Their physical reunion was for the most part earth-shaking, for both of them. Having never been apart for so long before, their bodies seemed to crave every caress, touch, and kiss. Hours later they fell into an exhausted sleep.
Rick woke to the feeling of someone stroking the palm of his hand. He opened his eyes and looked down at Midnight. His right arm was under her neck, and she held his left hand by the wrist. Her thumb was stroking absently at the now-healing cuts. She felt him stir and glanced up at him. “What happened here?” she asked mildly.
“A wedding ring,” he replied, just as placidly.
“That’s not where you’re supposed to wear it, you know,” Midnight said, a little chagrin in her voice as well as humor.
Rick shrugged. “Wasn’t mine.”
Midnight nodded. “I see.”
But Rick knew she had known which ring he meant; she was just dancing around the discussion. She was silent for a long time, then she closed her hand in his. “I want Mikeyla back as soon as possible.” Her voice was quiet, but he could hear the strength behind her words, and he knew she didn’t expect him to argue with her.
“What about me?” he asked after a long hesitation. He hadn’t been sure he wanted to ask her point-blank, but he figured he had to face it some time. Midnight’s silence was almost tangible; he could feel her tensing.
“Forget I asked that,” he said, not willing to hear her answer now. Midnight remained silent. Rick put his lips against her temple, closing his eyes. He knew that infidelity was one of the few things Midnight considered unforgivable. They had discussed it a number of times over the three and half years of their marriage. She had always jokingly told him that if he thought he wanted something better, he should go after it, but that he’d better not waste time looking around for her when he was done, because she wouldn’t be there. He berated himself once again for testing her. Now he was afraid he was going to pay the price.
Rick knew their lovemaking didn’t necessarily mean they were back together. Her silence only served to fortify that knowledge. Midnight was the only woman he had ever met who could have sex without entanglements. In fact, when she had been single, she’d made a point of getting any guy she picked up back to his place, so she could leave when they finished having sex and not have to explain anything. She didn’t apologize for the way she was; she had told him a number of times that her heart and her sex drive were in two totally different locations. One didn’t necessarily have to affect the other.
The phone rang, breaking the silence. Midnight reached over automatically and picked it up.
“Chevalier.” Her voice came out almost hoarse. She listened for a few moments, then sat up. “When?” She nodded. “Okay, yeah, thanks.” She sounded anything but grateful. Her eyes had taken on a look of sadness, and Rick became worried.
When she hung up, he looked at her. “What?”
Midnight shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe the news herself. “They arrested Randy an hour ago. They’re charging her with two counts of attempted murder of two police officers.”
Rick stared at her, stunned. “You and Joe?” Midnight nodded. “Where’s Joe?” He wasn’t sure if he’d been released from the hospital yet.
“He’s still at the hospital.” Midnight stood up. “I have to tell him before he hears it from someone else.”
Rick got up as well, and twenty minutes later they left. All discussion about their relationship was forgotten for the moment.
Midnight walked into Joe’s hospital room. The doctors had told her he was fine; they just wanted to watch him for a couple of days to make sure no infection set in. Dickerson’s bullet had caught him in the abdomen, and while it was very painful, it hadn’t caused any real damage. Joe had been lucky once again.
He was awake when Midnight came in. He noted the look on her face, and he was sure he didn’t want to hear what she was about to tell him.
“Joe…” she began, and the pain in her eyes was mirrored in his own.
Midnight blew her breath out. Rick reached out from behind, putting his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. She nodded, and then looked at Joe again. “They arrested Randy this morning.” There were tears in her eyes. She knew she was hurting him, but also that he needed to hear it from her.
“The charges?” he asked, his voice a mere whisper.
“Attempted murder. Two counts.”
Joe leaned back against the pillow, closing his eyes. He knew that what Midnight hadn’t said was that it was the attempted murder of police officers—and the penalty for that was a minimum of twenty-five years without the possibility of parole. And since Randy herself was considered a police officer, she would likely get closer to the maximum—life. He had known that Randy’s indiscretion wouldn’t go unnoticed by the department for long, but he had hoped to be able to talk to the powers that be on her behalf. Now that they’d actually formally charged her, things were much more serious.
“Where is she now?”
“County lock up.” Midnight felt a sense of unrealism. This was Randy they were talking about, not some gang member or drug dealer. Randy, Joe’s wife.
“Has bail been set?”
“Half a million.” Joe looked shocked. “She’s your wife, Joe. They know she has the financial means to come up with it.”
“That’s not supposed to matter,” Joe said, his voice taking on an edge.
“I know, and it never does when it’s a fucking drug dealer with millions, but they’re trying to prove a point here.” Midnight knew the anger in her voice wasn’t helping, but the thought of what was happening made her mad.
“Get it,” Joe said simply, his eyes on Rick.
“Joe,” Midnight said with a note of caution. “You shouldn’t be the one to bail her out—it won’t look right.”
“You think I fucking care? I want her the fuck out of there now! You know as well as I do that she didn’t do it, and if the department doesn’t like me bailing out my own wife, they can have my fucking badge.”
“Okay!” Midnight held her hands up. “But will you listen to just a little bit of reason here?” She reached out and took his hand. “If you bail her out and take her home, it’s going to look like she’s snowed you. I think it would be better for her and you if you let me and Rick come up with bail, and I’ll hide her away at my house, okay? Nobody really knows about my own place, and that way the press can’t convict you of being the world’s biggest sucker and convict her of being a whore. Okay?”
Joe knew she was right, but he hated the idea of having to distance himself from Randy when he knew she’d need him. It only strengthened his resolve to find proof of her innocence. Finally he nodded, and Midnight nodded back.
Chapter 6
A month later, Randy stood in a courtroom, her heart pounding as the judge entered and sat down at the bench. She sat next to her lawyer when the bailiff instructed them to. Her lawyer was Nicholas Kopanke, an ex-prosecutor for the District Attorney’s office who now took on cases that he felt were unjust. He particularly liked cases like Randy’s—a young cadet against a large, mean department. Nick didn’t kid himself that the charges against his client weren’t serious—they were, very much so—but he also knew his client was innocent. She had had an affair that had probably been a setup from day one, and it had put her in a compromising situation when her boyfriend and some friends of his wanted her husband dead.
Nick had met with every member of FORS, finding the unit very interesting and its leaders even more so. Midnight had told him that not only did she not believe that Randy was capable of what she was being accused of, but that she’d be happy to testify on the girl’s behalf. Since Midnight had lost a child as a result of Dickerson’s actions, and by way of her presence, Randy’s, Midnight’s words had surprised Nick. He knew that cops tended to close ranks to protect their own. The funny thing was, Randy wasn’t really their own; she was only a cadet in the academy, from which she’d been suspended pending the outcome of the trial.
Nick had also gotten the distinct impression that the members of FORS thoroughly disapproved of Randy’s infidelity, but that disapproval didn’t seem to extend to thinking that Randy had wanted Joe or Midnight dead.
The last person he’d talked to was Joseph Sinclair, Randy’s husband and the man she was supposed to have wanted killed. Joe had told Nick first and foremost that he expected him to do everything within his power to get Randy acquitted. “No deals,” he’d said, his expression showing how serious he was about it. “I don’t want her doing any time—none, you hear me?” Nick had nodded, not even thinking about being offended by Joe’s condescending tone. It was obvious that Joe, like most police officers, had a low opinion of lawyers, and usually that was for good reason. Nick had assured Joe that he used to work on their side of the law and that even now he didn’t take any case in which he thought the defendant was guilty, deferring those to other lawyers who didn’t care as long as the client had the money to pay them. Joe had nodded then, seeming satisfied with Nick’s statements, and the interview had proceeded. Nick had come away feeling more determined than ever to get Randy Curtis-Sinclair acquitted. He had understood how much Joe loved his wife, and the terrible toll the accusations and subsequent separation were taking on both of them.
Now, as they sat in court, Nick could feel his client shaking. He reached over and put a calming hand over hers.
Randy looked at him, and from the confident look in his eyes drew the strength to calm her nerves. The last month had been the closest to hell she’d ever experienced. Fortunately, she’d been bailed out right away, although Nick hadn’t been able to tell her where the money had come from—Rick and Midnight had been careful to hide that information from as many people as possible.
To Randy’s surprise, when she walked out of the jail, Darrell and Donovan had been there. Darrell told her that he had heard what had happened and was aware she’d need a place to stay. She had gone with him happily. The following days had been difficult; the newspapers were calling her all kinds of names, trying to make more out of the story than there was. Making it sound like she and Dickerson had been a longtime thing, a claim that Dickerson, who was preparing for his own trial, didn’t deny. He allowed the press to say what they wanted, and since he was always nice and easygoing with them, whereas Randy, in her humiliation, avoided them like the plague, the press made Dickerson into the poor love-struck cop who had let his girlfriend draw him into an evil plot. As usual, the media made as little as possible out of the fact that Dickerson was involved with a known drug cartel, and that he had actually been the one to almost fatally injure Lieutenant Midnight Chevalier.
Randy hadn’t talked to Joe or heard from him since the raid. Midnight had been by to see her once. Randy had led Midnight out to the backyard of the Curtis home, where she perched uneasily on the retaining wall.
“How’s Joe?” Randy had asked, her foremost concern his wellbeing.
“He’s okay, Randy,” Midnight had said softly. “You know why he can’t see you, don’t you? You understand all that, right?”
Randy had nodded, although she really didn’t. She assumed Joe believed what everyone was saying. They’d never discussed it, and she knew he had been angry about it when he’d been rescued from the Riveras’ compound. But they hadn’t talked, so she’d never had a chance to explain. Now she just figured Joe didn’t want to have anything to do with her, that if the police had found enough to charge her with, then she must be guilty. When she had faced Midnight, she hadn’t had the courage to ask any real questions. Nick had told her that Joe was supportive of her, but she thought he was probably just trying to lessen the impact of the whole situation.
When she’d entered the courtroom that day, she had looked around, hoping to see Joe, but he wasn’t there. The only people there that she knew were Darrell and Donovan.
The trial began with opening statements. Nick’s was very compelling, weaving a tale of a young woman trying to find her independence and falling into a very bad situation. He stopped short of accusing Dick Dickerson of actually setting up the affair from the beginning, knowing that saying that, considering the press Dickerson was receiving, would only serve to turn the jurors off immediately. He wanted to let that information come out during the course of the trial. The opening statement given by Al Cruz, the Deputy District Attorney assigned to the prosecution, was just about the exact opposite, portraying Randy as some money-grabbing slut who wanted her husband’s cash, and him out of the way. Every word Cruz said stung. By the end of his statements, Randy had tears in her eyes, which she tried valiantly to hide.
As the Deputy DA sat down, there was a ruckus at the back of the courthouse. Randy turned to see a number of the members of FORS coming into the courtroom. It was obvious they were attempting to do so as quietly as possible, but in their usual manner they attracted a lot of attention, particularly from the press. Especially when they all moved to the front of the courtroom and stationed themselves in the first two rows, right behind Randy. She looked back, catching Spider’s eyes. He winked at her. When she looked at each of the rest of them in turn, they all gave her some kind of encouraging gesture. Nick felt his client sit up straighter, and he was glad that FORS had seen fit to attend the trial. Midnight and Joe, however, were not present.
The prosecution’s part of the trial lasted a day. The DA’s office called in witnesses from the academy class who had seen Randy’s behavior toward Lieutenant Chevalier, as well as her friendliness with Dickerson. The DA also called Dickerson as a witness. He had woven a pattern of lies so thick that Randy couldn’t believe he was even talking about her. She had been stunned as she listened, and had to hold down the desire to leap out of her chair and kill him barehanded.
“How did you meet Ms. Curtis?” the DA asked.
“She moved in with my sister after her husband kicked her out.”
“He kicked her out?”
“Yeah. Randy said he was having an affair with his partner, and when she confronted him about it, he kicked her out.”
“She told you that he kicked her out?” the DA said, wanting to emphasize Randy’s alleged lies.
Dickerson looked straight at Randy. “Yes.”
“When did she discuss killing her husband?”
“Objection!” Nick interjected. “Leading.”
“Sustained,” the judge said, and told the DA to reword the question.
“Did Ms. Curtis talk about her husband with you?”
“Yeah, she told me about how rich he was, and how she didn’t want to leave the marriage without anything, you know.”
“So what did she want to do?”
“She said it would be really nice if he’d have an accident, since she was the beneficiary on his life insurance policy as well as the main heir in his will…”
“What did she ask you to do?”
“She wanted me to pick a fight with Sinclair, so I could get him to draw down on me. That way I’d have reason to shoot him.” Dickerson managed to make his answer seem so innocent, but Randy was ready to scream.
“Did you do as she asked?” The DA glanced scornfully over at Randy.
“I did one time.” Dickerson shrugged. “But I couldn’t do it. I mean, kill another cop? That’s like killing a brother.”
Randy was sure she was going to be sick. She closed her eyes and fought the desire to scream and yell and call Dickerson a lying sack of shit; she knew she had to maintain control, and a screaming defendant was usually a guilty defendant.
“You’ve been accused of attempting to murder Lieutenant Midnight Chevalier. Did this have anything to do with Ms. Curtis?”
Dickerson nodded, looking very apologetic. “She wanted Midnight—uh, Lieutenant Chevalier—out of the picture. She knew Joe and her were so close that Midnight would make getting to Joe difficult.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, we went over to the lieutenant’s house, and Randy picked a fight with her. Lieutenant Chevalier was winning at one
point, but Randy told me to hold her so she could get a few good licks in.”
“And did you do as she asked?”
“She didn’t really ask, she yelled at me to do it, and I didn’t know how bad she was going to hurt the lieutenant. I know it was a dumb thing to do, but I just let things get away from me.” Dickerson shrugged.
“Now, going back to Sergeant Sinclair. How did you get the security code to get into their home?”
“Randy gave it to me. She wanted to make it easy.”
“Did you personally accost Sergeant Sinclair?”
“No, I sent some guys to do it. I just couldn’t.” Again Dickerson looked chagrined.
“Did you tell them to shoot Sergeant Sinclair?”
“No, I think one of ’em just got carried away.” He shrugged.
“What did you plan to do with Sergeant Sinclair?”
“I was just going to rough him up and tell him to leave Randy alone. ’Cause she told me that he was threatening her with divorce if she saw me anymore.”
“And why did it matter to you that she continued to see you?”
Dickerson looked at Randy sadly. “Because I love her.”
Now Randy was sure she was going to throw up, and she had to turn away to keep from doing just that. She shook her head, closing her eyes. She couldn’t believe what was happening, and she was powerless to do anything about it. She felt Nick’s hand on her shoulder, and knew that she needed to regain her composure. With a supreme effort born of her new independent streak, she turned and caught the merest hint of a nasty smile on Dickerson’s face. She stared directly back at him and shook her head just slightly, telling him he wouldn’t win this time.
Betrayals Stand (MidKnight Blue Book 5) Page 15