“Are you kidding me right now? She’s like my little sister. I suggest you undo these cuffs before I get my attorney on the phone and have you brought under charges of false arrest.”
Shane was personal friends with the district attorney and their police chief, and he was fairly sure he could have the officers not only reprimanded but suspended if he felt like pushing it.
“We’ll take our chances, Mr. Grayson,” one officer answered in a level voice, not even slightly intimidated. “We have some questions for you that we’ll ask down at the station. It’s a serious crime to hit an officer, and an even more serious crime to take advantage of a young woman,” the other officer said with unconcealed disgust.
Shane had to have a smidgen of respect for the man. Although the cop had the wrong guy right now, at least he was trying to do right by Lia. If Shane's stress level hadn’t been at an all-time high, he’d probably have gotten a kick out of getting arrested.
With Lia lying helplessly in bed, however, he wasn’t up for a trip to the police station.
“Call your chief and tell him who you have in handcuffs. I think you’ll be releasing me pretty damn fast and apologizing,” Shane said as he glared at the two men.
They glanced somewhat nervously at each other before he saw their eyes harden. Damn! It looked as if he was going for a ride in the back of one of their disgusting squad cars. He just hoped like hell he didn’t end up sitting in some drunk’s puke.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights, Mr. Grayson?”
“Oh, I understand them a hell of a lot more than you. I’m done fighting with you about this. When we get to the station, your asses are going to be chewed from here to New York!”
Neither man said anything more as they led him outside. Shane could continue screaming at the cops, but it would only delay their ride, and he’d rather get to the station, where he could speak to Bill, their chief.
As they unceremoniously pushed him into the back of the car, where he gagged on the smell of sweat and various other body odors, he thought again how he and Rafe both would have had a good laugh over this if it had been during any other time than when Lia was so vulnerable.
As the car moved through traffic, Shane laid his head against the back of the cheap vinyl seat and counted to one hundred. When he still hadn’t calmed down, he started over. By the time they reached the station, he was more furious than ever.
“I want my phone call,” he demanded as they led him inside.
“You’ll get it when we say so,” one of the officers snapped as he pushed him toward the cell block.
“Are you really this incompetent? Let me speak to your chief of police right this minute.”
“We’ll get right on that,” the other guy said with a smirk before shoving Shane inside a cell and shutting the door. The two men walked away, and Shane watched their retreat with an incredulous look on his face. He didn’t know what to think as he sank down on the cold bench and waited.
He was going to be there for a while.
Chapter Nine
“What’s wrong, Rafe?”
“We have to go now. That was Shane. Something happened to Lia,” he said as he rose from the table.
“What’s going on? Is she going to be OK?” Ari asked as she jogged to keep up with him.
“Shane sounded worried. I don’t know. I have to call my parents.”
Ari kept silent as the car was brought around, and the two of them climbed in the back seat. Rafe immediately called his pilot and had him prepare the jet. The next call was to his parents, who said they’d return to California immediately.
As they boarded the jet, Ari realized they’d left everything at the hotel. She didn’t want to bring it up, but what if there was something he needed?
“Rafe, we didn’t grab our belongings,” she mentioned gently. The ashen look on his face as he turned toward her shocked Ari. She’d never seen him appear so helpless before. How could a man who so obviously loved his sister care so little about the other females in his life? She didn’t understand him and probably never would.
“I’ll have Mario arrange for them to be sent to us. I need to get back now.” Rafe’s answer was barely above a whisper.
As the jet lifted, Ari sat back, wishing there were something more she could do. Being unsure of what role she was supposed to play made it difficult to know how to act.
When the attendant came and gave them each a drink, Ari decided she needed to treat Rafe like any other person in her life who was going through a hard moment.
She stood up from her seat and walked cautiously to him. Hearing her approach, he peered up at her warily, as if afraid she would take full advantage of his vulnerability. Great. Knowing he felt this way about her, Ari felt a sting in her eyes as tears attempted to form.
Nevertheless, without hesitating further, Ari sat down in his lap and curled up against his chest, wrapping her slender arms around his neck in a warm embrace. She might be crossing the line of what he deemed acceptable, but he surely needed emotional support right then, whether he wanted to admit to it or not.
For a moment, his arms remained stiff and flat against his chair, then slowly he brought them up and flattened his palms on her back as he pulled her closer and leaned his head against her shoulder. For a few seconds, at least, he was allowing her to comfort him. She didn’t know who was receiving more from the small gesture — was he or was she?
“She’ll be OK, Rafe. Lia is a strong girl. I don’t understand what happened, but there are some people in this world that are simply too wonderful to leave the rest of us behind. Both of your sisters have shown tremendous kindness to me when they didn’t have to. People like that have to be OK because otherwise nothing makes sense.”
“I wish that were how the world worked, Ari, but murderers take lives, sometimes without ever having to suffer a single consequence — babies die for no reason in their sleep — and good people do die. I refuse to give up on my sister, but I will feel a lot better once we get there.”
Ari didn’t know how to respond to his statement. Yes, he was right, but if they always dwelt on the bad, they would miss it when the good happened. Life was full of enough misery that to focus on only that would bring a saint down.