by Arlo Arrow
They, at least, I knew would not have failed me. They would have told me they were doing whatever they could to help me, and then actually go ahead and do it.
Not that I can entirely blame my parents, either. I talked to them, but of course, they had no money. My family wasn’t rich, it was all they could do to get me through my secretarial exams, and I had to get a job and pay for half of them, besides my other living expenses.
That, and they just weren’t willing to help me out. They believed I got myself in hot shit, so I should get myself out of it. Then they hung up before I could tell them to inform someone else that might be of help.
Out of nowhere, I heard the loud sound of metal as the door into the room was opened. My eyes snapped open as I sat up quickly. Was someone finally coming to see me? Or were they bringing in some criminal they caught?
I got off the cot and moved closer to the bars. An officer was walking into the room, followed by a man I’d never seen before, in a tailored suit and a leather briefcase.
“Ma’am,” the officer called, his face sour. “Your lawyer is here.”
My jaw dropped as I looked at the other man again. I was positive I didn’t know him. He looked maybe a few years older than me, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a pair of glasses. I didn’t know any lawyers, and I doubted either of my friends would, either.
The cell door was opened and held for me to walk out. I did so slowly, still in disbelief over this turn of events. The lawyer held his hand out for me, and I reached forward to shake it automatically.
“My employer asked me to represent you,” the lawyer told me. “My name is Isaac Mitchel, and I’ll be your lawyer until the suspicions against you are cleared.”
“Hey,” the officer protested, narrowing his eyes. “That’s going a bit far.”
The lawyer just gave him an unimpressed look. “There are no formal charges against my client, I didn’t word it wrong. All you people have so far are suspicions, and not enough to have her locked up for two days in a cell.” Then he turned to me. “Were you charged with any crimes, miss?”
I floundered a little, my hands clasping together as my mouth opened and closed a few times. I looked at the officer and the lawyer.
“Um,” I started. “I was just picked up from my home on Saturday morning, though I’m not sure what time. I was read my rights, and I was brought immediately here. I got a phone call, but besides that, I haven’t talked to anyone?” I voiced it as a question because I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d missed. It was my first time getting arrested, after all.
“The police didn’t make any charge against you, so legally, you only should have been in holding for twenty-four hours, not as long as they’ve held you for.”
My jaw dropped. Fuck! Could I have been out of here yesterday?
“Now, wait a minute here,” the officer cut in, looking furious. “We have evidence against the miss, so we had every right to hold her for as long as we did. She wasn’t offered bail because we have evidence against her.”
“Just not enough to charge her,” Mr. Mitchel said bluntly. “Now, if you would excuse me, I would like for my client to be released now.”
The officer’s face was still twisted in anger.
Mr. Mitchell turned back to me. “Were you questioned by the police?”
I nodded slowly, still glancing between the two of them, because I had no fucking idea what was going on besides I was getting the fuck out, finally.
“Uh, yeah, they did. It happened the day I got here, on Saturday .”
I had been so freaked, especially since it was after the call with my parents. I’d pretty much answered almost everything with ‘I don’t know’ beside the definite things like the company I worked for and who I worked for. I’d been too distressed to remember I could ask for a lawyer, and they stopped questioning me, anyway. I was a little worried I’d done or said something self-incriminating, but there was nothing I could do after the fact.
Mr. Mitchel gave me a sharp nod. “Any further questioning will only be conducted with me present. If you are asked to come into the station by the police again, say nothing and ask for me immediately.”
I nodded back, feeling my shoulders slump in relief. Hell, my whole fucking body was trembling, and it wasn’t just because of the cold.
“Thank you so much,” I told him fervently. I wanted to take his hands and squeeze them in gratitude, but I hadn't had a shower in two days. “I don’t think I could repay you for this. Literally.”
He walked behind me as we were led out of the room, and to a different one. This one was similar to the room where I was first held when they brought me in before I had to go through questioning.
“Please wait in here, someone will come get you,” the officer said and left with a brisk walk.
I turned to the lawyer, and he offered me a polite smile.
“There’s no reason for you to repay me. As I’ve already said, my employer wishes for me to represent you. All my fees will be going to my employer.”
I frowned, wondering who this ‘employer’ could be. Besides my parents and my friends—since Olivia would have given the news to Emma—who even knew I’d get picked up by the cops?
“Who exactly do you work for?” I asked, narrowing my eyes because suddenly I felt weary of owning this ‘employer’ anything.
He tilted his head slightly, looking at me with confused eyes. “I believe he’s your employer as well? He told me you work as his secretary.”
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. It wasn’t the most graceful reactions, and any other time, in front of someone so sophisticated, I might have felt ashamed of myself. But at that moment, I was too busy feeling surprised.
“He gave me a call earlier this morning, and I came immediately. I managed to get you out on bail; we need to be at the hearing in a little while. Luckily, with all they have, it’s not nearly enough for a solid charge, so you should be fine for now. It shouldn’t take long, and after that, they should release you.”
It hadn't sunk in until the lawyer mentioned him by name. I could only imagine what all of it cost, the lawyer and the bail charges. Why the fuck would Gabe throw all that away for me?
Chapter 15
Gabe
I was there for the bail hearing, but I barely paid attention as I waited for the final verdict, because that was all I cared about. Isaac assured me everything would be fine, and I had faith in the man. He had gotten the family out of a lot of shit, and though he wasn’t the primary lawyer in our dad’s case, I would have trusted him with that, too, but Dad had his team.
The whole time, I couldn’t keep still. I kept fidgeting; bouncing a leg, drumming my fingers on my thighs, twisting my fingers together or adjusting the lapels of my coat. Someone sat beside me, and I was pretty sure by the sighs they kept making that they were done with my shit, but I didn’t give a fuck.
When Jasmine got out, I almost thought my body would shake with the relief.
I left quickly and waited, so by the time she got out with all her things returned to her; I was there. Issac walked out beside her, and I approached the two of them. Her eyes widened when they saw me, then narrowed.
“Isaac, good work in there.” I held out my hand for a handshake. “I’ll probably be calling on you soon, though.
He reached back and shook my hand, giving me a nod. “Anytime, Gabe.” He gave a nod to Jasmine. “Hopefully, I won’t be seeing you both anytime soon.”
With a parting smile, he was gone.
I turned back to Jasmine, who was still looking at me with narrowed eyes. She had her arms crossed under her breasts, one hand holding a bag that probably held her things.
“Gabe,” she said in acknowledgment, her voice cold. “Thanks for helping me out, but don’t you feel like you’re a little late? I spent the whole weekend in there, you know?”
I ran my eyes over her. Her hair was in disarray, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her skin looked pale. “I can se
e that. And, I had no idea you were picked up until just this morning.”
She sneered. But then frowned and looked at me pensively. I leaned back a little from her gaze, unsure what was going through her mind. But then she relaxed her shoulders as she sighed. Her arms fell from their defensive stance, and the look she aimed at me was tired.
“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for me. But all I want right now is to get home and go to sleep, Gabe, please.”
I pursed my lips. I couldn’t let her go just yet. “How about I get you something to eat first?” I offered. “Or, I give you a ride back. I’d like to talk to you.”
She looked reluctant, but after a moment nodded her head. “No thanks to something to eat. A drive back would be fantastic!”
I turned and waited for her to fall into step beside me, then walked us over to the car. I went around to open her door for her, and I could see a slight softening of her expression as I did so. I hurried around and got in on the driver’s side, then put the car into drive.
“I wanted to apologize,” I started tentatively after a minute of silence. This late in the morning, there would be some light traffic on the way, and for once, I was grateful for it.
“For what, specifically?” I glanced over and saw she was watching me with an eyebrow raised. “Is it for getting arrested? Or for something else?”
I sighed and looked out the windshield.
“Okay, so, I deserve that. And it’s for everything. So that you know, I never planned for this to happen. I was supposed to be working to make sure it didn’t, and I’m sorry I failed in that.”
I glanced at her and saw when she sighed again and leaned heavily into the seat with a grimace.
“Fuck, Gabe. There was this cot in there that I had to sleep on for the past couple nights. It did things to my back, and I am in fucking pain right now.”
I winced. “Sorry about that, too, then. I’m sure you’ll be glad to get back home and in bed.”
She hummed. When she didn’t say anything more, I looked over to find her eyes closed.
“Hey, come on,” I called gently. I removed one hand from the wheel to reach for her but froze. She probably wouldn’t appreciate my touch at the moment. I put my hand back on the wheel and squeezed. “Don’t fall asleep just yet. We’re not done talking.”
She whined, but she fluttered her eyes open and looked at me. “What more do you still want, Gabe?”
“Just,” I paused and made a frustrated sound, both hands tightening around the steering wheel. “I think I know a little bit of why you got picked up. I should have been looking out for it, and I wasn’t, but I promise I’ll be more careful from now on.”
Her eyes were suddenly sharp and stared intently at me. Even before I looked to check, I could feel the weight of her gaze.
“What exactly do you mean by that, Gabe? It’s as if you’re implying it’s not just the case against your dad.”
I breathed out slowly through my nose. “You wouldn't be wrong about that.”
There was a short silence, then, “Gabe, if you know something, you better fucking tell me. I don’t need the FBI showing up on my doorstep again soon to arrest me.”
I grimaced. “That… shouldn’t happen again.”
“Shouldn’t?” she repeated, tone incredulous. “No offense, but I don’t have much faith in what you’re saying right now if you refuse to tell me—”
“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Jasmine. I’m going to have to ask you to trust me on this. There’s a lot more going on than anybody knows, and just in case, it might be safe if this knowledge didn’t fall in your hands. No one will bother you again, but if it happens, I will take care of it, too.”
The car slid from a crawl to a standstill, and I took the chance to look over at Jasmine. She was staring at me, her eyes considering me, and I stayed still for her perusal. After a moment, she huffed and looked away.
“Fine,” she muttered, mulish.
I put the car back in the drive as the cars ahead of us started to move. This time, when she let her eyes close, I let her. She deserved the rest after everything she’d been through. I remembered the general area of where she lived, and I was stopped in front of her building in a little over half an hour. I parked the car and looked over at Jasmine.
I should have woken her up immediately and let her know we’d arrived, but I took a moment. She did look terrible, and I cursed a fist against my thigh, frustrated with myself. If I hadn't been so focused on fucking her, I might have saved her a lot of stress. No matter what my father thought, I was usually on top of things, but I was letting myself get distracted, and it couldn’t continue to happen. I had to be more careful than ever.
“Jasmine,” I called softly. I repeated her name a couple of times before she stirred, she blinked open again.
“Hmm?”
“You’re home,” I said, pointing outside so she could look and see her building. “You can take the rest of the week off; I’ll just ask HR to have someone else take your place. Hopefully, everything will be taken care of by then, and you can come back to work. Also…” I hesitated.
“What?” she asked, blunt.
I rolled my teeth over my lip. “I wanted to talk to you, about Friday night. The thing that happened at the club, I wanted to apologize for—”
“About Friday night,” she said, cutting me off, “it’s fine.”
I frowned. The words were exactly what I wanted to hear, but her face was blank, and her tone worried me a little.
“Um,” I muttered. “Are you… sure? Weren’t you upset? I didn’t mean to—”
She didn’t let me finish, though. She turned away and opened the car door, and I stopped as I watched her step out. She didn’t head for the building immediately, though, leaning back into the car to meet my eyes. The uncaring look on her face, in her eyes, was enough to make me tighten my lips. I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t looking to start a fight with her right then when she did need to get some rest.
“It’s not like we’re together,” she said. “The only relationship between us is professional, right? Because in the end, I am just your secretary, Gabe. Thanks again for bailing me out, and for the ride.”
She closed the door carefully, then turned to go into the building.
Chapter 16
Gabe
The next day I waited in my office. I’d already called for a colleague to join me. He was the contact I’d had throughout all the bullshit that went down with my dad, and he’d been helping me out since.
“I’m here, Gabe,” he called as he walked in.
I looked up and stood to shake his hand across the desk, then we both sat down. Julius Quells was the head of the accounting department. He and my father were something of friends, and I’d met him in university when I went to get my MBA. And once I found out he worked for my father’s company, we kept in touch. I was never more glad of that than I was in that moment.
“Julius,” I said in greeting. “Thank you for coming.”
“Please, think nothing of it. We both wish nothing but the best for this company, after all. I’m here to offer assistance in any way you need.”
Of all the allies to have, he was probably the best. He had high moral standards, and unlike a lot of people, he’d worked his way up from the bottom, which was why he and I ended up attending some of the same classes, though there was several years’ difference between the two of us. He was a hard worker, and as long as I didn’t fuck up as CEO, he would support me unconditionally.
So far, I hadn't been a disappointment. Though, my father would say differently.
“You heard that my secretary was arrested over the weekend?”
Julian nodded. “Yes, actually. It’s kinda weird when I think about it, though. Because I’m pretty sure no one is supposed to be in the know about the investigation, and her arrest wasn’t publicized. It’s on a lot of other floors beside mine, so I don’t know who spread the news.”
I braced my el
bow on the desk, and fisted my hand to rest my chin on it. I hadn't even known about Jasmine, and if my father hadn't told me about it, I wondered how long it would have taken me to find out, and I knew someone in the investigation, same as my dad did.
“What exactly did you need me for?” he asked, curious.
“I might have something of a lead. Not so much in the case in general… but as to why they made a move and arrested Jasmine.”
“Wouldn’t it have happened anyway?” he pointed out. “She was your father’s secretary, and she was there the day they came for him.”
I shook my head. “No, see. I talked to my father about it. I didn’t want to bring it up with Jasmine, but I didn’t think I had to. My father told me they questioned her already and cleared her as a suspect. She was a person of interest, if anything, and only that.”
“So why do you think she was taken in?”
I drummed my fingers on the table, narrowing my eyes. “I’m sure you know Marianne.”
An eyebrow shot up. “The assistant? The one that’s always in the meetings meant for managers, even though her position is mostly undefined?”
I nodded. “I know she did work for more than just the CFO. She did things for the former CEO as well, and other officers on this floor. I didn’t look too much into how she got the position, anyway.”
“And Marianne was the one who…”
I shrugged. “I’ll admit I am sort of guessing, but I don’t think I’m wrong. She came into my office and tried to convince me that Jasmine was dirty.” I frowned. I hated putting it that way, but like hell I was going to say the bitch implied Jasmine was sleeping with my dad. It just wasn’t dad’s style. “She made claims that Jasmine and the old boss were working together. And she just had to do it, in my office, at a time when Jasmine hadn't arrived.”
“But even if she did do it, she probably won’t just come clean about it,” Julius pointed out.