“What is it?” he asked.
“I’ve got Diego here,” Jonah said. “You all are going to need to call a lawyer. If you can’t afford one, he’ll get one appointed by the state.”
“What happened?”
“We’ll talk about it when you get here.”
Jonah had a habit of not actually booking the unruly locals who ended up in some sort of skirmish or another. It took something bad to have him officially take someone into custody.
The roads were still slick, but Rick drove faster than he should have. Halfway back to town, Lana placed her hand on his leg, a silent show of support.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked him.
Covering her hand with his own, Rick shook his head. “I don’t even know what the kid did this time.”
“Has he been arrested before?”
Hesitating, Rick finally answered, “Not in a while. And not without reason.”
By the time they arrived at the tiny Moose Springs police station, the sun had started to rise in the sky. After listing the charges, Jonah led them back to the small holding cell serving as the town’s drunk tank. Sitting alone on the single bench along the back wall, Diego was shaking, he was so upset.
“You brought her here?”
The baleful glare Diego was sending Lana’s way was beyond the kid’s normal sourness.
“We were together when Jonah called.” Rick shifted in front of Lana to force Diego’s attention to him instead. “What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Rick rested his arm on the cell bars, leaning in toward his nephew. “You’re being charged with assault and destruction of public property. Something happened.”
Diego didn’t reply, but Rick wasn’t going anywhere. He opened his mouth but stopped when Lana put her hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll wait outside. Let me know if you need me.”
Even now, it was hard not to watch her walk away, the touch of her fingertips lingering like expensive perfume. But family in trouble was the most important thing, even more than a gorgeous woman who seemed to know exactly when to give them space. As she reached the doorway, Lana paused, looking back.
“I hope hitting that is worth it.”
The venom in Diego’s voice was only matched by his disgust. Diego had timed his comment well, managing to bring a flash of hurt to Lana’s face. A low growl pulled from Rick’s throat before he clamped down on the instinctive reaction to come to her defense. She disappeared out of the room, the damage already done.
The fact that Diego had tried to hurt her in the first place said a lot about the emotional state the kid was in. Some people chose flight, but Diego would always stand and fight. He didn’t know any other way.
“Was that necessary?” Rick asked.
“She’s going to screw things up for you.”
Rick could have shut him down. He could have said Lana Montgomery was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. Waxing poetic about how perfect she was could have occupied every breath Rick took for the next few weeks.
Instead, Rick nodded. “She could. I suppose that’s the hard part about letting someone in. They can do all sorts of damage.” A flush of color reached Diego’s face, and Rick knew his suspicions were right. “You’re in here because of Quinn.” When Diego didn’t reply, Rick said, “Staring at the floor isn’t going to help you, kid.”
“This guy’s been giving her a hard time at the resort.”
“And you stopped him?”
A muscle in Diego’s jaw rippled from the sheer force of his gritted teeth. Before Rick could pry anything else out of his nephew, a curly-haired whirlwind came through the door. Quinn’s pale cheeks were stained red from the cold, her already large eyes widening even more when she took in Diego sitting behind bars.
Diego groaned. “Shit, Q, why are you here?”
“Because you’re an idiot,” she declared hotly, speaking so fast, Rick could barely understand her. “And I spent the last hour arguing with Hannah to let you keep your job, but you have no idea how much of a fuss Mr. Bayard is causing, which is why I said that I’d cause a fuss about him, and there’s absolutely no way I’m letting you sit in here for doing nothing wrong but defending me, which was completely stupid by the way.”
Quinn paused to inhale, which was good. Rick was starting to worry the young woman would pass out midsentence.
Diego might not have wanted to care about anyone, but his feelings were clear as day as he stared at the floor between his feet. “He had his hands on you.”
Quinn bit her lower lip, worrying at it as she put her hand on the door and gave it a little tug. “Jonah locked it.”
“Were you planning on breaking me out?” Amusement tinged Diego’s tone.
With a huff, Quinn put her hands on her hips. “Of course, you’re not taking this seriously. Why would you? Well, I’m going to fix this. Stay right there, and don’t hit anyone else while I’m gone.”
Quinn hustled back out with the same force of energy she’d come in with.
With a sigh, Diego leaned his head back against the wall. “Where the hell does she think I’m going to go?”
He wasn’t wrong. When Diego was formally charged, it would take every bit of rent money Rick had to post bail. Rent money he desperately needed to keep his business afloat, but Diego was family, and family came first. No matter what. No matter why.
“This will be okay, kid,” Rick said in a rough voice, even though they both knew it was a lie.
“No, it won’t be.” Diego just stared at his feet.
There was nothing Rick could do but brace his elbows against the cell bars and wait for a judge to decide both their fates.
* * *
Silas was at it again. He’d called an emergency meeting with the board of directors and somehow had managed to do so when she was out of contact last night. No one had called her phone, which meant that Killian had probably been left out of the meeting as well. She’d only been notified by email, and Lana hadn’t checked her email while out with Rick.
Which meant she’d missed a vote to liquidate the Moose Springs properties.
Thankfully, according to the minutes, her mother had postponed the vote until a full board could be in attendance, but Lana knew that was only a temporary roadblock.
As she scrolled through her emails, Lana tried to ignore the churning in her stomach, hearing Diego’s words reverberate in her head. Allowing herself to be frustrated with Silas was much easier than processing how much Rick’s closest family didn’t like her being involved with him.