Pete attacked. It was a pretty poor attempt from a schoolboy. He ran at me with both arms outstretched to strangle me, but he hadn’t dropped the gun. I knocked it out of his hand and gave him a nice elbow to the face, then a jab to the gut. He was down, rolling around and holding his nose.
I turned to Miri. “How ya doing?”
Her eyes were wild, but she looked unhurt. “I wanna go home. Now.” She grabbed my arm. “Take me home, please.”
Since the good prosecutor was still howling in pain, I wrapped my arm around her waist and gave her a quick lift. Just a quick version of our usual hug.
Looking up, I finally noticed the guys hanging around the cabin.
“Hey, Clint, talk some sense into this asshole. He needs to leave town and never come back.” I put my arm around Miri. “I’m gonna get her cleaned up.”
I left Clint and the other guys gathering around Pete. Taking Miri’s arm, I steered her to the bedroom.
“Where are your clothes, cher?” I asked.
“He burned them.” She sniffled. She was on the verge of tears, not at all surprising, considering all she’d been through.
I went to the closet. Fuck. There was a ton of shitty lingerie and a couple pieces of men’s clothes. I threw a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt on the bed. “You can wear those until we get home.”
“No,” she whispered. “I’m not going to wear his clothes. I’ve got my own shoes still. I’ll wear those.”
She sat on the bed and methodically put on her shoes. Other than her fingers shaking as she tied the laces, she was calm—too calm. I didn’t think he’d had a chance to rape her, but maybe I was wrong. Dread settled over me.
“Okay, we’ll find you something else.” Sitting next to her, I put my arm around her. “Did he...?”
“No.” She shook her head. “He was close. I was stalling, but I wasn’t going to be able to do that much longer.”
I held her against me. Thank god we were there in time.
“Cher.” I pulled back from our hug. “We need to ride back. You can wear my jacket, okay?”
Sirens screamed off in the distance. Shit.
“You hear that?” Clint asked from the doorway of the bedroom. “Pack her up. We gotta move.”
The sirens were getting louder, and we could hear engines now. Clint and I swore as we heard tires squeal onto the gravel drive.
“Get into the living room.” I grabbed Miri’s arm and hauled her up. “Clint is gonna take care of you, okay?”
“I’ll explain.” Her teeth started to chatter as she tried to talk. “I’ll explain. I have my shoes. I can explain.”
I looked at Clint and could tell he was thinking exactly the same thing as me. Miri needed to keep it together. Without her, it was our word against the Assistant District Attorney of Seattle. If we ended up in jail while they sorted this shit out, there would be no one to protect Miri from Pete.
“We have the house surrounded,” a voice from a bullhorn boomed at us.
“Fuck.” I pushed Clint and Miri through the door and back into the living room.
This was my goddamn operation, and Rip, Roach, and Crash were standing around Pete. Miri’s ex had been stripped of his clothes and tied with the guys’ belts. Clint had his arm around Miri on the other side of the room. Five bikers, a tied-up ADA, and a terrified woman muttering about her shoes were not going to make a good impression on the cops.
“I’ll go out there,” I said. I handed Clint my nine-millimeter. “Keep her safe,” I told him. Time to throw myself on the mercy of the court.
The front door of the cabin hung at a crazy angle from being kicked in. I managed to step around it and held my hands in the air. Two sheriffs were aiming their handguns at me. There were two cars in the driveway, so likely there were two other guys around back waiting for us to make a move.
“I’m the good guy,” I yelled, hoping I could somehow get through to them. “We will all cooperate.”
“Put your hands behind your head,” the sheriff said through his bullhorn. “If you do what we say, we won’t shoot you.”
I put my hands on my head. It was a fair request. If I were in their spot, I’d cuff everyone and sort it out later.
The deputy held his handgun steady as he walked up the steps of the porch.
“There’s six people inside the house, sir,” I said as deferentially as possible. “The woman is the victim, four men like me, and the guilty party.”
“We’re taking you all down to the station house.” The deputy cuffed me. “You can proclaim your innocence there.”
“No!” Miri wailed from inside the cabin.
I looked over my shoulder, and Miri was running with Clint chasing after her. She was headed toward the deputy. The man’s eyes got huge. He left me on the porch and scrambled back down the stairs.
Miri was running directly at the cops, and they were already freaked out. I needed to stop her before one of the deputies opened fire. I took off after her, but she stumbled going down the steps. I bent down to help her up when a voice yelled at us through the bullhorn again.
“Leave the woman on the ground,” the officer said. “Both of you, put your hands behind your head and walk slowly toward me.”
“Dammit,” Clint muttered from behind me. “I don’t wanna get arrested again.”
“Are you okay, cher?” I asked. She was sitting up on the gravel with scrapes from the gravel on her shins.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” She crawled to sit on the lower step. “I hurt my wrist, though. Do what the police say, I’ll tell them what happened.”
“Hands behind your head!” the officer shouted. “If I have to tell you again, it’s resisting arrest.”
Clint and I both put our hands behind our heads and walked slowly down the front step. I took one last look at Miri. She seemed to be more coherent at least, so that was good. I still wasn’t sure that she was entirely okay. Pete had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted before we got there, and she had been acting odd.
“Close enough. Stop walking and lay facedown on the ground,” the sheriff instructed.
It wasn’t my first time at this rodeo. Clint and I both lay facedown and waited to be cuffed. Miri had front-row seats to me getting arrested. If she couldn’t handle seeing a few guns, this experience would leave her running for the hills.
With a face full of gravel, I craned my neck and tried to catch a glimpse of her. She was cradling her arm, sitting on the front porch steps, staring off into the distance.
“The woman needs medical assistance,” I told the officer as he was cuffing me. “She might have been raped.”
“We’ll have her checked out at the ambulance.” The deputy grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. “What was your role in this?”
I knew better than that.
“I ain’t sayin’ shit,” I told him. “Just that she needs to see a doc. You can ask my lawyer for the rest.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Miri
The world was fuzzy as I opened my eyes. I was in a hospital room, and my ankle hurt like hell. My mom sat in the chair next to my bed doing a crossword puzzle. I tried to remember why I was here, and then it all came back to me in a rush. Pete, Jean Luc, police, the damn stairs that I fell down, and the ambulance ride. Pretty much just the worst day of my life.
“Mom?” I was surprised at how hard it was to talk.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said softly. She brushed her hand against my cheek. “How are you doing? Are you okay?”
“Where’s Jean Luc?” I asked. I sat up and looked around. He wasn’t in the hospital room. Then I remembered he had gotten arrested. “Is he still in custody?”
“Just lay down.” She helped me back against the pillows. “How’s your anxiety level? Do you need some more
valium?”
I groaned. That’s why my head felt funny and I was having a hard time remembering anything. Valium.
“No, no,” I assured her. “I’m fine. I just want to see Jean Luc.”
“The hospital ran tests,” Mom said. “We know what happened. You can stop protecting him.”
“Protecting who?” Why was she acting so weird? “Where’s Dad? I need to tell him what happened so he can defend Jean Luc.”
“The rape kit came back positive.” Mom squeezed my hand. “We know Jean Luc raped you in that cabin.”
Oh god. The rape kit tested for the presence of sperm, and there was sperm because Jean Luc and I had sex last night. The police thought he was the one who did this.
A big ball of dread settled in the pit of my stomach. They were going to take one look at his motorcycle vest and send him away for raping me.
“I’m going to the police station now,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the hospital bed. I grabbed the side of the bed, and pain rocketed through my wrist. I fell back onto the mattress.
“Everything okay in here?” a nurse asked from the doorway.
“I need to go right now,” I told her.
* * *
Reluctantly, my mom drove me to the little sheriff’s station where Jean Luc and the other guys were being held.
“Sweetheart, this is a bad idea. You should be back at the hospital,” she said as she helped me out of the car. “You have a fractured wrist.”
“I’m fine,” I said, walking up the stairs. My world still tipped every once in a while from the valium, but I had to tell my side of the story. “I can’t lay in the hospital when Jean Luc is locked up. And where is Pete? Did they let him go?”
An officer came running and opened the doors for us. “Are you Ms. Englestein?” he asked.
“Yes, and I’m ready to give a statement,” I told him. “Take me to the officer in charge of my case.”
They led me into an interrogation room, and pretty soon the sheriff showed up. It took us two hours of questioning, but I told him the whole story—and explained the rape kit results.
The sheriff narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe me. “So you’re saying that you were kidnapped and nearly raped by the assistant district attorney of Seattle and that the five bikers I have in my holding cell are the ones who saved you?” he asked, tapping his pencil on the table.
“Yes.” I nodded. “You can check my phone. I texted my location to Jean Luc—that’s how they knew where to find me. Pete rented the cabin under his own name—he planned the kidnapping. Also, the owner of the coffee shop threw Pete out when he was bothering me. There’s plenty of evidence. Pete is the one who did it, and Jean Luc and his friends are the good guys.”
The sheriff gave me a hard stare, as if he could see through my face to my honesty. “Wait here. I’m going to need to corroborate your story.”
The sheriff left to go make some phone calls, and I lay down in the interrogation room. After an hour, the sheriff woke me up.
“I have your statement. Go home.” He stood up and helped me to my feet. “I think we have enough to release Jean Luc, but it will take a while to get paperwork done. Get some rest.”
“Can I see him?” I asked as the officer walked me down the hall.
“He’ll be out soon enough, ma’am,” the officer assured me. “If we have to process a visitor, it’ll just delay his release. Go home, and wait for him there.”
So I went home and I waited. And I waited. And I waited.
Chapter Forty-Three
Skeeter
The sheriff of Chelan County turned out to be a good guy, as far as cops go. He verified whatever Miri had told him about me and let us go. He kept Pete locked up, though. It was pretty funny to see the good counselor glaring at us as we walked out of the holding cell.
The hospital said she had checked out, so I headed to her father’s house in Queen Anne. I’d lost track of time, but it was well past midnight as I pulled up to the door. I’d just kicked down my bike stand when the front door opened. I couldn’t see who it was, but they were waiting for me. Hoping it was Miri, I took the front porch steps two at a time. But it was a security guard.
“I want to see Miri,” I told the man at the door.
“Ms. Englestein is not here, but Mr. Englestein would like to talk to you.” The bodyguard stepped into the house and led me downstairs to a basement where Gerald was working.
Gerald looked up from his papers. “Devaneaux, have a seat.” He indicated the chair in front of his desk. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“Look, we can catch up later.” I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her dad. “I just want to see her, make sure she’s okay. Is she at her apartment? The cops said she went home.”
“She’s fine. She’s been asleep for over an hour at her apartment.” Again, he waved to the empty seat. “Sit. You and I need to talk.”
I sat in the damn chair. “I’m gonna be blunt,” I started. “I just spent twelve hours in a holding cell for assaulting a kidnapper. The only thing I want to do tonight is see Miri. So, whatever you have to say, make it fast.”
“I’m well aware of what your activities were today,” Gerald said quietly, folding his hands on his desk. “I was the one directing your defense. You met with another lawyer only because I didn’t want conflict of interest clouding the case. I’m intimately aware of your actions over the last twenty-four hours—including the fact that you had unprotected sex with my daughter.”
Fuck. It felt like someone punched me in the gut. When I’d met with my lawyer, I thought Gerald had washed his hands of me. A young associate had negotiated my bail, but Gerald had been behind the scenes.
“How did you know about me and Miri?” I asked, squirming.
“Her rape kit came back positive.” Gerald pressed his lips together. “She had to explain it to everyone.”
“Damn.” I closed my eyes and imagined her trying to explain things to the police officer. “I wish I could have saved her from that.”
“Me too,” Gerald whispered. “Anyway, I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to talk to you—man to man.”
Miri’s mom, Joan, had been daunting, but Gerald was goddamn frightening. He cracked his knuckles and reminded me of an old boxer.
“Joan’s father hated me. Called me a no-good ambulance chaser—and he wasn’t wrong.” Gerald got a faraway look in his eye, as if he were remembering some old argument. “And now that I’m the father with the beautiful daughter, I think the guy that she’s dating is a no-good biker.”
“I’m not gonna argue that point with you.” I nodded. “I’ve thought about that too.”
“Good.” He glared at me. “Joan and Miri are a lot alike, so I’m going to get out of her way and let her love whoever she wants. But I will be watching. Just like Joan’s pop watched me, I’m going to be watching you. If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay. I have enough shit on you and your club to make that happen. It might not be ethical, but I’m just a no-good ambulance chaser, and you’d better remember that.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it—that was not what I was expecting of Miri’s dad. Somehow, now that he said his peace, it seemed natural. He may be a high-priced lawyer and tied to the highest ranks in the club, but he was also a dad.
“I’ll probably feel the same way when my son starts dating.” I offered my hand. “I promise I won’t hurt her. She’s mine to care for and love.”
Love. Yeah, I loved her, but this was the first time I’d really admitted it out loud.
Gerald seemed satisfied with that answer, because he shook my hand. “She’s at her apartment, waiting for you. Her mom’s there too.” He stood up and walked me up the stairs to the front door. “Pete’s still in lockup. He’s going to be there for another forty-
eight hours until his arraignment. I had them push the appointment out a few days. He needs some time to cool his heels. I’ll give you guys a heads-up if he’s allowed out on bail. I doubt he will. I intend to play hardball with this. Call me if you need any extra security.”
“Thank you, sir.” I nodded to him. “I think we’ve got security handled. Your last guy was an easy mark.”
“Yeah,” Gerald said ruefully. “He got fired. No more sneaking her out windows, okay?”
“No problem.” I laughed. “Nice talking to you, Gerald. I’m going over to her apartment.”
Gerald and I said our goodbyes, and I hopped on my bike and headed south to Miri’s place.
It was past two when I got to her apartment. I cut my engine and tried to be quiet as I walked up the stairs to her place. When I raised my hand to knock on her door, the door opened.
“You must be Devaneaux.” The man standing at the door was dressed in black fatigues. This must have been one of Gerry’s guys.
“Yeah. I’m here to see Miri,” I said, trying to look past him into the apartment.
“Come in.” The bodyguard stepped aside so I could go in.
“Jean Luc,” Miri’s mom said, coming from the hallway. “So glad you’re here. She’s been asking for you.”
Joan looked a lot less put together than the last time I met her. Her velvet pajamas were wrinkled, and her makeup was long gone. When she wrapped me in a hug, I squeezed her tight. She felt more like a real person, someone that I wanted to make a connection with because she was part of Miri’s family.
“Is she awake?” I asked, pulling away from Joan. “I’d like to see her.”
“I just got her down,” Joan said, as if she were talking about a baby. “I think we should let her sleep for a while. You too. How long have you been awake?”
“I don’t know.” I tried to come up with a number, but it was nearly twenty-four hours. “I just want to see her.”
“Just a peek in her bedroom, okay?” Joan led me down the hallway. “Then you’re going to bed too.”
I opened the door to Miri’s bedroom and saw her sleeping. Her brown hair spilled out over the pillow, and I could hear her even breathing. The burden that had been sitting on my shoulders was now somehow gone. I stumbled back into the hall, tired.
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