Chapter 29 Liam #2
Shoving my face into the running water, I cleaned the remnants of the shake out as best as possible, then pumped my hands full of soap and lathered it into my beard.
The lavender scent wasn’t much better than the strawberries, but at least when I was done, I didn’t have sugar crusted against my skin.
The door swung open behind me, and Mav strolled in, leaning against the wall, chuckling as he took in my appearance.
“Heard you got pelted by a milkshake. Did you see the suspect?”
“Unfortunately, all I saw was the pink liquid headed straight for my face.”
“Well, that’s a shame. I can head down to the diner and check out their receipts.”
“Not necessary,” I grumbled, grabbing some towels to dry off as best as possible.
“What the hell do you mean? It is completely necessary. Why, the rest of us need to be assured that if and when we cheat on someone in town, there will be justice for the vigilantes who deem it necessary to throw liquid refreshments at those who would stray from the ones they love.”
Rolling my eyes, I yanked the door open and stormed down to his office.
“Is that a no on the interrogation? Because I could really lay into someone. There are all sorts of charges I could bring. Assault with a deadly weapon—”
“I wasn’t at risk of dying.”
“You could have suffocated! Battery—”
“With what?”
“A cup. The object is beside the point. Disturbing the peace,” he continued as I flung his door open.
“I was the only one around.”
“And Bea had to witness it. She’s traumatized. Just ask her.”
“She seemed perfectly fine as she was laughing at me.”
“Then disorderly conduct. No one gets away with throwing milkshakes in my town. That’s just uncivilized.”
I was about to take a seat when Maverick rushed over, yanking the chair away from me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking a seat. That’s usually what people do when they come in for a meeting.”
“Yes, what people do when they’re not covered in milkshake. You, my friend, reek of strawberries. I’m afraid I can’t let you sit down and make my office smell like…that.”
Rolling my eyes, I shifted and leaned against the wall instead. “Is this better?”
“Well, it’s not ideal, but yes.”
Walking around behind his desk, he made a point of getting comfortable in his chair before grinning up at me.
“So, what can I do for you today?”
“You know what you can do,” I gritted out. “I called you on the way here.”
“Right, right, right,” he nodded, as if he actually forgot about it all. “Well, I’ve done as you asked and looked into Wyatt’s shop, but I’m sorry to tell you, I can’t find a single thing that’s not above board.”
“You dug into his financials?”
“Well,” he chuckled. “It’s only been about fifteen minutes since you messaged me, and I don’t actually have the authority or the capability to dig into the financials of a business that gives me no cause to investigate them.”
“The car was destroyed on their property. Surely, that gives you the right to investigate them!”
“Possibly, but that’s a stretch.”
“I thought you weren’t above helping me out,” I snarled.
“Not at all, but at least make it plausible. If I start digging around Wyatt’s business for no reason, that’s only going to stir up trouble.”
Sighing, I didn’t know what else to do. It seemed like no matter how much I pivoted, it always bit me in the ass.
“Unless…”
“Unless what?” I asked, hoping he had some brilliant scheme in mind.
“Unless a certain someone could be convinced to file assault charges.”
I knew he was baiting me, trying to get me to focus on the bigger picture, but the bigger picture was getting me nowhere. I had to take out Wyatt.
I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. “You didn’t already do that?”
“I caught up to her after I heard the rumors. She says she doesn’t want to file charges. Probably because she doesn’t want to get her boss in trouble.”
“But if she did file, he would be gone?”
Maverick bobbed his head from side to side in thought. “Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how it goes. Technically, he would be off the streets for a few days.”
“Why only a few days?”
“Because he would get arraigned until his court appearance. Do you really want that asshole walking around after being tossed in jail?”
“But he would end up in prison,” I argued.
“Again, only if the charges stick.”
“I thought you were telling me this was the way to go. Now you sound like you’re trying to talk me out of it.”
“Because I’m not sure it’ll make any difference,” he sighed. “And now that we’re discussing it, I think it’ll only piss the guy off. Either that or inflate his ego that he can get away with this shit.”
“He could be in prison!”
“If—and that’s a big if—the charges stick. What it really comes down to is he said, she said. And let me tell you, it wouldn’t be too good for Bailey.”
“How is that? He attacked her!”
“Yeah, and there’s no video evidence, no witnesses. Basically, he could turn around and accuse her of attacking him.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “He just walked in to discuss a vehicle with her. He surprised her, and she attacked him. Simple as that.”
“But that’s not what happened.”
“It’s not about what happened,” Mav argued.
“It’s about what you can prove, and right now, she looks like the aggressor.
He has physical marks on his body. She’s got nothing.
And when it comes to convictions, our DA is rather eager to throw anyone in prison to bump up his numbers.
Do you really want Bailey to be one of those numbers? ”
“So, what you’re telling me is that your idea is fucking stupid.”
“Hey, I never said I was full of good ideas.”
“Then why the fuck did you even bring it up?”
“Because I’m trying to help you, but Austin is good. He’s not making it easy for us to catch him in the act.”
Catch him in the act. That was a thought. I’d have to figure out a way to pull it off, but it might be the only way around this.
“If we could set the stage—”
“I can’t hear this,” he said, pushing out of his seat. “Anything you do, you will not talk about in front of me.”
“But let’s say—”
“No. Abso-fucking-lutely not!” Pulling me in close, he hissed, “If you tell me the plan, that makes me an accessory. It’ll be pretty fucking hard to help you if I’m in the jail cell beside you.”
“I can’t keep going like this, Mav. She’s in danger, and nothing I do is helping.”
“I know,” he sighed. “I’m watching out for her as best I can.”
Nodding, I knew what I had to do. I just didn’t know how long it would take to contrive something that would stop him for good.
“Thanks, anyway.”
“Hey,” he stopped me just as I was about to walk out the door. “If you do come up with something, make sure you don’t end up in jail alongside him.”
“I make no promises,” I said as I walked out the door.