“Yes, Sal?”
“I want him in a maximum-security prison.”
“I’ll see that it’s done.”
“Maximum security?” I never expected Fernandez to perk up. “Are you talking about the one where there are no visitors allowed and you have to be in your cell twenty-three hours a day? That maximum security?”
“Yes,” I answered, confused.
“Please.” Fernandez pressed his hands together. “Please, I’m begging you. Put me in maximum security. I swear I will tell you everything I know if you just lock me up and never let him near me.”
He was pointing at Lany.
I stared down at the alluring man in my arms. How could he ever think Lany was a threat? Lany was adorable. He’d never intentionally hurt anyone.
I chuckled as I hugged Lany in my arms. “Only you could scare a drug kingpin into begging to be locked up.”
Lany beamed. “I told him I was special. He didn’t believe me.”
“I may need to bring you in to train my men.”
When I heard someone speak, I glanced over toward the doorway to find Supervisory Special Agent Crenshaw standing there, a look of total disbelief on his face.
“Oh.” Lany pushed away from me and ran over to the storyboard. He quickly wrote something down on a sticky note and then stuck it on the board. “All of these guys”—he pointed to the storyboard before pointing at Fernandez—“are Hector Fernandez.”
“We’ve been looking for him for a long time,” Crenshaw stated, “but no one has ever seen a picture of him. How do you know it’s him?”
“He admitted it to me,” Lany stated. “Brant can get you a copy of the surveillance tapes for the study. He admitted to everything, including torturing and killing Agent Decker and Alex SeRoy.” I growled when Lany pointed to the torn fabric on his tactical vest. “He also shot me.”
“He’s pleading for maximum security,” Jerry stated. “Says he’ll tell you guys everything he knows if you promise to keep Junior away from him.”
Crenshaw’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
“We’re serious.” I nodded before gesturing to the man kneeling across the room. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask him yourself.”
Supervisory Special Agent Crenshaw glanced at Fernandez before walking over to stand in front of him. “Are they telling the truth? Are you really Hector Fernandez?”
Fernandez glanced at Lany. I don’t know what he saw, but his face went pale, and he started talking rapidly, giving out names, drug manufacturing locations, secret bank accounts, the works. He admitted to every crime right down to stealing a stick of gum when he was six years old.
By the time Supervisory Special Agent Crenshaw had someone take him away, it was daylight and Lany was leaning against me, his favorite throw blanket tossed over him. We’d seen the kids and long ago sent them off to bed. Lany had seen his mother, cried all over her, and then swore up and down he’d never get shot again.
I didn’t believe that one.
“How does he do it?” Crenshaw asked. “How does he solve all of these cases when the best minds at the FBI and the DEA couldn’t?”
I shrugged but just a little. I didn’t want to wake Lany. “We’ve never been able to figure it out.” There were a lot of things about Lany I had never been able to figure out, like why he had been single when we met. “He’s the way he is, and we just accept it.”
Crenshaw chuckled as he stood. “Well, I’m glad he is. He just broke open one of the biggest cases in our agency. We’ve been after Hector Fernandez for years, but we’ve never been able to catch him. Hell, we didn’t even know what he looked like. Now, we can connect him to a bunch of other cases.”
“Just make sure he’s put behind bars at a maximum-security facility.” I wanted the man locked up for the rest of his life.
“Oh, he will be. He refused to answer any of our questions unless we promised maximum security and a guarantee that Lany will never visit him.”
I chuckled as I stroked my hand down the side of Lany’s face. “He doesn’t like my little darling.”
“He’s terrified of your little darling.” Crenshaw chuckled as he started for the door. “I’ll send cupcakes tomorrow.”
“This was a pretty big bust, Crenshaw. You might want to send a cake.”
