27. Michael
CHAPTER 27
Ihaven’t been to many prisons stateside, though I spent quite a lot of time guarding and delivering criminals to detainment facilities overseas. However, despite their surface differences, they are very much the same.
Criminals with furious expressions glare at us from the other side of a chain-link and razor-wire barrier as we make our way toward the interrogation building. Some throw insults our way; others offer to show us a good time if we’d just step on the other side of the barrier.
More than five make threats at Carter.
He maintains his focus, though, not letting it seem like anything’s getting beneath his thick skin. Not even when they make vulgar threats about his family. I turn my head and glare at a bald man with black ink on the top of his head, and he grins back at me.
“Don’t let it get to you,” Carter says.
“How do you deal with it? How do you continue walking instead of losing your temper?”
“Losing my temper won’t do anything but land me on the other side with them. Which is exactly what they want.”
We step into the building, and a blast of AC hits me in the face. After turning in our weapons and signing in on the visitor’s log, we’re ushered back to a private room with a viewing window. Elijah and Lance step behind it, while Carter and I continue into the main room.
Carter sets his briefcase down and takes a seat at the table, while I remain standing in the corner. “Not planning to sit?”
“No.”
“Michael, you have to be careful with these guys.”
“I’m not worried, Carter.”
“They tried to kill you. It would be natural to be a bit apprehensive.”
“I’m angry,” I retort. “Not apprehensive. And it wasn’t just me they nearly killed.”
“I already apologized for not being forthcoming about what I was dealing with. I honestly didn’t realize the two could be linked. Can I not make a mistake?”
“You came to us to protect her. You honestly expect me to believe you had no idea the two situations could be connected?”
He remains silent, but I can see the answer written all over his face. The guilt. “I had my suspicions, but I trusted you to keep her safe.”
“Yet you didn’t bother giving us all the information we needed in order to keep her safe.”
“How could you have protected her differently?” he asks. “If you’d have known that I was dealing with death threats over putting Willy away, what would have changed?”
“We would have been looking for proof rather than searching for a needle in a haystack,” I snap. “Elijah could have spent time digging into the threats you received, finding a link, and taking care of it before she even could have been abducted. And had we known it was a threat of this magnitude, we never would have allowed her to attend that gala in the first place.”
He starts to respond, but the door opens, and two guards walk in, leading two inmates wearing bright orange jumpsuits. Since it was dark and I was focused on staying alive, I hadn’t had the chance to get a solid visualization of the men who attacked us outside of the banquet.
But now, I study them.
One is a bit taller than the other, his hair longer and pulled out of his face with a hair tie. A thick scar cuts through his left eyebrow, and when he glares back at me, I note one eye is blue while the other is brown.
The second man is shorter, his blond hair cut close to his scalp. He stares back at me from beady eyes that hold absolutely no remorse.
“Thank you,” Carter tells the guards once they’ve secured the men’s hands to the table in front of them.
The guards leave, and Carter takes a seat across from them while I remain standing in the corner.
“Who’s your boyfriend?” The one with the different-colored eyes sneers.
“You don’t recognize me?” I move a bit farther into the room.
Realization dawns, and the men look at each other. “You survived, huh?”
“I did.”
“Good. Then our murder charges will get dropped.”
“To attempted murder, sure,” Carter replies. “However, as I told you before, I can get those changed as well, lessen your sentence, for one simple name.”
“Mr. Rogers.” The one with the beady eyes scoffs. “There’s a name for you.”
Carter doesn’t bite, but I see the frustration in the way he grinds his teeth together. “Who are you working for?”
“Man, are you deaf?” the multicolor-eyed one snaps. “We told you we don’t work for anyone.”
“Which is a lie,” I say. “I know you work for Zeke Phillips.”
The smallest twitch from beady eyes.
“I know he represents Willy Carson, who you both are known associates of.” The last part is a lie—at least in the sense that I don’t have any actual proof of it.
“You don’t know nothing,” the longer-haired man states as he shakes his head.
I move in closer and plant both hands on the table between us. “I know that if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m going to have my lawyer here step out and I’ll use the tactics I learned overseas, from men much scarier than your boss, to get the answers I seek.”
Beady Eyes swallows hard.
“Carter—”
“No,” Beady Eyes replies.
“Shut your mouth, Gil,” Multicolored Eyes snaps.
“No, Gil. Speak. We can make a deal just for you if your buddy here wants to keep his mouth shut.”
“All I’m going to say is that you don’t know who you’re up against,” Gil replies. “You can torture us. Beat us. Whatever it is you think you can do? He’s worse. And you’ll never see him coming.”
“We’ve managed so far.”
They look at each other and laugh, then turn back to me. “You’re missing a big part of the picture there, bodyguard. And by the time you figure it out, it’ll be too late.”
The door opens, and Zeke Phillips strolls in, his expression furious. Carter stands, and I start toward Zeke, only stopping when Carter puts a hand on my arm.
“I would love to know why you think it’s appropriate to meet with my clients without their lawyer present.” Zeke pays me no attention despite the fact that I know he recognizes me. And somehow, the genuine lack of focus on me angers me even more.
“Don’t you recognize me?” I ask. “Or do I look different without a bullet hole and my hands chained above my head?”
Zeke glances in my direction, then turns back to Carter. “Your associate here obviously has me confused for someone else. And you must be confused yourself about appropriate behavior as a public prosecutor. Otherwise, you would have realized that meeting with my clients without me present is highly inappropriate.”
“They didn’t complain.” Carter crosses his arms. “And neither of them asked for representation.”
He glares around Carter at the two men who are visibly shaken by his arrival. “We’ll make sure we cover that.” Zeke straightens. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, this meeting is over.”
“We’re far from through,” I growl, meeting his gaze.
Zeke smiles at me. “I assure you, this will be the final interaction I have with you.” The way he says it alludes to more. His tone. The grin that follows. Separately, I’d believe them to be nothing more than the arrogance of a man who believes he’s untouchable.
But together they make my skin crawl.
The door bursts open, and Lance moves inside. “We have to go,” he tells me. “Now.” His gaze lands on Phillips, and he crosses the room, putting himself nose to nose with the attorney. “I’m coming for you, Phillips. One way or another, you’re going to know what it means to cross our team.” He growls the words, fury dripping from each and every one of them, which only worries me further.
Lance never gets mad.
He’s one of the most even-tempered men I’ve ever met.
So what happened?
“I look forward to the challenge,” Zeke replies, then steps aside and gestures for us to leave the room.
Carter retrieves his briefcase, and we step out into the hall.
“What is it?” I ask, noting the worry on Elijah’s face as well.
“Jaxson is in the ICU, and Silas is in the emergency room.”
I can feel the blood drain from my body, leaving me cold. “And Reyna?”
Lance’s gaze meets mine. “She’s been taken.”