by Adams,Claire
"You ready to talk?" Jordie asked.
"Yep, let me grab my notes," I said as I opened my briefcase and pulled out the stack of papers I'd been working on the day before. I joined them in the conference room and spent the next several hours giving them the run down on how we were going to attract new clients from the central booking cells. My plan made sense, but it also required both Jordie and Roger to actually be present down in Central. After clarifying the finer points, I asked if there were any questions and when they both shook their heads and said there weren't, I turned them loose.
I hoped this plan would work, but I couldn't be certain that we wouldn't draw fire for undercutting the Public Defender. What I hoped would happen was that the PD would be so grateful that we'd taken on the smaller cases that generally wasted his time, that he'd turn more of them over to us. What we couldn't generate in several big cases, we would make up for in volume. I just hoped this would work the way I'd planned and that neither Jordie nor Roger would screw it up.
Before I called and ordered lunch, I walked down to Alma's desk and asked if I could order something for her. She looked up at me and replied, "Oh no, Miss Raines, I always bring my own lunch. You can't be too careful about what they put in the food supply these days."
I scanned her face for any traces of irony, and when I found none, I went back to my office and ordered the biggest, messiest cheeseburger and greasiest fries on the menu at the LID and asked them to have it delivered. Then, I dug back into the stack of paperwork on my desk and waited for my lunch to arrive.
#
I was halfway through my greasy burger when Teddy stuck his head in my office and asked what I was doing.
"Eating lunch at my desk," I said with my mouth full of juicy burger. "Want a bite?"
"Yeah, actually, I do," he said walking in and grabbing the burger out of my hand and sitting down in the chair across from my desk. "Brooke, what's going on?"
"What do you mean?" I asked as I dipped a fry in catsup and popped it in my mouth. I knew that Teddy was going to finish off my burger, and sure enough, in three big bites, he did. "You're such a pig!"
"You offered!" he protested as he chewed. "But seriously, what are you doing?"
"And again, I will ask what it is you mean by that," I repeated.
"Billy said you were in the back room at Dooley's with Malone last night for a long time," Teddy said as he watched my face carefully. As kids he always knew when I was lying. I never knew how he knew and now, even as adults, he wouldn't let me in on the secret. Even though I'd tried to bribe him with money, goods and finally appeals to his sense of justice by telling him that if he showed me how he did it, then I could use it to catch the bad guys. He'd never given it up, and in the process I'd learned to be very careful about what I said and didn't say to my brother.
"Maybe I was and maybe I wasn't," I shrugged as I pushed another fry in my mouth and then held out the box to my brother. He took a fistful of fries and then sat back and watched me as he popped them one after another into his mouth and chewed.
"You were," he said. "Can't deny that one, too many witnesses."
"Okay, so I was," I admitted. "What's it to you?"
"Brooke, you don't want to get mixed up with a guy like Malone," Teddy said.
"And why is that? Are you afraid that I'll emasculate another of your fellow men and you'll find yourself all alone out there in testosterone land?" I teased. My words had sharp edges, though.
"No, I'm more worried about you," he said.
"Teddy, the guy is a local club owner, how dangerous could he be?" I asked. I knew Teddy was trying to tell me something without telling me, but I was sick and tired of the secrets that weren't really secrets and the innuendos that led nowhere. "Seriously, dude."
"No, not ‘seriously dude.’ I'm not kidding, Brooke," Teddy sat up and leaned forward, resting his hands on my desk. "The guy is dangerous. You need to steer very clear of him and not try to tame a wild dog like you normally do."
"Teddy, you're making no sense," I said in a bored tone as I tossed the fry container in the trash and cleaned up the remnants of my burger by wiping down my desk with a wet wipe. LID always thought of everything, and that's why I loved it.
"Brooke," Teddy took a deep breath and then let the words fly. "Dax Malone is one of the biggest drug dealers in Los Angeles. He may have had his own lawyer executed for having turned state's evidence and offering to expose his dealings in exchange for putting her in witness protection."
"You have got to be shitting me!" I burst out laughing. "Theodore Austin Raines, you've come up with some wild stories in your time, but that one takes the cake! I almost believed you, too!"
"Brooke," Teddy looked at me without smiling. There was a veil of sadness covering his expression as he continued, "Malone is dangerous. The cops are on their way to the club right now to bust him for conspiracy, intent to distribute illegal substances and pre-mediated murder. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. Not this time, sis."
As the weight of Teddy's words sank in, I sagged in my chair. Dax Malone? A drug lord? How did this happen? I was around criminals all the time. I knew who they were. No, this couldn't be true.
"What evidence do you have?" I blurted as I went into lawyer mode. "I see zero evidence, only conjecture and hearsay."
"Brookie, don't get all lawyerly on me," Teddy said gently. "I'm not trying to ruin your life. I'm just trying to protect you. I overheard the police on the scanner at work and I wanted to come tell you before you got pulled into something that was way over your head."
"Teddy..." I trailed off.
"I know, kiddo, I know," he said nodding. "But not this time."
"Fuck," I said as I tossed the used wet wipe in the trash and rested my elbows on my desk. "Why do I always pick the ones that are completely unsalvageable?"
"You like a challenge, kid," Teddy said with a grin. "Always have."
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Dax
Around noon, I came up from the apartment and stood at the bar discussing our next move with Kesha, when all of a sudden, there was a loud bang on the door and a wave of police officers dressed in combat gear with guns drawn, flooded through the door yelling, "LAPD SWAT TEAM! HANDS IN THE AIR! PUT YOUR FUCKING HANDS IN THE AIR! DO NOT FUCKING MOVE!"
Kesha's eyes were wide with terror as she quickly raised her hands above her head and stood stock-still. I turned and raised my hands a little more slowly; I wasn't intimidated by this show of force. After surviving Papi's warrior raids, nothing this small could ruffle my feathers.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," I said smiling.
"Shut the fuck up, Malone," the commander said as she pulled out her cuffs, yanked my hands out of the air, and cuffed them behind my back.
"And lady," I added as an afterthought.
"Kesha, call Riza and have her get in touch with my lawyer," I said calmly.
"I heard you don't have a lawyer anymore, Malone," the commander said with a sarcastic smile. "Heard you had her executed and dumped in the drink. Kind of screwed yourself, now didn't you?"
"No, I have a lawyer," I said. "Kesha, call Riza and tell her to contact Brooke Raines. She'll know what to do."
"If I were a lawyer, I'd be hesitant to take on your case," the commander said as she yanked me by the cuffs and shoved me toward the front door. "Price of doing business with you seems kind of high."
She shoved me in the back of the arrest wagon and then told the driver and his partner to take me down to Central Booking where I'd be booked and scheduled for an arraignment hearing. The officer rolled his eyes and barked, "Yes, sir! I mean, ma'am!" before driving off toward the station.
I sat in back and thought about all the holes I might have left. I would probably have to plead to a drug charge, but that would be a pretty minor offense, since we'd moved most of the product off site as soon as the storage facility had been broken into. I might be charged as an accessory to murder, depending on who had actually killed Lyd
ia, but there was no evidence that I'd had anything to do with her murder because as far as I knew, I really hadn't.
Unless someone was trying to frame me. That possibility crept into my brain and as I turned it over, I wondered if all of this wasn't an attempt to frame me for Lydia's murder. It was all too convenient. The break in, the theft, and the police raid all pointed to an inside informant, but who would have a grudge that they'd work out this way? I quickly scrolled down the list of people I employed, but I couldn't think of one who'd be harboring a grudge big enough to want to frame me for murder.
Except maybe Beck. But that made no sense; Beck was a drug-addled junkie who couldn't figure out how to get his next fix without help from an outside source. There was no way he was the mastermind behind a murder. And, he wouldn't do that to his own brother, would he? Would he?
They photographed, fingerprinted, and booked me before throwing me in a small cell at the back of the station. I sat quietly on a bench, waiting to be told what was next. I hoped that Kesha had called Riza because otherwise I was up shit creek without a paddle. I couldn't afford to let a PD get a hold of my case; they'd hang me out to dry. My hopes were pinned on a blonde-haired, blue-eyed attorney who I'd really hoped I’d be waking up next to this morning.
I sighed as I closed my eyes and replayed the night before, waiting for word from Riza. This was going to be a long day.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Brooke
Teddy had just left my office when I heard Alma yelling, "Ma'am! Come back here! Ma'am, Miss Raines is in a meeting! You'll need to wait in the lobby while I notify her of your presence! Ma'am! I'm calling security!"
"Go ahead and call, you old biddy," a voice growled outside my door seconds before it was flung open and a tall, dark-haired woman stepped through it.
"Hey! You don't belong here!" I shouted.
"Miss Raines, I'm calling building security!" Alma yelled over the intercom. "We have an intruder!"
"You Brooke Raines?" the woman asked.
"Yes, who are you?" I asked.
"Riza D'Oro, Dax Malone sent me to find you," she said. "He's in trouble and needs your help."
"Wait, what?" I said, confused by the woman's statement. "Dax sent you?"
"Yeah, he was arrested by the police an hour ago, and he said you're his lawyer," she said. When no further explanation was forthcoming, I probed for more information.
"When did he say I was his attorney?" I asked.
"Dunno, Kesha said he told her to call me and tell me to find you and bring you to Central Booking," she shrugged. "I'm just doing what he asked."
"Miss Raines, security is on its way!" Alma yelled into the intercom. "Hold on, they're coming to rescue you!"
"Hold on a moment," I signaled to Riza. Then pressed the intercom button and said, "It's okay, Alma, you can call off security. Riza is here about a client, she just didn't know how our system works."
"Are you sure?" came Alma's response.
"Absolutely," I assured her. The silence on the other end let me know that Alma once again had the office under control.
"Now, Miss D'Oro, you said that Mr. Malone needs a lawyer and I am the one he designated as such," I said. "Is this correct?"
"Yes, but call me Riza, I hate that formal shit," she said as she shifted nervously and looked around the office. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
"If you're asking if I'm an experienced criminal lawyer, then yes, I know exactly what I'm doing," I assured her. "But if you're asking whether I know what the hell is going on, Riza, then I'll have to be honest with you and say no, I don't have a clue what the fuck is going on."
An amused smile briefly flashed across Riza's face and she stopped shifting as I bent down to gather up my briefcase and purse. Once I had what I thought I might need, I looked at her and said, "So, are you going to fill me in or am I going to have to wait until I see Mr. Malone?"
"I'm here to give you a ride to booking, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna speak for Dax," she said shaking her head. "He’d fucking kill me if I told you anything he didn't want you to know."
"Well, you do understand that now that I'm his lawyer, I'm going to need to know everything, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, well, better safe than sorry, I always say," she said grimly as she headed out the door and down the hall.
"Alma, could you please call Jordie and Roger? Tell them I'm on my way down to Central and that they should meet me there in thirty minutes."
"Yes, Miss Raines," she said as she gave Riza a suspicious look. "Consider it done."
On the way out to the door, Riza looked at me and commented, "We all have our second in command, don't we?"
"Indeed, we do, Riza," I smiled. "Indeed we do."
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Dax
When the cops threw me in the cell, the first thing I thought of was Brooke. I needed her to come bail me out and I needed to see her face. I needed her help in finding out what I was being accused of and why I was taking the fall for something I clearly hadn't done.
I knew it would be hours before they'd let me see my lawyer, so I sat down on the metal bench and slid back so that I was leaning against the cement wall. I surveyed my cellmates to make sure I wasn't being set up, and once I was sure that the drunk in the corner presented no threat, I let my mind wander back to Brooke and her warm body. There was something about her that was unlike any other woman I'd ever met. She was strong, smart, and not easily intimidated. I needed her in my corner to fight this charge, but I knew it was more than that.
I needed Brooke, the woman. My thoughts quickly shifted to the memory of her soft, warm body pressed against mine and the look on her face as she climaxed in my arms. She was unique in that her tough exterior hid a soft interior that she didn't seem to show many people. Her layers of defense were as strong and solid as my own, but she had a softness that I both envied and wanted. In my arms, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and out of them, she was tougher than nails. I needed her.
The problem now was that when she showed up to defend me, I was going to have to tell her the truth and I wasn't sure that she could take it. She had no idea what I really did for a living, and I wasn't entirely sure that after she learned the truth, she would want to have anything more to do with me. I knew she'd take my case and fight for justice, but at what price?
I needed someone as smart and stubborn as Lydia had been. But as I turned the case over in my head, I couldn't see how Brooke would want anything more than a lawyer-client relationship with me once she learned the truth. I ran my hand through my hair and rubbed the stubble on my chin as I turned it over and over in my mind, but was unable to come up with any good outcome.
"Motherfucker! You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you!" screamed a voice that sounded like its owner was being dragged down the hall to the holding cell. "Screw you all! Fuckers!"
I looked up just in time to see two officers unlocking the cell door and tossing my brother inside. I took one look at him lying on the floor throwing a fit and knew he was high.
"Get the fuck up and stop acting like a little bitch, Beck," I growled. His head snapped up, eyes wide with a haunted look around the edges.
"Dax?" he whispered. "Is that you or am I hallucinating?"
"No, it's me, you dumbass," I said as I stood up and offered my hand. "Get up off the damn floor, you junkie."
"Dax, they're killing me," he whispered as he took my hand and I pulled him to his feet.
"No, they're not killing you, little brother," I said shaking my head slowly. "You're doing a fine job all by yourself."
"You're one of them," he said as he narrowed his eyes and looked me over. "You're on their side. You're going to kill me for them."
"Beck, quit being a total idiot and listen to me," I said in an exasperated tone. I'd had enough of his junkie drama and I wanted him to stop. "You're high as a kite. Where did you get the stuff?"
"I'm not telling you," he pouted. "You
'll kill my source."
"Listen, you little dumbass," I said as I moved my face within inches of my brother's. "I want to know right fucking now where you got the drugs. Your two choices are tell me or don't tell me. But I will warn you that if you don't tell me, I will wipe the floor with your ass."
"Fuck you," he spit at me as he turned toward the wall. I grabbed him and with one hand, spun him back around so he was facing me. Then, I grabbed a handful of his shirt and twisted it so that I could pull his face toward mine.
"Beck, this is your last chance, brother," I warned. "You tell me where you got your stash or I am going to pound your ass into a pulp and leave you here to rot in this cell."
He stared at me through stoned eyes and tried to process what I was saying. I could see the wheels turning and, after a minute of silent staring, he finally opened his mouth and spoke. "You're not going to like it."
"Tell me anyway," I said unamused.
"I got the stuff from Riza," he said.
"You fucking liar," I said through clenched teeth. "Lie about anything, but don't you dare fucking lie about her."
"I told you that you wouldn't like it." He shrugged with a lopsided smile. Then, with a serious look, he asked, "Are you gonna kill me now?"
"Beck, why would Riza give you drugs?" I asked. If he was going to lie, I wanted to follow the lie to its logical conclusion.
"Because I asked," he said matter-of-factly.
"Bullshit," I said as I gripped his shirt tighter. "She knows better than to give you drugs. Why are you lying?"
"I'm not lying, Dax," he said, in a voice that immediately slammed me back into the past. A store owner on San Pedro had accused Beck of stealing candy bars. And when I'd found Beck cowering in the back storage area of our grandmother's store, crying as he held a bag of frozen vegetables on the spot on his face where the shop owner had hit him, I yelled at him for stealing. He'd looked at me that same way he was looking at me now and swore that he wasn't lying. I hadn't believed him at the time, but later, when I'd investigated the incident, I found out that he had been telling the truth. The storeowner had wrongly accused and punished him for a crime he didn't commit. From that day on, I vowed to believe my brother when he told me he wasn't lying.