“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 walk 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,” Jesús 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.”
Chapter 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 in
teresting 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 they 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.
“I figured you would ask that. I can’t go into specifics because it’s privileged information, but there are certain people wanting to leverage the fact that my client is in jail. They are wanting to get my client to betray people he never will. And if that happens-- if they get their hands on my client in jail-- it will bring many official people into this town that no one wants here. Not you, not The Dead Souls, not anyone else. If Paco testifies and gets my client out of jail, that risk goes down. And for Paco’s testimony, I will stay on the case and make sure those official people don’t bother the good people of Redding.”
“And you can guarantee this,” he said.
“I can guarantee lots of things. That’s how good I am,” I said.
Diego’s grin turned into a smile and he began to laugh. The men in the restaurant followed his lead, their heads thrown back in laughter. I thought they were mocking me. Calling me out on something they didn’t think I could do.
Then Diego’s hand reached over the table to strike a deal.
“I’ll get word to Paco. I take it you want him in your office?” he asked.
“No need. I’m sure you have ways of getting in touch with me. The court date is tomorrow afternoon. If you could set up a meeting with us, all I’ll need before that time is a written and signed statement by him of what he’ll say on the stand,” I said.
“Consider it done, Miss Williams.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as Diego and his men got up to leave. I pulled out my phone and called Rose, then filled her in on everything that had happened. Then, we had to get to work. Diego held up on his end of the bargain and I was sitting with Paco that night, watching him as he wrote out and signed his sworn testimony.
Between that, the inability to recover the murder weapon, and all the circumstantial evidence in play, Knox’s case was thrown out before it ever reached a grand jury.
Someone murdered Blaze, that much was for certain. There was a body with an obvious knife wound to the back. But it wasn’t our concern any longer. At least, it wasn’t at the time. Knox was going to be released from jail, which meant the assistant U.S. attorney was going to have a harder time getting his hands on the club.
But the RICO case was still pending, and that pissed me off.
“What do we do now?” I asked. “I made Diego a deal that I would keep tabs on this RICO case to make sure it didn’t come into the city.”
“Then you hold up your end of the bargain,” Rose said. “And you can do that now that the charges to our client have been thrown out. The RICO case will probably get put on the backburner. Without anyone in the club to leverage, their case isn’t rock solid. Unlike us, they can’t operate any formal investigation because of circumstantial evidence. They need the hard stuff, and they don’t have it.”
“When does Knox officially get out of jail?” I asked.
“He’s being released tomorrow morning. Just in time for his weekend. He’ll be a free man to run and do whatever he pleases until he sticks his foot in some more shit again.”
“Should someone be there to meet him?”
Rose slowly turned to me, her eyes boring into mine.
“Our job stops when our client is free. Understood?”
“Bu
t they keep us on retainer, right? Shouldn’t someone go there to make sure he’s got a way to get back to… wherever it is he has to go?” I asked.
“His club will be there. That’s what they’re for.”
“Not sure if that’s an accurate statement, but I get where you’re going with it.”
“Miss Williams, the case is over. Now it’s time for you to go home, enjoy your weekend, then come back in on Monday. I’m sure someone will need your assistance by then.”
“But what if-”
“Go home, Monroe. Now.”
I watched Rose walk down the hallway and turn into her office. I stood in the middle of the office building, my mind racing with all sorts of things. Happiness for Knox, wariness for the deal I struck with Diego, a deep-seated want to be there when Knox got out of jail. I got where Rose was coming from. I did. Keep things professional and it helps to be unbiased in a courtroom.
But I wanted to be there to celebrate this victory with Knox.
Just like I had been there when they’d tried to kill him.
Chapter 17
Knox
Free man.
I was a fuckin’ free man.
I had no idea what the hell Monroe had done to get Paco to testify, but it had worked. The case against me was dropped and they were releasing me to go home.
I knew someone had struck a deal with someone else because the Latin Cobras weren’t trying to kill me. I’d ratted out one of their own and they were all acting like we were still friends. But when I talked to Diesel about it, he was insistent that Diego hadn’t asked for a deal. Hadn’t cashed in a favor or told us we owed him one in return.
Which left only one person who could’ve done something like that.
And that was Monroe.
I pulled on my clothes and threw my leather cut over my shoulders. Fuck, it felt good to have this thing on again. I grinned at all the guards and flipped off the one who had tossed me to the wolves. I eyed him down, letting him know I was watching him as he cowered into the corner. Yeah. He wasn’t a fucking big shot without The Black Saddles lying around somewhere.
It made me feel good to know he was scared of me.
I walked down the cement and saw someone leaning against a car. Long juicy legs and light strawberry blonde hair billowing around her shoulders. The guard opened the gate for me and I walked out, a grin ticking across my cheeks.
Knox (Dead Souls MC Book 1) Page 10