“He’s not our guy,” he says, closing the distance between us and coming to a stop right in front of my desk. “He works night shift at the ol’ Philips plant. He alibied out. Was even able to confirm with his boss that he was clocked in and actively working the nights Gwen and Heather were murdered.”
“Shit.” I don’t know what else to say.
“Yeah,” Shane comments. “Shit is exactly what you did tonight.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry, man. I don’t know what got into me.”
“You don’t know?” he questions, but he isn’t looking at me in a clueless kind of way. “You can’t put the pieces of the puzzle together?”
“Oh, let me guess,” I retort through a sarcastic laugh. “You think this has something to do with Hannah.”
“I think?” It’s his turn to laugh. “Oh no, Dom. Iknow.”
When I don’t say anything to that, he keeps going. “What’s going on? Bringing Hannah to a family party? Dropping her off at home? What are you doing?”
“It’s not like that. I’m just being friendly,” I refute, even though I know I’m lying through my teeth.
“And I take it you volunteering to be the free patrol car outside Hannah’s house at night is you just being friendly, right?” He keeps going. “Same with you bringing her coffee every morning? Taking her out to dinner and bringing her to the bar the one night? Or how about you taking her to your parents’ house today, even though the last time you introduced a woman to them was over five years ago and you were in a serious relationship with Carla? That’s your definition ofjust being friendly?”
When I don’t say anything, he adds, “Dom, you’re beingfriendlywith someone who is technically an informant on this case. You’re being friendly with someone you shouldn’t be getting close to at all, because it’s creating a serious conflict of interest. For the both of us.”
“What are you trying to say, Shane?”
“I’m saying you’re in too deep, brother. You’re in too fucking deep with someone you shouldn’t be in deep with at all.” He pats me on the shoulder. “Just ... think about it, man. Just try to take a step back and really think about it. Because from where I stand, if you’re involved with Hannah, you shouldn’t be involved in this case.”
My head spins as he drops a file on his desk and heads back toward the interrogation rooms.
“Where are you going?”
“To help Kutch get Waylon ready to go to County, and then I’m getting the fuck out of here,” he calls over his shoulder and doesn’t look back.
He’s pissed at me. That much is obvious.
Is Shane right? Am I no longer standing in the shallow end of the friendly fucking pool, but treading in the deep end with Hannah?
Yeah, I probably am.
But the truth is, I don’t think I could go back to the shallow end even if I tried.
25
Hannah
10:45 p.m.
I stand in front of the security camera that’s now on the inside of my house, pointing directly toward the hallway that leads to my mom’s bedroom. With a little wave of my hand in the air, I look down at the screen of my phone, which shows my movements on a slight delay, and silently congratulate myself on setting up yet another security camera correctly.
After Dom dropped us off earlier this evening, I couldn’t stop thinking about how my mom had woken up before me this morning and walked out of the house without me knowing. Or the fact that if Dom hadn’t been in my driveway, installing a new battery in my Civic, I have no idea what could’ve happened to her. I warred with myself over whether I should use the extra security camera I still had unopened in the box—a leftover from my order a few weeks ago. I couldn’t decide if it violated my mom’s privacy in some way, but eventually, keeping her safe became my top priority.
Luckily, Sherry thinks Gibbs and Tony instructed me—Ziva—to install this new camera and is none the wiser.
When I realize the clock is nearing eleven, I coax her into turning offNCIS, just as the credits start to play on one of her favorite episodes. In “Requiem,” from season 5, Gibbs doesn’t hesitate to help a childhood friend of his daughter, Kelly. You find out that both Gibbs’s daughter and wife were murdered, and the episode ends with a wild underwater rescue from Sherry’s favorite character, Tony DiNozzo.
It’s her favorite part—she claps and cheers every time she watches it, and tonight was no different. Though, while she was giving Tony a standing ovation, I kept thinking about how ironic it is that she’s attached Tony to Dom.
Of all the people on her favorite show, she sees Dom as Tony and me as Ziva. The two characters she loves to see get together.
“One more?” she asks, and I shake my head, reaching out to hold both of her hands and pull her up from the couch. I can tell by the uncertain look on her face that the dark night is bringing confusion and uncertainty.
