by Jillian Neal
“Yeah?”
“Well, seems the sting was at The Tantra, and one of the undercover cops propositioned Bridgette. She offered him a whole lot more than a lap dance, and got herself arrested!”
Rainer’s mouth fell open in horror.
“Wait, it gets better,” Logan huffed sardonically. “Garrett got her out, but she’s under house arrest until her trial. Guess whose house she has to stay at until Vindico comes home? Garrett says Vindico has more pull than he does, so he can probably get the charges dropped. We have to keep her here until he shows up tomorrow. We have to make sure she doesn’t skip town or anything.”
34
No Good Deed
~Dan Vindico~
After forcing all thoughts of just never turning his phone back on out of his mind, Dan casted the phone and brought it back to life. He thanked Maddie for the coffee she poured for him.
“Great,” he moaned.
Fitz chuckled. “How many?”
“Oh, let’s see here… eleven missed calls from my old man, seven from Crown Governor Haydenshire, and nine from Governor Willow, who is actually my boss.”
Fitz continued his laughter. “I don’t know why they’re so upset. The Crown here wants to shake your hand.”
Before he could choose who to call back first, his phone rang. He quickly decided he might as well go ahead and face the music and answered, “Vindico.”
Dan held the phone away from his ear as his father shouted violently. With a roll of his eyes, he waited on his father to stop screeching into the phone.
“I’m at Fitz’s, Dad. I’m fine. I’ll be home in a few hours. You can yell at me when I land,” he promised sarcastically. “Yeah, yeah I’ll issue a formal apology. I’ll do that when I invite them to share a table in hell with me.”
“Dammit, son. You’ve done it this time!” his father growled.
“I’m heading to the airport in an hour, Dad. Bye,” he hung up the phone.
Fitz was still laughing heartily. “Tell the Governors to go play a round of golf. The German board got what was coming to them.”
Dan smiled genuinely. It was the first time he’d done that in quite some time.
Maddie shook her head at Fitz and Dan’s antics.
“Perhaps we won’t retell this particular story to the boys,” she suggested.
“Oh come on, Mad. It’s important that they learn to stand up to...wait, what was it you called them?” Fitz teased.
“Uh, I believe it was a ‘pathetic group of useless cowards’,” Dan supplied. He was not sorry he’d said it, in any way.
“See?” Fitz threw his arms out in praise. “Those are the kinds of idiots the boys need to call out.”
Maddie met his exaltation with a withering glare.
“Maybe we could tell them about it when they’re older,” Dan negotiated with a wry grin.
“Yeah, ok,” Fitz agreed.
* * *
An hour later, Dan felt his nerves spin into apathy as he boarded a 747 due to land at the Senate in four hours’ time.
The roar of the engines had his stomach churning.
Pendergrath got out, and he’s going to America. He’ll probably be extradited today. Dan let that horrific information cement in his mind.
Fitz had been a soothing reprieve. He’d gotten him out of a sticky situation, just as he always had. He’d allowed him a moment to simply not think, not recall what he’d done or, more importantly, why he’d done it.
Dan despised flying. There was too much time to think. He pulled his briefcase over and popped it open as the plane leveled off.
~Rainer Lawson~
After an hour of paperwork, and still unable to believe what had happened either with Vindico or Bridgette, Rainer pulled the Hummer into the barn.
“I didn’t do that,” Bridgette insisted for the hundredth time.
“Uh huh, the undercover cop who, by the way, has a record so clean you could eat off of it, seemed to think you did,” Logan dragged Bridgette out of the Hummer, and they guided her into the house.
The evening’s events had Emily extremely concerned, and she’d taken her mother’s wishes to heart.
Rainer smiled at her adoringly when they walked in the kitchen.
The lights were out in the house, but Emily had a lamp glowing on the counter, along with the light over the stove.
Rainer inhaled deeply of the aroma of Emily, and of the food she’d just heated as it mixed with the warmth of the farmhouse kitchen. Peace settled in his soul.
“Uh, here, I made you dinner,” Emily set a plate, full to bursting with some of her mother’s leftover Thanksgiving turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green beans from the garden, cranberry sauce, and Waldorf salad in front of Bridgette. “I mean, you know, you can’t go to work tomorrow,” Emily choked before going on. “Uh, so I thought you could eat now.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Bridgette seated herself at the table. “That was really nice of you.”
Emily smiled and shrugged as she poured Bridgette a glass of water. Bridgette hesitantly cut a piece of the turkey and brought it to her lips. A moment later, she seemed to relax before Rainer’s very eyes.
“This is delicious,” she sounded as though a home-cooked meal wasn’t something she’d ever experienced.
“Yeah, Mom’s a great cook,” Emily assured her. “She is a double pred...” Emily began, but then abruptly stopped talking. With an awkward smile, she shook her head slightly. “Never mind. Just eat.”
Bridgette didn’t have to be told twice. She devoured the food Emily supplied her. After Bridgette finished seconds, which she seemed woefully unable to turn down, Emily washed her plate and silverware.
“I’m gonna go on to bed,” she informed Rainer hesitantly.
Rainer pulled her into his chest. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear and squeezed her tightly to him. “Sleep well, baby. I’ll wake you up when we leave.
“Ok,” Emily looked momentarily hesitant to leave Rainer and Logan alone with Bridgette, but she drew a deep breath, blew Rainer a kiss, and scooted up the stairs.
The fact that Bridgette was on house arrest, under their care until Vindico arrived back in the country, meant that Logan and Rainer wouldn’t be sleeping. They would be either seated outside her bedroom or stalking the upstairs hallway.
“Man, if you want to go with her, we can do this in shifts,” Logan gestured after Emily. Rainer smiled. He assumed that his staring longingly after her as she left had given him away.
“Nah, I want to be awake in case we hear from Vindico anyway.”
“What do you mean? Dan hasn’t called?” Bridgette looked truly concerned.
Logan and Rainer shared an ominous glance.
“No, not yet, but he will soon. I’m sure,” Logan lied.
Bridgette thanked them begrudgingly for picking her up.
“Yeah,” Logan huffed. “Just do me a favor and don’t try to leave. I don’t want to arrest you again.”
“I didn’t really do anything to get arrested the first time.”
Rainer gestured up the stairs and waited on Bridgette to go ahead of him. The lights were still on in Governor Haydenshire’s office. Governor Willow had joined Governor Vindico and Governor Haydenshire just a little while ago.
Kara Vindico had arrived, just before Rainer and Logan departed for the Non-Gifted precinct, to take her mother home.
Bridgette’s adamancy about her innocence had Rainer wondering. They led her upstairs, sealed and casted the windows in Levi and Patrick’s old bedroom, and then locked her in.
He quickly sank down onto the hallway floor, opposite the door to Levi and Patrick’s room. Logan handed Rainer one of the chilled Dr. Peppers he’d brought up from the kitchen. They could hear the murmurs from the Governor’s office.
“What exactly do you think he said to the German Senate?” Logan asked Rainer quietly.
The story had unfolded, and Governor Haydenshire and Governor Vindico had refused to repeat wha
tever Vindico had screeched at the German Crown and Governing board.
“Well, it’s Vindico, so I’m sure it was particularly nasty,” Rainer shrugged.
“He does have an awful temper.”
Rainer took a long, restorative sip of the Dr. Pepper in his hand. “Must’ve been pretty bad.” Logan gestured his head towards the stairwell, indicating his father’s office.
“Yeah, I think now they’re just trying to figure out where he is.”
“You don’t think they’ve got him cornered somewhere in Germany, do you? Maybe they’re not telling Dad,” Logan sounded very concerned about their boss.
“No, you know Vindico. If he’s anywhere he doesn’t want to be, he’ll find a way out.”
Logan nodded his agreement. He rubbed his eyes as he downed more Dr. Pepper.
“Do you think he’s all right?” Logan stared down at the worn hardwood floor they were seated on, and Rainer knew he didn’t mean physically.
Rainer glanced at Emily’s door. He momentarily thought about how peaceful and beautiful she was when she slept. He shook his head.
“No,” he whispered, “I think he’s coming unglued. I think it’s all finally getting to him.”
“Yeah, me too,” Logan’s tone was rough and tired. “But you know what?”
Rainer stared at him with his eyebrows raised.
“If it was me, and that had happened to Adeline, I don’t think I’d be any different.” He laid his soul on the hardwood floor for his best friend.
Rainer offered him a comforting smile. “Yeah, me either.”
35
Rock Bottom
Logan’s elbow rammed into Rainer’s bicep. Rainer startled, shook his head, and rubbed his eyes.
“Dan, where the hell are you, son?” they heard Governor Vindico demand furiously. Logan and Rainer stood and edged to the top of the stairs. They listened intently.
Governor Vindico began shouting that his son would issue formal apologies to the entire German Governing Board, asking him just what he thought he was doing, and why he hadn’t called.
“How the hell did you get to Fitzroy’s?” Governor Vindico bellowed.
Rainer felt the air that had been bound tightly in his lungs escape in utter relief. Logan smiled as the tension eased from his features.
“I told you,” Rainer whispered as Logan grinned. They were both extremely impressed.
“Dammit, son! You’ve done it this time. Dan, no…wait!” Governor Vindico spat, but then silence loomed. “He hung up,” Governor Vindico lamented.
“Is he ok, Arthur?” Governor Haydenshire asked calmly. His words were laced with deep concern.
“He told the German Crown to suck his cock on his way to hell. No, he’s not all right, Stephen. He’s damn lucky he’s not in Diapoley,” Govern Willow huffed furiously.
Rainer and Logan’s mouths fell open in shock as they stared at one another in an endless moment of stunning realization.
“If I never have to hear that statement again, Gavin, it would be fine with me,” Governor Haydenshire reprimanded.
“Sorry, Stephen.”
“He said he was leaving for the airport,” Governor Vindico’s voice resumed its normal timbre.
“Go on home, and get some sleep. We’re meeting his plane with Elite Iodex. He’s either going to listen, or I’m going to have to fire him,” Governor Haydenshire stated morosely.
“Please, Stephen,” Governor Vindico pled. “We’ve been friends for almost forty years, and I’ve never asked you for any favors. I’m begging you. Don’t fire him. Think about what he went through and what he has to live with every single day.”
“Fine, Arthur, but he’s about to get a big reality check, and he’s going to have to agree to a few stipulations that I have.”
“Anything. I’ll see to it myself,” Governor Vindico pledged.
“I’ll go along with whatever you want, Stephen. You’re Crown now, but let’s not forget that Iodex falls under my rule. I want to know what you need Dan to do. I want to help him,” Governor Willow insisted.
“And I say this with all of the respect I have for Joseph, God rest his soul, but he appointed Dan because of Maggie. He wanted vengeance as much as Daniel thirsts for it. He chose this way to focus all of that anger he has. I’m still not sure that was all right.”
“I don’t think Dan has ever let those wounds heal, Stephen, and you and I both know Joseph never did either. He let Dan get away with far too much. I want to help bring him back down to earth.”
Rainer was stunned. He’d never heard anyone say out loud that his father had done anything wrong. He was always hailed a hero. The weight of admission that his own father wasn’t perfect severed like a knife through his soul.
“We all do, Gavin,” Governor Haydenshire decreed. “And believe me, as much as he’s going to balk at what I’m about to demand of him, I really think it might do him some good. He can’t go on like this. He’s hit rock bottom.”
Rainer and Logan barely drew breath. They watched from the top of the stairs as Governor Willow and Governor Vindico left the farmhouse.
“You ok?” Logan whispered.
Rainer shut his eyes and shook his head. He didn’t want to think anymore.
Governor Haydenshire returned to his office, turned off the light, and closed the door quietly.
Logan and Rainer scooted away from the landing. Rainer felt ten years old again. He recalled all the times they snuck to the top of the stairs to watch Will, Garrett, and Levi end their dates for the evening, or to overhear them being yelled at by the Governor and Mrs. Haydenshire for something.
They made it back to Levi and Patrick’s door before Governor Haydenshire crested the stairs.
“We’re meeting Dan’s plane. You both need to be at the Senate, in uniform, at five thirty. You can keep Bridgette in the holding cells until Dan figures out how to handle that situation as well.”
“Yes, sir,” they nodded. They watched as the Governor eased the door to his bedroom open. An adoring grin cast his weary face as he took in Mrs. Haydenshire sleeping soundly in their bed.
“Good night, boys,” the Governor whispered as Rainer and Logan returned the sentiment.
~Dan Vindico~
“All right, well, you must’ve done something big this time, son,” Pete Namphis approached and took the empty seat beside Dan.
Dan certainly couldn’t disagree with that.
“Just got off the phone with our new Crown Governor. He informed me that I wasn’t to let you leave the plane,” Pete’s brow knitted tightly. “I asked him how exactly I was supposed to keep Dan Vindico anywhere Dan Vindico didn’t want to be. He said, ‘ask him’. So, I’m asking, Dan. I’m only a few years from retiring. I’d like to keep my job, if it’s all right with you.”
“Governor Haydenshire wouldn’t fire you, but I won’t leave, Pete. I won’t get you into trouble on my account. You flying the Paris route now?” Dan hoped to change the subject.
“Yeah, some,” Pete smiled. “Back and forth almost everyday. Took a sideline to Rio a few weeks ago for our friend, Mr. Lawson.”
Dan chuckled and nodded his understanding.
“But mostly it’s Paris,” Pete concluded.
After studying Pete briefly, Dan felt a genuine smile form on his face. “What’s her name?”
While laughing and shaking his head, Pete grinned. “Guess that’s the risk of having a drink with the head of Iodex,” he skirted the question.
Dan laughed. “Haven’t started drinking yet, Pete, but that’ll come; I’m sure.”
Pete glanced around and noted that there were very few people on the flight to the Senate, and no one was in their general vicinity.
“Her name is Sophia. Those French girls, let me tell you, they got something special.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“So, what’d you do, son?”
“Didn’t realize this was quid pro quo,” Dan sighed and went on with it. “I might’
ve gotten in a little over my head with the German Board of Governors. Probably said several things I shouldn’t have. I might’ve told the Crown just exactly what I thought of him and what he could do with himself. I do seem to recall letting my fists talk to a few of the guards on the way out of the Berlin Senate building.” Dan examined the knuckles of his right fist. After deciding to get Garrett to heal them for him, he moved his hand from Pete’s gaze.
A low whistle slid between Pete’s teeth as a grin spread across his kind face. He chuckled.
“I take it they did something that you didn’t care for?”
“Setting a murderer free tends to piss me off.”
“This guy the one, Dan?” Pete’s voice turned low and soothing.
“No,” Dan shook his head and felt his gut clench of its own accord. “It’s, uh, his right hand man.”
“Well, son, seems your thoughts turned themselves into words, and then your words turned right into your actions.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“You can’t keep it bottled up forever, Dan. It will make its way out eventually, and maybe not in the way you’d prefer,” Pete stood and offered a slight wave as he headed back to the cockpit.
~Rainer Lawson~
“Em, baby,” Rainer whispered a kiss on her cheek. Her eyes blinked open hesitantly. “Shh, it’s ok. You don’t have to wake up. I just wanted to tell you that we’re heading to the Senate. Vindico’s on a flight from Paris. He’s landing at seven.”
“Is Daddy going too?” she sounded like an adorable frog.
Rainer grinned. “Yeah, he left almost an hour ago. You go back to sleep, and I’ll be back when we’re done with whatever your dad has up his sleeve.” He kissed Emily’s cheek again as she nodded her understanding.
Rainer pulled the quilt and blankets back up around her. He made certain she was warm. A broad grin spread across her face. He nestled her in the quilt and casted heat into its fibers.