AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have a visitor,” one said rather gruffly. He wore a cap and a bulletproof vest and clutched his gun by his belt. The other one was squeamish. I recognized him, the guard attached to Officer Clinton.
I leaned forward and eyed them both. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“Well, someone’s in the private room expecting you,” he barked back and sidestepped, urging me out with a whisk of his arm. “Come on, get moving.”
I folded the paper into a square, tucked it into my back pocket, and held my tongue from giving the officer an earful while he cuffed me.
He must have dreamt of the moment he’d get to bark orders at me, and now that he’d gotten the moment, he was savoring every bit of it.
Maybe if I punched him in the face, his moment would taste a lot better.
The door opened, and he shoved my shoulder. “Thirty minutes,” he announced, and I glared before he shut the door.
“Fucking asshole,” I growled under my breath, edging closer to the table in the middle of the room as I rolled my shoulders. The legs of the chair scraped backward when I sat down and assessed my visitor. “So, it’s you.”
He set his leather briefcase on the table with a cheesy smile, opened it, and took out a bunch of papers.
I scratched the edge of my eyebrow. “Care to fill me in? I’m not quite sure what you’re smiling about.”
“Nothing.” Arlo dusted off his dark blue suit and straightened in the chair. “It’s just good to see you.”
A snort escaped me.
“Sure, it’ll be good to see me whenyou’reat the other end of the table.” Clasping my hands over my knee, I gave him a look. “Everyone around here thinks I have something to do with your disappearance and detachment from this case, and as much as I would like to take the credit, we both know I had nothing to do with it.”
Arlo’s smile widened for a brief moment but was bright enough to show his teeth. “I made quick calls, some contacts that owed me a few favors.”
“A few favors?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, arranged the bunch of papers in a neat stack, and looked at me. His smile dropped. “I tried to grease a few palms to extend their benevolence and even made contact with a number of your resources, but given yourreputation,not a lot of people were willing to, you know, associate or get involved. Every man’s looking out for himself. Plus, the case at hand is dire.”
“Hm.”
On a very regular day, I didn’t need Arlo greasing palms for me or making attempts to get anyone toassociate. But he was right; I’d had a knife pressed to Ronan’s neck, and the army of my adversaries lurking in the shadows were too numerous to number. A lot of them likely popped bottles to celebrate the news of having me thrown behind bars.
When I got out of here, he was going to give me the names of those two-faced bastards. And maybe I should have appreciated Arlo’s heartwarming effort tohelpme, but….
My eyes narrowed to slits. “So, you came here to deliver bad news, then?”
“Not exactly.”
He stretched out an arm, handing me the stack of papers. With a growl, I shoved his arm away and rubbed my temple.
“Fucking tell me how bad this is looking, Arlo, and don’t start with the legal vocabulary shit. Say it as it is. What are my chances?”
He smacked his lips like he was reviewing the option to either spill the truth or keep me in the dark. His final decision was clear when he heaved a sigh and dropped the stack.
His fingers twisted together. “Not all your resources turned out to be useless at the end of the day. I’ve been able to secure bail for you for some weeks until the court hearing.”
“So, I’m still going to stand before the fucking judge?”
“Dah.”Yes.“They’re not just going to let you go scot-free now,Korol….They’re going to want you to suffer first. That’s why I have to get you out of here as soon as possible.”
After a heartbeat of silence, I blew out a breath. “Fine, then. What’s the plan?”
***
The driver’s door slammed shut, and Arlo strapped on his seatbelt. The door locks clicked, and I pinched the snug black hoodie from my torso, staring up at him.
