Page 94 of Locked In Ice

“I think he wants me happy.”

Lane thought what she meant was that Ballard wanted her quiet.And Lane suspected that if she contacted Ballard, she’d be practically blackmailing him into allowing her to see Beau.

“Five minutes.That’s all I need.”

Ophelia and her five-minute requests.She’d asked for the same amount of time from Detective Shay O’Brien not too long ago.Shay had given in.Would Tameka?

“Fine.”Tameka’s nostrils flared.“Five minutes.That’s all you get.And I watch everything, though, because I don’t buy that you are actually his lawyer.He hasn’t evenaskedfor a lawyer yet.”She whirled away.

Ophelia sent her beaming smile to Lane.

He shook his head.

***

They weren’t taken into interrogation.They were guided straight back to lockup.Tameka led the way, with Ophelia in the middle of the line and Lane at the end.

There were a handful of people in the cells.A few were slumped on their narrow beds.Some cells were dead empty.And then there was the cell with Beau…

As soon as he caught sight of their group.Beau jumped toward the bars and grabbed them tightly with his fists.“Ophelia!”

She stopped in front of him.

“It wasn’t me!”His knuckles whitened around the bars.“I swear, I did not attack anyone last night!”

Lane moved closer to the bars, something he had not thought he’d ever willingly do.“You sent those texts to me.”

“The cops accused me of that shit last night—and my answer now is the same as what I gave them.”He fired a fuming glare at Tameka.“No.”A hard, negative shake of Beau’s blond head.His frantic gaze flew back to Ophelia.“The phone was mine, yes, dammit, a backup I have, but it should have been locked in my safe!Somebody took it out!Somebody is setting me up!”

“Oh, please.”Tameka rolled her eyes.“Was itsomebodyelse in Ophelia’s office, too?Or was that you doing some B&E when the cops rolled in?”

“I thought I heard someone up there,” Beau rushed to say.“I was looking out for you, Ophelia.I went up to investigate, and that’s when the cops showed up.I wouldn’t hurt you.I didn’t do this!I swear, it is not me.”

Tameka propped one shoulder against a nearby cement column.“Still singing that tune.”

But Lane stared hard at the man he’d initially hated.The faint lines around Beau’s mouth were deeper, and an air of desperation clung to him.

“I can’t do this again,” Beau said to Ophelia.“You know I wouldn’t ever want to go back in a cell.Someone is setting me up.You have to believe me.”

“Yeah, they don’t,” Tameka answered.She waved to Ophelia.“Are you done now?”

But Ophelia wasn’t looking at Tameka.She’d turned her head and was staring at Lane.

He swallowed.He didn’t like this scene.Once upon a time, he’d been the one begging people to believe in his innocence.No one had.“We’re not done,” Lane heard himself reply.“We’re just getting started.”

“What the hell does that mean?”Tameka asked as she threw both her hands into the air.“I do not need some dramatic BS from you two.I told you—five minutes.You aren’t getting started.Your time has been ticking since we started walking through the station.”

But Ophelia took Lane’s hand.“Lane means we have more work to do.”Her gaze flickered to Beau.“I cleared you once.I can do it again.”

“We can,” Lane corrected.

“You are really not such an asshole,” Beau rasped as his head tipped toward Lane.“Thank you.I won’t forget this.Ever.”

The man shouldn’t thank him for a damn thing yet.Not while he was still behind bars.

Tameka led them out of lockup.Back through the station.And when they were right in front of the entrance doors, she shook her head and gave a disappointed sigh.“Thought you two would be more savvy.Don’t you know when you’re being played?That man is pulling on your heartstrings.”She pointed to Lane.“And using your past against you.”Another shake of her head.This time, a clearly disgusted shake.“You can’t let them get to you.Everyone has a sob story, and the guilty are often the ones who sing their innocence the loudest.”With that, she pivoted on her heel and went to meet her partner.

Pierce had just stepped out of one of the back offices.

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