Ever since Kim's call, Kayla had been unable to focus. She kept hearing Kim, over and over, accusing Steve of trying to hurt Shane.
"She's wrong," Kayla said aloud, trying to suppress the niggling doubt that maybe Steve had let his anger at Shane turn destructive. No, Kayla couldn't believe it. Steve had told her he was not the one who talked to Jack. Steve wouldn't lie to her.
Would he?
Besides, it could not really be that big a deal. What had the article revealed? The ISA saved Steve. That was a good thing, not a reason for anyone to be arrested.
Except Kayla did not completely believe it. There was more going on. Shane had warned her and Kim to keep things secret. He had said he could get into a lot of trouble. So there had to be more to the story. But how was Kayla going to find out the truth?
Roman, she thought. Roman will know.
Ten minutes later, Kayla was dropping Stephanie off at her folks, assuring them that it was very important and she would explain later. Five minutes after that, Kayla was in the hallway of the Salem PD, directly outside Roman's office.
"Sorry, Kayla, he's down in the cellblock." She turned to see Abe Carver approaching her.
"With Shane?" Kayla asked.
Abe nodded. "None of this makes sense, and they're not telling us a thing, but Roman seems to think it has something to do with the Spectator."
That still doesn't make sense, Kayla thought silently. It's just a newspaper article. How could a newspaper article cause this much trouble?
"Um . . . look. . . ." Abe's voice interrupted her thought. She looked back at him and saw him shift uncomfortably. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about the situation with Steve. He got so mad the other day that I don't even think he heard me when I told him it's really a matter of time. I just had some reason to think Steve's not ready."
Because of Shane, Kayla thought. "Maybe you should have considered your source a bit more," she said, bitterly, a harsh tone that surprised even her. Despite her reservations about Steve returning to the police force, she was still angry at how Steve had been treated - and even more at how it made him feel about himself. Shane had no business saying anything.
Abe blanched, but did not respond. "Just let Steve know that we'll revisit things in a few months. And . . . knowing a bit more about what happened to him, maybe we can see if the department can help out. He was on the job when he disappeared."
Kayla had not thought about that; it was a good idea. She looked at Abe and softened her tone. "Thanks . . . for that, at least."
Probably recognizing that Kayla did not want to talk any more, Abe walked away, muttering something about seeing if he could find Roman. After he left, Kayla just leaned against the door of Roman's office and wondered why she was even there. She and Shane were no longer together. Steve was not responsible for the article. Steve would probably get jealous if he found out Kayla had come down here.
But you're still here.
She was. She needed to know what was going on. Maybe there was some way she could help fix things. This had to be fixable.
"Hey, Sis." A fairly stone-faced Roman approached her. He stopped at the door, pulled out a key, and unlocked it. "You probably shouldn't be here."
"Why?" Kayla did not expect Roman to say that.
"Because there's nothing we can really tell you. Nobody's telling us anything."
"How's Shane?" she asked, as she followed him inside. "Abe said you were with him."
Roman shook his head. He reached his desk, turned, and leaned against it. "I can't really tell. He's reeling from everything, of course, but, mostly, he's worried about Kim and Andrew."
Because Jericho might be out there, Kayla thought. At least, that seemed to be what Kim thought when she had left the house the other day. Kayla couldn't believe this.
"It's got to be a mistake, Roman," she said. "I mean, what's the big deal about the article? This will all blow over."
Roman shook his head again. "I don't understand it, Kayla, but it's a big deal. Shane told me he could go to jail if word ever got out - and he told me that before he even left Salem."
"Wait . . . what do you mean?" Kayla did not follow him completely. "Shane knew he could go to jail before he rescued Steve?"
Roman looked at her, appearing equally confused. "He didn't tell you that? Yeah, I guess the ISA laid that all out when Shane was deciding whether to go after Steve."
'Deciding whether to go after Steve.' Kayla was puzzled. "You mean if Shane had stayed in Salem, and just let the ISA get Steve without him, he wouldn't be in jail right now?"
She did not like the look that crossed Roman's face. "Shane never explained this to you, Kay? Whoa. . . ." He looked at her sideways, like she was failing to understand something very important. "Kay . . . the ISA wasn't going to get Steve without Shane. It was all Shane's choice. That's why they told him the risks."
Kayla felt the air rush out of her lungs as she realized what Roman was saying. The ISA would have just left Steve in Lawrence's clutches. They would have left Steve to die. She felt the anger building inside of her.
And Shane never told you.
Steve would probably be dead if not for Shane.
And I would have never known the truth.
Why didn't Shane tell us that?
"I need to see Shane," Kayla insisted.
"Sis-"
"No, Roman. I need to see him."
Roman scowled. "I don't think anyone's supposed to be seeing him."
"I don't care." Kayla gave her brother her most determined look - one that told him she would not be denied.
He shifted against the desk, but then threw up his hands. "I know you won't leave this office unless you get your way, and I don't have all day to argue with you. Come on."
Kayla followed Roman through the rabbit-warren of cubicles, desks, and file cabinets. They left the main area and went through a set of doors. "Aren't the cells on the other side?" Kayla asked. She remembered from when she had been arrested for Marina's murder.
"The FBI wanted Shane kept over here," Roman said. He reached a heavy metal door and unlocked it. "Just a couple of minutes, though."
Kayla stepped past the steel door and the thick cement walls. She spotted Shane immediately in the third cell from the door. The noise of the door opening must have gotten his attention; he was leaning against the cell bars in an attempt to see who had entered.
He appeared shocked to see her. "Kayla . . . what are you doing here?"
She reached the cell and looked at him closely. His hair was disheveled and his clothes looked like they were covered in grass-stains. She also saw the faint remnants of a bruise on the side of his face. Then Kayla reminded herself why she had demanded to see him.
"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked. "Why didn't you tell me, Shane?"
Shane stepped back from the bars. "Tell you what?"
"Don't play stupid with me," Kayla snapped. "Why didn't you tell me why nobody could find out about the rescue? And for god's sake, Shane, why didn't you tell me that the ISA would have left Steve there if you hadn't decided to take the mission."
Shane turned away, walked over to the bench, and sat down. "It doesn't matter," he said.
"Of course it matters." How could he think it doesn't matter? "We deserved to know. At least . . . you could've told me. I thought we were friends."
Kayla saw Shane look down at his hands. "Friends?" he asked, his voice low. "Such good friends that you don't even want me to say 'hi' to you at the lab. Or if I tell you I think Steve's being unreasonable, it's none of my business? That kind of 'friends.'"
"Shane. . . ." Kayla felt her face flush as she thought about how she had acted at the airport and with Julie. But that's not the point. "Don't change the subject," she snapped. "You could have told me in England or any other time."
"And what?" Shane snapped back. "You would've told Steve and he could've resented me and the ISA even more. How would he have felt if he knew the ISA was just going to leave him there? He was already angry about what happened between you and me; did he really need more of a reason to hate me? Because that's what would've happened if he felt like he 'owed me' for what I did? Thanks, but I've taken enough punches to the jaw as it is."
Kayla looked down. There was some truth to what Shane was saying; Steve probably would have been furious at Shane and the ISA if he had known the rescue was entirely Shane's decision. But at the same time, they had a right to know about Steve's rescue. They had a right to know that the ISA would have let Steve die.
"Look, Kay. . . . What does it matter?" Shane's tone had softened. "It doesn't matter now."
No, I guess it doesn't. "I do want you to know that it wasn't Steve who talked to Jack," Kayla said. "I asked him this morning when I saw the article."
"I'm glad to hear that," Shane said. He sounded sincere to Kayla. "I didn't think Steve would break his word."
"He didn't," Kayla said. "Though he had reason to be pretty furious with you after what you said to Abe." She knew it was probably the last thing Shane wanted to discuss right now, but she wanted answers. "Why did you sabotage him like that?"
Shane shook his head. "I didn't sabotage him. It wasn't like I wanted to talk about Steve to Abe, but he kept pushing. . . . And then he asked if I'd trust Steve with my life, and I felt like I had to answer."
"Why? You know you're not objective when it comes to Steve."
"Maybe you're right, but . . . you don't know what it's like to be in a life-and-death situation and have to depend on a partner. If your partner can't handle things, someone's going to get hurt. Remember Stockholm? Gillian wasn't capable of holding her own against Orpheus. He disarmed her and would have killed her. . . ."
Except Shane had pushed her out of the way and had been shot instead. Kayla could hardly forget how Shane had nearly bled to death on that pier that night.
Shane seemed to know what Kayla was thinking. "When Abe asked me, I thought about that night. And I thought about all the other cops out there and who might get killed if Steve went berserk like he did at Alamain's or at that bar."
"He's not crazy," Kayla said.
"I didn't say he was," Shane replied. "Kay . . . Steve's not ready to be a cop again. I know what Lawrence's people did to him." To Kayla's eyes, Shane appeared to shudder slightly. "He's not going to get over that in a few weeks. If you put him out on the streets right now . . . He's not ready. He could do something that gets himself killed - or someone else. Think about that. It could be someone like Roman diving in front of a bullet, someone you care about."
That's not Steve, Kayla said to herself. Steve would never put anyone in jeopardy.
Except himself.
That was not fair. Kayla had faith in her husband and she started to object, but she was interrupted by loud voices coming from just outside the cellblock door. It sounded like Roman was arguing with someone. An instant later, the door opened and two dark-suited men stormed toward her.
"The prisoner's to have no visitors," one of the men said, his voice mid-way between a snarl and a shout. He grabbed Kayla's arm roughly and started pulling her to the door.
"Hey!" she shouted back. She could hear Shane and Roman each yelling as well.
Roman charged forward. "Let go of her," he said, forcing his way in between the man and her. He freed Kayla's arm and looked the man directly in the eye. "It's my fault. I didn't know about the 'no visitors' rule."
The man seemed to relent. "Fine . . . you know it now. Just get her out of here, and don't let anyone into this cellblock. It's off-limits until the ISA officials arrive from Washington." Kayla looked at the man, who was glaring at Roman. "You got that, Commander? No visitors at all."
"What about my lawyer?" Shane demanded. "I have a right to see a lawyer."
Neither of the dark-suited men responded as they escorted Kayla and Roman away from Shane's cell. They reached the door and the men closed it shut.
"No visitors," the man told Roman again.
"What about his lawyer?" Roman asked. "He should be here any minute."
Kayla turned to see the agent cross his arms and lean against the cellblock door. "No visitors until Chief Tarrington gets here. Besides, it's not like there's anything a lawyer can do for him."
The certainty in the man's words and his tone sent a river of ice running down Kayla's spine. She glanced at Roman, who put an arm around her and led her away from the door. The two men remained behind.
"Roman," she whispered. "What does that mean?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure, Sis, but I think it means Shane's in serious trouble."