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Ness sank back in his seat, looking as though he’d had the wind knocked out of him. “I knew the chance of seeing him prosecuted for this was slim, but I still hoped...”
“I had the same hope,” Drake said grimly. “And now there’s a possibility that Danbury will hear that I tried to bring a case against him.”
“We’ll just have to keep following that bastard until he makes a mistake,” Ness replied, his eyes sparking with anger. “We can’t let him kill anyone else.”
“I know.” Drake sank into a chair, all of his fight gone for the moment. “But between that and this thing with Heather...” He just shook his head, unable to even finish his thought, let alone his sentence.
“Well, maybe O’Brien can think of something,” Ness suggested, seeming to take pity on him. “I’ll talk to Miss Fields first. One catastrophe at a time, I always say.”
* * *
HEATHER PACED THE NARROWcell, her thoughts chaotic, still somewhat shocked that Drake had actually thrown her in jail. She supposed she should be glad that at least she’d been granted a private cell because she was quite certain she wasn’t tough enough to survive among those who regularly ended up in such places.
Shortly after Constable Graham had brought her here, she’d had a very lengthy visit from Sebastian Ness. Jocelyn’s husband had been kind but he’d also questioned her relentlessly about both her involvement in the kidnapping and the bombing.
She’d been completely honest with Inspector Ness, and he’d seemed sympathetic to her plight, but he’d been evasive about why she was actually being held and what the charges against her were. She had a feeling he didn’t actually know, that Drake had sent him to question her but hadn’t told him the whole story.
Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them fiercely away. She’d cried enough already. She needed to clear her mind and try to figure out what was happening. Would she really spend the next few years of her life in this room? Just the thought of it made the walls close in even more.
Before she could go down that road too much further, she heard the lock turn, and then the door opened, admitting Allison.
She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
“Heather!” her sister cried, rushing forward and embracing her in a bone-crushing hug. “I came as soon as I heard!”
For a moment, Heather just hugged Allison tightly, overwhelmed by the thought that she had someone on her side now, someone she could count on. Allison had always been that for her, but as a friend and an employer, not in the way a sister would be. “Thank you for coming,” she breathed.
Allison finally stepped back, looking her over from head to toe as if to make sure she wasn’t injured. “Are you all right? What on earth was Blackstone thinking? I’ll have his job for this, I swear.”
Hanging her head, Heather sat down on the edge of the narrow bed, leaving room for Allison to sit beside her. “It’s not his fault. I was part of the Citizens Committee, Allison. I was there when they bombed that building and I was in on Drake’s kidnapping. I deserve to be here, but that doesn’t make it any less scary.”
“Oh, Heather,” Allison murmured in dismay, sinking down on the bed beside her. “How did you get involved with people like that?”
Heather sighed and then reluctantly told Allison everything.
When she was finished, Allison just shook her head and jutted her chin stubbornly. “That bastard took advantage of you. He threatened you and terrified you. What else were you supposed to do?”
“I don’t know,” Heather replied miserably. “I just wish I could go back and make better decisions. I wish I’d never gotten involved with Jacob to begin with. I’m so sorry that I’ve done these terrible things now, of all times, when you’ve accepted me as your sister. I’ll understand if you have to distance yourself. Tell all those people you invited over last night that you were wrong.”
Allison shook her head dismissively. “I don’t give a fig what other people think. I’m just worried about you. As soon as I leave here, I’m going to find you the best solicitor money can buy. I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”
This time, Heather couldn’t hold back the tears. When Allison had her mind made up, no force on earth could get in her way. “Thank you so much,” she managed. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“You’re my sister,” Allison said softly. “There are no debts between sisters.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Heather said, overwhelmed by Allison’s unconditional support despite what she’d done. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve nothing but good things,” Allison said firmly. “Nothing that has happened changes that. You were just trying to help make this world a better place, and that bastard took advantage of you. I’m just disappointed in Blackstone. I expected better of him.”
“He’s just doing his job,” Heather said, wondering why she still felt the need to defend him. He’d proven that he didn’t really care about her at all, so why couldn’t she shake the soul-deep hurt that he hadn’t even tried to understand how afraid she’d been of Jacob?
“Well, Quinn is a man of the law too,” Allison said sharply. “But his first loyalty would always be to me, no matter what I’d done.”
“Not many people have what you and Quinn have,” Heather reminded her, even though, for just a few days, she’d thought that maybe she could have a taste of such happiness and companionship. She supposed that Quinn and Allison’s relationship had been what had driven her to strive so hard to find someone of her own. She’d wanted what they had so badly.
“I’m sorry,” Allison said with a huff. “I just thought he really cared about you. I thought he was going to protect you. But then he refused to listen to you and threw you in jail!”
“I don’t blame him,” Heather admitted. “I knew this would be hard for him to forgive. He’s a man of honor and principles. That’s why I decided to tell him myself. I knew he’d never understand if Jacob told him, but I thought that maybe if I was honest with him...” She laughed bitterly and shrugged. “If our positions were reversed, I probably would have done the same thing.”
