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Roni had already greeted Hellen, though I needed to remember not to call her that. Mel said her name was... oh shit! I forgot. My hands started sweating.
The man turned toward me. “Maddie, this is Marley Jacobson, and I’m her assistant, Kyle Simpson. We work for the Los Angeles DA office.”
Hellen, no Marley, no Ms. Jacobson held out her hand, and I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt before shaking it. Her handshake was like steel, like she would be able to wrench my shoulder from its socket. While Kyle held out his hand, I didn’t shake his.
I was starting to think this was a bad idea. I stepped back and knocked into Cook. While I didn’t look at him, I felt his gaze on me. He measured me. As my daddy, he was judging my reaction, how far he could push me. Could I use my safe word now?
“I understand this can be very overwhelming,” said Kyle. “It’s why we came to you. Isn’t it, Marley?”
“Yes,” she snapped and then stepped back toward the booth.“Should we sit? If I had known others would be joining us,”—she looked pointedly at Celt and Cook—“I would’ve gotten us a bigger table.”
“We’ll get chairs,” said Celt, and he and Cook sauntered off.
Roni slid into the booth, all the way to the window, and I stifled the urge to run and sit down beside her. Kyle and Marley sat across from us, and then Marley pulled a manila folder out of her briefcase. When she opened it, a stack of white pieces of paper were paper-clipped together. The small black type was cramped together on the page, and I couldn’t read it upside down.
Before Marley could start, Cook and Celt came back, dragging the chair legs across the floor. Everyone in the diner was looking at us, all three of them, and the heat rushed to my cheeks again. If the fact that Cook and Celt were bikers wasn’t intimidating, they went out of their way to act like crass boys too. Cook turned his seat around, leaning his chest against the back with one arm on the metal bar spanning the back.
His thigh met mine, and he dropped his thick hand on my knee. It soothed me just enough to keep from bolting from the diner.
Celt, while he sat in his chair properly, boxed the DA and her assistant into the booth.
“Go ahead,” said Cook after a long moment.
Marley released a deep breath. “Maddie, you’ll need to make an official statement about what happened to you. I’ll also need to ask questions. We have a decent case against the Gambinos, but it can definitely be stronger. I’ll need you to come to the courthouse in LA so I can depose you officially.”
She said this like it was a forgone conclusion. That I’d comply with whatever she demanded. My eyes flitted over to Cook.
Kyle jumped in, though, “Will you be able to do that, Maddie?”
I looked at Cook, and he nodded. “I’ll make sure you’re there.”
Marley sat back, crossing her arms. “You’ll only get one chance to do this.”
Cook stiffened, glaring at the DA. Did she want to talk me out of it? If Roni was doing it, then I could do too. We had gone through the same shit, and we would take our strength from one another.
I nodded.
“Okay,” said Marley. “I wrote something up, so you have an outline.”
Accepting the papers, I looked down at the tiny type. I’d learned to read and write like most elementary-school kids, but some of these words were utterly foreign. I looked up at Cook.
He took the papers out of my hand, folded them, and shoved them inside his cut pocket. “We’ll read through it.” He made it seem super nonchalant, like I wouldn’t have a problem when I actually sat down to read it. Daddy took care of me in all things without letting on to anyone else.
Roni put her hand on my other knee. “It’s not that bad, really.”
I smiled, liking her more with every interaction.
Cook’s cell phone buzzed twice and dinged. He removed his hand from my knee, and I almost grabbed it to bring it back. After showing his screen to Celt, the two of them stood, cutting Marley off as she talked. Not that I had any idea of what she was saying.
“Celt and I have a... meeting,” announced Cook, dropping his brows to a V as he peered down at me.
I pursed my lips, not wanting him to leave me, but I knew they had business happening today. Why did it have to be now, though? Everything was swirling around me, and I was caught in the vortex. I balled my hands up under the table, holding myself still.
Cook leaned down, hissing, “Breathe, baby girl.”
Then he leaned over and handed the papers to Roni, staring into her eyes. “You’ll help her, yes?”
Roni nodded and took the document.
