“Do you think he…”
Before I can finish the sentence, Malcolm cuts me off. “He wouldn’t have killed her, not without my okay.”
“Well, dead or alive, the DA still hasn’t dismissed the case. What if they have more evidence now?”
“If they had more evidence, they would’ve had to turn it over to Jay. And as of his email last night, since he’s insisting all our communication be documented to protect his license, he hasn’t received anything new.”
“Ugh!” I groan as I slump down on a stool and rest my head in my hands. “Every night they show her face on the news.”
“I know,” Malcolm mutters with a sigh.
“It sucks.”
“Yeah, it does. Naomi keeps going by her restaurant and getting takeout because she wants to do something for the ‘poor woman and her employees who are missing her.’”
“You haven’t told her…”
“Fuck no, I haven’t told Naomi. We have a kid together, and I’m trying to get her to marry me. This is the last thing I need her to find out – that I’m responsible for the kidnapping and who knows what of an innocent woman.”
“I thought you said you didn’t think Silas would hurt her.”
“Hell, I’m not sure of anything anymore! The fact that the bastard won’t answer my calls isn’t exactly giving me warm fuzzies.”
“Well, it sucks, but what’s done is done. Hopefully, Cora is okay with Silas and the fact that she’s MIA means Nash will be a free man soon.”
“Hopefully,” Malcolm agrees.
Chapter Thirty
Nash
* * *
For the first time in…weeks, months, I don’t fucking know, the heavy steel door to my solitary cell opens and in it stands one of the guards looking bored.
“Let’s go, Kincaid.”
“Go where?” As I sit up on the lightly padded bench, I have to swallow deep and clear my throat because it’s so dry from not speaking to anyone in forever. “Has it already been thirty days?”
I lost track of time within a few hours of being in the grey cell with no clock and sleeping as much as possible. The trays of food that appeared through the slit in the door usually would tell me when it was morning, but then I would sometimes sleep through lunch, wake up for dinner thinking it was lunch, and then be awake for hours only to be provided breakfast again. Shit gets crazy when you’re alone in the silence with just your thoughts.
“Up, now!” the guard shouts at me when I take my time getting to my feet.
When I finally do manage to straighten up, my legs are weak, and my back is stiff from sleeping on a brick for nearly twenty-four hours a day.
I miss my bed.
And Lucy.
I really fucking miss Lucy.
I would give anything to hear her peppy voice again, telling me to get my ass up.
That’s the one downside to solitary – no visitors, not even her.
Several weeks ago, I met with my attorney. He looked pissed, his face red with anger as he informed me that the state’s witness had gone missing, but not to get my hopes up because the police would find her and then she would testify in trial soon since he had also requested a speedy trial right before she disappeared. Joey also hinted that he would fire me as his client if they found evidence the club had anything to do with her going MIA.
I have no doubt that the MC is responsible for the chef, which is so fucking wrong. Guess they figured out her name and tracked her down, doing no telling what to her to try and help me. Those crazy bastards are going to land themselves a spot right here with me in jail.
Even with the girl gone, I figured the DA would just put my trial off until they have more evidence to convict me. There had to be some trace of my DNA or something…
“Hold on. Is today my trial?” I ask the guard as I stumble over toward him.
“No. Apparently, it’s your lucky day. You’re getting released.”
“Released?” I repeat, the words not making any sense. “How the hell is that possible?”
“Do I look like the fucking clerk of court?” the guard snaps. “Get moving. I’ve got other shit to do than show you the door.”
I keep my mouth closed as my mind races, trying to figure out what has happened. Did Malcolm and the guys kill the witness? If so, that would be incredibly stupid, because it would definitely blow back on them. She didn’t deserve to die. And they don’t deserve life sentences, especially Malcolm with his new kid.
Everything happens in a blur from that moment on. I get my clothes and personal belongings back, I’m given some release papers that do, in fact, say that my case has been dismissed without prejudice, which apparently means it can be reopened again – probably if or when they find the witness dead or alive. Still, I’m thrilled to get to see daylight again for the first time in…however long it’s been.
I push through the final door of the county jail, and then the sunlight is blinding me. My eyes can’t adjust to all the natural light of what I’m assuming is morning. The air is clean and crisper than when I went in, making me assume we’re coming up on fall.
“There he is!” a woman exclaims. Her voice sounds just like Lucy. I blink my eyes at the figures standing around together in the parking lot, trying to identify faces.
I recognize the line of colorful motorcycles first, so I know that the Aces are here. Why the fuck would Lucy be, though? By now she must have done her hacker magic and found out about all the charges and the type of man she slept with. What woman would want to be with me after that? Ellie left me for significantly less.
I’m still staring at Lucy, trying to decipher the annoyed, pissed off but conflicted look on her face when Malcolm steps into my line of sight and gives me a back-slapping man hug. “Good to finally see you again, man.”
“What did you do?” I whisper to him while eying the other guys. Devlin, Wirth and Fiasco are grinning behind him. “Where’s Silas? And what’s Lucy doing here?”
“Silas is…handling some club business. And that girl has been worried to death about you, which means she’s been bugging the piss out of me. You have her to thank for your freedom.”
“How’s that?” I ask in confusion.
“Now isn’t the place. You’ll need to talk to her about that after we leave here. Just don’t do anything stupid like try and push her away because you expected her to bail.”
“Of course I expected her to bail! Any sane person would have!”
“Guess none of us are sane,” Malcolm replies with a gruff chuckle before he steps aside so the rest of the guys can congratulate me on my release. Underneath their relief, I can tell they’re all a little on edge, even Malcolm.
What the fuck has Silas done now?
“We’ll head back to the pool hall and see you two there,” Malcolm says before he and the other boys mount their bikes, leaving me alone with an unusually quiet Lucy and her purple Prius so that I have no choice but to finally talk to her.
“Hey,” she says with her hands shoved in the pockets of her jeans once the sound of the roaring engines die down as they head off.