Chapter 15 Callisto
Chapter fifteen
Callisto
I glance down at the list of felonies in my hand, then up at the man responsible for committing them. Forty-eight-year-old Keith Alhedy holds my gaze fearlessly—clearly an alpha who doesn’t back down. His arm muscles strain his orange shirt fabric, giving him a somewhat bloated look.
Looks like he’s planning to make me speak first, but my patience is paper thin.
I’ve barely slept since things ended badly with Ricky.
Why did I have to flip out like that? Sure, it’s dangerous, but if I had stayed calm and listened, he would’ve given me his reasons.
Instead, I lashed out, burdening him with my own insecurities about Zack.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Rickon’s the only alpha who can handle Zack, bond and all. The damn feral turns to putty in his hands.
Zack, who he’s accepted without reservation, hasn’t hurt Rickon like I have. Some people consider me a genius in the courtroom, so why do I always manage to fuck up my relationships?
I want to go and apologize properly, not sit here bandying words with a felon.
Keith Alhedy rattles his handcuffs lightly, toying with the noise. And my nerves.
“You wanted to see me?” I begin, pinning my attention on the man seated across from me. Lifting the page of criminal history, I add, “For the record, these aren’t the sort of crimes I represent, Mr Alhedy.”
He smirks. “Just Al is fine. I got a new cellmate last week, and that’s what he calls me.” He laces his hands together, making his cuffs clink. “I hear you two know each other pretty well.”
“Get to the point,” I snap.
“Sure.” He nods, unbothered by my temper.
“I’m sharing a cell with one feral by the name of Zack, and I think he’s going to need help surviving in this place.
He hasn’t quite got the smarts for this joint, if ya read me?
” Alhedy leans his head down near his chained hands on the table and knocks one fist to his skull.
I lift my brows. “Well, you certainly have some experience behind bars. What is this, your seventh year?”
“Eighth,” he says with a grin, like that’s a better number.
“Let me guess, you want me to get you out on good behavior in exchange for protecting Zack?”
Al leans back in his chair and shrugs. “Well, sure, if that’s on offer. But I’ll settle for you getting me transferred back to Darinian, where I’m supposed to be.”
I drop the paper on the table. He has my full attention now. “Your trial was in Darinian State?”
“Yep.”
“Then how did you wind up here?”
He snorts and spreads his hands as far as the chains allow.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but not sure any of it’s legal, my friend.
They don’t like to share too many details with us prisoners.
” His expression turns dark as he leans forward.
“See, you put people in prison for a living, but I don’t think you realize how political these holes are.
Each prison is like its own kingdom, a law unto itself. ”
I fold my arms across my chest and stare at him. Knowing what goes on in prisons never mattered before.
Al walks tattooed fingers across the table.
“Now, somebody playing God—or, you know, wiping his ass with a fat wad of cash—transferred me here away from my castle, and my protests don’t seem to reach any listening ears.
My family’s back in Darinian, and everybody knows it.
But here? Ain’t nobody got smiles for me here. ”
Despite his playful words, I detect a ferocious undercurrent, enhanced by the faintest hint of alpha rumble in his chest. He’s in real trouble, and, if I’m to believe his words, danger.
But that’s not my problem. I drum my fingers on the paperwork. “Tell me exactly what got Zack thrown in solitary.”
Al sniffs in amusement. “Why, so you can decide to take my case or not?”
I shake my head. “So I can decide if you’re close enough for him to listen to, and so I can decide if you’re the biggest danger to him.”
The prisoner lifts his fingers in a peace sign.
“I got no reason to harm your boy. Plus, he and I already made a deal not to challenge over this territory. Although, full disclosure because I’m sure you’ll sniff it out once you look, I did break his arm back in Darinian, way before he even met you, if I’m guessing right. But he and I put that behind us.”
The sudden urge to punch him in the face has me clenching my fists.
Alhedy sees it and tenses, watching me intently.
My instincts say he’ll fend me off, even with his hands restrained, and slugging him won’t help Zack any, especially if the feral didn’t kill him on sight.
I count to ten and wet my lips. If nothing else, this man understands Zack’s language enough to bargain with him.
“So, you taught him the word deal?” I ask.
He nods. “Not sure how much he understands, but we’re trying.” He eyes me up and down, jaw working hard. “He’s not just a client to you, is he?” He wriggles his brows, like he knows the full story.
I glare at him. “How about we stick to the topic?”
“Sure, sure.” He smirks, pleased with himself. “Since you asked so politely, Zack and I were playing basketball. Well, I was playing, and he was just drooling on it.”
I force back a smile as he paints the scene. Sounds like Zack, all right.
Al shrugs and lifts one hand. “Then he shouts and rips his shirt apart, saying his ohm was burning up.” Al levels me with a searching look. “Does he really have an omega on the outside? Is he in here because he bonded her by force?”
I suppose it won’t hurt for this man to know a little. And if he’s from Darinian, the chances of him being involved with Ray are low. I hope. Being a lawyer is always about knowing which details to bring to daylight and which ones to keep in the dark.
“Yes, Zack has a bonded omega. And a bonded alpha,” I add reluctantly.
Red, I can understand, but Rickon submitting to Zack’s bonding makes me uneasy.
I’m still wrestling with that reality, though I wish I’d kept my mouth shut in front of Ricky.
I was just so shocked that my best friend had a bond.
Or maybe just that I hadn’t been told about it .
. . or that it wasn’t my bond he took. My stomach squirms with unease.
Alhedy whistles with surprise. “A bonded omega and an alpha? All due respect, but what psychos would want that wild beast raging in their emotions?”
He’s not wrong, but I’m not admitting it aloud ever again.
Al shakes his head. “And did the omega go into heat?”
I sigh. “Yes, but Zack doesn’t know what a heat is. I sent a message to the prison, and they claim to have delivered it, but we’re guessing it didn’t go through.”
Al grunts and shakes his head. “No one told us anything, and I’ve been with him the whole time.
” He purses his lips. “Well, now the explosion makes more sense. Poor kid.” He clicks his tongue, the noise echoing in our conference room.
Then his gaze narrows on me. “So, are we good now? You going to take my case?”
I hover my hand over my bag, thinking of the new client engagement forms tucked inside.
Honestly, I want nothing to do with this man and his list of felonies, but right now, he’s my only reliable access to Zack.
The wild alpha’s locked in solitary precisely because the prison didn’t pass on my message.
All I got from the front desk was a blatant lie.
“One more question,” I say. “You know a man by the name of Ray Fibbistachi? He just got interred here.”
Alhedy shrugs and shakes his head. “Heard we had a new inmate but haven’t seen him yet. Don’t know more than that. But—” He hesitates, dragging his index finger along the table. “We know most men by handles around here, not their real names.”
Does Ray have an underworld name? “He was involved with the Laversham trafficking hub and dealing omega haze. Seems to have made a shit ton of money no one can find.” Maybe if I can discover his underworld name, we can track who’s helping him.
Alhedy studies me thoughtfully, gaze cold. “Lots of people get involved in haze dealing. It’s lucrative.”
“Like you?” I shoot back.
“Never been convicted,” he boasts with a sly smile.
I frown and drum my fingers on my bag. Maybe no one caught him, but I found plenty of hearsay floating around his records.
“Mr Alhedy, it seems we’re not on the same page.
” I lean forward, catching his eye. “I have no interested in helping a haze dealer improve his situation. If you rot in here or get shivved in the back by your enemies, it’s none of my business. ”
He snorts. “Sure, you’re a real good boy who likes to keep his hands clean.
Or at least his image.” The look he flashes my way sparks a whole new batch of guilt in my stomach, as if he recognizes a fellow criminal.
“I’ll have you know anything I do with omegas is consensual.
You got any idea how expensive and intrusive haze registration is? ”
He scoffs under his breath and then shoots me a sly look.
“But, Mr Wren, sir, you don’t have a lot of options.
Every man in this prison has blood on his hands, and even if it was an accident, Zack’s drawn attention to himself now.
He brushed into a lot of hot-tempered alphas in his little fritz-out, and I’m sure they’ll want to return the favor. ”
Al curls his hands into fists and his upper lip peels up in a sneer.
“And believe you me, it wasn’t an accident Zack got put in my room.
Someone wanted one of us to take a piece out of the other.
I’ve got plenty of enemies in here, so I figured it was me, but that splash of fear in your eyes tells me another story completely.
” He holds my gaze, intelligence flashing in his hazel eyes.
Despite the way rough way he speaks, you don’t become a mob boss by being a dummy.
Al leans forward. “If Zack hadda come at me, I wouldn’t take it lying down.
So, you tell me, who wants your boy’s neck snapped clean through, hmm?
He and I will both be a lot safer if I know what we’re dealing with.
” He stabs a finger down on the table for emphasis.
“And I think I deserve some danger pay for this shitty business.”
“If you think you’re getting a dime out of—”
He interrupts me with a laugh. “Whoa, whoa. You lawyers have something rammed up your asses for sure. I don’t need your bucks; I just need you to get me transferred back to Darinian. That’s my price.”
I chew on my lip as I study him. My instincts tell me it’s a terrible idea to get mixed up with a crime boss of his magnitude.
If he ever figures out my connections to the guys down at the Steelside Pub, he’ll have something to blackmail me with.
I promised Red I’d get Zack out, and right now, Alhedy is my best chance at keeping eyes on Zack, but I can’t lock myself into a deal without knowing more.
Stifling a groan, I dig into my bag and pull out the new client papers.
Alhedy smirks as I slide them across the table, but I flatten my hand before he can take them. “This isn’t me taking you on. I’m going to see Zack again before I decide, so you’d better hope he likes you enough to give a glowing reference.”
The prisoner snorts, both of us knowing Zack doesn’t have suitable language for that task. “Then what are the forms for?”
“So I have a reason to come back and see you. Sign where indicated.”
I slide a pen across the table. Every TV interrogation scene I’ve watched floods into my brain, presenting pictures of him getting his hands free and stabbing the length right through my eye socket. And here I thought only Red and Rickon were the movie fanatics.
As if recognizing the violent content in my thoughts, Al holds my gaze and rolls the pen deliberately across the table, the tumbling sound loud in the still room.
“Get on with it,” I demand.
Alhedy speed-reads through the pages and signs. When he flips to the last page, he points the pen toward the bottom where I skipped putting a “sign here” sticker. “There’s one more signature space here.”
I sweep the pages out of his hand. “Hence, the reason I have to come back soon.”
He laughs. “Devious.”
Alpha Lodgings can limit my client visits to once per week, but not if I have legal documentation that requires signing. It’s a ruling that ensures they can’t use document lodgment as a punishment.
“I’ll be seeing you then,” I say, rising and stuffing everything inside my bag.
“I guess you will,” Al replies, watching me leave the room with a predatory gaze. He’s not laughing now because he hasn’t got exactly what he wants, but I need to talk to Zack above all else. He should be out of solitary tomorrow, so I only need one day.
Time to go see Rickon and Red.