“That’ll be up to Chief Deputy Harvey.”

Morgan rubbed the bridge of her nose. What was it with Esposito? It felt like he wanted to be decent, but he couldn’t do it unless she made him. Is that what he wanted? For her to force him to do the right thing? Or maybe he needed to use her as an excuse so that he didn’t ruin his tough-guy reputation.

She needed more coffee.

Esposito walked toward the sliding glass door. “One last thing. The urgent care center is not pressing charges against Tina.” Esposito sighed with disappointment. “Her boss said he understands the highly unusual and desperate nature of her situation. She isn’t even going to lose her job.”

“She took some supplies to save her son,” Morgan argued. “Her boss sounds like a reasonable person who doesn’t want to lose a valuable employee.”

“He’s a chump. She stole from the company.” Esposito didn’t roll his eyes, but she could tell he wanted to. He shook his head in disgust as they walked back through the house. Lance wasted no time showing him to the door.

After he’d left, Lance said, “I told you he was still an asshole.”

Morgan snorted. “I know Esposito is mostly difficult, but he’s done us a few good turns.”

She wondered what Esposito would do if he knew that Tina was probably hiding a large chunk of stolen drug money. It would be best if he never found out.

“He wanted the urgent care to press theft charges against Tina,” Lance said.

“OK. Esposito is still an ass, but he’s no longer the devil incarnate. Agreed?”

“I guess,” Lance huffed.

Sophie ran out of the family room. “What’s an asshole?”

Of course, she pronounced that L perfectly.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

That afternoon, Lance walked into the ICU, afraid of what he might find. His hand reached for Morgan’s. Walking next to him, she squeezed his fingers.

Tina started to rise from the bedside chair.

“Don’t get up. How is he?” Lance asked, stopping by the bed.

The teen was breathing on his own, and his color looked better than it had the night before.

“Better.” Tina smiled. “The doctors were afraid of sepsis, but the infection seems to be localized.” Tina scanned the blinking and beeping monitors. “His vital signs improved a little during the night. The antibiotics seem to be working.”

“That’s good.” Lance’s throat tightened.

“Thank goodness.” Morgan breathed and gripped his hand tighter.

“Yes.” Tina touched her son’s hand, then looked up. Her eyes went from Morgan to Lance. “Thank you both for saving my son and for making me see the truth. If you hadn’t, Evan might not be here. He did need much more medical support than I could have given him.”

“You would have made the right choice in the end.” Lance tried to sound more certain than he was.

Tina brushed her son’s face with her knuckle. “I don’t know about that. Fear is a terrible thing. It blinds you.” She smoothed the blanket over Evan’s chest. “But it won’t happen again.”

Tension eased inside of Lance’s chest. “You can call us anytime. Don’t think you’re all alone.”

“Thank you.” Tina nodded, but she didn’t make any promises.

There was nothing Lance could do to change her. “Would you let me know when he’s awake? The team will want to see him.” Lance would too, but nothing would cheer Evan up like his buddies.

“I will,” Tina said.

Lance and Morgan left the ICU through the double doors. They went to Rylee Nelson’s room in the surgical wing. Her brother stood next to her bed. Tension lines on his face made him look much older than the last time they’d seen him. Rylee was awake. Her leg was wrapped, elevated, and supported on pillows. Her face was as pale as the pillowcase.

A woman in a dark suit turned as Morgan and Lance entered the room.

Trevor’s face brightened with relief. “This is Mrs. White, the social worker I told you about.”

Morgan’s face split into a Cheshire-cat smile. “My name is Morgan Dane. I’m the Nelsons’ attorney. Why are you here?”

Mrs. White frowned, the skin around her mouth puckering as if she were smelling something foul. “I’m talking to Rylee. I will be filing a report about this incident.” She gestured toward Rylee. “Ms. Nelson was gravely injured. She could have been killed.”

“Indeed.” Lance was not going to let this miserable woman use Rylee’s courage against her. “Rylee was extremely brave. She saved her friend’s life. She was quite the hero. It wouldn’t surprise me if the mayor recognized her courage with some sort of civic award.”

Mrs. White’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Morgan pulled a business card from her bag. “From now on, all correspondence should be conducted through my office.”

Mrs. White took the card, shoved it into her pocket, and hurried from the room.

“Wow.” Trevor stared at the doorway. “Thank you. She’s never retreated like that before.”

“She’s never had to deal with Morgan before,” Lance said with pride.

“As I told you before, this isn’t over,” Morgan said. “Your CPS file will likely remain open until Rylee turns eighteen, but it will be easier on you if I handle Mrs. White.” Morgan smiled at Rylee. “How is your leg?”

“It’s OK.” Rylee smiled. “The nurse said as soon as Evan wakes up, she’ll take me down to see him.”

“That’s wonderful.” Morgan turned to Trevor. “Please let me know if you need anything.”

“We will.” He gripped his sister’s hand. “But I think we’re going to be all right.”

Morgan and Lance left Rylee’s room and took the elevator to Brian Springer’s floor.

“Is everyone we know in this hospital?” Lance asked.

“It certainly seems that way.” Morgan led the way out of the elevator. “We should be grateful. It could have ended much worse.”

“You are so right.” Lance knocked on Brian’s doorframe.

“Come in,” a voice said.

They entered the room. Brian was alone. His hand was wrapped in thick gauze and propped on a pillow. Bruises mottled his face. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me.”

Lance didn’t tell him it had been an accident. “How did you get involved?”

“It all started when Paul unintentionally opened a letter addressed to Tina. I have a picture of the letter on my phone, but I read it enough to remember it word for word. ‘This is a blast from your past. You’ve done well for yourself, bitch. But I want the money. Give it to me, and I won’t have to destroy your new life.’ There was a time and place where Tina was supposed to go. Paul wanted to find out what the hell was going on. He was pissed about the letter. He called me. He wanted my opinion. The postmark was local, and he thought it was probably from Kirk, trying to scare her. The ex was bitter and had been looking for a handout from Tina. He was especially pissed that his application for alimony had been denied.”

Tina had said that Paul liked to take care of her.

Brian took a breath and sipped his water. “There was no way Paul was going to let Tina go to the meeting. He and I went instead.”

“Where was it?” Morgan was taking notes.

“In the parking lot of a vacant office complex. Tina was supposed to go there at nine o’clock the following night. Paul and I took separate cars. I parked in a shadow at one end where I could see him. He went to the meeting site.”

“But no one came,” Lance said.

“No.” Brian shook his head. “Paul still thought it was Kirk’s prank. But it wasn’t Kirk who grabbed me at my house.”

“Did he break in?” Morgan asked.

“No. He didn’t have to. I’d been out mowing the lawn. I wanted to get it done before I went fishing. When I went inside after I finished, he was waiting for me. He had a gun. I’d left the door unlocked while I was working in the yard, and I didn’t hear anything over the sound of the mower.”

Morgan looked up from her notebook. “How did he get you out of the house without your neighbors seeing?”

“He tied me up and put his car in the garage. Once he forced me into the trunk, he was clever enough to tie a wire noose around my neck and connect it to my hands and feet. I couldn’t move without garroting myself. This was clearly not his first kidnapping.”

“How did he know you were involved?” None of this made any sense to Lance.

Brian shrugged. “I guess he got my license plate number when I was in the parking lot. It’s the only thing I can think of. In hindsight, we should have taken more precautions. But Paul really was convinced that Kirk was behind the note.”

“What did he want from you?” Morgan asked.

“He wanted to know where Evan would hide. He also said Tina had money that was his. He thought I would know where it was. I didn’t know what he was talking about.” Brian’s voice faltered. “I didn’t even know who he was. He didn’t believe me. He kept punching me. Then he brought out the shears—” His voice faded as he stared at his bandaged hand, pain and horror crossing his face. “If I had known anything, I would have told him. I would have said anything to get him to stop. I even tried making some shit up, but I didn’t know enough to tell a plausible lie. I’m lucky he didn’t kill me. He kept me alive as emergency leverage. If he had found Evan, he would have put a bullet in my head.”

“Why did Paul call you? I thought you two had a falling-out right before he retired?” Lance asked.

Brian frowned. “We did. It was my fault. I lost my patience with a suspect. I listened to my lawyer and denied the whole thing. I said I didn’t know where he got the bruises on his ribs. He could have had them before we arrested him. It was the suspect’s word against mine. Paul backed me up, but he wasn’t happy about it. Paul had a clear sense of right and wrong. He felt compromised.”