Iris didn’t ask more questions on the drive to Danny’s house, and he sat quietly in the passenger seat.
She’d been so intent on finding out the truth, she hadn’t considered anything else. But she’d liked Candy, and she didn’t want her to have to go back to whoring on the street with a regular pimp.
And she didn’t want Danny or anyone else to go to jail. Not for this, anyway. Maybe for other things, but if she learned about those things and found out Danny and his brothers weren’t necessarily bad guys for breaking the law, she’d be in the same pickle.
Brain was sitting on the front porch when they pulled into Danny’s driveway, and he walked towards them as they got out of the car.
“Harmony’s in the kitchen,” Brain told her. “Go on in. We’ll be in shortly.”
Iris wanted to tell them to say what they needed to say in front of her. She wanted to insist there be no secrets, but common sense told her how ludicrous that was.
So, she went inside and felt a little like the little lady who wasn’t big enough for the grown-up conversations.
“Hey,” Harmony smiled and motioned to the oven. “I figured I’d have enough time to do twice baked potatoes. I have all the ingredients ready, just waiting for them to bake the first time.”
Iris had never actually made twice-baked potatoes and was surprised there were so many ingredients. The house still smelled of cooked bacon, and Iris noted a cup of it crumbled into small pieces, along with a bag of shredded cheese, two sticks of butter, sour cream, heavy cream, green onions, olive oil, and of course, the salt and pepper.
“Did you cook like this before you were a wolf?”
“I don’t think I enjoyed cooking this much, but I haven’t added too many recipes into my repertoire. I knew how, but my lifestyle wasn’t terribly settled, so there weren’t as many opportunities.”
“Was coming into the MC a shock for you?”
“No, because their morals align with mine, and I believe in my own morals more than I believe in the laws governing society — both the legal ones and the societal ones.”
“My entire life has been formed around society’s rules.”
“Then perhaps it’s better if you’re kept in the dark. Or, maybe this means you and Mac aren’t going to work out, after all.” She stood and stepped closer to Iris. “Here’s the deal. You’re my friend, and it’ll hurt to have to say goodbye, but if you do anything to hurt my man or his family, that will mean you aren’t family. We’ll stand behind you for just about anything, but ratting on family will put you out in the cold so fast you’ll be in danger of frostbite.”
The front door opened and the men came in.
Danny went straight to Harmony and hugged her. “Smells wonderful. What is it?”
“Spinach casserole with lots of blue cheese in the oven, along with the potatoes. We’re about thirty or forty minutes away from the sides being ready.”
“Excellent. Brain and I are going to wander out to the garage for about ten minutes, and then we’ll come back and get the steaks started.” He looked to Iris. “She won’t tell you anything you don’t already know, and I’m telling her not to tell you anything that might incriminate herself or anyone else.”
“Harmony’s my friend. I won’t…” Iris stopped talking before the lump in her throat grew so big she couldn’t talk around it. She blew out a breath and finished with, “Go. We’ll be fine.”
When they were gone, Harmony told her, “We can all smell your conflict. Want to talk about it?’
“It’s just what I said. I’ve been raised with society’s rules. The rich are held to a higher standard. I know Brain grew up that way, and I think you did, but ya’ll removed yourselves from that life. I’m still immersed in it.”
“Brain’s family keeps the media from talking about the black sheep of the family. Your father has enough influence, he could’ve kept them away from you, but you’ve made it so it’s lucrative for the gossip rags to talk about you, and I’m not sure he could so easily shush them now.”
“You’d lie on the stand?”
“Mac told me not to tell you anything incriminating.”
“Which means you would.”
Harmony just stared at her — neither the wolf nor the human seemed happy.
“Your wolves value loyalty.”
“They do.”
“And yours is questioning my loyalty.”
“The human understands your dilemma, the wolf doesn’t. She’d never do anything to hurt one of us. She sees you as part of her pack, even if you aren’t a wolf. She doesn’t understand.”
“I liked Candy.”
“I’ve only met a few of the girls. Knowing about them and coming face to face with them aren’t the same thing. One of the girls has some personal connections that puts her into the clubhouse for big events. You’ve met her, but it isn’t my place to say who. Just know that the MC does their level best to keep that segment separate, but there’s some unavoidable crossover.”
“Danny says I need to talk to the attorney, so I’ll know what to say if questioned by the police.”
“Spouses can’t be obligated to give testimony against each other, but girlfriends can be prosecuted for not answering questions. When Angelica was a teen, a brother married his girlfriend while he was out on bond for that very reason. They’re still together, so it isn’t like they didn’t mean it, but it put them together faster.”
Angelica had grown up in this lifestyle, so it made sense she’d be okay with it. Harmony hadn’t, though, and she was fiercely protective of her man.
Iris tried to put herself five years in the future, talking to a new girlfriend who might give them all away, and she understood where Harmony was coming from, but Iris needed to decide this without pressure.
The back door opened and the men came back in. “Zeke’s joining us for dinner,” Danny told Harmony, “so I’ll put a few extra steaks on the grill. There’s some Texas toast in the freezer, can you pop it in the oven, please?”
Iris felt like an outcast. She was Danny’s girlfriend, shouldn’t he be asking her to help add another person? Instead, he trusted Harmony to do the inside stuff while he and Brain handled the steaks.
“I can do the toast,” Iris told them.
Danny looked at her in surprise, but quickly recovered. “Yes, you can. Zeke’s our attorney, and he’s a nice guy. He’s on retainer, and he’ll be who you’ll call if you get into legal trouble of any kind — whether related to the MC or not. If your dad wants to supply someone as well, that’s fine, but Zeke will need to be involved.”
The men grabbed the steak container from the refrigerator, counted fifteen out, put the container back, and moved another container from freezer to refrigerator, so Danny would have enough thawed to eat the next day.
It was a good thing he made plenty of money, because eating as a werewolf was damned expensive. She knew the MC owned cattle and were part-owners of a slaughterhouse, but still.
Zeke ate like the wolves, but moved more like a cat. He was in jeans and a t-shirt instead of a suit, but as soon as the conversation turned to legal talk, Iris had no doubt he was a competent attorney.
“We’ll handle the easy stuff first. Since the police can demand a fingerprint, the courts have upheld they can legally compel you to unlock your phone with your fingerprint. However, one locked with a passcode or pattern is safe.”
Iris nodded. “Danny already explained that, actually.” She was still using the fingerprint option though, because the cops wouldn’t be interested in anything on her phone.
“You never know what they might find incriminating. A simple email or text mentioning he wasn’t home, or planned to be late on a particular night could be grounds to show he was doing things with his brothers. If you ignore warnings and have biometrics enabled, you should turn your phone off when you see cops. Androids and iPhones require you use the passcode when booted. A fingerprint won’t get you in.”
“And now for the hard
stuff,” she said. “Why might I be arrested?”
“You probably won’t be, but you could be questioned — most likely to ask about what you knew, or to ask if McGyver was at your house. If you were with him, you can answer that you were. If you weren’t, you’ll answer that you don’t recall. If it was more than a few days earlier, this is plausible. If it was earlier the same day, you may need to get creative. The point is, you’ll need to talk to me before you answer. You’re perfectly within your right to demand to have an attorney present when questioned. I’m getting paid to represent the club, not to bake brownies. I should be your first call, even before you alert McGyver.”
Harmony waved her fork and then put it down. “They’ll try to make it sound like you’re guilty, or that you know Mac is guilty, just because you want a lawyer with you. Ignore them. If you must say something, tell them the other ol’ladies have warned you that detectives can try to trick you into saying what they want to hear, and that they all told you to call Zeke before you answered any questions, so you are.”
“That’s right,” said Zeke. “Be friendly and respectful. If you’re nervous, don’t hide it — letting them know you’re out of sorts because you’ve never been questioned by the police or arrested before can work in your favor.”
“I’ve been arrested. In other countries and in the U.S. Daddy made it all go away, but my history with drugs is well documented. There are pictures of me being led away in handcuffs if you search for it online. The charges were always dropped — deals made where I went into rehab and Daddy paid lots of people off.”
“Ah. Well then, you can use your own history as your reason for wanting an attorney, too. Officers who lied to try to trap you. You don’t have to say anything to explain why you’re waiting for me before you talk, but most feel the need to.”
“You’re best off saying as few words as possible,” Brain said. “Cops are good at twisting your words. You’re smart, so you’ll probably be okay with the nervous act, but just remember not to get carried away.”
“If they ask me a direct question — something like, ‘Are you aware the MC’s hotel is a front for a prostitution ring?’” She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to refuse to answer for long, but I really don’t want to have to lie to the police.”
“When the police asked if you’d been using drugs, were you honest?” Danny looked like he already knew the answer, and maybe he did.
“Sometimes, but not always. I lied out my ass a few times. Made it sound like, if anything showed up in a drug test, it was because people must have snuck it into my food or wine or something.”
He opened his mouth to say something else, but she spoke before he could. “I get it. I sound like a hypocrite, lying for myself but not you, but my last stint in rehab changed me. I became a better person. I say I buckled down with college because of the implications of my twenty-fifth birthday and my trust fund, but in truth, I finally grew up some at that…” she shook her head. “Calling it a clinic doesn’t give the story. I mean, it’s marketed as a clinic and spa, but they insist on guided meditations at first, and then, eventually, the boring kind of meditation, where you sit and brush any thoughts away as they come, but it wasn’t boring, it was a challenge, and once I got the hang of it…”
How was she supposed to explain how it had changed her?
“Before, I’d come out of rehab clean, but getting clean wasn’t that big of a deal. I mean, I was never addicted to the drugs. Coming off could be painful once I was on a cycle of uppers and downers, but I didn’t start again because I needed to. There was no craving or anything. My friends did it, so I did. It was about partying and having fun, and looking for the ultimate…” She stopped herself before she said orgasm, and said, “experience. I’m not one of those people who can’t take one drink or one hit lest they go off the deep end.”
No one acted like they noticed her pause, but she was sure they had. She kept going. “The last time, I came out of rehab a different person. I’ve done coke and acid a few times since I got out, and lots of weed, but never more than twice a week, to make sure it’s out of my system between times. I could’ve done that before, but I didn’t care. Life was a party. Now, I’m figuring out who I am and who I want to be, and I don’t want to be the kind of person who has to lie to the cops. I’ve been in a country with little to no drug laws most of the times I’ve done heavy drugs since then.” She shrugged. “Or in international waters on a yacht registered to one of those countries.”
Zeke looked to Danny, and he told him, “She knows our policy on drugs, and has promised me she won’t use in Chattanooga, or on any MC related trip.”
The attorney seemed to look inside of her, and she once again felt as if he was more cat than wolf.
“You know the MC and Drake security are linked,” Zeke said. “Brain and Duke are close to Sophia, Aaron’s wife. Jonathan works for Sophia, Ranger and Mac work for Drake, and they’re all involved with Bethany, who’s Gen’s best friend. There’s more, but that’s a start. You should also know that after I lost my parents as a child, Nathan — the other owner of Drake Security — took me under his wing. I’m the man I am today because of him, and I try hard to live up to his expectations. I’m close to several members of the MC, and I have the utmost respect for them and their morals.” He sighed. “Still, I won’t put someone on the stand if I know they intend to perjure themselves. I believe in the law, and in the justice system. It doesn’t always get it right, but breaking the law doesn’t fix what’s broken.” He looked to Brain and back to Iris. “But I need to know the truth. I can’t properly defend you or them if I don’t know the absolute truth.”
“At first, I thought you were telling me not to inform you if I planned to lie on the stand, but that isn’t it.”
“Correct. I’m telling you I will find a way to properly defend everyone without anyone having to lie on the stand.”
Iris breathed out in relief. She could do this.
“Okay. I’m glad I know about the workin’ girls, but I think it might be best if I don’t know anything else for sure.” She looked at Danny. “I’m going to trust that your morals will keep you from doing something that will horrify me. Like with the hotel, I was horrified until I understood. Just make sure that whatever you do, I’ll be good with it if it ever comes out. Please.”
“Some stuff, the MC votes on, and maybe I wouldn’t choose to do it if it were my decision, so I’m not sure that’s a promise I can make. We agree that, whatever we vote on, we’re all in it.”
“So, I’m kind of in bed with the entire club.”
Brain laughed. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Let’s get all my contact numbers into your phone,” said Zeke. “I’ll want you to memorize my cellphone number.”
Chapter 34
Iris didn’t know what to do with the information about her mail-order stepmother. It bugged her all week, so Friday morning she told her security detail she wanted to drive to Birmingham. Classes hadn’t started back yet, but her father was back to work.
“Ya’ll can take me or follow, but this is a surprise visit. My father isn’t expecting me, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Danny would be upset that she didn’t take him, but she didn’t want there to be any more bad blood between Danny and her father. She needed to do this on her own.
“Let us make a phone call.”
Thirty minutes later, they were taking her to Drake Security so she could be flown to Alabama in a helicopter.
She was surprised to learn Ranger could fly the ’copter, but there wasn’t time to ask questions, because she was whisked into it and they were in the air within minutes of arriving in the field beside the Drake Headquarters building.
Iris took a selfie video during takeoff, showing the city growing smaller in the background. It would need some editing, but she thought it would gain interest on social media.
She also shot off a quick text to Danny, letting him
know she was flying to Birmingham to spend the day with her dad.
Once in the air and settled, Kenny explained that, contractually, her security had to work it out with her father’s security for a proper handover, so showing up unannounced wasn’t possible. However, this was a hi-speed helicopter, which meant time from the phone call just before they left until they’d land on her dad’s helipad would be just under than thirty minutes.
“Thank you. Ya’ll have gone above and beyond for me several times, and it’s appreciated.”
“Sophia’s made it clear we’re to help you with your dad however we can without compromising security, and Aaron’s always made it clear we need to keep his wife happy. We’d have probably done it anyway, but having the Swan Queen as a friend has certainly helped.”
Iris had learned there are other shapeshifters besides wolves, and that her friend Sophia wasn’t just a swan, but the queen of the swans. She’d heard all about how Sophia’s father, the former Swan King, had planned to marry his daughter off at twenty-five and give all the power of the office to the man he chose. Sophia had escaped her father’s mansion a week before her twenty-fifth birthday and gathered enough allies to start a war with her father. She’d won, and now she was the Swan Queen.
The house manager met her as she walked off the helipad.
“Your father wasn’t expecting you and is in a meeting, but he expects to be home by six. Your room is ready for you, of course. Do you need anything else?”
“Stop treating me like a guest. It’s my home, too.”
“Yes, ma’am. Of course.”
Everyone slowed when they made it to the front porch, and she motioned Kenny and Ranger into the house. She’d put them in the media room to hang out while they waited. She might be ready to leave in four hours, or she might spend the night. If she stayed the night, her father would arrange a plane ride home, but she needed an escape plan in case everything went to shit.
McGyver Page 27
