Chapter 10 #2
“What about that thing you do,” Ophelia said, turning to Felix and grasping at straws. “You know, your bent or whatever it is, where you disappear. The whole town was talking about it after the dragon. You could slip in with whoever’s going to represent him.”
“Distortion?” The spry warlock stirred his coffee and raised a brow. “Oh no, honey, this has bad karma written all over it. You’re not getting me into that room.”
Behind them, the door banged open, and Chase strode in, murderous, with Jena on his heels. “Where the fuck is he?”
Gideon straightened at Ophelia’s side. “Ah. You must be Chase Montgomery.”
The big blond man stopped short. “Do I know you?”
“Holy shit.” Jena looked between them, then her gaze found Ophelia’s. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Ophelia went to say something and shrugged instead. What was the point?
“Jena, Chase, this is Gideon Sperry, Fayet’s prosecutor and Ophelia’s ex-fiancé,” Felix said into the silence. “I mean, kind of. All of that,” he swirled a finger at them, “is just…complicated.”
“And it’s about to get more so,” Gideon muttered looking at his phone as it pinged with another alert. “Brendan Thackett has been assigned to Mr. Montgomery defense. I’m assuming he’s already on his way.”
Liam swore from behind the desk.
“Who’s Brendan Thackett?” Felix asked before Ophelia could.
“More like what,” Liam muttered. “He’s a defense attorney, but the elf is shady as fuck. You can’t pin anything on the guy, but let’s just say not all his clients make it to trial.”
Ophelia looked over at Gideon re-pocketing his phone. Based on his expression, he agreed with Liam’s assessment.
“So, let me restate my earlier question,” Gideon said, clasping his hands over his briefcase’s handle. “Are you going to let me into that room, or am I going to make you let me into that room?”
Gideon waited as the door to the drunk tank was opened for him.
Apparently, Havers was too small for a multi-cell facility, and the long, concrete-block room partitioned with silver bars was the extent of their penal capabilities.
Several bunks lined one end of the far wall, and Patrick Montgomery sat at the edge of one of the lower ones, looking far less smug than the last time Gideon had seen him.
Patrick had never been a large man, but the were had become rangy, the scraggly beard covering the lower portion of his face doing nothing to improve his visage. His eyes followed Gideon as he pulled a folding chair away from the wall and set it in front of the bars.
“Since when are you a public defender?” Patrick grumbled.
“Oh, I’m not, but I assumed you’d want to speak with me first. PD Thackett is on his way. Do you mind if I record this?” Gideon asked, sitting as the realization of the stakes bloomed over Patrick’s face.
“You can do whatever you want.”
Gideon took out his phone and thumbed on the app.
“Then I’ll proceed. What follows is the sworn statement of Patrick Montgomery regarding the case Fayet v.
Havers-by-the Sea…” he rattled off the date and the rest of the jargon needed to make it admissible, then turned back to Patrick.
“I’m glad to see your little sojourn into the wild hasn’t dulled your delightful personality.
As much as I do enjoy it, why don’t you tell me why the Vampire Court is so invested in you. ”
“You really want that on file?” Patrick laughed, then licked his cracked lips. “Whatever, it’s your neck in the noose. I don’t know, and if they’re sending Thackett, they obviously want me dead.”
“Perhaps, but from what I understand, so does the majority of this town. Why is that?” Patrick’s lips tightened, and Gideon sighed.
“Come on, you know how this works, help me to help you.” He slid a folio from his briefcase and flipped it open.
“Fine. Let’s have a refresher, shall we?
It’s being argued that you knowingly procured the grants for three wind turbines, and then filed the necessary permits to situate them across the leyline.
The defense is arguing that during the process, you altered the scope of work… ” Gideon flipped through a few pages.
“Ah, yes, here it is, ‘by substituting carbon steel in lieu of the originally approved composite fiber,’ making you ultimately responsible for disrupting the flow of magic between Havers and Fayet and causing irreparable damage to the neighboring town. Now, this is where you need to tell me whether you’d like to plead guilty or not guilty. ”
Patrick stared at the floor between his feet. “Guilty.”
“And are there any defenses that could mitigate your guilt? Duress, perhaps?”
“No,” Patrick snorted.
Gideon leaned forward, trying to keep the surprise from his face.
“Are you sure? You do know that if that’s your plea and if evidence or a statement corroborating it is filed, the current case against Havers will get thrown out.
And if that were to happen, a new one will be filed in its place that, in all likelihood, would result in Fayet’s inability to collect redress. ”
“Good.” Patrick glared up at him through his ragged hair, his eyes telling Gideon that he knew full well they weren’t talking about Fayet and that his plea would seal his death warrant.
Gideon sighed, sitting back as he pursed his lips. “If I might ask, what did the Vampire Court promise you?”
“Why, you worried about them turning on you?” Patrick laughed. “It’s only a matter of time. Don’t think I don’t know my days are numbered. Shit, if Thackett’s coming, more like hours.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of the Court’s duplicitous nature,” Gideon said, more bitterness bleeding into his tone than he’d intended.
Patrick’s brow knit, and he sat back, his eyes calculating.
He glanced at Gideon’s phone still recording.
“Fine. You want the details? They didn’t promise me anything, and I never spoke with them directly.
Whatever happened with them in the back room was between Malcom and Chambers.
When they brought me on to secure the grant, Malcom looped me into it with the promise of supporting my bid for Alpha.
Honestly, I didn’t care about anything else. ”
“But you knew about the vampires’ involvement.”
Patrick looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Who do you think was behind the grant in the first place?” He scowled.
“Yeah, I knew, but I didn’t know about the composite fiber being switched out until after the witches started losing their shit over it.
I’m pretty sure that was all Malcom. Chambers said he’d handle it, and not long after, the funding was pulled. ”
Gideon frowned. “Do you have anything to corroborate that?”
“No. Like I said, I never spoke with the tribes directly, and Malcom…” He shook his head, his face tight. “He was more of a father to me than my own dad. I trusted that son of a bitch, and he was old school. Everything was face to face.”
“What about Chambers?”
“He was just straight up paranoid. Nothing was written down, and I couldn’t even bring my phone into our meetings.
Why the hell do you think I ran? If I had anything on them, I sure as fuck would’ve used it by now.
” Patrick shook his head, then laughed. “And if you’re planning on burying Chambers, you’re gonna have to dig deep my friend, because there’s no way the tribes were the only ones pulling his strings. ”
Gideon’s brow quirked. “Who else—”
The door banged open and Gideon quickly pocketed his phone. Brendan Thackett strode into the room in a cloud of cheap cologne. Patrick’s eyes deadened as Gideon stood.
Thackett stopped short. “Gideon. I didn’t expect you here.”
“I don’t know why I wouldn’t be,” he said, as if nothing were amiss.
“I’ll anticipate a copy of his statement in my email before noon.
Mr. Montgomery has already informed me of his intent to plead ‘not guilty.’ I’ll let the powers that be know that the case will be continuing as expected.
Mr. Montgomery,” he said, nodding to Patrick.
“Try to stay comfortable. I anticipate resolving this lawsuit outside of court.”
Patrick swallowed heavily and looked away.
“But I thought…” Thackett’s brow furrowed, more than a little confused. “Wait, you think they’ll settle?”
Gideon leaned down to grab his briefcase. “I think there will be very little recourse once all the facts are in, and that it would be foolish to proceed, especially after hearing what Mr. Montgomery had to say.”
The odious man chuckled. “Well, that is why they pay you the big bucks. I don’t know why I thought…” He shook his head. “Give me an hour, and I’ll have everything sent over.”
Gideon grunted and left the room, hoping Patrick was wise enough to take the out he’d just given him. Best case, his plea of ‘guilty’ would’ve only kicked the proverbial can down the road. Worst case, he’d be dead before he saw another sunrise, and they’d be right back where they’d started.
Several sets of eyes landed on him as he stepped back into the sheriff’s department’s sad excuse for a bullpen.
“Well?” Chase growled, standing with his arms crossed over his chest.
Gideon tongued his cheek, not liking the man on principle. “Might I suggest we go somewhere more private before discussing sensitive information?” he asked, eyeing a deputy across the room.
“Yeah,” Jena said, stroking her gravid abdomen. “We can go back to the Witchery. I don’t think Aggie’s back from her trip with Gorman, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”
“We’ll have to get the replay,” Felix said, glancing at Jena. “Liam and I have that thing.”
She gave a subtle nod. “I’ll text you.”
“I’m sure you will,” Ophelia muttered, scrunching up the wrapper from her bagel and tossing it into a bin. Jena’s cheeks flushed, and Chase put his arm around her.
Gideon didn’t know what all that was about, but aside from Ophelia having eaten, he really didn’t care, and the less time spent with Havers’s mayor, the better.
“Well then,” he said, forcing a smile. “Shall we?”