Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Noelle jumps to her feet. Her cleavage spilling out of the top of a skin-tight blouse as she gets in the guard’s face. “Remove the cuffs. Right. Now.”
“The cuffs stay on, ma’am.”
“The fuck they do,” she shouts. “Take them off now unless you want to be named personally in the lawsuit, Officer,” she checks his name badge. “Davis.” Her gaze narrows to slits, and she folds her arms, fury radiating off her curves like a fucking cartoon character.
“Suit yourself,” he growls, unlocking the cuffs and leaving me and Noelle alone.
“Are you all right?” Her chest is still heaving from the anger unleashed on the guard, but her tone is soft, and, if I’m not mistaken, genuinely concerned.
“I’m good. Glad to be outta there, though, so thank you.” I shake my head and drop down into the metal chair, outlining the details of the fight that landed me in the hole. “He started it, but I had to fight back.”
“Of course,” she says. “That doesn’t explain why the fuck you were in there for twenty goddamn days. First offense is twenty-four hours. Period. I’ve already started the lawsuit paperwork. I just had to make sure you were still alive first.”
“Noelle, I gotta tell you, it’s nice to have someone in my corner who can fight on a level playing field, but lawsuits and payouts aren’t at the top of my list.”
“No, this is serious, Tank. You have any idea how many people die in solitary each year? How many times inmates are forgotten about for months, sometimes years on end? It’s not right.”
“Yeah, I get it. You do you, but right now, I need you to get a message to Ace. Immediately.”
She stops her tirade and stares at me, dark brows pulling into a frown. “Why?”
“It’s MC business, nothing illegal.”
“Sure. but I’m not sure anything is as important as what’s happening in his life right now.” My heart stops at her words, but Noelle is unaware and keeps talking. “Ace’s wife is in the hospital. She’s having the baby.”
“No shit?”
A small smile touches her lips. “No shit. I called to see if he wanted to come up with me, and that’s when I got the news.”
I’m happy for Ace and Kenna. Another new life in the family is a good thing. “That’s fucking awesome but trust me when I say he’ll want to hear what I have to say. If you can’t get straight to him, get the message to Dix.”
She nods slowly. “If I promise to do this, will you give me your attention for the next five minutes?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.” She slides me a piece of paper, and I scribble the note while she waits patiently, accepting the paper and folding it before slipping it into her bra. “Okay, now listen. I have evidence to get you out of here. No trial and no verdict.”
“You do?” The skepticism in my voice is heavy because that’s the exact news I want to hear.
“Yeah, Thomas. I do.” She arches her brows as if daring me to contradict her. “I told you before, I don’t lose. I don’t like to lose, which is why I’m your lawyer.”
I respect her confidence, so I don’t tell her that Ace hired her, not me.
“We both know you didn’t kill anyone. It’s the prosecutor’s job to prove you did it. They can’t. We have video of the whole fight, not just the snippet on YouTube. It’ll get you out of here as soon as we see the judge. Trust me.”
I do trust her, but while she’s going on and on about the evidence, all I can think about is the threat to my MC. Who is this threat coming from, a new enemy or an old one?
That motherfucker I busted up? Can’t be.
Noelle keeps talking, and it brings me back to the present. “I have my own investigators and forensics going over the evidence, so I’ll be in touch. Reach out if you need me, yeah?”
I nod, not hearing half of what she said. I step back against the wall so Noelle can alert the guard that she’s ready to go. I know the drill and stay where I am as Noelle steps out of the room and one guard takes her back toward the exit for visitors. Another guard motions for me to step forward and I do, turning so he can cuff me again and what I see when I turn stops me in my tracks.
Sophie.
She has tears in her eyes as she pleads with the woman behind the thick glass who has not one fucking iota of sympathy for any of the people on either side of these walls. The woman shakes her head. She’s telling her no.
Sophie looks surprised, and now she’s nodding and scribbling a note and hands it to the woman.
Sophie’s shoulders sink as she walks away from the window, offering up an apologetic smile to those in line behind her. Despite her smile, I catch the shine on a tear that slips down her cheek before she pushes out into the sunshine.