Chapter 15 Knox
KNOX
The guards handcuffed me to the table, rendering me immobile in the middle of the fucking yard.
Was this woman insane? Did she really think she could fucking smoke me out for information?
The heat of the sun was slamming down against my back, and I knew I wouldn’t last long in it before I started to burn.
Monroe’s eyes were filled with a fiery commitment I would’ve found attractive any fucking day of the week.
But not now.
She was fucking crazy right now.
“Guess I should’ve figured a woman like you would like it rough,” I said.
“You’ll never find out, so don’t you worry,” Monroe said.
“I’ve got all sorts of ways of finding things out, beautiful. If I want something, I make sure I can get it.”
“You won’t have to work hard for it if you talk to me and tell me about your case,” she said.
I felt my eyebrows tick up as her gaze held mine.
Was she offering what I thought she was?
My eyes fluttered down the parts of her body I could see as she leaned across the table at me.
Her blouse was fluttering in the wind and I could see right down her damn shirt.
And fuck, she had a rack on her I’d love to get my tongue on.
I felt my cock stiffening as my eyes rolled up to hers.
She was playing a game I enjoyed. I liked her dangling herself in front of me like a piece of meat.
I licked my lips as a chuckle peeled from my throat.
“You offering yourself as a little… consolation prize?” I asked.
“Whatever gets you to talk, Knox.”
“Why would you do something like that. You're a strong woman. I’m sure you’ve got ways of figuring shit out.”
“Like you?” she asked with a grin.
“I want you to help your own damn case. I want you to talk. I don’t want to have to pry every little detail out of you. I want you to trust me enough to know that I can help you.”
My eyes locked with hers as I struggled with her request. She wasn’t just asking me to tell her information.
She was asking me to rat out my friends.
I’d already opened my big ass mouth once and told her Grave was there.
That risked pulling him into shit he didn’t need to be pulled into.
For all I knew, she’d already fucking talked to Grave and the club was planning my release the moment I walked outta this damn place.
I couldn't tell her about the other guys who were there with me. If I did, they could all get roped into this shit. The government was targeting me, then they’d target them, too.
And with one rat already in the group blabbing about my fucking life to people, the government could use them to roll over on the entire fucking club for all we knew.
Nope. I couldn’t tell her who else was there with me. I wasn’t a rat, and the damn future of the fucking club was at stake.
I wasn’t gonna send my only damn friends to prison because some woman shoved her tits in my face.
“It’s your only chance out of here, Knox. Don’t do this to yourself,” Monroe said.
“I ain’t doing anything to no one,” I said.
“You’re doing it to me,” she said.
I whipped my gaze over to hers as she settled back into her seat.
Her eyes went from frustrated to somber to something akin to worried.
She shoved her briefcase off to the side and set her pen and pad down, then hooked her stare into mine.
I couldn't move away from her. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t look away from her stare.
There was something about it I enjoyed, even though I couldn’t figure out what.
“Getting hot out here,” I said.
“You can change that,” Monroe said.
“You gonna let me fry if I don’t open my mouth?” I asked.
“You remembered something. And if you don’t want to talk about who in your club was there, fine.
But you have to tell me who else was there.
Anyone else. Someone we can subpoena who can testify that Blaze was still alive when you left.
That this was self-defense. Anything to get you out of this jail.
Because they’re coming for you, Knox. With heavy artillery and arguments that’ll take Rose to her knees.
Give me something. Help yourself. Get out of here so you can go stand by your damn crew again. ”
“I see why you’re a lawyer,” I said with a grin.
“Who was there?” she asked. “Forget your club, though I know some of them were there. Who else was there besides Rex and Blaze? I saw it fly across your face.”
“There were some other guys there that night,” I said.
“Okay. Who was there?” she asked.
“It wasn’t just The Black Saddles,” I said. “They were with another group.”
“That’s… great. That’s great. Let me get my pen and my pad,” she said. “Hit me with them.”
“Some of the Latin Cobras were there. A group based on the other side of Redding. I didn’t think anything of it because The Black Saddles were having that damn fire or whatever on their turf. Figured they were there to talk boundaries as much as we were.”
“Do you know any of their names?”
“Not many of them. You can easily find them by their tattoos, but there’s one face I did recognize. His name’s Paco. He’s Diego’s right hand man.”
“Who’s Diego?” she asked.
“Diego’s the leader of the group. But you gotta be careful when approaching him. He doesn’t like people snooping around in his business. He’s heavily armed wherever he goes.”
“How do you know these guys?”
“That relevant to the case?” I asked.
Her eyes fluttered up to mine as her pen hovered above the pad.
I sighed and shook my head before I looked back at the building I’d been transferred to.
I could see a few of the Latin Cobras still poking their heads out the window.
Trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
They probably saw the whole damn debacle.
How Monroe had the guards handcuff me to this damn table we were sitting at.
“I know them from high school,” I said.
“So, you went to high school with some of the Latin Cobras.”
“I did, yes. We weren’t close or nothing, but we knew one another.”
“Okay, I’m going to be very upfront with you. Paco’s our only shot at getting you out of here,” she said.
“Figured as much.”
“I’m going to find Paco and get him to testify so you can get out of here.”
“And if he doesn’t wanna do it?” I asked.
“It’s pretty hard to go against a subpoena.”
“You don’t know these guys. They’d rather get thrown in jail then testify in a fucking courtroom.”
“We’ll find a way. I think I’ve proven to you that I’m pretty resourceful in situations like this.”
“Pretty sure the handcuffs and the seduction made that point loud and clear.”
“To be fair, that wasn’t seduction. That was me merely giving you a peek of what you’re missing while being in here. You get out there, you’ve got your hands back on women.”
“Or you,” I said with a grin.
“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 talk 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,” Jesus 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.”