Jax
“What do you mean they won't let me out on bail?” I asked the somewhat familiar-looking lawyer who sat on the other side of the metal table. I had definitely seen her before, and if Sloan had sent her, chances were it had been at the club.
I’m just glad she’s here.
It had been hours since I’d been taken from the scene. They’d told me nothing. Laura was literally my only connection to the outside world.
The fact that she was here was a good sign. It meant that things on the outside were progressing. But it didn't make me feel any better about leaving Liz and Claire.
“I'll be honest with you—it's not looking good. Who is this guy you pissed off? Is he well connected or something?”
She flicked her long, brown hair over her shoulder and gave me a pointed look. Her words made me feel like she was blaming me for all of this.
“He's just a stupid jealous ex-husband,” I said with a huff as I pulled at the scratchy uniform they provided for me.
“I tried to dig up dirt on him, but he's just… sad and angry. His connection to the police force are his buddies from high school. He does nothing but drink and gamble and use the dark web to make AI-generated videos that he uses to try and get me in jail.”
She let out a small, annoyed tsk.
“You club people always give me the worst jobs.”
I gave her a bitter smile. “Take it up with Sloan. Or, better yet, maybe while you're here you can let me know how you know Parker?”
She held a single manicured hand to me.
“Not the time.”
I sat back in my chair, somewhat defeated. I hated that I had no power here. On the outside, I had my business. I had my team. And if I needed to get information, I could do that with a snap of my fingers.
But here I was a sitting duck. And the more I sat here without any information, the longer my imagination ran.
“Liz? Claire? Are they okay?”
Even though I had seen she was unharmed, I was still plagued by images of Liz, trapped inside the gallery, fire all around her.
She nodded. “As far as I know, they're fine and in hiding. I know you’re worried about them, but, more importantly, I need you to come to terms with something.”
I nodded and leaned forward as she looked around the room, specifically at the camera in the corner.
“They're full-on gunning for you. I'm going to do my best, but like I said, it doesn't look good. So I need you to prepare yourself to go to jail.”
My stomach turned into a hard rock. Jail. I couldn’t go to jail. I hadn't even done a quarter of the shit Sloan and Ax had, and this asshole was going to be the thing that put me there?
Then again, Sloan did do her time in jail.
“But I didn't do any—”
“I never said you did. We will try and stop it before it even gets to trial. In the state of New York, arson of this magnitude, especially with the possibility of someone being inside, means they can keep you here. I don't know what other tricks they’ll try to pull, but as of right now,” She tapped her nails on the middle of the table as my eyes started to wander.
“You're only being charged with arson. Your arraignment is tomorrow, so unfortunately, you're staying here for the night. And Jax…” She stood up.
I jerked and tried to grab her wrist, but she was quick to pull it out of my hand. “Prepare yourself.”
She gave me a look, her eyes taking me in from head to toe.
“I promise you I'll try to get you out on bail.”
Then she was gone, and I was hauled back to the cell that was too cold with too many people.
Everyone had their specific corner, which meant I was stuck in the middle of a stone bench. At least there was a wall at my back so I could get some type of rest, and none of the others seemed like the talking type.
I held on and tried to think about Liz and Claire. I knew Claire had been mad, but she had accepted us just before they took me away. I think. I couldn’t wait to get the fuck out of here to make it all better. This whole situation was just so fucked.
The longer I sat there with my thoughts, the worse they became. I felt defeated, but that didn't squash any of the anger. If anything, it only got more intense.
I regretted not punching him in the fucking face—or worse—when I had the chance.
As if showing me things could, in fact, get worse, the info broker I’d used was being shown into my jail cell. She clocked me right away and decided that the best place to sit was right next to me.
“I do not have the energy—”
“Oh, I'm not here for you,” she said, looking up at me.
She looked off in the standard jail uniform. Her bob and bangs were a little bit too nicely laid, with her lined dark eyes smudged at the edges. It just… looked weird.
Especially because she was so petite that sitting next to her felt like sitting next to a teenager or something.
“Is that how you get your information?” I asked, lowering my voice.
She sent me a smile.
“Exactly. The name is Mia, by the way. I don't believe you ever asked.”
“I didn't want to,” I admitted.
She looked toward the bars of our cell and smiled wickedly. There was no guard in sight—weird because there’d been one stationed out there the entire time I'd been here.
Mia got up and walked to the middle of the room. Eyes were on her in seconds as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and cards.
“Whoever can beat me at a game wins this pack of cigarettes. Whoever loses gives me information. Fair?”
There was silence, and just when I didn't think anyone was going to take her up on her offer, a girl in the far-right corner and then the girl across from her in the far left both turned to face her.
“What’s the game?” the one on the left asked. I winced when her face came into view. There were bruises all over it.
“A simple game of old maid,” she said, and turned to them. “You in?”
To my surprise, both of them joined her in the middle of the room.
Mia was playing one-on-one, and, unfortunately, I couldn't stop watching. From my vantage point, I had the perfect look at her cards, so I knew she wasn't cheating. At least not obviously.
But still, time and time again… they lost. And they would whisper whatever information she wanted in her ear. This went on for what seemed like hours.
“Lost again,” she said to the girl to her right. This one’s wounds matched one of the other girl’s, which made me believe they’d gotten in a fight. “Now… Your brother works at a construction site, but he recently went on a spending spree that was above his means. What do you know about it?”
The girl's face twisted.
“All this for a pack of cigarettes? Are you kidding me?”
“I don't know, girl. It's been a little too long for me. I could really use one,” her presumed friend said.
“Yeah, if you don't want to play, I'll take them,” someone else added.
The girl still looked conflicted.
“How about this? If you tell me where he got the money and who his client is, I'll give you the whole thing right now and I'll get you out of this jail cell tonight.”
Her face lit up.
“Not fair!”
“Hey!”
But she was already leaning forward and telling Mia her brother’s dirtiest secrets as I watched in amazement. It was a great way to kill time, but who would've guessed they would give so much away for so little?
Once Mia was satisfied, she walked over to the bars and pounded on them. The guard came a few moments later, and Mia was shown out, taking the girl with her, as promised.
She turned to me with a wave and disappeared down the hallway.
All eyes were then on me.
Fuck.
The rest of the night had been boring. After I couldn’t—wouldn’t—answer any of their questions about the girl, everyone went back to their corners and fucked right off.
But I still couldn't sleep. My mind was going crazy with what-ifs and blaming myself.
I didn’t regret falling in love with Liz. Never. But I did regret how things went.
We should have told Claire.
I should have looked into her ex-husband more.
I should have taken the threat more seriously.
I couldn’t protect them. What was I even doing if I couldn't protect the people I cared about?
I ran through everything that had gone wrong. I needed to hire better men. I needed to do better at background checks. But mostly, I thought that having someone check in on him every once in a while, installing cameras, and making sure there was a team around Liz at all times was enough.
He had made me realize otherwise. I would have needed someone to follow him twenty-four-seven. I made a mental note of that for every similar case we encountered from now on.
I tried not to think about what it would mean to be in jail. How long would I be there without Liz and Claire? Who would take care of my mom?
Though I knew the answer to that question right away.
Both of them will.
I buried my head in my hands, trying to quell the ache behind my eyes.
“Steele.”
Someone calling my name had me jerking out of my stupor.
I rushed out as fast as the guard would let me, relief spreading through me when I saw Laura waiting for me at the end of the hallway.
She was talking on the phone, but when I finally came up to her, she hung up and looked at me with a face that had my heart dropping to the cold jail floor below me.
“There's been an incident… with Liz.”