Fit to be Tied (Marshals 2)

“I wanted him stuffed in a hole twenty-three hours a day, and guess what? Now he is.”

“You’re being completely shortsighted! Hartley has never been the kind of prisoner who needs that!” Oliver choked, clearly incensed even as he took a quick breath.

“Oh no? I have a marshal who would disagree with you. I have people who lost their parents who would also. I have nineteen women who lost their lives, and lastly, I have a little girl who was kidnapped, and her parents had to live through that.”

“Yes, but—”

“I’ve had someone I love kidnapped. It’s a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

I was struck by Kage’s voice when he said that last part, how it rose slightly, got louder, and I wanted to ask what had happened even as I knew it was not my place to ever even broach the topic. It was clear that remembering the incident still hurt, and for a moment, I wished we were closer so I could offer him some word of comfort.

“You’re putting emotion into a situation that—”

“No,” Kage said flatly. “I asked my boss for ADX Florence for Craig Hartley and it’s done. His paperwork was signed four hours ago, and tomorrow he’ll be transferred. If you want to see him from now on, you’ll have to put in a request six months prior.”

“Amazing how quickly things can work when we want something, isn’t it, Chief Deputy?” Oliver said, his tone sharp and accusatory, the perspiration on his forehead and upper lip pronounced.

Kage could not have appeared any more unimpressed if he tried.

“What about the people Hartley’s saved by helping us with our investigations over the years since his incarceration? It seems to me you’ve conveniently forgotten all that.”

“The risk doesn’t outweigh the reward,” Kage answered mildly, nothing Oliver was saying doing anything to change his mind. “And my boss—and yours, I might add—agree with me.”

I was the one they had sent to talk to Hartley whenever they wanted his insight, so I actually understood what Oliver was saying. The doctor had saved lives by steering law enforcement in the right direction at times, and the fact that a lot of the people perpetrating the crimes were from his legion of fans who contacted him, who he could name, didn’t hurt either. So I got where Oliver was coming from, that one marshal’s life wasn’t worth what could be gained by continual access to Hartley. But I didn’t get to decide. My boss did, and apparently, to him, the scale tipped in my favor.

Oliver moved quickly then, apparently pushed to the breaking point, and I could tell when he drilled two fingers into Kage’s collarbone that he was far more upset than I was even giving him credit for since he took his life in his hands by putting his on my boss.

“You’ve always been a self-righteous asshole, even when you were a police detective!”

It was interesting to watch Kage simply stand there and wait until Oliver realized what he’d done and let his hand drop. I knew Kage wouldn’t report Oliver; it wasn’t his way. But Oliver would know for the rest of his life that he’d lost his shit in front of witnesses.

“Will that be all?” Kage asked like he could give a fuck.

Oliver muttered something under his breath and the FBI agents filed out of the room. None of us said a word, and when they were gone, Kage closed the door behind them and turned his steely slate blue stare on me.

“You won’t have to worry about Hartley again. Now that we have him, we’re not going to let him go. His following, such as it is, will no longer have any access to him. Everything will settle down now, Jones.”

“Yes sir,” I answered, still shaken by what he’d done, and at the finite end I was suddenly facing. The surge of overwhelming emotion made it hard to speak.

I was safe.

Ian was safe.

We were all safe because of Sam Kage.

I exhaled all of it, the prickling disquiet of life balanced on the edge of a razor, the burden of uncertainty and dread.

I inhaled relief and calm and most of all, gratitude for my life, because it belonged to me again. It took great concentration not to throw myself into Ian’s arms.

“Jones.”

“Sir?”

“Take your laptop home with you and file the reports from there. Since you missed having today off, take Monday, and you and Kohn, too, Doyle. All three of you take Monday. I won’t call unless I need you.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said, standing up. “For all of it, for everything.”

“Yessir, thank you,” Ian said roughly, rising beside me.

All five of us were on our feet as he walked out the door without saying another word.

Dorsey nodded before turning to me. “Damn, Jones, boss man dropped Hartley in hell for you. ADX, that’s some serious shit.”