shut his notebook and got to his feet. “Too bad she wasted her time, then.”
Chapter Nineteen
True to his word, Cash had me out of jail by the end of the day.
Just me.
He was on the sidewalk outside the sheriff’s department, leaning against his car, when I walked out. I couldn’t recall ever seeing him appear the part of a lawyer quite so much before. With his suit jacket over dark indigo jeans and his white button-down shirt unbuttoned just so, he looked amazing.
It took him a moment to acknowledge me, he was so busy talking animatedly on his cell. I got the vibe it wasn’t a social call. I stopped next to him and waited…and waited some more. After a minute he nodded at me, letting me know he at least recognized I had arrived.
“No, listen to me. What I’m saying is there’s a case here that could be groundbreaking, all right? It’s not just a murder case. This could be the first really meaningful public trial of a werewolf. If you’re telling me that’s not something you want to be a part of, then maybe you’re not as serious about your career as I thought you were.”
I made a face. Getting backup, especially if it was from an established lawyer, would be beneficial to us. But I didn’t like the way he was talking about Hank’s case as if it didn’t matter which way it went, as long as he and this other party were involved.
Cash had never struck me as the kind of guy who was into his profession for all the fame and glory, but maybe I was wrong. I was beginning to wonder how well Cash and I really knew each other, even after all this time.
“Fine, great. I have a place booked at this little motel outside Franklinton. Total dive, but it’s the best I could do.” There was a long pause. “No, not like a Best Western dive, more like that hotel from Psycho.”
“The Bates Motel,” I supplied. Cash ignored me.
“Yeah, see you in a couple hours.” He hung up and as if out of habit leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Hey, baby.”
“You couldn’t get Wilder out?”
His hand balled into a fist and then he released it, shaking his head like he wanted to say something and thought better of it. “I’m still working on it, but the deputy he hit isn’t in a forgiving mood. Apparently having his nose broken didn’t make him feel too charitable.”
Anderson had taken a direct hit to the face from an Alpha werewolf. That he only had a broken nose meant Wilder had been downright gentle with him. He could very well be in a coma right now if Wilder had hit him with real intent. I wondered if Anderson would appreciate the difference if someone explained it to him.
Hey, he could have killed you, consider yourself lucky! might not be the best way to get Wilder out of jail.
“Look,” Cash said, putting his hands on my shoulders. “I’m trying my best. But the cops aren’t thrilled about the idea of letting the potentially violent brother of an alleged murderer out of jail. Can you blame them?”
“Sure, because they’re using that as an excuse to cover up a giant conspiracy.” As soon as I said it I knew how crazy it sounded. Even to my ears it was something an insane person would say, but I knew it was true.
He either ignored me or was saving his response for a better time. “Matt, the assistant professor from my paranormal law class, is coming down. He’s an associate at a law firm in the city that deals with supernaturally related cases. You know, vampire estate law and that sort of thing.”
Vampire. Estate. Law.
“Has he ever worked a criminal case before?”
“Nothing of this magnitude. There hasn’t been anything of this magnitude before. I’m sure werewolves have killed people before, but it’s never been public like this.”
“This isn’t public yet.”
“It will be.”
He was right. There was no way we were going to be able to sweep this under the rug. What was worse, he was also right about it being time to call Callum. I hadn’t been gone long, but in the time since I’d left home so much had happened. It was pretty remarkable, actually, getting into this much trouble in no time at all. Maybe it was a McQueen thing. If so, I was doing the family proud.
“Come on, I rented a room at that place