Page 134 of Nightshade

“Really? Who?”

“Waiting to find out.”

Stilwell trusted Mercy implicitly, but it was safe practice not to talk about arrests before they happened. She would learn soonenough that the highest-profile arrest in the island’s history was about to go down—that is, if Oscar Terranova’s testimony convinced the grand jury to hand down an indictment.

Stilwell went into the jail to eyeball Crane. As expected, he was on his bunk and looked like he was sleeping. Stilwell returned to the bullpen and grabbed a Diet Coke out of the fridge, then went into his office and shut the door. He had arrest documentation to prepare for both Crane and Allen.

The call from Juarez came in shortly before two. By then Stilwell had gone through three levels of anxiety, wondering what had gone wrong with the case and worrying that the jurors had not believed either him or Terranova.

“Go get him,” Juarez said.

“Okay,” Stilwell said. “What did they return?”

“Like we said. Conspiracy to commit murder, but they also threw in obstruction of justice on the abduction.”

“It was more than obstruction of justice.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll upcharge him down the road.”

Stilwell would be sure to tell Tash that.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll go get him and send him over on the chopper.”

“You coming with him?” Juarez asked.

“Probably not. I don’t really need to, and I’ve got someplace to be.”

“Tash?”

Stilwell hesitated. It felt like Juarez was trying to slide back into the mix of professional and personal banter they had often shared before the revelation of her complicity with Terranova. He knew things would never be the same again. He could never trust her.

Juarez stepped into the silence, seemingly understanding that things had changed.

“Okay, Stil, go do your thing.”

Stilwell disconnected and proceeded to print out the paperwork he had been working on. Because of the communal printer in the office, he had held off doing so until he got the green light from Juarez.

He stepped out of the office and collected the printouts before Mercy could get a look at them.

“Mercy, who’s out on patrol?” he asked.

“Ilsa and Ralph,” Mercy said.

“Is either on a call?”

“Uh, no, last time Ralph checked in, he was posted up by the golf course. He’s the one who asked about the sheriff’s chopper.

He saw it come in.”

“What about Ramirez?”

“She was on Crescent by the ferry dock.”

“Can you get on the radio and tell them to meet me at City Hall? I’m going up there now.”

“Should I say what it’s for?”

“No. Just tell them to meet me there in the circle. It’s not a call for backup.”

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