Bayou Blues (18 page)

Being me should be enough.

What hurt worse about the statement was that Cash clearly didn’t think I was capable of being a leader, or helping protect my people. Those were both Secret trademarks.

“Hank is pack. I don’t need to like him to do right by him. Pack is deeper than family. You can abandon your family, but you can’t abandon pack.” I crossed my arms and matched his serious look with one of my own. I didn’t want to act snotty with him, but I wasn’t going to let him insult me, either.

“You don’t lead the pack. Hank isn’t your responsibility.”

“If I pass the buck in a situation like this, I don’t deserve to ever lead the pack.”

“I thought you didn’t want to, isn’t that what you told me? You said you wanted a normal life, and you wanted your brother to lead the pack.” Every time he said
pack
he made a face like he was biting into something sour.

Since this was neither the time nor the place to explain my plans for the future—especially since I didn’t know what they were yet—I avoided his comment. But I couldn’t help but notice Wilder had taken a keen interest in what was being said between Cash and me.

Great, now I had a pack subordinate who knew I’d put my support behind Ben. I wish Cash knew what kind of corner he’d just painted me into.

“Is that why you didn’t call your uncle?” Cash asked. “Because of some misguided idea you need to be able to save Hank on your own? Don’t you think your pack leader deserves to know what kind of a disaster he’s about to be involved in? I never thought of you as selfish before.”

Wow.

Not only was he sticking the knife in today, he was determined to twist it as many times as he could.

That was me, Selfish Genie, hoarding all the problems to myself.

Too bad he was also kind of right. I
should
tell Callum everything, especially now that my initial plan had failed. We had Hank…sort of. Maybe it was time to call in the cavalry and admit this was too much for me to deal with.

“Hey,” Wilder interjected. “That’s enough. The only reason she’s here to begin with was so she could help me. She figured by coming along she could keep me from doing anything too stupid.”

Cash shut his notebook and got to his feet. “Too bad she wasted her time, then.”

True to his word, Cash had me out of jail by the end of the day.

Just me.

He was on the sidewalk outside the sheriff’s department, leaning against his car, when I walked out. I couldn’t recall ever seeing him appear the part of a lawyer quite so much before. With his suit jacket over dark indigo jeans and his white button-down shirt unbuttoned
just so
, he looked amazing.

It took him a moment to acknowledge me, he was so busy talking animatedly on his cell. I got the vibe it wasn’t a social call. I stopped next to him and waited…and waited some more. After a minute he nodded at me, letting me know he at least recognized I had arrived.

“No, listen to me. What I’m saying is there’s a case here that could be groundbreaking, all right? It’s not just a murder case. This could be the first really meaningful public trial of a werewolf. If you’re telling me that’s not something you want to be a part of, then maybe you’re not as serious about your career as I thought you were.”

I made a face. Getting backup, especially if it was from an established lawyer, would be beneficial to us. But I didn’t like the way he was talking about Hank’s case as if it didn’t matter which way it went, as long as he and this other party were involved.

Cash had never struck me as the kind of guy who was into his profession for all the fame and glory, but maybe I was wrong. I was beginning to wonder how well Cash and I really knew each other, even after all this time.

“Fine, great. I have a place booked at this little motel outside Franklinton. Total dive, but it’s the best I could do.” There was a long pause. “No, not like a Best Western dive, more like that hotel from
Psycho
.”

“The Bates Motel,” I supplied. Cash ignored me.

“Yeah, see you in a couple hours.” He hung up and as if out of habit leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Hey, baby.”

“You couldn’t get Wilder out?”

His hand balled into a fist and then he released it, shaking his head like he wanted to say something and thought better of it. “I’m still working on it, but the deputy he hit isn’t in a forgiving mood. Apparently having his nose broken didn’t make him feel too charitable.”

Anderson had taken a direct hit to the face from an Alpha werewolf. That he only had a broken nose meant Wilder had been downright gentle with him. He could very well be in a coma right now if Wilder had hit him with real intent. I wondered if Anderson would appreciate the difference if someone explained it to him.

Hey, he could have killed you, consider yourself lucky!
might not be the best way to get Wilder out of jail.

“Look,” Cash said, putting his hands on my shoulders. “I’m trying my best. But the cops aren’t thrilled about the idea of letting the potentially violent brother of an alleged murderer out of jail. Can you blame them?”

“Sure, because they’re using that as an excuse to cover up a giant conspiracy.” As soon as I said it I knew how crazy it sounded. Even to my ears it was something an insane person would say, but I
knew
it was true.

He either ignored me or was saving his response for a better time. “Matt, the assistant professor from my paranormal law class, is coming down. He’s an associate at a law firm in the city that deals with supernaturally related cases. You know, vampire estate law and that sort of thing.”

Vampire. Estate. Law.

“Has he ever worked a criminal case before?”

“Nothing of this magnitude. There hasn’t
been
anything of this magnitude before. I’m sure werewolves have killed people before, but it’s never been public like this.”

“This isn’t public yet.”

“It will be.”

He was right. There was no way we were going to be able to sweep this under the rug. What was worse, he was also right about it being time to call Callum. I hadn’t been gone long, but in the time since I’d left home so much had happened. It was pretty remarkable, actually, getting into this much trouble in no time at all. Maybe it was a McQueen thing. If so, I was doing the family proud.

“Come on, I rented a room at that place you mentioned. It’s not much to look at, but it’s clean according to the bedbug registry, so I’ll take what I can get.”

“I slept on a cot in a drunk tank last night. The idea of a real bed sounds glorious.” What I didn’t tell him was how grateful I was for his choice of location. He could have chosen a town farther away, but his desire for convenience meant I got to stay close to Franklinton. And while Cash worked on getting Wilder free and planned Hank’s defense, I would be able to poke around and find out what was really going on.

I opened the plastic baggy the desk clerk had given me and pulled out my phone, relieved to see it still had some battery, even after all I’d used it for. My portable charger was worth its weight in gold. I had dozens of missed calls and texts, but as I went to check them my ink-stained fingertips caught my attention. I stared at them for a second, wondering how it had come to this.

I had come awfully close to having a criminal record, and my fingerprints were in the database now. Forever and ever I would know I’d been arrested. Cash was right, this wasn’t the person I had been before, not even a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure if I liked this version of myself better or worse. It was just…different.

On the way to the hotel we stopped at a drive thru and got some burgers that were so greasy their paper wrappers were clear by the time we got to our room. I sat on the edge of the bed, the generic paisley print comforter crinkling in a peculiar way underneath me, and ate my burger while Cash made more phone calls. The whole time he acted like I wasn’t in the room. When he left to take a call outside, I abandoned my cooling fries and pulled out my own cell, dialing Callum’s office number from speed dial.

“
WHERE ARE YOU?
”

Oh, he’d definitely noticed I was missing then.

“Franklinton.”

I heard him say something to someone else before he spoke again. “I’m sending Ben to come get you. Stay where you are.”

“No.”

“
No?
”

“Well…yes, I’m staying where I am, but no you’re not sending Ben. I don’t need a babysitter. I don’t need someone to come in and rescue me.”

“Did Wilder force you to go?” His voice was low and trembled with menace. I was glad Wilder wasn’t around to hear it because the implied threat was frightening even to me.

“No. Of course not.”

“Did he hurt you?”

I barked a laugh. “That’s insane. He didn’t lay a finger on me. I swear I left of my own free will. Didn’t you get my note?”

The line filled with chilly silence. “A note is not acceptable, Eugenia. A
note
is not how we communicate in this household.”

“No, we communicate by sending out underlings to do our dirty work. We communicate by making Amelia call to tell me
you’re
worried. That’s how things get done in the McQueen household, isn’t it?”

“What’s gotten into you?” he asked.

I was getting tired of people implying my behavior was so alarming to them. This was just me speaking up for myself. That it bothered everyone so much said they were used to me letting
them
have their way. Well not anymore.

“I came here to do what
you
should have done. I came with Wilder to help a member of our pack, and it’s a damn good thing I did, because now at least one of us knows what’s really happening out here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The public spectacle Deerling warned us about? It wasn’t killing Hank. I don’t think he ever intended on a public execution. He’s using Hank as a scapegoat for his cause. A woman is dead, Hank is being charged, and pretty soon the whole world is going to think werewolves are bloodthirsty monsters who can’t be trusted. The Church is going to get exactly what they wanted out of this. Maureen Cranston and CAPA are getting Christmas early this year.”

This time when Callum went quiet I could practically hear the gears in his brain going. That was a good sign. It meant he wasn’t jumping straight back to dragging me home. There was a chance—however small—he might put some faith in me.

“Hank has been arrested?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“But he’s alive.”

“Yes.”

A sigh, though I wasn’t sure if it was from stress or relief. I chose to believe it was the latter.

“Where’s Wilder? Is he with you?”

“See… I’m going to tell you something, and some day you’re going to think it’s funny, but right now isn’t that day.”

“There are very few things I find funny, even through the lens of hindsight.”

Better just to jump in headfirst then. “Wilder is also in jail right now.”

“For what?”

“He might have punched a sheriff’s deputy and broken the guy’s nose.”

“And why would he punch a deputy?”

“Because we were getting arrested at the time.”

“
Eugenia.
”

“Sorry, should my imprisonment have been the headline? A lot has happened in the last couple days.”

“Are you still there?”

And calling you from my jail cell?
“No, Cash got me out. I was only booked for trespassing. Apparently Deerling decided not to press charges. I guess he doesn’t need misdemeanor wolf crime when he has a Class A Felony to flash in front of the press.”

“Cash? You called your human boyfriend before calling me?”

“He specializes in supernatural law.”

“He’s
human
. And more importantly, in case it slipped your mind, he’s a law
student
and not an actual lawyer. My God, at any point during this ordeal did you actually stop to use your head? Even once?”

“I saw what Deerling and his people did to the girl. I know what they’re up to. That has to count for something.”

“The word of one werewolf—who now has a criminal record—against a church leader. Let that sink in for a minute.”

“They didn’t press charges. I don’t have a criminal record. And Deerling is a religious leader for a group of well known zealots and whose hatred of the supernatural population is documented on the public record. It’s not out of the question people might believe my side of it, especially considering it’s the truth.”

“Truth has no place in the court of public opinion. Why do you think we stayed hidden so long? This is all they need, this one sliver of evidence however tenuous. Once the world believes we’re monsters, they’ll never stop believing it.”

“Humans kill each other every day,” I pointed out.

“Humans are aware of their own evil. They know the depths to which they can sink. We’re not like them anymore; they know we’re different now. Human evil no longer applies to us. One murdered girl might not make headlines if a human had killed her, but you know damned well this will go national once the press gets word that a werewolf killed a woman.” Another sigh, this one definitely from stress. “Your heart was in the right place, and I
am
glad we know what really happened, but I don’t know if it was worth it.”

“I might still be able to help. I think there’s more going on here, and if I had a little more time to look into—”

“Ben will be there in the morning.”

“If Ben is here in the morning, I won’t be.”

He let out a huff of rage, like he wanted to start shouting but stopped short of it. “Don’t you
dare
make me pull rank on you. Don’t do it.” This was the werewolf version of
you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry
.

“Give me forty-eight hours. If I haven’t figured it out by then, I’ll come home on my own. I’ll go back to toeing the company line. I promise.”

“And who is going to watch out for you, hmm? Your human playmate?”

I chewed nervously on my thumbnail. “How would you feel about wiring me some money to pay Wilder’s bail?”

Hey, if I was going in, I might as well go
all
in.