Chapter Thirty-One
Raymond Castor didn’t have any problem spending time in jail, where he was an apex predator.
Of course, he liked beer and pussy, which were unavailable in the pokey, but his lawyer was optimistic about his legal prospects, so he wasn’t too worried about how long he would have to go without his Harley, Coors, and women.
Ray was reading a graphic novel in his cell when the guard announced that he had a visitor.
He wasn’t surprised when the guard led him into the narrow concrete cubicle that was used for noncontact visits and saw Nikki Randolph on the other side of the bulletproof glass.
He knew that she had the hots for him. What did surprise him was how nervous she looked.
There were receivers attached to the wall on either side of the glass. Ray picked his up.
“Hey, babe. Nice of you to visit. Do you miss me?”
“You know I do.”
“My lawyer thinks we’ll beat the case, so I’ll be out of here soon.”
“I don’t know if your lawyer is right,” Nikki said as she tried to build up the courage to tell Ray the reason she was at the jail.
“Oh? Do you know something?”
Nikki’s mouth was dry, and she wished she could get a drink of water, but she couldn’t and she decided to take the plunge.
“I … I talked with Miss Lujack, the DA who has your case.”
Ray did not look happy. “Why would you do that?”
Nikki looked down. “I wanted to help you. I told her you were innocent.”
“Did you do anything else?”
“That’s why I’m here. Something weird happened. It could make all the difference for us.”
“Tell me about this weird thing, Nikki.”
Nikki lowered her voice and whispered, “We can have a lot of money, Ray. Enough to set us up for life. Enough so we can go anywhere we want and live like rich people.”
“I’m listening.”
“Okay. So, I tried to make a deal with Lujack. I said you knew the name of a DA who was helping the Disciples.”
Ray’s face turned scarlet with rage, and he leaned forward until it was inches from the glass.
“You did what?!”
“Don’t get mad, Ray-Ray. Listen to what happened.”
“This better be fucking good.”
“It is. I promise. This guy showed up at my house. He’s an investigator for Karen Wyatt, the lawyer who was framed and went to prison. He said Wyatt would pay a lot of money for the name of the person who helped frame her. A lot of money!”
“How much, Nikki?”
“Three million dollars,” she whispered.
Ray didn’t blink. If he was shocked by the number, he didn’t show it.
“All I have to do for the money is give Wyatt the name?” Ray asked.
“That’s what he said.”
“Walt has guys in here who would off me for a pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t last a minute in here if I outed the DA.”
“The investigator said that Wyatt would help you get out of jail. She must have got the info from Lujack, so she’d know Lujack was going to help you if you helped her. As soon as the DA is arrested, she’ll cut a deal that will destroy the Disciples.
“We’ll be long gone, Ray-Ray. We can live like royalty with three million dollars. We can go to an island, somewhere Walter can’t find us.”
“You heard what happened to Billy Kramer? He thought he could hide from Walt. My lawyer said they’re still hunting for some of his body parts.”
Nikki leaned forward. “Kramer didn’t have three million dollars, and we can get witness protection or help changing our names.”
“You shouldn’t have told Lujack about the Disciples’ business.”
“I did it for you, Ray. I did it for us.”
Ray stopped looking through the glass. Nikki could see he was upset.
“I gotta think,” he said after a while.
“Sure, Ray-Ray. I get it. It’s a big decision. But try to make up your mind. I don’t know how much longer Wyatt will stay with the offer.”
Ray looked at Nikki. “I get that, babe. I won’t keep you waiting.”
“I love you, Ray.”
Ray smiled. “I love you too.”
Ray’s smile disappeared as soon as Nikki was out of sight. He couldn’t believe that the idiot had gone to the DA. What she’d done could get both of them killed.
Ray knew why she’d done it. Nikki had a crush on him.
That made it easy to get her into bed. She wasn’t half-bad, but that was all.
He had never been—what did they call it—monogamous.
He liked to spread his love around. When Nikki had asked him to move in with her, he’d made up a bullshit story about why he had to keep his pad for Disciples business.
He couldn’t even remember what he’d told her.
Running away with Nikki and having to spend the rest of his life with her as a ball and chain was not ever going to happen.
Still, three million dollars was tempting.
Except that he would have to give up the outlaw life, and Ray loved being a renegade with its constant adrenaline rush.
An hour after Ray was back in his cell, he made a decision and told the guard he wanted to talk to his lawyer.