Nigel blushed. “I thought…”
“We’re a team?”
Nigel nodded.
“Then we both need to be on the same page.” Lane looked at his computer. “What do you plan to do with the guest list?”
Nigel had his hands hovering over the keyboard. “Cross-reference it with the passenger lists of flights from Toronto, New York, and Cancun a week before and a week after the murders.”
Lane nodded. “Good work.” He turned to his computer to map out the various bits of the investigation using a program called Inspirations. He added crime-scene photos where necessary.
An hour later Nigel pushed his chair back. “Want a mochaccino?”
Lane nodded. “Please.” He reached into his shirt pocket for a bill.
“I got it.” Nigel walked out the door.
Five minutes later, Lori walked into Lane’s office, closing the door behind her. “What did you do to Nigel?”
Lane looked at her as she stood across from him, her fists on the hips of her black dress. “Just get your nails done?”
Lori lifted her right hand, looking at her red nails and smiling. “Don’t change the subject.”
“What did he say to you?”
Lori cocked her head to the right. “Not a damned thing! It was the expression on his face that gave him away.”
“I asked him to keep me better informed before we do our next interview. Sometimes he forgets we’re a team.” Lane felt his face redden.
“Do you know the kid has been picking up the slack for you because you’re busy with the new baby?” Lori put her fists on Lane’s desk. Her posture revealed her ample cleavage.
“I didn’t know.” Lane leaned forward. You want to fight? Let’s fight!
“Do you know Netsky’s been whining about you taking on this investigation? It’s obvious he thinks he fucked up on his end, and he’s trying to make the shit stick to you. Nigel has been running interference for you and countering Netsky’s bullshit with facts.” Lori stood up, crossing her arms under her breasts.
“I didn’t know that.” Lane sat back in his chair and exhaled. But it’s to be expected.
“Now you know.” Lori looked over her shoulder. “When do I get to see some pictures of this new baby?”
Lane picked up his cell phone, found the photos, and handed the phone to Lori.
“He looks like you, apart from the fact that he has more hair.”
Lane laughed. “I don’t know who he looks like, but he sure does have lots of hair.”
The meaty side of a fist pounded Lane’s office door. It startled Lori, who launched the cell phone into the air. She managed to catch it with her fingertips before it hit the floor.
Lane opened the door. Harper stood there, red faced. “What the hell is your sister up to?”
Lane felt Lori’s eyes on him. “My sister and her – what do you call Milton if he has multiple wives? Spouse? Anyway, we took care of it and now Christine, the baby, and Dan are all safe. Alison, Milton, and some guy named Pratt are in jail.”
“Someone tried to take Indiana?” Lori looked from Lane to Harper, who moved deeper into the office.
“Someone tried to take your baby?” Nigel stood in the open doorway with a cardboard tray of coffee and tea.
“My sister -” Lane started to explain all over again.
“- must be absofuckinlutely out of her mind.” Nigel moved past Harper, handing a coffee to Lane, a tea to Lori, and another cup to Harper.
Harper took the cup from Nigel. “Where’s yours?”
“He gave it to you,” Lori said.
Harper went to hand the coffee back.
Nigel put his hands in the air. “It’s all good.” He turned to Lane. “How come you didn’t tell us about the baby?”
“The baby is fine. We stopped them from getting close to Indiana.” Lane took a sip of mochaccino, noting the people in the room were eying him with expressions ranging from disbelief to cut the bullshit.
“ ‘We’?” Harper asked.
Lane took the cup away from his mouth. “Dan’s mother was there.”
“Lola?” Lori asked.
Lane nodded.
“The two of you stopped them?” Harper took a sip of coffee. Evidently liking what he tasted, he looked at the cup and took another sip.
“Actually a security guard stepped in and took down Pratt. A couple of nurses took care of Alison. And Lola, Dan, and I were between the crazies and the baby.” Lane looked at the faces of his colleagues.
“So you didn’t bother to mention this to any of us because…?” Lori asked.
How do I answer that one? Lane took another sip of coffee instead.
“Good thing you didn’t try to talk your way out of that one.” Harper pointed his coffee at Lane.
“I’ve got some names here.” Nigel pointed at his computer screen.
Lane looked at Nigel, and for an instant they connected. Lane thought, You’re changing the subject to get me out of this mess.
“I’ll print out the list. There are four people on both the party list and the airline passenger lists. We’ve got some work to do.” Nigel pressed a button, heading out the door to retrieve the list from Lori’s printer.
Lori pointed a manicured finger at Lane, smiling. “Do you need to be reminded we are a team in this office?”
I had that coming.
It took Lane fifteen minutes to find Indiana’s hospital room. It was hidden within the red, yellow, and blue Lego architecture of the Children’s Hospital. He knocked on the door. Dan opened it while holding a finger to his lips. He pointed at Indiana asleep in the crib, and Christine asleep on a bed near the window. Dan stepped into the hallway, carefully closing the door.
“How are they doing?” Lane smelled sweat and unwashed clothes.
“Christine is afraid her mom or somebody else from Paradise will show up to steal Indiana.” Dan looked down the hall as a woman approached with flowers, then stepped into a nearby room. A security guard poked his head out from around a wall next to the nursing station. Dan nodded and waved.
“Why don’t you take a break? Get something to eat. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things while you’re gone.” Lane took his winter jacket off.
Dan looked at the door, frowning.
“Go on. I’ll be here. Take a break.”
Dan smiled, turned, and walked down the hall. Lane saw the exhaustion curving across his shoulders and down his spine.
Lane opened the door, closed it, and hung his coat on the chair. The breathing of the baby pulled him closer to the crib. He leaned against the top rail, watching the rise and fall of Indy’s chest. He listened for each inhale and exhale. He listened for the door. Time passed. He heard Christine sit up. Lane turned toward his niece and saw her smile. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”
Lane nodded, unable to speak.
“Uncle Arthur was up earlier with Matt.”
He nodded again.
“And Lola just left. She helped protect us yesterday, didn’t she?” Christine got up, stuffing her feet into a pair of pink slippers. She wore a red T-shirt and black pajama bottoms.
“She did.” Lane wanted to touch Indy’s cheek but was afraid of waking him.
“It’s good to have family standing up for you, isn’t it?”
Lane nodded. “It is.”
She put her arm around his shoulder, leaning her head against his neck.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24
chapter 5
“What have you got?” Lane set a coffee down on Nigel’s desk, sipping from his own cup.
Nigel looked up, puzzled, and took the cup. “I’m trying to understand the connections between the lists. There are some. They just don’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?” Lane looked over Nigel’s shoulder at the computer screen, frowning at the layers of open windows of data on his screen. “Send it over to me bit by bit. I’ll divide it into manageable portions.” He went to his desk, sat down, and double clicked on an icon.