to do this. They should know that, just as they should know she wouldn’t do anything to harm the baby she carried.
“I’ll give provisional permission for you to talk to your prisoner here, Mackenzie. But only after I’m satisfied she can’t lay a hand on you. I’m not risking you or your baby. I also want assurances from Jael that she will end the interview the moment she thinks you’re tiring or are hurting.”
“Done,” she said and then closed her mouth when he shook his head.
“I’m not finished.” He pinned her with a look that warned against interrupting again. “When you are done interviewing her, you’ll return here and I’ll examine you. If I don’t like what I find, you won’t give me any grief about staying here. You will simply say ‘yes, doctor,’ and do whatever I tell you. If you can’t agree to that, then you’ll find you won’t be talking to the woman at all. I’ll simply sedate you and then tell your grandmother and your husband what happened and why.” He stood there, waiting for her answer.
She didn’t like it. Not one bit. But what choice did she have?
“Agreed.” Now she shook her head before the others could say anything. “I’ll even make you happy by letting Jael take me to that bitch in a wheelchair.” Not that it was much of a concession. She doubted she could walk that far without falling on her face. Damn but she hated feeling so weak.
“Agreed, but no street clothes,” Patek said. “What you’re wearing and a robe.”
She nodded. Even though part of her rebelled at the prohibition, the cop in her accepted it. By looking the part of the invalid, she posed less of a threat to Wysocki. That might be enough to loosen her tongue. At least Mac hoped so.
“I mean it, Mac. Your feet aren’t to touch the floor except when you are moving from the bed to the wheelchair and back,” he warned.
“Understood.”
“Jael, I expect you to make sure your prisoner doesn’t have a chance in hell of getting close to her.” Now he pinned Jael with a firm glance.
“I assure you, Doc, the bitch isn’t going to be able to get within feet of her. But, to ease your concerns, why don’t you come with me? If you aren’t satisfied with the precautions taken, you can let me know.”
“All right.”
Mac lay back and did her best to relax as Jael and Patek left the room.
Finally, almost an hour after Wysocki jabbed the needle into the IV port, Jael wheeled Mac down the corridor. But not before both she and Marie had a few choice words with the pride’s female alpha about how they would not let her do anything foolish. Mac promised to be good. She even meant it, at least up to a point. Now, as Marie held open the door to the room where Wysocki waited, Mac’s pulse sped up and her jaguar growled. The hunt was on and she planned to bring down her prey, figuratively if not literally.
Jael pushed Mac’s wheelchair inside the room. As she did, Mac looked around. Sgt. Lee stood next to the door. Across the room, Wysocki sat on the floor, her back to the wall. Hands cuffed behind her back, ankles bound, her forehead rested against her upraised knees. When she looked up, fear and despair looked out of red and swollen eyes.
Mac allowed herself a to feel a moment of pity for the woman. How far she had fallen. An hour ago, she’d been a cop, brass. Now she was nothing more than a common perp, waiting to be transported. The only question was transported to where? That depended on how she answered Mac’s questions.
“Has she said anything?” Mac asked Sgt. Lee, glancing over her shoulder to where he stood.
“Not really, ma’am. Tried to convince me to let her go.” The Marine gave a slight shrug.
“Wysocki, I’m not going to waste time.” Mac turned her attention to their prisoner.
“Bitch.” Wysocki spat at her, failing in that as badly as she’d failed in her attempt to kill Mac. “I should have known Culver was protecting you.”
“I wish.” Mac laughed painfully. “I took three bullets thanks to your bastard of a husband. The doctors let me come because they knew it was the only way I’d rest after what you tried to do.”
“Go to hell.”
“After you.” When Marie laid a gentling hand on her shoulder, she nodded once. “Wysocki, I’m not going to say I understand everything you’ve done. Nor am I going to make promises we both know I can’t keep. You’re going to answer for what you tried to do. But, if you were telling the truth about your children, I want to help. But you’re going to have to talk for that to happen.”
“I can’t,” she rasped.
“If you told the truth, you have to. Assuming you want to save your children.” Jael’s voice dripped with disdain.
“Sergeant, ease off,” Mac said softly. “She is right, Wysocki.”
For a long moment, the woman said nothing. She looked from Mac to Jael, her eyes filled with hate. Then she dropped her gaze. Her shoulders slumped. Mac waited, knowing she was fighting an internal battle. She’d seen other perps fight the same sort of internal battle too many times to miss the signs.
Wysocki didn’t look up. “I’m not saying anything more than I already have until I’m sure my kids are safe. My kids and my parents.”
Mac sighed and shook her head. “We’ve already gone through this. That’s not how it works. I will do everything I can to protect your family, but you have to give me something.”
She thought for a moment. Wysocki told them they’d find information on her husband’s phone or laptop. But she hadn’t said why she thought she was being watched. Maybe that was how to throw her off-balance again.
“Let me see if I have this right so far. Your husband went back to his drug running ways and was, again, foolish enough to try to cross whoever he’s been working for. When they found out, they gave him a choice of killing me or being killed. He took what he thought would be the easy way out. Am I right so far?”
Wysocki sneered and then nodded.
“And you went along with him because you hate me and it was easier to kill a cop than risk your career and your freedom.” Before Wysocki could respond, Mac snapped the fingers of her right hand and continued. “Oh, and to protect your children.”
Another nod from Wysocki.
“But how did you know they were in danger? Have you received any direct threats against them?” She had her answer in the way Wysocki’s head jerked up and her eyes fully focused on her. “Tell me.”
Slowly at first and then as if she couldn’t hold the words back, Wysocki told about waking to find the two men in their bedroom. The threats, being tied up and then drugged, waking the next morning to the sick knowledge everything she cared about was gone. Then finding the children sleeping in their beds, the note threatening them if she didn’t do as she was told. The subsequence calls from the man who first threatened her and the video showing her husband badly beaten. By the time she finished Mac nodded, her expression grim.
“Sgt. Lee, take her cellphone and have your people dig into it. Make sure it hasn’t been hacked first. Let’s not get sloppy now.” She turned her attention back to Wysocki. “Where are you parked?” When the woman answered, Lee assured her he’d have a member of the squad deal with the car.
“Your word, Santos. I’ve answered your questions. Now give me your word that you will personally vouch for my children’s safety.”
Mac inclined her head. She didn’t care what happened to Wysocki or her bastard of a husband. But she would do everything she could to protect the children.
“You have my word to do everything humanly possible to keep them safe.” Unfortunately, she knew that might not be possible. But she would do her best. “Now where are they?”
Ten minutes later, Marie wheeled Mac back to her room. Jael remained behind to coordinate with both Patek and Mateo
the logistics of sneaking Wysocki out of the hospital. The moment they mentioned moving her, she’d become so agitated, Patek finally sedated her. By the time she regained consciousness, she’d be secured somewhere well away from the hospital. Not only would there be no way for whoever was behind the attempt on Mac’s life to get to her, but she’d have no way to escape.
Now all Mac had to do was figure out how to explain to her husband, not to mention her mother and grandmother, what happened and why she was breaking out of the hospital.
But that had to wait. There was something else she needed to see to first.
Pat and Shelly Tanaka were on their way up. She knew her former partner, her friend and the mother of her godchild, would do everything she could to convince her to stay in the hospital. As for Tanaka, God, what was she going to tell the detective about everything that happened?
“They’re here,” Jael said from the doorway.
As she spoke, Mac heard the sounds of two sets of footsteps approaching. She breathed slowly, deeply. She needed them to see her injured but healing. More than that, she needed them to listen to her as a cop, not as a victim.
“Damn, Captain, I’ve seen you looking better,” Tanaka said with a hitch in her voice as she entered the room.
“I’ve felt better, Shelly, but I’ll take this over the alternative.” She managed a smile. “And I think you can call me Mac, don’t you? You are heading the investigation into my shooting after all.”
“Good luck with that, partner. I’ve been trying to get her to call me Pat for the last two days without success.” Pat grinned at Tanaka who ducked her head but not before Mac saw the faint blush coloring her cheeks.
“Maybe once this is over, Captain. This case hits sort of close to home and I need the distance.”
Since she understood, Mac nodded. “I take it you filled her in?” She looked at Pat.
“I did, not that you or Jael have told me all that much.”
“There isn’t that much to say. I decided, based on what little you and Jael have told me.” She gave Pat a cocky grin. “That it was time to draw out Wysocki and see what she knew. I asked Marie to call her and ask if she still wanted to see me. And, before either of you say anything, we knew it was risky. That’s why Marie stayed in the room, at least until Wysocki asked her to leave, and Jael hid in the closet. Even then, it was too damned close a call.”
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