Dead souls mc complete s.., p.10
Dead Souls MC (Complete Series #1-5), page 10
“Whatever gets you to talk, Knox.”
“Why would you do something like that. You're a strong woman. I’m sure you’ve got ways of figuring shit out.”
“Like you?” she asked with a grin.
“I want you to help your own damn case. I want you to talk. I don’t want to have to pry every little detail out of you. I want you to trust me enough to know that I can help you.”
My eyes locked with hers as I struggled with her request. She wasn’t just asking me to tell her information. She was asking me to rat out my friends. I’d already opened my big ass mouth once and told her Grave was there. That risked pulling him into shit he didn’t need to be pulled into. For all I knew, she’d already fucking talked to Grave and the club was planning my release the moment I walked outta this damn place.
I couldn't tell her about the other guys who were there with me. If I did, they could all get roped into this shit. The government was targeting me, then they’d target them, too. And with one rat already in the group blabbing about my fucking life to people, the government could use them to roll over on the entire fucking club for all we knew.
Nope. I couldn’t tell her who else was there with me. I wasn’t a rat, and the damn future of the fucking club was at stake.
I wasn’t gonna send my only damn friends to prison because some woman shoved her tits in my face.
“It’s your only chance out of here, Knox. Don’t do this to yourself,” Monroe said.
“I ain’t doing anything to no one,” I said.
“You’re doing it to me,” she said.
I whipped my gaze over to hers as she settled back into her seat. Her eyes went from frustrated to somber to something akin to worried. She shoved her briefcase off to the side and set her pen and pad down, then hooked her stare into mine. I couldn't move away from her. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t look away from her stare.
There was something about it I enjoyed, even though I couldn’t figure out what.
“Getting hot out here,” I said.
“You can change that,” Monroe said.
“You gonna let me fry if I don’t open my mouth?” I asked.
“You remembered something. And if you don’t want to talk about who in your club was there, fine. But you have to tell me who else was there. Anyone else. Someone we can subpoena who can testify that Blaze was still alive when you left. That this was self-defense. Anything to get you out of this jail. Because they’re coming for you, Knox. With heavy artillery and arguments that’ll take Rose to her knees. Give me something. Help yourself. Get out of here so you can go stand by your damn crew again.”
“I see why you’re a lawyer,” I said with a grin.
“Who was there?” she asked. “Forget your club, though I know some of them were there. Who else was there besides Rex and Blaze? I saw it fly across your face.”
“There were some other guys there that night,” I said.
“Okay. Who was there?” she asked.
“It wasn’t just The Black Saddles,” I said. “They were with another group.”
“That’s… great. That’s great. Let me get my pen and my pad,” she said. “Hit me with them.”
“Some of the Latin Cobras were there. A group based on the other side of Redding. I didn’t think anything of it because The Black Saddles were having that damn fire or whatever on their turf. Figured they were there to talk boundaries as much as we were.”
“Do you know any of their names?”
“Not many of them. You can easily find them by their tattoos, but there’s one face I did recognize. His name’s Paco. He’s Diego’s right hand man.”
“Who’s Diego?” she asked.
“Diego’s the leader of the group. But you gotta be careful when approaching him. He doesn’t like people snooping around in his business. He’s heavily armed wherever he goes.”
“How do you know these guys?”
“That relevant to the case?” I asked.
Her eyes fluttered up to mine as her pen hovered above the pad. I sighed and shook my head before I looked back at the building I’d been transferred to. I could see a few of the Latin Cobras still poking their heads out the window. Trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. They probably saw the whole damn debacle. How Monroe had the guards handcuff me to this damn table we were sitting at.
“I know them from high school,” I said.
“So, you went to high school with some of the Latin Cobras.”
“I did, yes. We weren’t close or nothing, but we knew one another.”
“Okay, I’m going to be very upfront with you. Paco’s our only shot at getting you out of here,” she said.
“Figured as much.”
“I’m going to find Paco and get him to testify so you can get out of here.”
“And if he doesn’t wanna do it?” I asked.
“It’s pretty hard to go against a subpoena.”
“You don’t know these guys. They’d rather get thrown in jail then testify in a fucking courtroom.”
“We’ll find a way. I think I’ve proven to you that I’m pretty resourceful in situations like this.”
“Pretty sure the handcuffs and the seduction made that point loud and clear.”
“To be fair, that wasn’t seduction. That was me merely giving you a peek of what you’re missing while being in here. You get out there, you’ve got your hands back on women.”
“Or you,” I said with a grin.
“If we can get Paco to testify, we can couple that with your boots and the lack of evidence on the prosec-”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Okay. Lack of evidence?” I asked.
“You shut me up a lot when we’re having these meetings. It would do you some good to let me talk.”
“What do you mean ‘lack of evidence’?” I asked.
“The prosecution has been slow to get us things. One thing they still haven’t released to us is an autopsy report. Much less a body. No one on our side has been able to even confirm the fact that Shepard is lying on a slab somewhere.”
“Then why the fuck am I in here if they don’t have a body?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. A lot of this seems very weird and fishy to me, but coming with our best argument in court guarantees your release. That’s why I’ve been hammering you for information.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because you won’t shut up long enough to let me tell you anything,” she said. “We find Paco to vouch for Blaze still being alive when you left, we couple that with the fact that the prosecution hasn’t released as much as an autopsy report to us, and this is money in the bag. Then I can easily start working on getting this damn RICO case dropped. I’m not hounding you for information because I wanna screw you over, Knox. I’m hounding you for information because it’s going to make everything going forward a hell of a lot easier.”
“Does that mean you’ll let me outta these damn handcuffs now?” I asked.
“Yes. I’ll let you out of those handcuffs. For now,” she said with a smirk.
“I just got one question,” I said as the guard released me.
“What’s that?”
“Why did you stay in the infirmary with me?”
I held her gaze and watched as her face fell. It was like her mind was ripping her back to that moment and that same worried look in her eye returned. Her gaze fell to my forearms that were still bruised and swollen from the attack. She danced those beautiful eyes all the way up to my face, and for a moment I thought I saw tears in her eyes.
“Because I was worried about you,” Monroe said.
She waved over the guards before she shut her briefcase and got up. The guards came and hauled me back to the building my new cell was in. I craned my neck back and watched Monroe walk away, her head tilted to the ground and her shoulders slumped.
That woman didn’t deserve to talk with her head down at the ground. She was sexy. Confident. Commanding.
She needed to walk with pride.
“I need another phone call,” I said.
“Only one a day,” the guard said.
“What do I gotta do to get another phone call?” I asked
“He can have mine,” Jesus said.
I looked over at the man who was now tasked with my protection as he nodded his head. He sucked at his teeth as the guards debated on what to do, then they led me back to the room at the end of the hallway. They sat me down in the chair and I picked up the phone, furiously dialing Diesel’s number.
“Knox? That you again?”
“I don’t have a lot of time to talk, but you need to call Diego again,” I said.
“Why? What’s goin’ on?”
“Some things he’s not gonna be happy about, but I can’t do nothing about it. I told Monroe that Paco was there.”
“What?” Diesel yelled.
“I had to give her something.”
“Shit man, I told you to give you more details, but not to snitch that there was another crew there.” he asked.
“She handcuffed me to a damn table and threatened to not let me go until I fucking talked.”
“Shit. She went oldschool on you,” Diesel let out a sigh. “What do I need to tell Diego?”
“Tell him that Paco and a few of his guys were there that night and that our lawyer’s gonna come snooping around. She’s wanting to find someone who’ll testify that Blaze was still alive after we all left.”
“Does she know any of our guys were there?” he asked.
“She might know that Grave was there, but if it ever comes up it’s gonna get denied to hell and back. The only other names I’ve mentioned are Blaze and Rex, and I don’t give a shit about them.”
“No one does. Look, we all knew you were gonna have to talk to get out of there. The guys appreciate you keeping their names out of it, but they were all ready to step up if you needed them.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“In the meantime, I’ll call Diego. He’ll enjoy the heads-up. I’ll probably have to cut a deal in order to get Paco to agree to testifying, but that’s how Diego and I have always worked. Don’t worry, Knox. We’re gonna get you the hell out.”
“Good. Then I’m gonna figure out who the fuck’s opening their mouths about my family.”
“I’ll make the call now,” he said. “Hang in there, okay?”
“I’m good. Just get word to him before Monroe does something stupid,” I said.
“Should we all start bending down to her now?”
“Quit being an asshole. You’re not good at it.”
“Never have been. I still don’t know why you idiots appointed a softie as President. Let me go so I can call Diego. Talk to you soon, Knox.”
“Later, Diesel.”
16
Monroe
“We got a problem,” Rose said.
I whipped my head up from my desk as she slammed a folder onto the table.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Take a look.”
I opened the folder and grimaced at the pictures I saw. My heart fell to my stomach as I looked at picture after picture of a young man lying on an autopsy table. Bruises covered his body and his jaw had obviously been broken. The stitched ‘X’ on his chest was open in some pictures, revealing things about the human body I never wanted to see in person. I flipped through picture after picture, canvasing the man from head to toe. Then I flipped to the pages of information that documented in verbiage how the autopsy had gone.
Fuck.
This was Andrew Shepard.
“Cause of death?” I asked.
“That’s the only thing helping us out right now,” Rose said. “It says the cause of death was a knife to his back. Severed his spinal column and rendered him immobile from the waist down,” Rose said.
“Was a murder weapon ever recovered from the scene?” I asked.
“No, but take a look at his stomach.”
I flipped through the pictures until I got to the pictures regarding the young man’s torso.
“Ugh. Holy-”
“Those boot prints are clear as day. They match Knox’s boots perfectly. Even with the blood on the tip of his boots, having prints like this on a dead man’s body doesn’t look good. I can’t sway a jury into thinking that heel-stomping a man into the ground didn’t somehow attribute to his death.”
“But you said-”
“I know what I said and I know what the autopsy said. But now I’m trying to think like an emotional juror who’s going to look at this twenty-one-year-old boy and then look over at Knox. He’s stone-faced and uncooperative and littered with tattoos on his arms. The jury’s going to judge him, they’re going to think he’s guilty anyway, and with his shoe-size practically stamped into this boy’s body, they’ll convict him. We need that testimony, Monroe. We need Paco.”
“I’m working on it,” I said. “I’ve got a meeting with Diego for lunch.”
“You what? I’m coming with you.”
“Nope. I’ve got this,” I said.
“Monroe, the Latin Cobras aren’t to be messed with. You won’t be meeting with just Diego. You’ll be surrounded by armed men.”
“I’ve been surrounded by armed men every time I go into that jail to meet with Knox. You think those prisoners don’t have shanks on them?”
“Get a subpoena. You can do this from afar.”
“I find it interesting that you’ll defend a club like The Dead Souls but have issues talking with someone like Diego. I’m not going with a subpoena. I’m going on neutral ground. I’m meeting him at a place The Dead Souls own, so if anything happens it doesn't just rattle this case, it rattles his crew against theirs.”
“That’s… actually pretty smart.”
“Yeah. You pick up a few things in this town apparently. Now I need to get out of here. I’m going to be late if I don’t,” I said.
“I’m going to the coroner’s office today to get a look at the body myself. I’m going to have our labs we trust run the same tests to be sure this information is accurate.”
“Sounds good. Meet up around four to talk?” I asked.
“See you then. Be safe.”
I walked out to my car, my briefcase in hand. I was petrified about meeting Diego in person, but I knew it was the best way to approach him. I was still getting used to how things worked around here, but I knew approaching someone like Diego with respect and without force would be the way to go. I got into my car and drove into the town, parking just beyond the place we’d agreed to meet.
Then I took in a deep breath and started for the restaurant.
I knew who he was the moment I walked in. Tanned skin. Bald head. Covered in tattoos from his hands to his neck. He was wearing a crisp blue shirt and was in a pair of ragged jeans, and I could tell by the way his shirt puffed out that he was armed.
I saw a few men staring at me, no doubt Diego’s men as I began to approach him.
“Your heels are loud, Miss Williams.”
“A confident woman doesn’t mind reminding someone when she’s in the room,” I said.
“Do you consider yourself a confident woman?” Diego asked.
“I consider myself a bold one,” I said as I slid into the seat in front of him.
“Nice day for a glass of water,” he said.
The waitress quickly set one down in front of me and I thanked her. I could tell she was scared. Her hand was shaking and she tried to get away from the table as quickly as possible. I quirked my eyebrow and grasped the water, then took a small sip.
“Trusting,” Diego said. “I like that.”
“Do I have a reason not to trust you?” I asked.
“My reputation usually precedes me.”
“Well you haven’t done anything to me, so in my eyes you don’t have one.”
“A dangerous way to operate in a town like this.”
“I’m sure I can get by just fine, Mr. Diego. Would you like to make this short and sweet? Or do you want to keep chit chatting?”
A grin slid its way across his face before he started to chuckle.
“Figured maybe you had better things to do than sit and talk with a lawyer,” I said.
“I hear one of your clients had a man of mine’s name in his mouth,” Diego said.
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”
“I have. Are you suggesting we have the same enemy?”
“I did a little bit of research on territorial boundaries. You know, the places you occupy, along with other groups in the area,” I said. “The Black Saddles don’t have a claim anywhere in this town.”
“They don’t.”
“Yet the act like they do.”
“They’re pompous that way,” he said.
“The Dead Souls think that, too. It’s actually why they were there at the fire that night.”
“What fire?” Diego asked.
“Don’t do that. I’m a busy woman and I don’t have time, Diego. The only man I’m looking for is Paco. I know the two of you are close.”
“If you need Paco, why don’t you get a subpoena?”
“Because I don’t want to force anyone to do anything. I have a very specific outcome I’m looking for, and it doesn’t require airing everyone’s dirty laundry in order to get it done,” I said.
“What information do you think Paco has?”
“I think he knows a man by the name of Blaze was still alive after The Dead Souls left the fire that night. All I need is him to make that same statement, if it’s true, under oath.”
“That’s all,” Diego said.
“That’s all. I need a witness who can verify my client’s claims that a man by the name of Blaze was still alive when everyone started to run.”
I could tell Diego was turning my proposition over in his head. He was drumming his fingers on the table as some of the men in the restaurant turned to face us. I was sorely outnumbered by a bunch of men who probably had semi-automatic weapons holstered to their hips.
I felt the sweat dripping down my back as I held Diego’s stare.
“What do I get in return?” he asked.
