Shane was still trying to process what was happening. A moment ago, he had been trying to calm Kim. Just standing beside her, he had been able to feel the anger radiating from her and, when she had suddenly bolted, he had feared she might do something to jeopardize the plea deal.
And now it turns out that Kim is the least of my worries, he said to himself.
He had sensed something had changed even before he actually heard Rachel Knight's question and Tarrington's stumbling response. Shane heard Kim gasp, but he was focused on the exchange taking place between the reporter and the ISA chief.
". . . . Isn't that the point of all of the work of all of those 'dedicated' ISA agents?" Rachel asked. I believe that was your term."
In 15 years of interacting with Tarrington, Shane had never seen the man look as flustered as when he tried to rally an offensive in response. "Ms. Knight, I hope you're not insinuating anything," Tarrington said.
Rachel dodged it easily. "I'm not insinuating a thing. I'm just asking a simple question. How did the Salem P.D. know the attack would be at Salem Elementary? How did it come by that knowledge?"
Shane jerked his head toward Steve, who was watching the entire exchange with the gleeful grin of a demented puppet master. That told Shane exactly how Rachel Knight had come by her knowledge.
"What have you done?" Shane whispered.
"We're saving your ass, Donovan," Steve shot back in a low voice. "Though you're going to have to give those photos back."
The photos hardly mattered. Didn't Steve understand the risk? Hadn't they gone over this the day before. They had no evidence. It was their word against the ISA. Shane started to respond, but Kim grabbed his hand and squeezed hard. Shane stopped and realized that Roman had taken the podium.
". . . can't really take credit-"
"Roman!" Jack Devereaux called out and Shane felt his stomach lurch. Is Jack part of this too? He looked at Steve, who had an even bigger grin, if that were possible.
"Now it's gonna get good," Steve muttered.
At the podium, Roman had opened the floor to Jack who announced, "The Spectator has critical evidence that the ISA is covering up a major part of what happened yesterday."
What evidence? Shane wondered. He leaned over to Steve and whispered, "Damn it, Steve, you don't have evidence. You can't bluff the ISA; you're going to get-"
Steve cut him off with an exasperated chuckle. "Oh ye of little faith. . . . Just be patient, dude."
At the podium, Roman was saying that only Tarrington could say if the ISA is covering anything up, but, "If you want to share with the rest of us, Jack, please go ahead."
"There is a videotape," Jack said dramatically.
Shane froze.
"As those of us with firsthand experience with Lawrence Alamain well know, the man was obsessed with making films." Jack seemed pleased at being able to share that personal knowledge with the press corps. "The attack on Salem was Lawrence's grand statement to the world, and he videotaped the entire thing."
Shane looked past Roman at Tarrington. The ISA Chief now looked entirely confused.
You didn't check for the video, old chap, did you? Shane asked silently.Of course not. Tarrington did not know Lawrence like Shane or Steve did. Shane turned back to Steve. "How-"
"This version of Roman's not such a bad dude once he gets past hating you," Steve said. "He's pretty useful, too."
Back at the podium, Roman narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't be bluffing, would you, Jack? Anyone who knew Alamain could speculate that he might have filmed things."
"But I doubt anyone would know what he filmed," Jack said.
Shane could tell that Roman was just playing along, but he suspected that only those in the know would detect that the exchange was scripted. "And what did he film?"
It felt like the entire room was holding its collective breath as Jack took a moment to respond.
"He filmed his attempt to kill Shane Donovan."
On the podium, Roman feigned surprise, then made a point of looking at Tarrington. If the ISA Chief had looked confused a moment before, he now looked shell-shocked. This press conference obviously was not going as planned.
"Tell me, Commander," Jack said. "Isn't it true that Lawrence Alamain tried to kill Shane Donovan yesterday, and it was because of what he revealed to former-Captain Donovan that you learned Salem Elementary was the intended target of the attack?"
Everyone in the room looked at Roman, who seemed to think for a moment before he replied, "It was a little more complicated than that, but I would say the answer is yes."
The room exploded. Reporters shouted questions, the words lost in the din, though Shane was sure he heard his name several times. Roman finally silenced them with a shouted, "Enough," looked back to Jack, and asked if he had any follow-up questions.
"Thank you, Commander," Jack said, sounding like a prosecutor in the middle of a cross-examination. "So if, as Chief Tarrington told us, Lawrence was stopped through the work of dedicated ISA agents, wouldn't that mean that former-Captain Donovan's work with the ISA is not so former?"
Roman pretended to evade the question. "I can't comment on ISA personnel matters. That would be for Chief Tarrington. I can tell you that it wouldn't be unusual for an ISA agent to pretend to be disgraced as part of an assignment. I believe Captain Donovan has even done so in the past."
"That's right," Jack said. He was preening. "And on the subject of Captain Donovan's 'disgrace,' would it surprise you, Commander, to learn that the video confirms that the facility in Egypt that Captain Donovan is accused of illegally attacking was operated by Lawrence Alamain and was where he was developing the toxin?"
Roman shook his head. "No, that would not surprise me in the slightest. . . . As I understand it, it was directly a result of Captain Donovan's mission in Egypt that we even knew about Alamain's plan and were able to prepare for it."
"Because of the rescue of Steve Johnson?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Roman answered, nodding. "Based on the information from Mr. Johnson, Shane, I mean, Captain Donovan-" Roman quickly covered the slip and returned to sounding officious. "Captain Donovan deduced that Alamain intended to attack Salem and set up the contingency plan that we used yesterday."
Carly stepped over before Roman could continue. "I can vouch for that," she said. "It was Shane Donovan who asked me to stockpile the antidote and watch for signs of any toxin attack. . . . If not for him, we wouldn't have been prepared for the attack at all."
Roman grinned. He looked again at Jack. "Anything else, Jack?"
"Nope, I'll let my colleagues have their turns," Jack said. "Oh, wait, just one thing." He turned to the other reporters. "When you get the video, please make sure the Salem Spectator receives appropriate credit."
He had barely finished when the other reporters began shouting out questions again.
"Was Donovan undercover?"
"Are the treason charges fake?"
"Did the ISA lie about Donovan's mission being unauthorized?"
At that moment, Shane became aware that Kim was squeezing his hand in a vice-like grip. He looked down at her and saw that her cheeks were wet. She lifted her head and, through the tears, her eyes shone with hope.
Roman let the reporters shout for another minute and then said, "These questions really aren't for me." He stepped back and turned to Tarrington. "Chief, I think you probably should address these."
Tarrington looked like a man about to face a firing squad, but he had no choice. He quickly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. He walked slowly to the podium as if rehearsing what he would say. But as he walked, his demeanor changed. Slumped shoulders pulled back. Tarrington raised his lowered head. By the time he reached the podium, he almost seemed like he was back in charge. Tarrington even faked a grin as he began to speak.
"I obviously had intended to delay the announcement, but I must commend Mr. Devereaux for his excellent investigative techniques." Tarrington spoke so smoothly that only someone who knew him could tell how much it nearly killed Tarrington to say that. "Yes. . . . I guess our hand has been forced and I must reveal that Captain Donovan was working for the ISA."
"Shane!" Kim said, her word a mix between a gasp and a low hiss.
Shane could almost not believe he had heard Tarrington. It needed to be repeated.
"So Captain Donovan was working for the ISA all this time?" a reporter shouted. "The treason charges were part of the plan?"
"Um. . . ." Tarrington was struggling to hide his fury at being cornered. But he had no choice. "Yes, the treason charges were part of the plan to 'free up' Captain Donovan. Things did not exactly go according to plan due to the unfortunate incident with Cal Winters, but we knew Captain Donovan was the best man to go after Lawrence Alamain."
Another reporter shouted, "And the charges?"
For an instant, Tarrington looked away from the reporters, toward the area where Shane, Kim, Steve, and Kayla were standing. Shane could see the fury and anger in Tarrington's eyes as he must have realized for the first time that they were in the audience. Shane's eyes locked on Tarrington's, but just for an instant before the ISA Chief looked back at the press corps and answered the question.
"The charges will be dropped immediately."