“I know, I know. But he’s fucked up.”
“He’s a liability, that’s what he is.”
Vaughn couldn’t argue with that.
“He’s going to get help, Delaney. Cut him some slack.”
“Too late for that. I didn’t say nothin’ to Daniels yet because this shit blew up, but I will when it’s over. I’m going to report his ass. He thought I was gunning for his job before?”
Fuck.
Vaughn saw his partner in bed, his gun resting by the pillow.
It’s all I’ve got, man...
“I’ll tell you what, I’llmakehim get help.”
“It’s—”
—not enough.
“And when a spot opens up in the detective ranks, I’ll go to bat for you. Tell them that when we catch this asshole, you helped. Invaluable, all that stuff.”
“I want the collar.”
Vaughn winced. He’d been fine with Delaney bringing in Perry partly because he didn’t think the man was responsible. Even if Perry had been, things had changed since. Darnell needed the collar as much as anyone. Maybe even more. For Delaney, catching the asshole behind these gassings meant a promotion. For Darnell, it meant keeping his job.
Hislife.
“I’ll put a word in—I promise. Remember what you said about Darnell holding me back? I’ll use that. I’ve got some sway with the captain, keeping Darnell in check for as long as I have. Please, Delaney.”
Delaney was still on the fence, but Captain Daniels’s arrival put an end to the discussion. And the cop was right. Daniels was pissed, his face so red it bordered on purple. He stomped his feet like some sort of granite golem.
Delaney’s little meter indicated that the levels of H2S gas outside the barn had finally had dropped too low to do any damage, but Vaughn kept his mask on anyway—and instructed Ivy to do the same. Daniels didn’t have one.
With all the smoke coming out of his nose and ears, no gas could enter his system.
“Detective Ryan, what the hell—”
Like Delaney, it took the captain a few seconds before he noticed Ivy.
“What thehell?” Same words, very different intonation. “I thought I told you that Dr.Reeves was not to be involved!”
“I know. But—”
“You disobeyed a direct—”
“Iaminvolved,” Ivy said, stepping forward.
The captain glared at her.
“You’re a civilian, Dr.Reeves.”
“I know that. But the note was addressed to me. I’m the one who reported Zeke to Dr.Moorehead. I’m the one who should have gone to the cops after he assaulted Rebecca the first time.”
Vaughn didn’t know how much Darnell had told Daniels, how much the captain knew. He couldn’t read the man’s scarlet face, either. The captain’s lack of reaction to the mention of a note and the initial assault on Rebecca Quinn hinted that he was apprised of everything.
Vaughn wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing. Either way, it saved him from explaining, which might make Ivy second-guess herself, repeat her claim that if she had worked faster, they might have been able to save her boss.
