40 Souls to Keep - 7. Chapter 7

Jase waited for Lucas to get out before letting his shoulders sag. One minute without appearing completely confident was all he was asking for. He needed more, but he’d take what he could get. Lucas took his time circling around to Macy’s door, which suited Jase fine. It gave him the opportunity to rub away the ache behind his eyes, which hadn’t faded despite the Tylenol.

Macy’s voice drifted forward from the backseat. “Are you okay, Jase?”

He’d forgotten he had an audience. Straightening, he said, “Fine, honey. Just a headache.”

Macy didn’t take the answer at face value. “You don’t look fine,” she said, adding, “My mom gets headaches too. They only get better when she lies down.”

Jase cringed at her use of present tense. “It’s no big deal. I don’t need to lie down. I’m just worried about you.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” she said, and some of his tension melted at her youthful, lilting voice. “When we worry about other people, it means we’re human. We should take care of someone who’s hurt or in trouble.”

Jase didn’t know about that. He’d met plenty of people who’d step over a dying man on the street without thinking twice.

Macy the mind reader said, “Lots of people don’t remember how to care, but they still want to. I know they do. They just don’t know where to start.”

She sounded so sure, so confident, that Jase had trouble forming a reply. Before he could, Lucas’s shadow appeared, and the car door swung open. The overhead light snapped on, bathing Macy in a soft glow. “You ready, honey?” Lucas asked.

Macy held Jase’s gaze in the mirror, not reacting to Lucas’s hands on her seat belt. “They want to care,” she repeated. “They just need somebody to remind them how.”

Jase stared back, breath caught in his chest. “I hope you’re right.” For the first time since he’d laid eyes on her, Macy smiled.

They walked side by side up the long stretch of the building, Macy between them. Jase slowed his steps as they got closer, frowning at the flood lights mounted
near the front doors. It meant fewer shadows for danger to be lurking in, but it also left them exposed and vulnerable. He could soothe Macy and Lucas all he wanted, but his own nerves were taut. Macy was going to get hurt, and no matter how he played it, there were no guarantees.

He hated this part of things. The waiting. It had only happened a handful of times, as though he’d arrived too early for a surprise party, but this was by far the worst. For one, it was a child. An innocent. And two, she was number forty. He’d been able to push that to the back of his mind for short periods, but never long enough to forget it completely. That Lucas hadn’t picked up on his tension was a miracle, especially since Jase’s platitudes bounced off his psyche like raindrops off a windshield.

He darted glances at Lucas as they walked, pondering the mystery of his immovable will—the man’s ability to resist him was baffling. Loose and at ease, at least on the surface, Lucas held Macy’s hand and whistled some tune that had her humming along under her breath between sips of her Sprite.

Jase smiled, charmed.

There would come a time, he was sure, when he’d curse the fact that he couldn’t brush Lucas aside with a word, but for the time being it was like being blind since birth, and then suddenly being able to see. He’d been alive seven years the way he kept score, and not once in all that time had he found someone who challenged him. Maybe that was the source of his obsession—that Lucas could, and likely would, tell him to go to hell if he felt like it.

After all this time, Jase had found an equal.

Whatever the source of his infatuation, he needed to keep his focus, because the night was shaping up to be the most important of his life so far, and he’d spent a fair amount of it admiring Lucas instead of being appropriately focused.

Lucas’s face twisted into a worried frown as they reached the front doors. His gaze met Jase’s briefly, then skittered away.

No jokes to crack? No trite remarks? Jase had known the other man just long enough to find that worrisome. He snagged the hem of Lucas’s T-shirt and gave a questioning pull, but all Lucas offered in return was a brief shake of his head. They pushed through the door together.

The inside of the police station fit with Jase’s expectations. Newish, built within the past decade, but showing signs of wear and tear. A long, curved desk and a wall of glass separated the waiting area from a larger space in the back, where a half dozen picture-perfect work desks sat between a forest of potted palms. All strictly for show. There wasn’t a loose paper or speck of dust to be seen, no sign of the trappings of real police work.

He picked out Martinez, who stood several feet away in a group of uniformed officers. Whatever heated conversation was occurring, she took no part in it, content to watch from the sidelines and sip coffee. Jase noticed a coiled tension in the air, and he wasn’t the only one to sense it. Halfway across the room Lucas’s sure steps faltered, and Jase braced himself to retreat quickly and quietly.

Martinez killed that option by catching sight of them. Her mouth dropped open, and her foam cup tipped at a dangerous angle. Without taking her eyes off of them, she yanked her iPod headphones out of her ears and stuffed them in her pocket.

Lucas saw her and waved, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer under his breath. Detaching herself from the circle of uniforms, Martinez met them at the door and let them through. Her gaze passed over Lucas and Macy before landing on Jase. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

He’d been prepared for this. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve ever met.”

Martinez’s puzzled stare lasted long enough that a sweat broke out on his brow. Then she crinkled her nose and smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You looked
so familiar.”

Jase brushed the comment aside. “I’m working with Lucas on Macy’s case.”

“Of course you are.” Martinez gestured for them to follow.

The noise level increased exponentially when they passed into the back, where the real work was done. Martinez led them through another door, then another, until they reached a small lounge.

No, Jase saw, as he inspected the mirror built into the far wall. An interrogation room, dressed up as a lounge. Wary, he took Macy’s hand when she reached for him.

Martinez ignored both him and Lucas and bent down to smile at Macy. Her leather belt, weighted down with the usual suspects—including a small, compact firearm—squeaked loudly as she moved, the noise obscene in the small space. Macy stepped back against Jase.

“Macy,” Lucas scolded, voice mild. “Don’t you remember Officer Martinez?”

Martinez didn’t wait for Macy’s answer. “How are you, Macy?” she asked. “Are you hurt?”

People passed by outside the door as he waited for Macy’s answer. The three of them were attracting a fair bit of attention, but it probably wasn’t every night a quiet city like Naples saw a double murder.

“I’m okay,” Macy mumbled, eyes downcast. She stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Frowning, Lucas scooped Macy into his arms and whispered into her ear. In answer, she laid her head on his shoulder, and the thumb slipped out. Jase felt another spark of affection; Lucas had just the right touch.

“Detective Swift has been waiting for you,” Martinez said. “Should I bring him in?”

“Yeah,” Lucas said, sounding like he’d rather have an enema. Jase wrestled with another smile.

Martinez never moved, but twenty seconds later a man appeared in the doorway, mouth set in a thin line that broadcasted concern and exasperation in equal measure. Jase moved discreetly behind Lucas. Was this Swift? It must have been, because Lucas offered his hand and mumbled, “Detective.”

Jase cut his eyes to the mirror. Who else was watching?

Swift hooked his thumbs in his belt. “I’m trying to like you, Jacobson, but you seem determined to foil my plan. You fled from a crime scene with a murder witness, who also happens to be a minor. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t report you.”

“I’m the life of the party?” Lucas asked with perfect innocence.

Swift’s eyes roamed over Macy and settled on Jase.

“Who the hell is this?”

“I’m working with Lucas on this case,” Jase said, keeping it simple. For one terrifying moment the detective didn’t react at all, and Jase thought it wasn’t going to work, then Swift’s features relaxed, and he smiled.

“Sure thing. Welcome aboard...?”

“Jase.”

“Jase. Jacobson could use the backup. I have to be honest. So far his judgment has sucked.”

Lucas bristled, while Jase tried not to smile. “I completely disagree, Detective. Macy’s alive right now because of Lucas’s quick thinking. You should be thanking him.” So what if he was laying it on a bit thick? Swift was being offensive. Making judgments without all the facts. If he didn’t shape up, Jase might make him lick Lucas’s boots. Maybe he wasn’t above a parlor trick or two.

A glance at Lucas found him still whispering softly to a clinging Macy, so Jase plowed ahead. “It would be very helpful if you could give us some idea of what’s happening. Macy is obviously being targeted. Do you know why? And by whom?”

Swift’s cell phone rang. “Hang on,” he said, voice tinged with annoyance. Yanking at his shorts, he turned away to answer it.

With a frown, Martinez took a step forward, speaking quietly. “Try to show a little more respect, you guys. We’re lucky to have someone like Detective Swift on this case. He’s a hero over in Miami.”

Lucas looked underwhelmed.

“Then what’s he doing here in Naples?” Jase asked.

“On loan for an ongoing investigation. That case and Macy’s might actually be related—”

“Martinez.”

She snapped to attention. Swift flipped his phone closed. “You know better than to discuss the case so openly. I’ll decide what facts we’re willing to share.”

“Yes, sir,” Martinez said reverently, and Jase found his estimation of her dropping a couple of notches. She’d showed a strong spirit at the hospital, even under his influence. He hadn’t pegged her for an ass-kisser.

Swift sighed. “But I agree some mutual exchange of information would help everyone. The quicker we put this to bed, the better. Let’s go somewhere and talk.” He hiked up his shorts and pointed a beefy finger at Macy. “Without the kid.”

Alarm bells went off in Jase’s head. Lucas’s too, apparently. “No way,” Lucas said. “She stays with us.”

“Christ on a cracker, Jacobson. What’s going to happen to her here?”

Maybe it had been his run of bad luck so far that night, but Jase didn’t want to tempt fate. Seven years as her bitch might have had something to do with that. “I really think she should stay with us,” he said to Swift.

He expected capitulation and got it—Swift acquiesced with a nod—but Martinez threw a wrench into the works. “There’s a TV next door,” she said, squatting down to Macy’s level. “It gets the Disney Channel.”

Macy’s eyes lit, and Jase resisted the urge to strangle Martinez. He darted a glance to the side to find Lucas glaring as well. They were simpatico on this one. Neither one of them wanted Macy out of their sight.

Disney won. Why most kids went Pavlovian at the sight of the mouse ears mystified Jase, but Macy dropped Lucas’s hand like it was on fire and skipped out of the room with Martinez. Jase frowned after her.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention—Lucas’s reflection in the two-way mirror, staring after Macy with an unhappy expression. And next to him, Swift, hands deep in his pockets. He was staring at Jase.

“Let’s get down to it,” the detective said, breaking the spell. He threw the door shut, then pulled a chair out from the table and lowered his bulk into it. Lucas chose a seat opposite, and Jase took the one beside him. The irony of their positions wasn’t lost on him—there was a battle coming. He wondered if Lucas had picked up on the dynamic, or if he’d noticed that Swift was a confused jumble of cooperative and antagonistic. “You wanted information, so here it is,” Swift began.

“Evidence at the murder scene has us leaning toward a drug deal gone bad.”

Ignorant to the events earlier, Jase took his lead from Lucas, whose skepticism did a good job of souring what had barely begun.

“Drugs?” Lucas blurted. “You saw that place. They could barely afford food!”

Swift pursed his lips. “Powerful incentive to make a little extra cash, don’t you think?”

“I think fourth graders dealing on the playground make enough money to get three square meals a day. If Macy’s father was involved in the scene to the extent you’re insinuating, I don’t think they would have been living in an abandoned house fifteen miles out of town eating cold soup out of a can.”

Swift worked his jaw side to side. Despite his thoughtful nod, Jase got the feeling the man wanted to gnaw Lucas’s head off. “I’m not dismissing your opinion, Jacobson, but it’s all we’ve got at the moment.”

Judging by Lucas’s pinched expression, the statement didn’t sit well. “What evidence did you find?” he asked.

“That information doesn’t concern you. Your job is to deal with the girl. Listen, I’m sorry. I know you want to help her, but you’ve got to let me do my part. I don’t know shit about kids. I’ll admit that. But I know how to run a murder investigation, so back off and let me do it.”

The statement took the air out of Lucas’s sails. Jase didn’t like it either, but Swift had a point.

“Has she said anything about the murders?” Swift asked. “Did she see who did it? Even if she caught a glimpse, it would be helpful. We’ve got books full of these losers’ pictures, if you think she’s up to looking.”

“I don’t know what she saw, if anything,” Lucas admitted. “She’s still in shock and she’s been asleep most of the time since we left NSUC. Speaking of which—”

He leaned across the table. “I see Officer Martinez is alive and well. What about Dr. Ford and the on-duty nurses?”

Tone tempered, Swift said, “Everyone is fine. Scared, but alive.” He threw Lucas a grudging smile. “I heard what you did back there. The doc told me. It was good work. Stupid and careless, but good work.” He looked ready to drop the subject, but Lucas didn’t let him.

“Gee, thanks, Detective. Maybe you can write something up to go in my file.”

“Don’t push it.”

Lucas didn’t, but he did press for more information on Macy. “These people who came after her at the hospital...how did they know where we were?”

Swift tilted his chair back and laced his fingers over his stomach, drawing Jase’s eyes to the pink dolphin before the detective’s beefy hands covered it. “They followed you.”

“That seems a pretty convenient explanation.”

“Many crimes are simpler than they seem.” Swift’s chair clunked back to the floor. “Most criminals aren’t rocket scientists.”

Jase’s frustration level climbed steadily. They weren’t getting any closer to the answers he needed. Which direction would the danger come from?

“I know you have a passing familiarity with the scene around here,” Swift said, addressing Lucas, but not Jase. In fact, Swift had done his best to cut him out of the conversation altogether. Why did that bother him so much? It wasn’t as though he craved Swift’s attention.

“Your department sees its fair share of this crap,” Swift continued. “So you know these fuckers don’t mess around.” He scowled. “Best we can tell, Pearl was coordinating some Key West to Naples runs. Seems he had a background in numbers. Accounting. In fact, he lost his last job because of some funny business with the balance sheets.”

Maybe, but that could also be nothing more than hearsay. Jase filed the information away and didn’t let it sully his opinion of Macy’s lost father.

Lucas grunted. Tapping his chin, he turned to Jase. “It’s not uncommon for dealers to run cocaine from the Keys to Naples.”

“I didn’t realize,” Jase admitted.

“Mostly on the tour boats, believe it or not. Not in the quantity you see coming into Miami, but a respectable haul.”

Drugs. Jase’s night was getting better and better. “I think it’s a safe assumption that since they came after Macy at the hospital, she saw more than she should have.”

Swift’s attention turned his way. Finally. “Exactly. So we’ll be taking her into protective custody tonight.”

He stood, giving his shorts their token tug.

The implication was so blatant that at first Jase was too shocked to act. It wasn’t that he was worried about losing control of Macy. He only had to say he was taking her, and people would clear a path. No, it was the idea that Swift would remove the child from Lucas’s care—an adult she’d bonded to—when she’d lost her parents only hours before.

“No,” he said, shocking himself at how ferocious he sounded. He came to his feet as well. “She needs to stay with Lucas.”

Swift blinked, opened his mouth to speak, but a scream interrupted him. Macy’s scream. Before Jase or Swift could move, Lucas had shot out of his chair and across the room. “Macy!” he yelled, yanking the door open and bolting through.

It was the gunshot that got Jase’s feet moving. Ignoring Swift’s colorful curses, he charged through the door behind Lucas.

Straight into chaos.

White smoke billowed into the corridor from the end of the hall near the entrance, and as Jase stood rooted to the spot, scanning for Lucas or Macy, the fire alarm activated. In the ceiling, red strobe lights began to spin and sprinkler heads came to life, spitting water in powerful bursts.

Jase swept a hand over his dripping face and squinted into the confusion. He jumped at the crack of a second gunshot, and then Swift was pushing past him, red-faced and struggling to free his sidearm from his shoulder holster.

Jase watched him go, then turned, trying to orient himself. The chaos was making it difficult to focus. Martinez had taken Macy “next door,” she’d said, but that could’ve meant anything. Regardless, it gave him somewhere to start. He ignored the shouts and screams that were increasing in volume every second and turned right, trying the handle of the next door he saw. It turned easily, and he pushed inside, shocked to find he’d guessed correctly. A television perched on a low table was tuned to some children’s channel. The show was colorful and loud, anyway. Macy’s cup of Sprite sat on the table in a puddle of condensation.

There was no sign of Lucas or Macy, and Jase gave in to his panic. “Macy!” he yelled, dashing back into the hallway. It was rapidly turning into a swamp. “Lucas!”

He thought it couldn’t get any worse, but once again fate proved him wrong. The lights went out, marking the second time that night he’d been stuck in a dark building with people screaming. The sprinklers cut off too, but it was a small blessing. Without the water to beat it down, another wave of smoke rolled down the hall and overcame him. Jase dropped to his knees, coughing. When a hand landed on his shoulder, he reared up to throw it off.

“Jase,” Lucas said, coughing himself.

Jase squinted, barely catching the outline of a man and...yes, a child. Macy—cuddled close in Lucas’s arms.

“What the hell is happening?” Jase wheezed, and Lucas shook his head.

“No idea, but we’re getting the hell out of here. Come on.”

Jase followed him on faith, hoping it wasn’t misplaced. Lucas moved forward cautiously, but with enough certainty that Jase realized he knew where he was going. They came to an intersection of halls, and Lucas edged around the corner to the right, then stopped dead and sank to the floor when a voice rang through the dark.

“Find the goddamn girl!”

“Change of plans,” Lucas said, just loud enough for Jase to catch. “Go back.”

They scuttled back down the hall, staying low and hopefully out of sight. Lucas ducked through a doorway into a large room, and Jase followed.

“Can you take her for a while?” Lucas asked.

“Of course.” Jase held out his arms, wondering if convincing Macy would be a problem, but she let herself be transferred without complaint and fixed her arms in a viselike grip around his neck. “Where are you taking us?”

“The rear exit at the east end of the building. All the action seems to be back that way.” Lucas made a gesture. In the dark it was hard to tell, but Jase thought he was pointing toward the main entrance. “So we’re going this way.”

As plans went, Jase had heard worse. “Okay.”

Jase cradled Macy to his chest while Lucas led them through the dark. They all flinched when the building’s fire alarm started up anew, this time without the sprinklers. Confusion reigned. People ran by, nearly invisible in the dark, and the screaming was growing louder and more constant. The red emergency lights tucked close to the ceiling continued to spin until Jase felt dizzy. Another gunshot ripped through the building, and he gripped Macy closer. He wasn’t one to panic, but it felt as if they’d fallen into hell.

They crawled along a wall through the thickening smoke until Lucas stopped and slung his arm around Jase’s shoulder. He had to lean in close for his words to be heard over the fire alarm. “Are you okay?” His lips brushed Jase’s ear.

“Fine,” he said, but that one word brought on a coughing fit. He tried to muffle it as much as he could as he wiped his eyes.

“That exit’s got to be around here somewhere.” Lucas started off again, tugging Jase by his sleeve.

Jase believed in Lucas, and they did need to get out of the building, but was bursting out into the night without any idea of what waited for them a good idea? And, an even bigger question, was this the sequence of events that would lead to Macy’s injury? With guns going off all around them, it seemed likely. But God, how much more could the kid take?

Lucas rose to a crouch. Following suit, Jase looked to where he pointed.

“I think the door is at the end of this hall.” Lucas coughed into his sleeve, staring at Jase with anxious, bloodshot eyes. Yes, I know. We could be walking into something much worse.

It was still the better of the two options. Jase nodded, and, after one last glance at Macy, Lucas turned and scuttled off. Jase followed. Two doors from the end of the corridor, a figure stepped out in front of them. Lucas spun, kicking out with his feet, and the person went down hard on their back. A feminine cry reached Jase’s ears.

Lucas crawled to hover over the groaning figure. “Martinez?”

“Nice shot,” she wheezed.

“Christ, I’m sorry,” Lucas said, helping her into a seated position against the wall. Another series of gunshots rang through the building. Even several rooms away, they made Jase’s heart jump. Martinez waited for the echo to fade. “Get her out of here. Exit’s around the corner. No one’s waiting outside, as far as I could tell.”

Lucas swiped a soot-stained hand over his mouth, leaving a black streak behind. “You’re sure?”

“I was just out there. This door dumps you on the east side of the building.”

Lucas shook his head frantically. “We’re parked on the other side, behind the cruisers.”

“Shit.” Martinez shifted, winced, and Jase saw the blood staining her shirt for the first time. He reached out, but she batted his hand away, glaring. “Here,” she said, digging in her pocket and coming up with a set of keys, complete with a Naples is Paradise key ring.

“Take mine. Silver Camry. Out the door, on the left. Two cars down.”

He saw the gentleman in Lucas about to refuse.

“Take the damn keys,” Jase said. Roughly, he yanked Lucas close and thrust his hand into the left front pocket of his jeans. When he emerged with the Jetta’s keys, he handed them to Martinez. “Thank you.”

“Stay in touch with Swift,” she said. Even in the half-light of the corridor, she read the doubt in his eyes. “He’s on our side,” she insisted. “Keep Macy safe.”

That was all he had left. Keeping Macy safe.

In the end he was the one who had to pull Lucas to his feet and get him moving. The man hadn’t said a word since Martinez had handed him her keys. Eyes unfocused, he went two steps before stopping to sag against the wall and stare at the blood on his hands.

They didn’t have time for this. Jase lifted Macy onto his shoulder, took a firm hold of Lucas’s arm, and swung him against the wall. It was a risky move, because Lucas obviously knew some fancy self-defense. As Jase suspected, Lucas came around swinging.

Jase turned his shoulder into the blow, but it still hurt.

“What the fuck?” Breathing heavily, Lucas hovered over him, fists squared.

“Snap out of it.” Jase jerked his chin at the exit door a few feet away, then passed Macy over. “Give me the keys.”

Confusion replaced the anger on Lucas’s face, but he obeyed, tossing Jase Martinez’s keys and hoisting Macy in his arms. Jase found the one for the Camry among the set. “You ready?” he asked, crowding Lucas, getting up close and personal. With their faces only inches apart, he could see the pain and fear in his eyes, and his heart twisted. “I need you, Lucas. Hold it together.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lucas said, eyes locked on Jase’s. “Ready.” And after a deep breath, more confidently, “Ready.”

Jase kicked the exit door open and they ran.

In the end, it was the most anticlimactic part. They split at the back of the car, Jase circling to the driver’s side and Lucas to the other. He didn’t bother with the backseat, just pulled Macy into his lap and slammed the door. Jase threw the car into gear and roared backward out of the parking space. Two speed bumps later, they reached the Trail.

“Go right,” Lucas ordered, and Jase made the turn. In the rearview mirror, the Seventh Avenue station glowed from the inside, a bright orange flicker. A fire truck was already swerving to a stop in front of the building.

Jase gave a split second’s thought to the people who’d been inside, then put it behind him. They weren’t safe themselves yet.

Another yellow ladder truck passed them, sirens wailing, but other than that, the road was empty. Even the stoplights had reverted to a flashing yellow. Jase pushed the Camry to seventy-five. There wasn’t a cop in a fifty-mile radius who was more interested in him than the shootout at the police station.

“Where to?” he asked.

Lucas swallowed twice, then croaked out an answer. “Stay on the Trail. On Route 41,” he clarified. “It makes a sharp turn to the left up here in about a half a mile.”

“Opposite the way we went earlier,” Jase remembered, and Lucas nodded, saving his voice. He reached for the seat belt, folding it over both him and Macy, and clicked it into place. Jase spared a hand to push the hair out of her face, then wished he hadn’t. Blank eyes stared back at him. She was sucking her thumb again.

“How the hell did they know where we were?” Lucas asked it softly, but Jase heard and understood the frustration in his voice.

“No idea.”

The earlier heat of the day lingered in the car, and it wasn’t doing Jase’s stomach any good. The adrenaline drain had left him nauseated. He dropped his window a few inches, and cool, fresh air rushed in, scented with damp vegetation.

“Ah,” Lucas muttered. “The smell of paradise.” Before Jase thought of a reply, Lucas hit the button for his own window and dropped his cell phone through the crack. In the glow of the taillights, Jase watched it hit the pavement and shatter.

“You think that’s going to make a difference?”

Lucas avoided his eyes. “It makes me feel better.”

They came up on the turn sooner than Jase was expecting, and he squealed through the cloverleaf. “Easy, Evel Knievel,” Lucas said, rolling his window down a few more inches.

Macy said nothing.

The city lights faded faster than Jase would have believed possible. Remnants of civilization remained—an Olive Garden, a marina—then nothing but run-down strip malls, looking all the same with their low, slanted roofs and pink stucco.

“What’s after Naples?” Jase asked as they passed the Now Leaving Naples, We Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay sign. Fifty yards farther on, a much smaller sign, paint cracked and fading, announced that they’d entered East Naples.

“After Naples,” Lucas mused, but at least the dreamy quality of his voice had disappeared. Now all Jase heard was fatigue. “Marco Island, then Everglades City.” Jase waited. “After that, Miami...once you cross about a hundred miles of Everglades.”

“Nothing else?”

“There are alligators. And the Miccosukee Indian Reservation. I actually think the Miccosukees might be more dangerous than the gators, considering what they charge for gasoline on the Res.”

Jase’s whole body relaxed at the return of Lucas’s dry humor. “So where are we going?”

“Not that much farther, actually.” Lucas scooted higher in his seat. Macy slouched in his lap like a rag doll, and Lucas began a gentle rocking motion while he stroked her hair. “I know a place where we can go and hole up for a while. It’s in Lely.”

“What’s that?”

“I guess you could call it the Land of New Money.”

* * *

Lely was a 300-acre parcel of land east of Naples, with more golf courses and condos than you could shake a five-iron at. As planned communities went, Lucas described it as pretentious, and it had suffered just like the rest of the region when the economy took a dive. But being more established than many of the other McMansion developments, it had fared better in the long run.

“Lely is a maze,” Lucas said as he juggled Macy in his arms, swinging her onto his other shoulder without tangling the seat belt. “And to complete the parallel, there are only two roads into the place.”

“Or out,” Jase commented.

“It’s all how you look at it.”

Jase’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. That was true for most things.

“This is it,” Lucas said a few miles later, and Jase swung left into the turning lane. A herd of galloping bronze horses guarded the sweeping entrance of Lely. In the black night, they looked sinister, polished eyes glittering in the Camry’s headlights. “Once around the park, James,” Lucas quipped as they drove up and over the brick pavers.

The past seven years had taken Jase to all corners of the country, but he’d never seen anything quite like Lely. They passed street after street of palatial homes, most with their own gate system and portico, until Jase couldn’t believe there were that many people still left in the country who could afford such extravagance. “We’re not stopping at one of these places, are we?”

For some reason, Lucas shuddered. “No. Make the next left. There’s a condo back here that I have a key to.” He paused before adding, more quietly, “I took the kids out of it last week and put them in foster care.”

“Were they being abused?”

“After a fashion. Their mom left, and their dad got clinically depressed. He lost his job, started drinking... Also, he stopped feeding his kids.” Lucas looked over, and Jase risked taking his eyes off the dark road to meet his gaze. “A neighbor called us when they came begging for a handout.”

Jase twisted the steering wheel in his hands. “So much suffering,” he said quietly.

“Yeah.” Lucas stroked Macy’s hair. “It’s kind of going around.”

* * *

The condo was a first-floor end unit in a cluster of identical buildings on a tucked-away cul-de-sac. The land behind it was dark and still. “Golf course,” Lucas explained. “You trip over them around here.”

Jase pulled into the driveway of number 9. “So the father’s gone? Why do you have a key?”

“All in good time, Grasshopper.” Lucas dug into his wallet, emerging with a thin card. “State-of-the-art security.”

Jase eyed the keycard with distaste. “It’s a bit too much like living in a hotel, if you ask me.” But then everything in this city seemed one step off. Illusions stacked upon illusions, with the ugly truth underneath. Like the fancy hospital with no patients and the streets of empty houses. The drugs on tourist cruises.

He couldn’t shake the feeling it was all about to come tumbling down. Or worse, that it already had, but nobody had realized it yet. “I’ll take a good old-fashioned key any day.”

Lucas turned the card over in his hand. “Yeah. You and me both.”

“So the father isn’t here?”

Lucas opened the car door, and the inside of the vehicle lit up. The yellow light did little to help his sallow complexion. Macy sucked her thumb and stared at something neither of them could see. Jase figured he looked just as drained. They were all near the breaking point.

“Nope,” Lucas said. “Took him to the hospital myself. Claimed he was going to get better for his kids.”

A worthy promise. “Do you think he will?”

Lucas stepped out. “I think he wants to,” he said before closing the door and plunging Jase into darkness. He jogged up the path that cut through the courtyard. A few seconds later, the porch light came on at number 9 and, with a groan, the garage door began to rumble upward. Unable to shake his unease, Jase pulled inside.

Lucas met him in the garage and lifted Macy out of the front seat. “Is that typical of your job, to keep the keys to a house?” Jase asked as they locked the garage behind them and crossed the courtyard.

“No. I’d been planning to report it and turn the card in, but I haven’t had the chance. The guy asked me to keep it and look in on his place once in a while. Which obviously is way outside my job definition. But when he held it out...I couldn’t tell him no.” Lucas’s voice fell. “He said he wanted to make sure everything was still here when he brought his kids home.” Lucas opened the front door and gestured Jase inside. “Help me with the windows.”

There weren’t many to worry about. Two small panes of glass that faced the courtyard, and a large picture window and glass sliders that looked out onto the golf course. Jase pulled the wood plantation shutters closed in the master bedroom while Lucas slid the rolling panels closed in the living room. Only then did they switch on a few lamps.

Jase didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but this cozy, well-maintained living space hadn’t been it. Lucas caught him taking stock. “Depression affects everyone. Even people who look like they have everything.”

He placed Macy in a nest of soft pillows on the sofa and took a seat beside her. After a minute, she curled onto her side and put her thumb back in her mouth. Lucas sat watching her, fingers steepled under his chin, until she closed her eyes. Then he pitched slowly forward, covering his face with his hands.

Concerned, Jase lowered himself onto the marble top coffee table and set a hand on Lucas’s shoulder.

“This is all so crazy,” Lucas whispered.

The past seven years being what they had, crazy felt like old hat to Jase. He wasn’t into apologies, and he was crappy at offering comfort. The truth was, he was usually too wrapped up in himself and his mission to bother. He saved lives. Wasn’t that enough? Forward to the next person, cross another off the list. Memorizing how many done and how many left, until he saw the figures in his sleep. He wasn’t a therapist. When empathy became an issue, he simply told people to feel better, and they did.

He had no idea how to help Lucas. And he hadn’t wanted anything so much in a very long time. “What can I do?”

“Nothing. Right now.”

Disappointed, but also slightly relieved, Jase nodded and pulled away. “When you’re ready, I have other things I need to tell you.” Lucas had earned the right to hear it all, though it would be no great gift.

A ragged sound escaped Lucas’s lips, then another. He lifted his head, but his eyes were dry, and Jase realized he was laughing. “Can it wait? I mean, no offense, Jase, but I’m not sure how much more I can take tonight.” Without waiting for Jase’s answer, he pulled at the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and spread it over Macy, switched off the lamp and slipped away into the kitchen.

Jase followed him. “You should sleep.”

Arms braced on the counter, head down, Lucas nodded, and Jase’s nagging unease solidified into a realization. Lucas had been holding them all together. But now he was coming apart himself.

So why couldn’t Jase manage to give him the reassurance he needed? Had he been so emotionally handicapped by this power of his that he’d forgotten how to comfort someone? Had he ever known? The question of his identity reared its ugly head—the resolution of that mystery so close he could taste it.

Yet he was craving it less than he ever had before.

He took one step, then another, again reaching for Lucas’s shoulder. Offering empty words might work with some people, but with Lucas they’d bounce off and slide away. He was too much of a pragmatist. With gentle pressure, he turned Lucas into his arms. It was a stiff, reluctant embrace. Worse than if they’d never touched. Jase crowded closer, backing Lucas against the countertop. He didn’t bother trying to speak.

Lucas resisted another several seconds before turning his face against Jase’s cheek. His hands curled into Jase’s T-shirt.

Jase knew this unspoken request. He’d asked it himself more than once over the past seven years. When the need got to be distracting, he’d give in, find someone, the words, “Do you really want this? Do you really want me?” stuck in his throat. He’d never had the courage to say them, because the smiling, empty-eyed answer would make him feel like more of a rapist than he already was.

But if Lucas didn’t want this, he could say no. And if he said yes, in a twisted, turned-around way, it would be like Jase’s first time.

Lucas swept his lips over Jase’s cheek, repeating the wordless question.

“Yeah,” Jase said. “Okay.” He tilted Lucas’s face up, pulling against the small reserve of resistance that remained, and kissed him. It began as a gentle brush of lips, back and forth, and that contact itself set Jase on fire. Needing more, he caught at Lucas’s bottom lip with his teeth, keeping him close.

Lucas shuddered and melted against him.

It was the invitation Jase had been waiting for. He cupped one hand around the back of Lucas’s neck and pressed their mouths together, doing his best to chase the demons away with nothing but pressure and breath. He ended the kiss with a tentative touch of their tongues. Lucas gasped and arched against him, seeking more. “Not right now,” Jase whispered against his lips before pulling away.

Lucas let him retreat only so far before securing him in a firm embrace that lasted far longer than their furtive kiss. When he began to doze on his feet, Jase roused him with a gentle word and coaxed him to bed.

The condo had two bedrooms, and one of those was even decked out in pink princess wallpaper, but it was on the opposite side of the unit from the master suite. Too far for either of them, even if Lucas wasn’t ready to admit it. He stood over a sleeping Macy, biting his
lip, until Jase made the decision for him.

“I realize it’s not ideal, but it’s best to keep everyone together until we’re sure we’re safe.” He bent down and gathered Macy up, jerking his chin at the door leading to the master. “That bed’s big enough for all of us.”

Still, Lucas waffled. “We shouldn’t be sleeping with her. It’s really inappropriate.”

“It’s the best solution right now. Will you be able to sleep knowing she’s by herself in there? Lucas, we’re all exhausted. Nobody’s thinking clearly. Let’s just get some rest.”

He wasn’t lying. Energy reserves depleted, and adrenaline rush petering out, Jase could hardly stay on his feet. “Come on,” he coaxed, starting toward the bedroom. By the time he got to the door, Lucas was behind him, shuffling like a zombie.

Jase agreed, after Lucas insisted, to snuggle Macy between the sheets, while they slept on top. Lucas slipped his and Macy’s shoes off, but left the rest of their clothes on, so Jase did the same, pulling the comforter over them all as he reached to turn off the light.

He hesitated at the last second. “Do you think we should leave it on for Macy?”

Lucas’s gaze drifted to the sleeping child. “We’ll turn it back on if she wakes up scared.”

Fair enough. Jase shut it off. The beams of the rising sun crept through the plantation shutters.

“Another glorious day in Southwest Florida,” Lucas mumbled. Despite everything, Jase fell asleep smiling.