Page 79 of Force At Third

“Ms. Deb, I just wanted to let you and Annie know that not one but three doctors have cleared Gwen for surgery, and she’s going to get through it just fine.”

“Thank you for calling, for being there. We can’t get a flight out until one o’clock tomorrow.” She sniffs. “We could drive, but?—”

“Remember that time I brought her home from a bonfire at Pat’s place?”

“How could I forget?”

“She’s in about the same shape right now—making no sense, telling people what to do, bossy, Ms. Deb, and downright irritable. By the time you and Annie get here, all that pain medication should be just about out of her system, and she’ll be as sweet as can be. Until then, Whitley, Pope, and I are here, and a whole lot of the Jags family, too. We’ll see you as soon as you touch down, all right?”

After we say our goodbyes, I think aloud, “How are Danny and the Shaw girls getting here?”

“Shit,” Whitley says then sighs loudly.

“Fuck,” Pope grumbles at the same time.

Not gonna say I’m not a little pissed off about that, ’cause I am.

Jase stands. “You wanna take a walk with me?”

“Yeah.” I push off the wall. “Should go down and let the boys know what’s up.”

We head to the elevator, and he asks, “How are you holding up?”

“Barely.”

“Thinking you may want to skip tomorrow’s game.” He presses the down arrow.

“Nah, I’m sure?—”

“I’m not asking; I’m telling you. Take the night. Take two, if you need them. We already have this series won.”

“I appreciate that, but if she wakes up hating me and needing me to be gone, I’ll need a distraction.”

“They ruled it arson,” he says as we step into the opening elevator and he hits the first-floor button.

“Good. He’ll do more time.”

“They have Janice in custody.”

“Good. Hope that bitch burns, too.” I lean against the wall and close my eyes.

“And Marks is in jail,” he says as the elevator stops and the door slides open.

I can’t help but laugh at his way of delivering shit news. “What could they have possibly gotten him on?”

“Thankfully, not murder one.” He shakes his head. “Wasn’t sure Hart wasn’t gonna kill that son of a bitch even before Marks got a hold of him.”

“So, how did Marks end up in jail?”

“Williams was cuffed in the back of his car, which, yeah, that’s easy to explain away, but Marks not pulling over while being pursued for ten miles; that’s the issue.”

“Where was he taking him?”

“That’s the other issue.” Jase chuckles. “Somewhere he’d never be found, his exact words. Justice and Gabby are on their way to get him out.”

When we step into the waiting room, it’s packed. Half with Jags players, and half with Steel.

He Knows

---