“He was removed,” Dante said.“Permanently.”
I slammed my palm against the desk.“Do you have any idea what you just did to my case?”
He stepped closer.“You don’t have a case anymore.”
“Oh, I absolutely did,” I snapped.“I had him dead to rights.He was going to prison for decades.Decades, Dante.You didn’t need to touch him.”
“You didn’t see what he did,” Dante said quietly.
I froze.
“I know everything that man did,” I said.“I followed the money.I saw the damage.Families ruined.Bodies buried.You think you’re the only one who cared?”
“He framed Gonzo’s son,” Dante shot back.“He had Pop Squally killed.The man who was a father to Lamonte and mattered to all of us when we served under him was dead because of Hampton Stanley and he put GJ on the hook for a murder he didn’t commit.Lamonte would have avenged Pop Squally if he was alive too.”
The words landed like a punch.
My chest tightened.
“He murdered Pop Squally,” he continued, voice low, lethal.“Blamed GJ.Put him in a cage and smiled while doing it.”
I swallowed.“And now you’ve turned him into a martyr,” I stated.“You’ve given every dirty politician in this county an excuse to scream conspiracy.”
“He disappeared,” Dante said.“That’s all anyone knows.”
“Exactly,” I snapped.“Which means now it looks like the federal investigator with personal ties to this town loses her suspect under mysterious circumstances.Do you know what that does to my credibility?”
He didn’t answer.
“Do you?”I pressed.
His silence burned worse than shouting.
“I stuck my neck out,” I shared, my voice cracking despite my effort to hold it steady.“I called in favors.I burned bridges.I put my name on that warrant.And now there’s no body.No defendant.No prosecution.”
“You’re clean,” he said.
“No,” I shot back.“I’m compromised.”
He frowned.“Juanita?—”
“Don’t,” I warned.“Don’t use my name like that.Not when you just torched my career.”
His eyes darkened.“I didn’t do this to hurt you.”
“That’s almost worse,” I said bitterly.“Because it means you didn’t even consider me.”
The truth hung between us, heavy and sharp.
Dante exhaled slowly.“I would’ve protected you.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me,” I snapped.“I’m not some woman you shield from the ugly parts of the world.”
“I know exactly who you are,” he said.“That’s why I kept you out of it.”
I shook my head.“You didn’t keep me out.You dragged me in and then pulled the rug out from under me.”
He stepped closer, voice lowering.“He was never going to see a cell.”
