Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes Book 1) (26 page)

Derrick stood the girl up, who had
said nothing the whole time, just sat there crying. I wish we’d had
time to question her, but if I was a betting man, I’d say it was
just a girlfriend who this douchebag had roped into trying to help
Shane since they knew they couldn’t take him to the
hospital.

The police escorted them both out, and
I shouted, “I want my cuffs back!”

One of the officers said, “You guys
need to come to the station anyway.” They escorted them out the
front door.

As the paramedics loaded Shane onto
the stretcher, I asked Derrick for his cuffs and he handed them
over. I handcuffed Shane to the front and searched his pockets but
found nothing.

“Is that necessary?” a young, female
paramedic asked me, looking at the cuffs.

“He’s wanted for murder, assault on a
federal officer, and absconding from the hospital.”

Her eyes went big and she nodded. “Do
you wanna cuff him to the bed too? Just to be safe?”

I chuckled. “Can’t do that, but one of
us will ride in the ambulance with you.”

“Thank you.”

Medina offered to ride with Shane and
the paramedics and the three of us walked back across the beach
where our vehicles were parked.

I was tired but I knew I had to go
down to the police station and let them know these were federal
prisoners and to give a statement. No harm in letting them sit in
the county lockup for a while, though.

There was no way to describe the
relief I felt knowing we had caught these guys. All I could think
about was Rayanne, and the look on her face when she found out the
threat was gone. I hoped the federal prosecutor could add this to
the case and maybe speed up the guilty conviction. God, they better
find those assholes guilty.

Chapter 30

Rayanne

I couldn’t believe I was actually
happy to be sitting in court again. The last two days had sucked.
Apparently there was some new evidence and they had called a
two-day recess so both sides could examine the evidence and prepare
their information. Nobody would tell me what was going on, though.
Even Dockins and Jones seemed to be clueless on what this new
evidence was. All we knew was that it was good for the prosecution,
and I prayed that meant this whole thing would be over
soon.

It didn’t go unnoticed by me that
there was another guy sitting at the defense’s table next to the
Watsons today. The guy looked mildly familiar to me but I couldn’t
quite place him.

“The prosecution calls Adria Green to
the stand,” the attorney said.

I watched as a short lady with
beautiful skin the color of caramel and some funky colors striped
into her hair walk toward the stand. Then I noticed the medical
scrubs she wore.

“State your name for the record,” the
prosecutor said.

“Adria Green.”

She was then sworn in, her hand on the
Bible, and was asked to be seated.

“What is your occupation, Ms.
Green?”

She didn’t look nervous at all. With
her chin raised, I was able to see the small diamond piercing in
her nose glint off the courtroom lights. “I’m a Registered Nurse at
Tampa General Hospital.” She spoke boldly.

“Were you present for the escape of
Shane Watson?”

“Yes, sir.”

“The man who orchestrated the escape,
is he in this courtroom, Ms. Green?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Please point him out,” the
prosecution said.

She nodded her head toward the guy
sitting next to the Watsons, and pointed at him. “He’s right
there.”

“You’re sure?” the prosecutor
asked.

“Absolutely sure,” Adria said with a
small smile.

The prosecutor looked at the judge.
“Let the record reflect Adria Green has identified Eric James
Patten.”

“So noted,” the judge
returned.

The U.S. Attorney asked her a few more
questions about what had gone down during the escape but I tuned it
out. My eyes were wide and I began to get excited. Did this mean
they caught Shane, too, since they’d caught this guy?

Someone slipped in next to me and sat
down. Duke! The two days I’d not been able to see him had been
awful. He smiled at me and squeezed my hand and I held onto his
tightly. His hand was warm and I just wanted to snuggle into his
chest and tell him how happy I was he was here. I settled for the
hand-holding. For now.

I watched as the Watsons’ attorney
said something into the suspect’s ear and he shook his head, an
angry look coloring his face. The attorney sighed dramatically,
then whispered something else.

The suspect stood up and I noticed he
had handcuffs on behind the back of his orange jumpsuit. His bald
head reflected the lights from the courtroom. “Fuck you! I ain’t no
rat! Fuck all of you!”

The judge pounded her gavel. “Bailiff,
remove him immediately!”

Two uniforms came over and dragged him
out of the courtroom.

“The prosecution calls Rayanne Lynch
to the stand.”

I flinched at hearing my name. Duke
let go of my hand and nodded at me in support. I walked woodenly to
the stand, wondering why I hadn’t been briefed on this.

After asking me to state my name, and
informing the court that I had already sworn in during these
proceedings, he asked me to sit.

“The young man who was just removed
from the courtroom, did you recognize him?”

Shit.
“Um, not really.”

“Can you answer yes or no, please?” he
asked.

“No, I did not.”

“Did he look familiar to you in any
way?”

I nodded. “Yes, I just don’t know
why.”

“Did you get a good look at the men
who were chasing you and Special Agent Hawthorne in Virginia after
the assault on Special Agent Morris?”

The Watsons’ attorney stood up.
“Objection. Leading the witness.”

“Sustained,” the judge said. “Reword,
Counselor.”

The prosecutor nodded. “Yes, ma’am.
Ms. Lynch, could you describe those who were chasing you to the
cliffs when you and Special Agent Hawthorne had to run?”

“No, I’m sorry I can’t. I only
recognized Shane Watson because I had met him previously, as I said
in my previous testimony. I did not get a good look at the other
two, as they had hoods on. And I was scared out of my
mind.”

“Just one more question,” the attorney
said. “Were they all males?”

I wrung my hands together and glanced
at Duke. He just looked at me but didn’t make any motion to help me
out. “I don’t know.”

“Thank you, that’s all.”

Relieved, I left the stand and went to
sit back next to the new love of my life.

I watched Dockins and Jones sitting on
my new sofa watching some kind of sports on TV and hoped it would
be the last time I’d have to look at that. Both sides had made
closing arguments today, and the jury immediately went into
deliberation. I was hopeful we’d hear something by tomorrow. I
couldn’t take much more of this intrusion on my life.

I’d tried to argue with the agents
that since Shane and his friends had been caught, that the threat
was over. They’d explained that until a verdict was reached and the
Watsons were sent off to prison, that I still needed to be looked
after, as a precaution. I hadn’t even bothered to argue.

“I’m going to bed,” I called out to
the two agents.

They both waved and kept their eyes on
the TV. I shook my head and went into my room.

I waited a couple of minutes, then I
reached into the nightstand and pulled out a small prepaid
smartphone. Duke had slipped it into my jacket pocket sometime when
I was on the stand today. I was glad I hadn’t discovered it until
I’d gotten back to the condo.

When I powered it up, I had three
texts from “Cowboy” – I had immediately laughed. He programmed my
name into the phone as, of course, Blondie.

Blondie, keep this phone a
secret. Do not take it out of the house.

I just need to know you’re
safe.

I miss your beautiful
ass.

I texted back
immediately:
You surprise me, you
know.

Cowboy:
How’s that?

Me:
I think you know, Royal.

Cowboy:
Don’t call me that if you want me to keep
responding.

I chuckled and texted
back:
Okay, you win, cowboy.

Cowboy:
Get some sleep. I will be there tomorrow, as long
as no emergencies come up. Goodnight, angel.

I grinned and then sighed
like a schoolgirl and replied:
Goodnight,
my knight.

God, we were so disgusting already. I
flipped the light out, powered off the phone, and put it back into
the nightstand under my journal.

The jury had deliberated less than a
day. I think the testimony from the nurse and a couple hospital
staff, and the capture of Shane and Eric had sealed it. Then I
found out the third suspect had been a female, and she had sung
like a canary in exchange for no prison time.

“Please rise for the reading of the
verdict.” We all obeyed. I was so nervous. I held my breath as the
jury foreman read from a paper in his shaking hand.

“We, the jury, find the defendant,
Elmo Gerald Watson, guilty of failure to pay corporate taxes in
excess of one million dollars. We, the jury, also find Elmo Gerald
Watson, guilty of murder-for-hire in the murder of Angela
Silvey.”

Elmo’s wife began crying hysterically,
sobbing into her daughter’s arms. The judge shot her a warning
look.

Then I saw Angela’s husband and mother
hug each other, they were both openly crying. I had to look away
and swallow down the lump in my throat.

“Please continue,” the judge said to
foreman.

He nodded. “We, the jury, find George
Edgar Watson, guilty of failure to pay corporate taxes in excess of
one million dollars. We, the jury, find George Edgar Watson, not
guilty of murder-for hire in the murder of Angela
Silvey.”

George hung his head and I could see
he was weeping. Elmo just looked livid. His face was red and he was
shaking.

“Thank you for doing your civic
duties, ladies and gentlemen. Court is dismissed. You are free to
go.” Judge Johnson pounded her gavel.

I openly hugged Duke and he squeezed
me back.

Duke, myself, Dockins, and Jones stood
outside of the courthouse in the sunshine. Dockins ended the call
he was on and smiled at me. “You are free, young lady. It’s been a
pleasure.” He shook my hand.

I smiled at him in gratitude. “Thank
you, both of you.” I looked at Jones, too. “I appreciate all you’ve
done.”

“Just our jobs, ma’am.” Dockins winked
at me, then looked at Duke. “You got this, Hawthorne?”

“Yeah,” Duke practically
growled.