After hours spent breathing in the police station’s stale air, John couldn’t wait to push through the glass front doors and escape into the sunshine.
Rich, humid air that smelled of flowering plants and hot cement filled his lungs when he raked in a deep breath. The soft ocean breeze whispered over his skin like the touch of a longtime lover. And he turned his face toward the sun’s brilliant yellow glow, closing his eyes and letting its warmth bathe away the stress of the last few hours.
“I’m glad that’s over.” Olivia threaded an arm around Leo’s waist and placed her head against his shoulder.
“You ain’t the only one,” John concurred as Alvaro Martinez, the prosecutor on the case, exited the station’s front doors.
“I’m sure you’re all glad that’s behind you,” Martinez echoed their sentiments while sliding on a pair of flashy-looking sunglasses. “And I think you’ll be happy to hear I’m not moving forward with the felony murder charges.”
John felt a wave of relief even as he lifted an eyebrow. “Really? Why’s that?”
Martinez frowned. “My whole case would hinge on the jury being unsympathetic toward the defendants, and that’s not going to happen. They’re all family men with no priors. I’m not going to waste taxpayer money on a sure shot loss.”
“So then it’ll just be the lesser charges they’ll face?” Cami asked.
The poor woman didn’t look like she’d slept a wink since the storm, and John had spent the time Dana had been in with Dixon and Martinez racking his brain for a way to wipe some of the misery off her face. Ultimately, however, he’d decided the only person who could do that was Doc. And the man was 3000 miles away.
Martinez nodded. “Which they’ve already agreed to plead guilty to. I’ll push the judge for the full twenty-year sentence. He’ll probably settle on fifteen. And with good behavior, your would-be thieves could be out in as little as ten.”
“I know I should be upset by that. They were planning to kill us, after all. But I just can’t bring myself to feel animosity toward them.” Dana frowned. “I just feel sorry for them. They’re pitiable.”
John was distracted from Cami’s misery by Dana’s compassion.
Her cornflower-blue eyes held such kindness. Her springy blond curls bounced as she shook her head. And her sad expression took up her whole face.
He was hit by the nearly overwhelming urge to bend down and kiss her frown away. Probably because he knew just how quickly that frown could dissolve into a moue of passion.
Dana Levine was averyresponsive lover. Not to mention eager and enthusiastic. And, most charmingly of all,fun. He’d never been with a woman who could be orgasming one minute and laughing the next.
Martinez shook his head. “Which is exactly how a jury would feel about them.” He glanced down at his watch. “Damn. I’m late. Have a great day.”
He gave them a dismissive wave and marched toward a baby-blue convertible Porsche Boxster.
“Seems like a nice guy,” Olivia muttered sarcastically after he sped out of the parking lot.
“Prosecutors aren’t generally the touchy-feely sort.” Cami made a face. Not for the first time that day John thought her voice sounded hoarse. Like she’d spent the night crying. “They have all sorts of political pressures and bureaucratic red tape to get through. Not to mention they get to see just how unfair and arbitrary our justice system can be. I haven’t met one who isn’t jaded as fuck.” She winced. “Sorry. The New Yorker comes out in me when I’m tired.”
Taking her cell phone from her giant carryall purse, she thumbed on the screen and then glanced around at the group. “Dana and I have a flight leaving for the mainland in an hour. I’m calling an Uber. Are you guys headed back to the airport too or—” She let the sentence dangle.
“Nah.” Leo shook his head. “We didn’t fly in. We sailed here on the catamaran.”
Cami had been staring at her phone, pushing buttons on the screen, but that had her looking up at Leo and then over to John. “It survived? I thought you said it sank.”
“Thought she did.” John shrugged. “But she only came loose of her moorings and started driftin’ toward Cuba. The Coasties found her and brought her back to me last night. She’s fit as a fiddle except for a little damage to her boom basket.”
“That’s great news.” Cami tried for a smile, but the expression hurt John to look at. It was like a smile that’d been shattered into a million sharp pieces. “I know how much you love that boat.”
He nodded. “She’s a peach.”
And then everyone fell into an awkward silence.
Idle chitchat felt trite. But no one wanted to touch the ten-thousand-pound gorilla that was the subject of Doc. Because, really, what could any of them say to someone whose heart was so obviously broken? And by one of their very own?
Thankfully, a black Ford Escape with the lighted Uber sticker in the window pulled up to the curb next to them, proving the car had been close when Cami put in her request. The driver was a young man, no more than twenty-five, who wore his baseball cap backward. He rolled down the passenger window and leaned across the seat to yell, “I’m here for Camilla D’ Angelo?”
“That’s me.” Cami gave a half-hearted wave. “Be there in a sec.” Turning back to the gathered group she said, “I guess that’s it.” Her face looked ready to crumble, like some of the ancient wooden artifacts they’d been unable to save from theSanta Cristana’sremains. “Thank you all for letting me be your lawyer. I’m sorry I messed everything up at the end.” Her lips trembled. “Turns out I’m one of those people who should use a glue stick in place of ChapStick.”
Her attempt at levity fell flat. Mostly because it was so very obvious to everyone that she was absolutely miserable.
