Chapter Thirty-three
By the time they had everything organized at the jail, Lance felt like he’d gone through a wringer, and he hurt in places no medicines could heal. Listening to the poor kid tell her story a second time, he knew what to expect and how horrific the experience had been.
“Enough, she’s been through a terrible ordeal, and she needs her rest.” He’d been happy to hold her hand while the interrogation had continued but he’d seen her flagging and knew they pressed too hard… had gone too far. “Give her some respect. She didn’t instigate this crime, she’s the victim. Go arrest the real perpetrator.”
Jennie’s eyes, hard as steel bullets, let him see her anger over the scandal. “Oh, you can bet on that. As we speak, we’re searching for the bastard, and he’ll be arrested. In the meantime, you’re right. Melena needs rest.”
Jennie turned to the young girl who sat by the desk, her face resting on her arms. She knew that making Melena go through the proper channels, calling in a social worker, and forcing her into a strange home would probably be the worst thing they could do to the girl right now. She turned to Lance. “Do you have somewhere she can stay?”
“Just my place. She feels safe there. But I can’t obviously stay with her. Not alone anyway.”
“No, I can see that. Look, I’ll stay with her tonight until we can make other arrangements. Would that be okay?”
“Better than okay. I can’t thank you enough.” Lance turned to Kane. “I might not be on the job for a day or so. That work for you?”
“Do I have a choice?” Kane nodded reluctantly. “I don’t mean to be a prick about this but as you already know, things are heating up fast, so I’ll need you with me as soon as you can get away.”
“Right. I understand.” Lance scrubbed at his face and tried to hide his worry. “We’ll take it one day at a time. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Maybe I can ask Lisa to stay with Mellie.” He turned to Jennie. “Do you think she would?”
“Her choice. You’ll have to ask her. If not, how about if Mellie comes to the house and stays with Baba and us.” Jennie stood to leave. “We’ll figure out something, but for now, we need to get her home so she can rest.” She turned to Kane, “I’m sure my boss will give me permission to work with you if you need extra backup. He’s pretty easy to get along with, and this type of situation you’re implicated in with the Entitled is something the FBI often handles or provides reinforcement for. I know he’d be willing for one of his operatives to get involved.”
Kane swiveled in her direction; eyes narrowed. “Jesus, how did you get to know so much?”
“Right, I forgot to tell you. Lisa takes extensive notes along with her videos. She let the writing pad fall open and disgusting words like an active White Supremacist group tends to grab one’s attention.”
Kane nodded, accepting her explanation. “I’ll think on it.”
“You do that.” Jennie looked irritated. “Besides, now that we’ve let the boss know about Melena and her true situation, he’s extremely annoyed that the man he respected at one time could have become the monster we’ve heard about today. He feels he’s been played, and trust me, nothing infuriates the guy more.”
Kane nodded, “No doubt. Anyone would hate to think they’d been so wrong about a person they figured they knew. It’s demoralizing.”
“Yeah.” Jennie stared at Kane, and he flinched.