Bayou Blues (17 page)

“I need you. You’re the only one who can help us.” I considered making it an Obi-Wan joke since Cash was a giant
Star Wars
nerd, but he might not take my plea seriously if I attempted humor. And I was desperate for him to take this seriously.

“Us.” He paused again. “
We
and
us
. Who are you there with, Genie?”

This was going to sound infinitely more complicated without being able to give him the whole story, but I couldn’t share all the details on a phone that was likely tapped. It wasn’t like I had anything to hide, but Cash deserved to know why I had been arrested with another man.

“Wilder, one of the wolves from Callum’s pack. We came here looking for his brother, and things have gotten a lot worse since we showed up.”

“I thought you were leaving town to keep a low profile. I thought the whole plan of this little break was for you to keep your head down and stay safe. So how, then, do you end up in jail on the totally opposite side of the state?” He didn’t sound angry so much as exhausted.

“Like I said, it’s a long story, but I promise it’s a good one. Or a bad one, depending on how you look at it. But, Cash…you’re the only one I can count on right now.” I wasn’t actually sure what he was going to say. It was a lot to ask, and our relationship wasn’t in the best place lately. There was an unspoken tension between us these last few months, and my werewolf connections had a lot to do with that. Calling him out here for werewolf-related drama might be pushing my luck too far. “Please,” I added. “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe.” He sighed, one of those heavy, my-life-is-so-complicated sighs. “Okay. I’ll be there in two hours. Don’t say anything. Tell your friend not to say anything either.”

He hung up before I could tell him about Hank and the probable murder charges. Maybe it was for the best if he was already here when I revealed that news.

I could be like
Surprise! Murder investigation!
when he finally showed up.

Girlfriend of the year, right here.

Josie perked up when I disconnected the phone. She led me back down the hall to my cell. “I tried to see if I could move you into the same block as your boyfriend, but the sheriff wasn’t having it. Guessing you didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear?”

“If I told him what he wanted to hear, I’d be lying. And I don’t make it a habit to lie to the cops.”

She stared at me, and I could tell she was trying to get a read on whether or not I was bullshitting her. I had a funny feeling about Josie. If she was given a nudge in the right direction, I wondered if she might be able to help me. But how could I find out for sure without tipping my hand? I didn’t want to say anything about what we’d witnessed until Cash arrived. If I told her Wilder and I had seen Timothy literally throw an innocent woman to the wolves, I wouldn’t have any aces left up my sleeve.

“How well do you know Timothy Deerling?” I asked instead. Might be better to see if she worshipped the guy or gave me some indication of her opinion on him, one way or the other.

“Pastor Tim? Why do you ask?”

“What kind of person is he?”

She shrugged, and I made a mental note that she hadn’t immediately swooned over how wonderful he was. “He’s only been in town about three years. Moved here from Greensburg with his wife Shannon. He’s…enthusiastic. It’s hard to really say anything about him, you know? He’s the only reason this town still exists.”

Ah yes. Timothy Deerling, the beloved savior of Franklinton, LA.

“Boosting the economy doesn’t make him a good person.”

She opened the door to my cell and made a funny face at me. “You guys have something against Pastor Tim?”

Aside from the fact I doubted he was actually a pastor and his so-called church was a scam designed to turn gullible idiots into vicious bigots? No. Tim and I were besties.

“Never mind.” I showed myself into the room and flopped onto the bed. Before she closed the door, I said, “Hey, if it’s not too much to ask, can you let Wilder know our lawyer is coming?”

Josie frowned. “I’m not supposed to relay any messages.”

“It’s not a secret code, Deputy Dwyer. I just want him to know someone is on their way to help us, okay?”

Even though she didn’t reply, I felt certain she would tell Wilder what I’d said. Whether or not it would give him any comfort was another story, but it was the best I could do given our circumstances.

Cash was a punctual guy.

He insisted on being early or on time to absolutely everything, and as it turned out, coming to my rescue was no exception.

About two and a half hours after I called, Josie came back and told me I had a visitor.

She brought me into a different room than the one McGraw had interviewed me in, and to my utter astonishment I discovered Wilder was already there waiting. This time around no one handcuffed me to the table, and Wilder too was shackle free.

It didn’t escape my attention that Wilder and Cash were staring each other down across the table, and the atmosphere of the room was downright chilly.

I sat beside Wilder, only because it was the spot Josie had indicated I ought to go to. I’d never been arrested before, but perhaps there were rules against the criminals sitting next to their lawyers rather than across from them.

I smiled at Cash but he only nodded tightly. Evidently he didn’t see anything in this situation worth smiling about.

“Thanks for coming,” I was doing my best to sound sweet and appreciative. I knew this was a huge inconvenience to him, and I felt bad for dragging him out here. He had every right to be annoyed with me.

At least he came,
I reminded myself.

It wasn’t that I expected him to pity my circumstances, but a bit of empathy would have gone a long way. For someone who was supposed to care about me, I sure wasn’t feeling loved just now. Even a hand hold would have lifted my spirits out of their current lower-than-shit level.

Cash waited until Josie was out of the room before he spoke. “They were more than a little hesitant to let me speak to you both together, but I made a point of telling them I wasn’t likely to allow either of you to make a statement, so it shouldn’t matter if you’re in the same room. Funny, though, he was surprised I only knew about
two
of my clients. I guess they figured since I was helping one Shaw brother I was here for the whole family.”

The unimpressed stare he gave me spoke volumes. I felt as big as a flea in that moment. Ah. That explained why he wasn’t so pleased with me. To be fair to me, though, it wasn’t my fault the cops had assumed he was Hank’s lawyer. I was just hoping he would be.

“Hank is the real reason we needed you.”

“You called me to help
you
. I assumed
he
would be an added bonus.” He nodded towards Wilder. “I came here expecting trespassing. What I find is a murder rap and an assault charge. You wanted me to help get you out of trouble, Genie, but this is some fucking bullshit right here.”

I guess it wasn’t fair of me to expect him to be thrilled, but I certainly wasn’t expecting him to react like this. “I’m sorry.” And I was. I
should
have told him about Hank. It wasn’t a great thing to dump in his lap without warning. But he hadn’t given me much of an opportunity during our short phone call.

He sighed and rubbed his palms over his cheeks. It was only midafternoon, but he already looked exhausted.

“No, I’m sorry. It was just… It caught me off-guard, and if I’m going to be able to help you, I can’t have any surprises. Believe it or not, I’m still new to this, and the easier you make things for me, the better it will be for you. So, I need you guys to tell me everything that happened. From the beginning. And don’t leave
anything
out. Okay?”

I nodded, but Wilder didn’t acknowledge Cash’s request. Instead he asked, “Have you talked to him?”

“To who?”

“Hank?”

“You’re his brother, right?” Cash glanced down at a notebook haphazardly filled with his familiar handwriting. I wondered how much he knew in addition to what I’d told him on the phone. He was a smart guy. He’d probably already unturned some stones.

Again, Wilder ignored the question. “Have you seen him?”

If Cash found this line of questioning rude, he didn’t let it show. In fact he was being a lot nicer to Wilder than he was to me. “Only briefly. Since the charges against him are more significant, I can’t get you in to see him.” Cash focused on me, the kindness melting off him like ice. “He was overjoyed to find out
I
was his lawyer, by the way.”

Neither Wilder nor I needed further explanation. If Hank had his way, he would stay in jail for a year if it meant he could wait for a white lawyer. Too bad for him the lawyer I was currently banging didn’t have his preferred skin color.

I half-expected Wilder to apologize on behalf of his brother, something he was likely accustomed to doing. Instead he asked, “Is he okay?”

If Cash had been to see Hank before coming to us, it was no small wonder he wasn’t acting warm and fuzzy towards Wilder or me. He probably assumed Wilder shared his brother’s attitude, and he was mad at me for putting him in this position.

My annoyance over his behavior faded a little. I wouldn’t be at my sweetest if someone were calling me names favored by slave-owning racists over a hundred years ago. I’d heard some of Hank’s favorite derogatory terms. If I’d been on the receiving end of any of them, I would want to leave him here to rot.

Cash forced a small smile and nodded in answer to Wilder’s question. “He seems to be in good shape. I’m not sure how his treatment has been—he looked a bit bruised—but he’s otherwise okay.”

He was in jail and charged with murder, but at least he wasn’t dead. It wasn’t the most ideal outcome, but I felt like we were a step ahead of where we’d been the night before. Hank was alive, and that was a small mercy.

“I don’t think I need to tell you guys how serious this whole thing is. The story hasn’t broken yet, but when the media hears that a werewolf killed a pretty young woman… Especially a werewolf as charming as your brother? It’s not going to look good.”

“That’s the whole point.” I sighed. If we were going to make any kind of progress, Cash would need all the details.

I filled him in on everything that had happened after I left the previous morning. I told him about almost being driven off the road, and the video Timothy Deerling had sent Callum. Any time Wilder felt I’d left something out or hadn’t gotten the details right, he interjected, but otherwise he let me tell the whole story.

It took me close to twenty minutes to cover everything, and throughout my narrative Cash said nothing. He sat back in his chair and shifted his attention from me to Wilder, occasionally taking a moment to write something in his notebook. He managed to fill two or three pages without actually saying a word.

I finished by telling him what I’d said to McGraw, and the little tidbits Josie had let slip to me during our brief chats.

“And how about you?” Cash asked Wilder. “What’s your experience been like since they locked you up?”

“They roughed me up when they first brought me in, but I’m guessing you saw what I did to that one deputy.”

“Anderson, yeah. He’s pretty insistent on pressing charges for that.”

Wilder nodded. He must have been expecting it. I suspected if Anderson said he’d let the whole thing drop for an apology, Wilder would take the criminal record instead.

“You know battery on a police officer is a felony, right? You could go to prison.” When Wilder didn’t reply, Cash continued, “I’ll work on getting the charges dropped, based on the circumstances. We’ll see how amenable they are, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. I think I can argue that they took you by surprise and you were trying to defend yourself and Genie. Maybe if I can shift some blame, they’ll change their tune.”

“The princess can defend herself,” Wilder muttered.

I suppressed a smile. Cash maintained an impassive frown.

“Be that as it may, I’ll take the arguments where I can get them. I think they’re more interested in Hank anyway. Ideally I’d like to see them drop all charges against you and Genie, and in my brief discussion with Sheriff McGraw he implied they might be willing to do just that, provided you two get out of town.”

“That’s amazing.” I knew I should have sounded happier, but there were a dozen different
but
replies coming to mind.

Wilder voiced one of them for me. “I’m not leaving without Hank.”

We couldn’t leave Hank here. Not knowing what they’d done to him. But we also couldn’t help him if we were in jail with him.

“I think the sheriff is in on it,” I announced. “If we can make him think we’re leaving, we might be able to work the case from nearby.” I looked at Wilder. “We passed a motel not too far from here. If we set up there, we could find out what Timothy is up—”

“No.” Cash held up a hand and shook his head emphatically. “I’m not getting you out of here just so you can turn around and get in even more trouble. Jesus, Genie, what’s gotten into you? You’re not acting like yourself at all. The girl I know would take a pardon, say thank you and go right back to her normal life. How can you possibly think this is a good idea?”

“Hank is pack.”

“Hank is a bigoted
asshole
.” He looked at Wilder. “No offense.”

“He’s been called worse.”

Cash continued, “My point is, you don’t owe that guy anything. The evidence is stacked against him. And I’ll
try
to help, even though it goes against all my better judgment, but you’re both done with this. You’re not going to stalk around the parish like Nancy Drew and one of the Hardy Boys. You’re not detectives, and
you
…” this was directed to me, “…you’re not your sister.”

Those words stung. I was used to getting compared to Secret on a regular basis, but coming from Cash it hurt worse. No, I wasn’t my sister. I didn’t have the power of the federal government at my back, or the ear of the highest powers in the vampire and werewolf communities.

I didn’t
need
to be my sister.