Twenty-Three
“It’s okay, buddy. You’re going to be fine.” Jackson walked beside the stretcher while Dylan kept a vise grip on his arm. He kept going in and out of consciousness.
“I knew you’d find me,” Dylan mumbled. His eyes kept closing even as he struggled to keep them open. “Jack, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Dylan.”
Dylan shook his head. “No. I wanted to help my friend, but I shouldn’t have tried to do it alone.”
“I understand.” Jackson gently removed his arm from Dylan’s grasp. “Listen, Trevor and Eve are going to take you to the hospital. I have to give the police a statement, then I’ll be there.”
“Do I have to go back to the Reese’s house?”
Jackson shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll let you even if you wanted to. Mr. Reese has been arrested.”
Anger burned in Jackson’s gut every time he thought about Reese targeting Dylan. He didn’t think Cynthia had anything to do with her husband’s crimes, but he’d leave that to the police to investigate.
“On my count,” Trevor said. He and Eve hoisted the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, and Eve climbed in with Dylan. Trevor closed the door and gave Jackson a thumbs-up before he walked around to the front and got into the ambulance. Jackson remained in that spot until the vehicle had driven out of sight.
Sighing, he pivoted on his heel. He had assured himself that Dylan was safe. Now he itched to return to Mia and assure himself that she was as well.
He passed two officers leading Blaine Turner to a police cruiser. Another group of officers had taken custody of Sean and walked him back to be placed in a cruiser and driven off to jail. Jackson paused to watch as one of the officers placed a hand on top of Blaine’s head and guided him into the back seat. As Blaine straightened in the seat, he saw Jackson watching. His lip curled. Even now, his arrogance remained.
Jackson watched the officer slam the door between them. Satisfaction filled his gut. Blaine was out of the picture. They had him solid on drug dealing, human trafficking, fraud, and probably half a dozen more offenses. He would never be a state senator.
Mia stood watching the police car drive away. Jackson moved to her side and took her hand.
“Jackson,” Mark called out.
“Yeah.” Jackson waited while his friend jogged up to him.
“Guess what I just heard?” Mark shoved his hands into his pockets.
“What?”
Mark looked satisfied. “Captain Balluff announced that Roger Roussau has been located and arrested. They’re bringing him in now.”
Jackson’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. “Wow. That’s big news.”
“It is. We’ve been looking for him the past few weeks. He’s a suspect in a lot of other crimes. I’m glad your brother is safe.”
“Oh!” Mia broke in. “When Blaine had me, he talked about a syndicate? And said he was taking orders from a woman.”
Jackson’s brows rose.
Mark whistled. “Wow. Didn’t expect that.”
“I’m a bit lost,” Mia admitted.
Mark explained. “I don’t think Jackson knows this, but we’ve discovered that the drug Neurosync is being pushed by what’s called the Shadow Syndicate. Roger is involved up to his eyebrows. They found him hiding with a girlfriend under an assumed name.”
Jackson frowned. “From what I’ve heard, he’s been pretty hard to pin down.”
Mark nodded. “Yeah. But this time, I think we’ll have a solid case against him.”
“That’s great news, Mark,” Jackson said.
Mark gave them a slight salute and strode away.
