He unlocked his glove compartment and took out his gun, but left the holster where it was.  He got the clip from the locked storage compartment under his seat.  He put in his blue tooth earpiece and dialed McGuire’s cell.

“Mickey.  I’m at Lane’s office.  There’s something wrong.”  He related the odd phone conversation.

“I’m going in,” he said as he snapped the clip in place and pulled back the slide to chamber a round.

“That had better not be a gun I hear, Bellini.”

“I have a permit, Mickey and like I said, I’m going in. And if you’re thinking about sending in the uni’s send them silent.”  Ben was out of his car before Mick had a chance to say that he was five minutes out.  “I can’t wait.  If you’re here before the elevator comes, fine.  Otherwise, like I said, I’m going in.”

Ben had cleared the empty guard station and jumped over the turn style when he heard the door open behind him.

He smiled.  Mickey really did have a problem telling time, but this was one time he was glad of it.  He pushed the elevator button.

“You realize that this is out of my jurisdiction and you have no business being here with that gun at all,” Mick whispered as he joined Ben, gun drawn.

“Yeah, but I’m guessing you called Hunter.  Besides, she’s my girlfriend and she called me by your name. Either of those is enough reason for both of us, I’m guessing.”

Lane had called Ben by his name and that probably galled him as much as anything.  The elevator doors opened and they walked in each standing at the rear, both with guns drawn.

“You notice that the guard was missing,” Mick said.

“Yeah, I saw that too.  You know Paulson carries a gun, right?”

As the elevator approached the fifth floor, they moved to either side of the doors just in case an armed Kyle Paulson met them. Mick looked left, Ben looked right each nodding that it was clear.

They made their way toward Lane’s office and could hear voices as they approached.

“Kyle, just shut up.  Let me think.  There’s got to be a way we can still pin this on her and get out of this clean.”

Ben leaned to Mick.  “That’s not Paulson.”

“Yeah, means there are two of them.”

“I’m not gonna take the wrap for this all by myself, brother.  It was your idea for me to kill the old man.  Maybe I should shoot you and let Ms. Parker give me the money for Gracie’s treatment.  I could claim I found you holding her here.  Ms. Parker could say that she heard you confess to the murder.”

“Come on, why should she do that?  What’s to stop her from telling the truth?  Right now, it would be two against one.  But, if you shoot me, then it would just be her word against yours and who do you think the cops would believe, huh brother?  Who?”

“But she offered the money for Gracie’s treatments.  I think she’d keep quiet to keep her kids safe.  She knows I can get into her house any time I want.  Just like I did to plant that screwdriver under her bed.  Hell, she could have been sleeping when I did it for all she knows.”

Ben and Mick stood just outside the office door.  It was obvious from the argument that only Paulson had a gun. And, it was obvious that Paulson and the other man were having a falling out. They had to go in before it spiraled out of control.

Mick held up his hand signaling that he’d go in first low followed by Ben in the higher position.  He held up three fingers and counted down.

Lane was sitting in the chair facing the door and had tried not to show any expression when she’d seen the movement outside the door to ensure that neither Turner nor Paulson knew the cavalry had finally arrived.  The criminals who were both standing with their backs to the door were taken completely by surprise when Mick shouted.   “Police, freeze.”

Mick bent Kyle Paulson over the desk, took his gun, and hand cuffed him.  Ben had Craig Turner one arm behind his back with Ben’s gun pointed at his head.

Her rescuers looked at her.  She was still sitting in the chair.  One leg neatly crossed over the other appearing to be calmer than anyone in that situation should be.

“Red, are you okay?  Did these guys hurt you? And why do you look so calm.”

“I’m fine.  Compared to union negotiations, this was nothing.  Although, there is something I’d like to clear up with him.”  She pointed at Craig Turner.

“Craig.  I did not as you stated, screw my way into this job or any other job, ever!  I have worked very hard for every promotion I’ve ever gotten.”  She didn’t know why it was so important to tell him, it just was, and now that no one was waving a gun in her direction, she felt safe in doing so.

As she finished, a man she assumed was Adam Hunter came into the room.  As Ben handed Craig Turner over to him, he introduced Adam to Lane.

Adam Mirandized both men. The official charges would come from the DA, but Ben suspected it would be murder, criminal conspiracy to commit murder and false imprisonment for starters and maybe extortion if they needed it.  After all, Paulson had made a threat about hurting her and her kids if she told the truth.

Ben took Lane into his arms.  “Red, you scared the hell out of me, please don’t ever do it again.”

She laughed.  “Believe me counselor, I don’t intend to.”

Ben looked from Mick to Adam.  “You guys need her to make a statement tonight?”

“I heard Paulson admit to the murder with my own ears, but I am going to need statements, from both of you.  We can do it in the morning.  Say around ten o’clock,” Mick said as he and Adam walked Turner and Paulson out of Lane’s office.

With Lane still in his arms, he said, “What happened?  I saw the package in the SUV.”

“I came back to get your roses. And the guys were in my office.”

Ben kissed her.  “Babe, leave the roses.  There are dozens more where those came from.  Come on, let’s get out of here.”

As he released Lane, Ben pulled the clip from his gun and ejected the bullet that was in the chamber.  He put the clip in his pocket.  Still holding the gun in his right hand, he put his left arm around her waist and held her as closely as he could.

“Let me lock up,” she said as she closed and locked her office door.  “Apparently they were in my office to hide some paperwork that would add to my guilt.  Unless they give up the details, I imagine Adam and Mick will need to search my office tomorrow.”

She locked the door and turned to face him.  She pressed against him, put her arm around his neck, and kissed him.  “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“Always, Red.  I’ll always rescue you.”

“By the way, apparently being held captive at gun point makes me hungry.  I’m starving.  Do we have reservations or have we missed our chance?”

Ben laughed.  Only Lane could think of her stomach after being held hostage.  He looked at his watch.

“I can make it happen.”

Lane smiled, certain he was right.

Chapter 17

Making statements

Try as he might, Ben couldn’t convince Lane to spend another night at his house.

“I’ve been away from home for two days.  The kids will all be back tomorrow.  I’ve got things to do,” she told him during dinner.

In the end, he relented, without even trying to use his best lawyer skills, he knew that the murderer was in custody, and that she’d be safe.  He felt both disappointed and relieved that he didn’t need to rearrange his house to keep the whole Parker clan safe. Disappointed because he was going to miss having her there, relieved because he wasn’t going to have a conversation with the Parker kids about him sleeping in the same bed with their mother, especially Jess.

In truth, Lane was getting used to being at Ben’s.  She was used to waking in the night and hearing his calm steady breathing next to her.  Even though it was just a few blocks, she called him when she’d gotten home; she’d started the habit as a teenager, with her friends.  Lane and her friends would call each other to say they’d gotten home safely.  She had continued it throughout her twenties, thirties, and into her forties, so it just felt natural the first time she’d left Ben’s and called him when she was home.  He’d come to expect it and the few times she’d forgotten, he had called her.  Once when she stopped at the grocery store on her way, she’d gotten home to find him in her driveway.  He had called her house. Jamie had answered and said she wasn’t home yet and he had gotten in his car and drove over.