'I don't know yet. Probably County. They've got the best trauma unit.'

'We're leaving now. Call when you know where they're taking him.'

'Wait,' Jeremy said. 'Does Della know?'

'Not yet. I'll call Audrey. If she's not home, I'll get Mrs Yarborough myself.'

'Thank you, Detective. Marcus?'

Marcus swallowed audibly. 'I'm here, Dad.'

'Okay. I just needed to hear your voice. We're on our way.'

Scarlett disconnected. 'Do you want to call Audrey?'

He nodded, made the call, his voice breaking all the way through. 'They're coming.'

Scarlett slipped his phone into his shirt pocket. 'Your family needs you.'

He shook his head, agony in his eyes. 'Gayle is my family too. God, when I think about what's he doing to her. Sonofabitch. If he hurts her, I'll kill him. I swear it.'

Scarlett drew his head down to hers, touching foreheads again. 'Don't think about that. You can't. We need to focus on finding out where he took her. The "why" is clear. He wants you. And he can't have you. Because you're mine, Marcus. You got that?'

He drew a breath. 'I got it. Let's go. Just stay with me, all right?'

She put her arm around his waist. 'Try to push me away.' She looked up to her father. 'Thanks, Dad.'

'I didn't do anything,' he said. 'You had it.'

The three of them had turned for the door when Marcus froze. Scarlett followed his gaze to the other side of the glass, where Kate Coppola was on the phone, her expression gone grim.

Deacon, Scarlett thought. Deacon had probably called Kate. But Marcus wasn't staring at Kate. He was staring at Alice Newman, who sat smiling. Smirking.

With a roar, Marcus snapped, pulling away before Scarlett could stop him.

'Fuck,' Scarlett muttered, chasing after him into the interview room, grabbing him around the waist and pulling back as hard as she could. But he was six-two and a solid two hundred twenty pounds of muscle. And out of his mind with fury.

He grabbed Alice, chair and all, and shoved her against the wall, reaching his hands for her throat.

'Marcus!' Scarlett yelled. 'Don't! If you kill her, she can't tell us anything.'

It was her father that stopped him, grabbing him by the shoulders and spinning him to the side. Marcus hit the wall hard. The officer standing guard in the room had him in a hold a second later, but Marcus didn't seem to even notice.

'Stop!' Jonas thundered, getting in front of Marcus, right in his face. 'You will not do this.' He jerked his head toward the door. 'Officer, get him out of here and cuff him if you have to. Just until he calms down.'

Scarlett took a minute to cup Marcus's face in her hands. 'She's shit, Marcus. Not worth your freedom. I need you.' She held him until he shuddered out a breath.

'I'm not sorry.' His body still trembled. 'I want her dead.'

'I know,' Scarlett said calmly. 'But if you kill her, they will take you from me. Please,' she added in a whisper. 'Trust me to do my job.'

He stared at her a long time, his breathing slowly calming. Finally he said, 'All right. I'll wait outside.'

Scarlett turned to Alice, who was grinning from ear to ear. Scarlett breathed calmly, letting her lips curve in a smile that no intelligent person would confuse for friendly. She held Alice's gaze until the bitch's grin faded.

'We haven't met, Alice. I'm Detective Bishop.' Dragging Alice's chair back to the table, she briskly cuffed the woman's other hand to the chair, yanking just hard enough to hurt her without the cameras picking up any suspicious movement. Then Scarlett sat down beside her, aware of her father standing at the door. Protecting me, she thought. She might not have needed protecting, but it was sure nice to have him watching her back. Just in case.

'Are you supposed to impress me?' Alice taunted. 'Scare me?'

'Do you know where you're going, Alice? Of course you do. You're a lawyer. But just in case you graduated at the bottom half of your class, let me explain that you're going to lockup pending your arraignment. Then you'll go to jail, and, sugar, orange is so not your color.'

'I'm so amused,' Alice said, rolling her eyes. 'Bored now.'

'Then jail's just the thing for you,' Scarlett said, continuing to smile. 'It'll be a party. Especially when everyone finds out that you're a pedophile. That you have bought and sold people. Children. For the sex trade.'

Alice shook her head, smiling as if Scarlett were pitiful. 'Pedophile? Really? You can't charge me with that. You're just trying to scare me and it won't work. You're fishing. You have no evidence at all and you know it.'

Scarlett hadn't known for sure, but the calculation in Alice's eyes told her that she'd hit pay dirt. 'I don't have to have evidence and you don't have to be charged. I just have to whisper to whoever's in lockup with you. Pedo was on the table, but you pled down. You're a lawyer. Anyone in jail will believe you're capable of shimmying out of a charge.'

Alice's jaw tightened. 'You've got nothing.'

'We've got pictures of you with Demetrius and Anders and Sweeney.'

'I just got them coffee.'

'It doesn't matter what you actually did, just what the rumor mill says you did.' Scarlett leaned forward. 'See, you're gonna be fresh meat to start with. With your pretty hair and soft skin. The others will hate you without knowing anything about you. But then they'll find out. I'll make sure they find out. It'll be fun, Alice. You'll be the belle of the ball. A real live debutante. And you'll stay alive. Your new friends won't want to lose their toy. Just think, Alice. Every day you'll be the center of attention. Everyone will want a piece of you. Every. Day. Every. Night.'

Real fear flickered in Alice's eyes. 'You don't scare me, Detective.'

'That's good, because I haven't touched you, except to cuff you. I do know a few people in the general population who owe me a favor or two. And they'll enjoy paying me back.' She leaned close. 'Because you're so pretty,' she whispered. 'For now.'

Alice glared at her lawyer. 'Are you going to sit there and let her get away with this?'

'Get away with what?' the man asked blandly. 'She's just complimenting you on how pretty you are. She hasn't threatened you at all.'

'I like your attorney, Alice. He's got common sense.' Scarlett stood up, glanced at the doorway to find that Kate Coppola had been silently watching. 'Agent Coppola, I think she's ready to go to lockup. I'll have an officer take her. I'll see you later, Alice. I think you'll enjoy meeting your new friends.'

'I won't tell you anything,' Alice said, but she was very pale. 'You can't bully me.'

'I really didn't think I could. I think I'll get the information I need from DJ.' She made a mental note to make sure he was brought in ASAP. 'My goal, Alice, is to see you get the ultimate prison experience.'

'DJ is in Interview Six,' Kate said. 'For realsies this time. He was brought in a few minutes ago.'

Alice's eyes flashed fury when she realized she'd bought Marcus's earlier lie about DJ having been arrested already. 'You failed him, you know,' she called when Scarlett turned to go.

'Failed who?' Scarlett asked, knowing exactly what Alice was going to say.

'O'Bannion. You told him you'd get me to talk.'

Scarlett smiled at her sweetly. 'No, I told him I'd do my job. One of my jobs is to get justice for the victims. Sometimes justice wears an orange jumpsuit.'

Scarlett left the room before she gave in to the urge to smack the woman senseless, leaning against the wall in the hallway where her father was waiting. 'Where's Marcus?' she asked.

'Right here,' Marcus said as he came out of the observation room. 'I'm calm now. I'm sorry I went after her.'

He looked drawn and exhausted and damn near defeated, worrying her. 'No you're not. I wish I hadn't had to stop you.'

'Are you going to interview DJ now?' he asked.

'Yes, since he's here "for realsies". You need to get to the hospital.' She looked back into the room with a frown. 'Although . . . Shit. The shooting at the Ledger was to lure you out. Maybe they'll wait for you at the hospital.'

Marcus opened his mouth to protest, then pursed his lips. 'Kevlar,' he said.

'Head shot,' she countered.

'Tactical helmet,' he returned. 'I wore them all the time in the Gulf. I kept myself alive for years, Scarlett. Trust me. You said it yourself my family needs me. I'm not hiding here and I'm sure as hell not going to abandon Stone. He needs to know I'm there.'

Scarlett nodded shakily. He was right and she knew it. He'd trusted her to do her job. She had to trust his good sense and the promises he'd made her. 'I trust you to stay alive. I don't trust them to stop trying and maybe hurting a lot of people in the process.'

He blanched. 'Shit. Oh shit.'

'Wait.' She glanced up at her father. 'What can we do to ensure the safety of everyone in that hospital? Because even if Marcus doesn't go-' She held up her hand to quell Marcus's protest. 'I know you're going, but even if you didn't, they may expect you to. If luring you to the hospital is the goal, they'll target it. Dad? What can we do to maximize security for everyone?'

'We'll post officers at every entrance,' her father said, 'and around the ER and OR. Weapons checks for everyone currently on the floor and anyone who gets off the elevator. The hospital itself has security protocols and we'll work with them. It will deter any assault through traditional means, at least.'

'That'll have to be good enough,' she said quietly, her eyes locked to Marcus's. 'I want to talk to DJ. Maybe he'll tell me where to find Kenneth Sweeney. With Demetrius dead and Anders captured, Sweeney may be the one left running the show.'

'I'll take Marcus to the hospital, Scarlett,' her father offered. 'You do your job here.'

Marcus nodded soberly. 'Thank you, Jonas. But if you'll give us a moment first, please?'

'Of course. I'll meet you in the lobby by the elevator.'

Scarlett took Marcus's hand and led him into an unoccupied consultation room, closed the door and gathered him into her arms. He shuddered and held her tighter. 'What will I do?' he whispered. 'Without Stone? And Gayle?'

'For now you believe that you'll get them back. Both of them.'

'And if I don't? It almost killed me to lose Mikhail. If I lost Stone . . .'

Scarlett pulled his head down for a hard kiss. 'Stop. You heard Jill. Stone is conscious. He will live. He's too obstinate not to.'

He nodded, more to convince himself than in agreement. 'So we just need to find Gayle.'

'Exactly.'

He rested his cheek on the top of her head. 'I should have shut the paper down until all this was over,' he said hoarsely. 'Why didn't I do that?'

'Because it would have put a lot of people out of work. You built that paper up, gave your employees financial security. Would any of them have stayed home if you'd given them a choice?'

'I don't know. I'll never know now.' He was quiet for a long moment. 'I've known Cal Booker for as long as I can remember. When I visited my grandfather, before we moved from Lexington, Cal was always here. Never treated me like I was in the way.' He tightened his hold. 'This is my fault, Scarlett. I never expected any of my people to get hurt.'

She thought about him going to the prison, confronting Woody McCord. 'You thought the McCords of the world would only come after you. Maybe you even wanted them to?'

'That's what Stone said, and now . . .'

'Look, Marcus, all I know is that every member of your team looked me in the eye and said it was worth the risk. Cal included.'

'Bridget didn't. Jerry didn't.'

'And for them you hired guards.'

'You're not going to let me feel guilty for this, are you?'

'No. Your family needs you. Your employees need you. They're going to be in shock and grieving. So if you want to do something for Cal, find a way to keep the paper going.'

'You're so calm.'

'But I won't always be. When I'm not, you'll be the calm one. I hear from a reliable source that that's how it's supposed to work.'

'Your dad told you that?'

'Among other things.' She lifted on to her toes to kiss him. 'Now go. I'll be there soon.'

'All right.' Straightening, he blew out a breath. 'I'll see you at the hospital.'

Thirty-five.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Wednesday 5 August, 8.45 P.M.

Scarlett found the OR waiting room full of people, including, to her amazement, both of her parents. Jackie Bishop was sitting next to Della, holding her hand. Marcus sat between his mother and Scarlett's father.

Deacon's fiancee, Faith, sat next to her uncle Jeremy, gently holding his hand, which was covered, as always, by the black leather gloves that hid the scars from the burns he'd received years before. Audrey sat on Jeremy's other side, no expression on her face.