"Has there been any news on Atkins?" I knew he'd been arrested, but not much more than that. The police had kept things pretty quiet so the media wouldn't get wind of his arrest. Apparently, they didn't want the headache anymore than the rest of us.
"He's still being evaluated in a loony bin. Apparently, he insists that shifters are real, and that's why he attacked us, because he believes I'm a shifter. Go figure." Danny snickered. "The prosecutor says he has enough evidence to go to trial, but he can't take anything before a judge if Atkins is ruled insane."
"So, he's in a nut house then?"
"It's a secure facility. The St. Petersburg Home for the Criminally Insane. He'll be there until they either figure out if he's nuts, in which case he'll stay there, or sane, in which case, he goes to trial."
"For what exactly?" I asked. "Not paying his inheritance taxes?"
Bringing Atkins' oversight to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service had been a stroke of genius on Danny's part. No one wanted to mess with Atkins, but the IRS was tenacious about getting whatever money was owed them. They could care less who Atkins was.
Once Atkins' assets and finances were seized, the dominos had started to fall, one right after the other. It was kind of hard for the man to pay people off when he didn't have any way to pay them.
Even the thugs working for him had turned against him, giving full details into Atkins' plans to kidnap Danny and the things the man had done to ensure it happened. They were spilling the beans just as fast as their lips could flap.
"I gave the tape of Atkins shooting you to the police," Ian said, "along with the video of his men breaking into the place and shooting it up. That, combined with the tapes Danny gave them when Atkins broke into his old place, was enough to get him charged with breaking and entering plus attempted murder."
"What about my kidnapping?" I seriously wanted the man to pay for what he'd done to me.
"We didn't have that on tape, but apparently, one of his men was actually an undercover cop, and he had a lot to report to his superiors." Ian lifted his left eyebrow. "It seems you two might have met? An Officer Brody?"
"He never gave me his name," I replied, "but he was probably the guy that rescued me from Atkins and took me to that motel. He was the one who told me to tell Danny to follow the money."
"The department is going to reinstate him since their investigation showed he wasn't the one who messed with the cameras or had anything to do with the break-in at Danny's old place. It was all his partner, who was fired and is currently being brought up on charges."
"Will Officer Brody get any kind of compensation for what he went through?"
Ian nodded. "His captain told me he was being fully reinstated with all his back pay and they were putting a commendation in his jacket for uncovering Atkins' black market ring."
I kind of felt bad for the guy. That didn't seem like much compensation for what the detective must have gone through. Of course, there was a part of me who didn't want to forgive Brody. He had stood there while Atkins' shocked me over and over again, and he hadn't put a stop to it. I understood why, but that didn't make me any less resentful.
I was done with this conversation. I had given Atkins enough of my life already. He didn't get to have any more. I stood and started for the front door, smiling as I glanced back over my shoulder. "I'm going to order some pizza. Anyone want to join me?"
"Got beer?" Hank asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Of course."
"I'm in." Hank grabbed Ian and started dragging him toward the door.
Abe just picked Danny up and tossed him over his shoulder. "We like beer and pizza."
"You like beer," Danny replied. "I think it tastes like piss water."
I chuckled. "I have some wine coolers for you, Danny."
Andrew arched an eyebrow. "Do you have any wine?"
Uh… "No, but I can run to the store and get a bottle."
"I’ll run and grab a bottle from the house," Cooper said before leaning down to kiss Andrew. "Be right back, love."
Andrew just smiled and walked into the house.
I chuckled again as I shook my head. I wasn’t sure I'd ever understand how those two got together. A soldier and a model. They seemed worlds apart, and yet they were perfect for each other.
I had thought I was perfect for someone, but guess I was wrong there. It was a pain I knew I'd have to get used to because I didn't think it was going away anytime soon. Jack had taken a huge piece of me when he left, one I wasn't sure I'd ever get back.
I wanted to hit Jack almost as much as I wanted to hit Atkins. Both had hurt me tremendously, one physically, one emotionally.
