Headlines & Deadlines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 7)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “I missed you last night, Trouble.”

  “I missed you, too,” I said, inhaling his scent. “I … ugh … you smell so good. I need to take a shower.”

  Eliot pulled back so he could study me. “You look okay. Did you sleep all right?”

  “I did.”

  “No nightmares about being locked in a small room?”

  “I … .” How much should I tell him? I couldn’t start lying now. He didn’t deserve it. “Jake left the door open and sat with me until I fell asleep. Are you angry?”

  “Why would I be angry?” Eliot asked. “I’m relieved he was there. I didn’t want you alone. I didn’t want you in the general population even more than that. I’m glad it worked out.”

  “I gave him some of your chocolates,” I said. “They were really good, by the way. I love the tin.”

  “I knew you would.” He brushed my hair from my face. “I’ve already been in touch with Fish this morning. He says he doesn’t want you at the office. All the media types have been parked out by the curb since dawn for live shots about your arrest. He thinks you’ll make things worse by showing up.”

  “What does he want me to do?”

  “Start your weekend early,” Eliot said. “He and MacDonald are deciding how to handle this situation. They want you to keep your mouth shut for the time being.”

  “What situation?” I asked. “I thought I was off the hook. I have no idea what you did, but I’m going to thank you with rampant nudity and … whatever else you want tonight.”

  “As much as I would like to take credit for getting you out I’m not the one you should be thanking.”

  I faltered. “What? Who? Jake?”

  “No,” Eliot said, making a face. “Don’t offer him rampant nudity, by the way. I’m wouldn’t take it well. I’ll share chocolate but nothing else.”

  I rolled my eyes. “How did I get out if you didn’t make it happen? I don’t understand.”

  Eliot pointed to a spot over my left shoulder and when I swiveled to gaze in that direction I found a surreal sight. Grandpa was standing there, his hands on his hips, and he was having a heavy discussion with Judge Dornish.

  “I still don’t understand,” I admitted.

  “Derrick called your grandfather last night after finding out an interesting … tidbit … about the judge,” Eliot explained. “It seems he was not only in the army when your grandfather was, he was also in the same unit.”

  “But … are you saying Grandpa got me out of jail?”

  “I’m saying Judge Dornish apparently owes your grandfather for saving his life back in the day,” Eliot said.

  “And he used his marker to save me?” I was … humbled.

  “Your family is nuts,” Eliot said. “They’re also loyal. Your grandfather wasn’t going to let you rot if he had the power to stop it.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, you’d better think of something,” Eliot said. “You need to thank him and then I’m getting you out of here. You need a shower and I’ll pick up your favorite McDonald’s breakfast on the way home.”

  “What about after? Do you think getting arrested is enough to get me out of family dinner tonight?”

  “Not even close,” Eliot said, chuckling hoarsely. “I think your family is salivating for stories of your incarceration. You’re going to need your rest if you have to face them tonight.”

  “You want to spend the day in bed, don’t you?”

  “It’s as if you can read my mind sometimes,” Eliot teased, slinging an arm over my shoulders. “Now, come on. I need you out of this place. You owe me for keeping my mouth shut yesterday and a day in bed is just about enough to even things up between us.”

  “Just about?”

  “You’re going to owe me some righteous sex when we get home after dinner tonight, too.”

  “Fine,” I said. “I’m doing this under duress, though.”

  “Something tells me you’ll live.”

  Twenty-One

  “Are you ready for this?” Eliot asked, glancing down at me as I studied the front door of the family restaurant.

  “If I say no, will you take me back home?”

  Eliot feigned as though he were considering the suggestion. “No.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I won’t let them attack you.”

  “We both know the second my mother starts in on me you’re going to develop lockjaw,” I argued.

  “Your mother is terrifying,” Eliot conceded, nodding. “I’ll do my best to deflect from you. You can’t stop them from being curious. This is the biggest thing to happen since Mario announced he was wearing lady’s underwear because he was out of briefs and he had nowhere to shop but the ex-girlfriends’ pile in his apartment.”

  I snorted. “That was funny. Everyone wanted to see whether he was telling the truth and yet no one was brave enough to look.”

  “Keep your head high,” Eliot said. “You stood up for what you believed in.”

  “We both know I mostly did it because I didn’t want Tad to win.”

  “That’s what you believed in,” Eliot said, prodding me forward. “Come on. I’m starving. I didn’t eat dinner last night and I don’t find McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches nearly as yummy as you do.”

  “Why didn’t you eat last night? Did you lose your appetite because you couldn’t be away from me?”

  “I often worry about you losing your life and freedom, but I never have to worry about you losing that ego of yours,” Eliot said. “Come on.”

  The first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was the overflow family traffic. Family dinners usually last three hours. People come and go as they please and there are times I don’t see some of my cousins for weeks. That wasn’t the case tonight. I hadn’t seen this many people who shared my DNA in the same room since the last family reunion – when I faked food poisoning so I could leave early.

  “Oh, no.”

  Eliot tried to hide his smirk. “I don’t recognize some of these people.”

  “They’re the irregular cousins,” I replied. “We only trot them out for special occasions.”

  “You have cousins more irregular than Mario and Lexie?”

  “You have no idea.” I led Eliot in the direction of the reserved booth. Thankfully it was full, which meant Eliot and I could settle at our own table. Wherever my mother and her rage were, it wasn’t here – at least not yet. Maybe I’d finally given her that aneurism she kept threatening. That might be fun.

  “There she is!” Grandpa bellowed as he walked through the kitchen’s swinging doors with a plate in his hand. “It’s my favorite grandchild.”

  Oh, well, this promised to be entertaining.

  “She was arrested,” my cousin Madison said. “How can she be your favorite grandchild? Shouldn’t that honor go to someone who hasn’t been arrested?”

  Madison is one of those cousins I conveniently forget when I’m telling people about my family. She thinks she’s perfect. She thinks her kids are perfect. She thinks her house, pets and even her plants are perfect. Meanwhile, her husband is running around with anything that moves and the bulk of our relatives won’t accept her Facebook friend requests.

  “She’s my favorite because she stood up and fought the system,” Grandpa shot back, raising his fist triumphantly. “Power to the people!”

  “I hear you had a hand in getting her released,” Uncle Tim said, skirting around Grandpa and settling in one of the middle spots of the booth. It looked like he had prime rib on his plate. Hmm.

  “I just explained how she was my favorite grandchild and we needed her at home,” Grandpa said. “The judge was very understanding.”

  “Is it true that you saved his life when you were in the Army and you blackmailed him into releasing Avery?” Madison asked.

  Grandpa made a face. “Don’t you have a hundred little rugrats to watch? Every time I turn around you’re getting knocked up so you don’t have to get a job
.”

  “Grandpa was instrumental in getting me out of jail,” I said, reaching for the specials menu. Yup, there it was. Prime rib – my favorite – was in the top spot. “Did you put prime rib on the menu tonight for me?”

  “I did,” Grandpa said. “I figured my favorite grandchild deserved her favorite meal.”

  “That’s what I’m getting,” Eliot said, eyeing Grandpa’s plate. “That looks amazing.”

  “It is amazing,” I said.

  “I’m going to call foul on Avery being your favorite grandchild,” Mario said, winking in my direction. “I’m the one you’re in business with.”

  Ah, two birds with one stone. He reminded Grandpa that he should rightfully have the spot of honor and caused the muscle in his father’s jaw to quiver at the same time. Mario is surely a wizard.

  “You’re my favorite some of the time,” Grandpa said. “Derrick is my favorite some of the time, too. Avery, though, she did her grandfather proud. I just wish I could’ve been there when she was in court. Did you tell them where to stick it?”

  “Not really,” I said. “I just told them I wasn’t giving up my sources and to put me in a cell.”

  “Was it hard?” Madison asked, her face eager. “Did you get attacked in the shower?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “No.”

  “She didn’t shower while she was there,” Eliot said, slipping an arm over my shoulders to steady me. “She was there for all of twelve hours and she was alone. Do we really have to dwell on this?”

  “My mother isn’t even here yet,” I reminded him. “We’ve got hours of this in front of us.”

  “Speaking of Derrick,” Mario said, pointing toward the door.

  I glanced over my shoulder, grimacing when I saw Derrick wasn’t alone. Devon was with him, and she didn’t look any happier to be here than I was.

  “Hello, Grandson,” Grandpa said, greeting Derrick. “How are you the day after you arrested your cousin?”

  “I didn’t arrest her,” Derrick argued, pushing Devon in the direction of our table. “Get your story straight. Nice work getting her sprung, by the way. Everyone is talking about it.”

  “I aim to please,” Grandpa said, not missing a beat.

  Devon looked reluctant to sit with us but Derrick didn’t give her a choice. Once they were settled, Derrick fixed me with a murderous look. “Couldn’t you have stuck up for me when he said that?”

  I shrugged. “I’m his favorite grandchild right now. I don’t want to risk the title.”

  Derrick scowled. “Did you hear how he got you out of jail?”

  “Um … no … not exactly, I guess. Eliot said he knew the judge and talked to him.”

  “Actually he went to the judge’s house and caused a ruckus,” Derrick countered. “The cops were dragging him off before the judge realized who he was and ordered them to release him.”

  I’d definitely missed that part of the story. “Well … he’s always colorful.”

  “Aren’t you embarrassed that he did that?” Derrick asked incredulously.

  “Last year he chased a robber naked and told the cops not to worry about the third footprint because he was that well endowed,” I said, causing Eliot to snicker. “During the summer he was asked not once … not twice … but three times by the mayor himself to stop swimming naked and giving the ladies in the neighborhood a thrill with his nudity. Just a few months ago he refused to show up for jury duty and called the judge a ‘faggot-loving imbecile.’ I think this ranks low on the list of things he’s done to embarrass me.”

  “I love that robber story,” Eliot said.

  “That’s because you weren’t there,” Derrick shot back. “You didn’t witness him after the fact with his robe open and all free and swimming around for everyone to see.”

  I glanced back at the family booth, my heart rate ticking up. “I don’t suppose you know where my mother is, do you?”

  “I do,” Derrick said. “My mother took her to that weekend spa in the Upper Peninsula. They left a few hours ago.”

  Relief washed over me and was quickly displaced by disbelief. “She left town without jumping all over me? That doesn’t sound like her at all.”

  “Grandpa told her if she was going to attack you she was banned from the restaurant,” Derrick replied. “He’s proud you fought the man and won.”

  “I didn’t technically win.”

  “You came pretty darned close.”

  “I don’t suppose you’ve heard how Tad handled news of my release, did you?”

  Mention of Tad caused Derrick to break into a wide grin, the first friendly expression I’d seen from him since he sat down across from me. “As a matter of fact I did,” Derrick said. “Apparently he showed up at the judge’s chambers and demanded he change his mind. The judge likes calling cops to deal with angry people so he called Jake and Tad was escorted from the premises.”

  The visual made me giddy. “Please tell me someone caught that on tape.”

  “I believe Channel 4 was there,” Derrick said, casting a sidelong look in Devon’s direction. “You’ll have to ask someone with more knowledge than me, though.”

  I turned to Devon expectantly. “Did you get him on film being dragged off? Are you going to run it tonight? Did he cry?”

  “We got him on film being escorted from the property,” Devon said primly. “I have no idea whether it’s going to run. Everyone was expecting to see you back in court this morning.”

  “Well … I hate to be a disappointment.”

  “Somehow I doubt that.” Devon sounded bitter. Check that … Devon sounded more bitter than usual.

  I wasn’t in the mood to put up with any crap tonight. “Let me guess, you were hoping they would keep me in jail and throw away the key?”

  “That’s not true,” Derrick said.

  “Actually, that is true,” Devon countered. “I think everyone in the tri-county area would rejoice to know you were behind bars.”

  “Don’t sell your opinion short,” I said. “People in St. Clair and Livingston counties don’t like me either.”

  “Something tells me hate for you runs throughout the entire state,” Devon said, her eyes fixed on mine.

  “Excuse me?” Eliot cleared his throat. “What’s your problem?”

  “She’s tired,” Derrick said hurriedly.

  “I am tired,” Devon said, bobbing her head up and down. “I am so tired of you I can’t even stand to pretend I like you any longer.”

  “Who asked you to pretend?”

  “Derrick,” Devon said. “No matter what he says I know he likes you. You drive him nuts. You make his job harder for him to do. You lie and manipulate to get your own way. Despite all of that he still loves you.”

  “That’s because we’re family,” I said. “Just because he and I are family that doesn’t mean you and I need to be friendly. If that’s what you were thinking, we can end that pretense right now.”

  “Don’t you ever get tired of having to be right?” Devon asked. “Everyone makes a joke about it. They say ‘Avery is stubborn’ or ‘Avery is a poor loser.’ The problem is you’re a crappy winner, too.”

  She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “I still don’t understand how any of that affects you.”

  “You take your … attitude … and you use it on the professional front,” Devon said. “You pout, whine and cajole your way into getting everything you want. You somehow managed to get information out of a sheriff’s department source that put you ahead of the game on the Grisham case.

  “Instead of getting in trouble, though, you’re rewarded with a media blitz,” she continued. “I thought for sure people would turn on you when you refused to name your source. People were calling you a hero in the comment section on the website, though. Even when you lose you win. Personally, I’m sick of it.”

  “No one in the sheriff’s department tipped me off to anything,” I argued. “If you believe that, you’re a moron. I found everything I
did through luck and hard work. I’m sure you don’t know what hard work is because you’re in television, but if you look it up in a dictionary you might get a better idea of how to get ahead.”

  “Avery … .” Derrick’s voice was low with warning.

  “I don’t care what you say,” Devon said. “I know someone tipped you off. I’m betting it was the sheriff himself. Everyone knows he’s still in love with you. There’s no way you were that lucky.”

  “If you feel the need to believe that, go ahead,” I said. “Jake and I are friends and he would never tip me off because he’s good at his job.”

  “Whatever,” Devon said, rolling her eyes.

  “I helped Avery with some of it,” Eliot said.

  “Were you the source who identified the man in the sketch?”

  “No.”

  “Who was that?” Devon asked. “Who could’ve possibly tipped you off about the sex club? How do you just happen to know someone who recognized the sketch? I’m not buying what you’re selling.”

  “I … .” I didn’t get a chance to finish my statement because Lexie chose that moment to appear beside the table.

  “I’m the one who recognized the sketch,” she said, her face cold as she regarded Devon. “I used to smoke pot with that guy in Chene Park. Avery was protecting me when she refused to talk. If you have a problem with that we can take it out to the parking lot.”

  “And now I have a second favorite grandchild,” Grandpa said, shooting Lexie a thumbs-up.

  Devon glanced at me for confirmation, her cheeks coloring. “Is that true?”

  I opted not to answer. “Where is the waitress? I’m starving.”

  Twenty-Two

  I know Fish wanted me to take the weekend off – and I really did intend to do it – but something drew me to the Grisham house Saturday morning. Because he was on to my game, the same something forced Eliot to come with me.

  “I feel like I’m ten and my mom is still insisting on walking me to the bus stop,” I grumbled as I hopped out of Eliot’s truck. “Is this really necessary?”