Dane

Dane cleared his throat. "Did he give you those bruises, or did someone else? Or did you give them to yourself?"

​​

"Yes, Dane," she snarled, "I beat myself up and held my own wrists until I was bruised, because, you know, I've got such incredible upper body strength." She glared at him, but she didn't drop her eyes this time. Dane kept his face soft, thoughtful. Harry had told him she was dehydrated when she came in. But Dane knew his father was smart enough to think of details like that and how they helped make a situation look real.

"So… who hurt you?"

"I told them already."

"The room in our building. Someone took you there."

"Yes."

"I'm letting the officers search our building tomorrow, did you know that?"

Her eyes came up to his, challenging. "Good! Then you'll find out I wasn't lying."

"So, if you really got taken and hurt, why lie about me being the one to do it—especially when you know that I would have a rock-solid alibi. There's bare minutes in my life every day that aren't caught on tape. You know that."

Tish just scowled at the table.

Dane sighed and rubbed his temples. "Tish, he's not worth going down for. If he's pressured you to take the fall—" Dane dropped his hands to the table with a thunk and Tish's entire body startled and she yelped, instinctively curling like she'd try to crawl backwards out of the chair.

Dane blinked. She settled herself right away, but the reaction had been real. Dane knew it. He'd had those himself. "Who hurt you, Tish?" he asked, softer this time. She didn't respond, but her eyes looked hunted. "If you got hurt, they'll find the space and the clues. Tell them who to look for—who held you? The Police will protect you, and so will Daniels Security." She shivered, and Dane leaned forward, closer to her. "I don't hate you, Tish. If you're being hurt, I'll help you—"

"What if I hate you?!" she burst out.

Dane sat back and looked at Harry. "Why?"

"You're such a fucking liar!"

"What? When did I lie to you?"

"You knew! You knew all along who was coming after people and you never told us. You said we were guarding against unnamed threats, when really you knew half those people were only being attacked because they were connected to you!"

"That's not true—"

"I saw the logs, Dane. They used my codes. I know how much you've got on him in the system even though I never heard his name mentioned in a briefing once! All this bullshit about helping me—I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you!" Her eyes began to shine with unshed tears.

"Then tell me how he got to you so I can help."

"Liar! You can't help! He got your fucking wife that you had hidden from him—you think you can save normal people who are just walking around, living their lives from his bullshit? You know you can't—stop lying about it!"

"Tell me how he got to you, Tish. Tell me how he got into the building. We are going to finish this once and for all."

"I don't know!" she screamed. "I woke up in that room and didn't even know it was in the building until I got loose."

"If you escaped, why did you go to Lila?"

"Because I had to. Because if I didn't—" she snapped her mouth closed and sat back, catching herself before she spilled whatever it was that she knew. Dane muttered a curse and sat forward again, staring intently, forcing her to keep eye-contact.

"Tell me what he wants," he said, low and hard. "Tell me what he's trying to get this time so I can give it to him, so he'll stop."

She let out a laugh that was half-sob. "How are you still so naïve?"

"He's a greedy bastard," Dane lied. "I know he's just got his eye on something and if I give up enough, he'll take the pressure off for another few years. If he wants the business he can have it, so tell me—"

"You don't have a fucking clue!" she screamed so hard she shook. Harry and Dane both eased back from the table. "How did you get this far and stay so completely stupid? He doesn't want your money! He doesn't want your business—he wants you! He wants to beat you and he wants you to know it was him who did it. He's never going to stop, Dane! Can't you see that? He'll kill her to take her from you, and then you'll go on the warpath to stop him and in the meantime everyone around you gets hurt in the crossfire! You should have told us—you should have warned us! He's never going to stop!" She broke down, sobbing into her own hands and Dane looked at Harry, who pulled a box of tissues up off the floor and placed them in front of Tish.

Nausea churned in Dane's stomach, but so did grim satisfaction. His instincts were right. He'd known. He'd been sure. But now he had confirmation.

It made him sick.

As Harry stared at him, measuring him, he didn't have to pretend to be shaken. He just had to let them all think that it was new information to him. She wasn't opening his eyes to anything, but her words still hit him like a blow to the chest. Because she was right: he should have warned them earlier. All of them. They should have had a choice.

"You're right," he said quietly, though he wasn't sure Tish could hear him over her own crying. "I'm sorry."

About everything.

Harry sighed and stood up and Dane followed, steeling himself. Because there was no more reason to wait. No more checks and balances. He knew what he needed to do. He felt sick and turned to Tish, but she just sat there, crying into her hands.

Dane's stomach clenched.

"I meant what I said, Tish," he said. "If I can help you, I will. If Daniels Security can do anything—if he's got something on you, we can—"

"I never want to be anywhere near you, ever again," Tish hissed. "The best thing you can do for me is to never even look at me! I'll take care of myself!"

Dane didn't let anything show on his face, just nodded, then let Harry usher him out.

They stood outside the door for a minute in the quiet hallway, and Harry grimaced. "Seems like a dead end," he said.

"No, it wasn't," Dane replied looking up the hallway to make sure no one else was nearby. "I just needed the confirmation that there wasn't anything new on his radar. That this is the old beef. And it is. So now I know what to do."

He steeled himself. Harry looked at him long and hard. "What are you up to, Dane?"

"I'm up to getting you what you need to nail my father to the wall," he said, barely above a whisper.

"So, let's go over the plan. I have to get the surveillance approved—"

"I know, I know. I will. Tomorrow. For now… just get your ducks in a row. I need to make sure someone else is available to help, because if they aren't, it changes my plan." It was time to do this shit, and Dane wasn't putting anyone else in the line of fire. Tish had been right. He should have taken care of this himself. Years ago.

Lila… fuck…

But Harry folded his arms. "I don't like flying in the clouds, Dane. We're in this together, remember?"

"Yes, we are. I'm not changing the plan. I just have to make sure my contacts are right so I know how we're going to do this."

"I can't help you if you're outside the law."

"I know. We won't be. I promise."

Harry shook his head but turned the knob on the door and started back into the room. "You call me by nine tomorrow morning and we get this finalized."

Dane nodded and clapped him on the back, then started down the hall towards the lobby of the station. It wasn't until then, when he was alone, that it hit him.

He did know what to do. Knew what had to be done. And he'd… he'd known for years. If he stepped back and looked at the whole picture the truth was, he'd been preparing for this moment his whole life.

It was time to get his shit together and make this happen. Be done with it.

Nodding to himself, but feeling himself quiver, Dane was startled when the warm voice appeared behind him.

"Dane? What are you doing here?"

Dane blew out a breath and turned.

"Oh… hey, Bert."