Crash kissed me back, but this time he pulled away first. “I’ll get the bail set up. Your trial date is set for three days from now.”
Alan walked through the door again and began to pace, cursing a blue streak about the abuses being done to the system, which was kind of rich, really, considering he’d manipulated the court system plenty to stick it to me in the divorce. Crash, of course, didn’t hear him, but he frowned as if he could pick up on the energy Alan was throwing off.
“You going to tell me why you kicked me out of Gran’s house? Or ignored me as if I were beneath you?” That last one was the real stinger for me, because I struggled more than I liked to admit with my sense of self-worth. I mean, being forty-one and divorced because the ex you hated cheated on you is bad enough. Add in a little extra weight, a dead-ended career and an uncertain new one, and a girl’s left feeling a little uncertain now and then. I wasn’t perfect, you know. I still struggled with the ups and downs.
Some days, I was strong as iron.
Other days, I was as squishy as overcooked pasta.
Crash didn’t let me go. “Because you’re not the only one with enemies. The closer you are to me, the better your chances of dying—” He paused. “There is more at play in the shadow world than the problems with the council and the O’Seans causing a ruckus. You’re right. We all die at some point. I just don’t want your death to be because I let myself get too close—”
The door banged open, cutting him off. The officer who’d brought me in strode across the small room and grabbed me by the cuffs, dragging me out of Crash’s arms. “Time’s up.”
3
Officer Cuffs (as I thought of him now) hustled me to the holding cell with the other women. Crash must have followed, something I guessed solely based on the way their eyes looked past me and went all dreamy and soft. Which was interesting.
Alan saw Crash as a troll, hideous and ugly.
Women saw Crash as sex on a stick made for licking all night long.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “You make the guys think you aren’t competition, then show off for the ladies, huh? Clever.”
He winked and gave me a slow-burn smile that set off all sorts of fireworks in my lower regions and reminded me it had been a long, long time since I’d had any sort of tumble in the sack worth remembering. I mean, the shower moments with him were good, and I replayed them more often than I cared to admit, but the whole scene had been left rather unfinished if you know what I mean.
A series of ooohs rose from the women behind me as if they were the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing praises to heaven. Seriously, they could have been a full orchestra for how long the sounds of their appreciation went on, changing in tones and pitches.
“Oh, honey, if you don’t climb on him, I’m going to!” The old lady cackled. “Lovely, he is so very lovely.”
“He is lovely,” I said. “I’ll give him that.”
Officer Cuffs beside me puffed up his chest and gave them a smug smile. I burst out laughing. “I don’t mean you, Short Stack. I mean my lawyer.”
I was shoved through the open cell door as the officer whipped around. “Him? He’s a fat, hideous troll!”
Same language Alan had used. Crash was definitely pulling tricks with his glamor, the cheeky man. Crash winked at me again, that smile of his doing all sorts of terrible things to me. I didn’t care what other people saw; he was hotter than sin and I was ready to find a reason to repent.
“I’ll be back as soon as I get the bail money set up. Don’t do anything, okay?” Crash said, and then he was hustled toward the door by the officer, who obviously didn’t want anything to do with him with the way he touched his arm and then jerked back. The officer even went so far as to wipe his hands on his pants, as if he’d touched something gross.
“How am I going to do something in here?” I lifted my hands, grabbing the bars.
Officer Cuffs snorted. “She’s going to trial in three days. She ain’t going anywhere.”
Crash stood in the doorway and spoke as if Cuffs hadn’t interjected into our conversation. “Don’t ask me. You’re the one who finds trouble like a—”
The door slammed behind the two men, and I was alone again with the other women.
“You really pissed someone off, didn’t you?” the old lady with the fluffy hair said. “I mean, I’ve seen them process people fast, but a trial in three days? That’s something else, and you are about as white as they come. I’d believe it more if you weren’t so pale.”
I looked down at her, realizing she barely came up to my shoulder. “You’ve seen them do this before?”
Fancy pants looked at me. “Who you talking to?”
I waved at her to shush her, looking at the old lady again.
“Usually when they want to get rid of someone stirring up shit. That’s the way of things here in Savannah, as I’m sure you know.” She blinked rheumy eyes up at me. “Savannah is good at keeping her secrets close, and she don’t like anyone knowing what a beast she is under the silken covers.”
Her description was not all that far off. “I haven’t been lifting anyone’s sheets.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I’d been dealing with the O’Seans and their garbage. Plus, I’d done the council a solid by helping them identify Davin as a mole. And when I met with them a few days ago, Stark, the old guy, had actually spoken to me. Something he never did anymore, according to Roderick. Surely that meant I was on their good side. Maybe they’d help me?
“Hey, I want my phone call!” I banged my cuffs against the bars. Damn it, the ass hadn’t even taken them off and I’d been too busy goggling at Crash along with all the other estrogen-overloaded ladies to realize it.
I clanged against the bars until the other woman started bitching. Officer Cuffs finally came back with a rather bored look on his face. “What?”
“I want my phone call,” I said. “Right now. And I need to speak with Officer Burke.”
“You ain’t got a right—”
“Now!” I barked the word at him and . . .well, for lack of a better word, I flexed my magic muscles. I had a bit of fae in me, a bit of witch, a little of lord only knew what. It was enough to put some oomph into the word, and he jumped as if I’d slapped him on the ass with a willow switch.
“Burke ain’t here. She’s on suspension.” The words came out of him in a burst like they’d been pulled out. “House arrest.”
My jaw dropped. I wanted to ask what had happened to get her into trouble, but from the way his eyes had narrowed, I figured there would be no forthcoming information from him.
I asked anyway.
“None of your damn business,” he said, already on his way out the door.
“Then get me my phone call!” I pushed more magic into my words, and again he jumped, slamming the door behind him.
“Oh, Leather Girl, you lit a fire under his ass. How’d you do that?” The old lady once more sidled up to me, and I looked down at her.
“Do you have a name?”
“Edna,” she said. “Edna White.”