“Thank you,” Bethany gave him a tremulous smile. “I feel safe with you.”
She also had a way of looking at him like he was some storybook hero. That had to stop.
“You’re welcome,” he said gruffly. “Let’s get to the police station so you can talk to Miguel.”
Bethany nodded. They gathered what little she’d brought with her, signed discharge papers and Drew escorted her from the hospital.
It didn’t take long to go to the police station. From there Drew would be able to find out if her apartment had been cleared by forensics and she could return to pick up a few items. He brought Bethany to his desk, giving her his chair as he went to find Miguel.
“Colborne! My office,” Green bellowed across the room.
Drew winced. He obediently went into Green’s office, shutting the door behind himself.
“What is David Ramesly doing in my jail?” Green demanded. “I’ve got all sorts of people breathing down my neck.”
“He could be involved in the attempted murder of his friend Ted Searson’s daughter,” Drew said. He didn’t bother to even try to take a seat. Green wasn’t in a good mood at all.
“I’ve been told, in no uncertain terms, to cut him loose,” Green growled. “The mayor is involved now.”
“I know that nothing is going to likely stick to Ramesly,” Drew leaned forward, putting his hands on Green’s desk. “However, we can still hold him for twenty-four.”
“Do you know who is about to come to my office?” Green pointed to the chairs. “Sit down.”
Drew frowned and took a seat. “Who?”
“The FBI,” Green dragged a deep breath in and popped a couple pieces of gum designed to help him stop smoking. He looked at his empty coffee cup longingly. “We’ve apparently stepped on their toes. More specifically, you have.”
“What?” Drew questioned, frowning. “What did I do?”
“I’ll let Agent Lawe explain it,” Green groused. “He’s due here any second.”
“Lawe?” Drew growled. “Lawe, as in the guy we arrested at the boat drop? Lawe who let the gang in on the fact that I’m a detective?”
Lawe came in during the middle of Drew’s angry outburst. He shut the door after himself and looked at Drew with a small amount of amusement. “Yes, me.”
Drew sat back in his seat and refused to give into the tirade that he wanted to. He clenched his teeth and waited.
Lawe grabbed a chair and sat down without permission. He tossed a file on Green’s desk. “I’m sorry about throwing you under the bus, Colborne. It built my reputation with the gang members and assisted me in furthering my investigation. We’re very close on putting the squeeze on those in the top tier of the operation.”
“Thanks,” Drew muttered. Lawe had used Drew’s downfall to further his career. Drew wasn’t particularly enthused by that. “Am I still on suspension now that he’s confessed to screwing over my cover?”
Lawe raised an eyebrow. “You’re lucky you still have a job. You’ve just put some of my main suspects in jail. I’ll need a copy of all your reports.”
“If you’re talking about David Ramesly and Ted Searson, they attempted to kill someone,” Drew explained with a little tinge of sarcasm.
“This is huge,” Green looked up from the file he was perusing. “If this is true, they need an enormous business to launder that amount of money through.”
“They are billionaires,” Lawe said dryly. “They own some of the biggest chains of businesses in the country.”
“You’re saying the cargo ship carries only drugs? They bribe their way through customs of the countries they hail from?” Green pointed to the file that Lawe had supplied.
“Yes. Then it makes a number of drops to smaller privately owned yachts and pleasure crafts down the American coastline. The drugs are repackaged and redistributed as you have already determined with your small investigation that Colborne oversaw. This is international,” Lawes confirmed.
“That’s impressive,” Green flipped through pages of documents.
“Now it’s an FBI case,” Drew slumped in his chair.
“That’s right,” Lawe looked at Green. “I need you to release them.”
