“Sure, go ahead. But then I’ll have to stick the real cops on your son for the shit he pulled at the bar last night and I don’t think you want that.”
“My son was attacked by your husband’s gangster friend,” she snarled. “The police know that.”
I nodded. “Right, yeah… I’m sure they’ll completely dismiss the security footage of your precious kid scoring the glass a few hours earlier to make it easier to break. Regardless of intent, it didn’t come crashing down on an innocent patron’s head so it probably won’t be a big deal. They probably also won’t care that he provoked the brawl by getting a little too handsy with a woman who made it clear she didn’t want him touching her. Vandalism, public endangerment, sexual assault, I’m sure I’m missing a few.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. That’s absurd.”
“What part?” I asked. “That Alex could be looking at charges, that we have hidden cameras you didn’t factor in, or are you just talking about this entire harebrained scheme of yours in general? I agree with you on the latter, it was pretty absurd. For someone in a position of power, you’re kind of a dummy.”
“I thought your kind doesn’t believe in getting the law involved,” she seethed, “but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re using my son’s freedom as a bargaining chip. You’re simply proving what I already know to be true, the MC and everyone associated with it are a blight on this town.
I rolled my eyes, biting my tongue to avoid going off-topic by defending my kind. What a bitch. “Where was this moral line in the sand when you asked him to do it in the first place? He’s the one trying to press charges. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll get nothing more than probation. But you? I hope you have a good PR firm on speed dial. You should consider a career as a smut writer after I ruin your political one, those emails between you and Gellar were fucking gold—”
“A sexual relationship between consenting adults isn’t illegal,” she shot back.
“No, but it wasn’t a relationship, was it? Poor Gellar, he probably thought you actually enjoyed his company until you showed him your true colors.”
“If this town tolerates outlaws having half the local government in their pockets, I doubt they’ll care about what I do in the bedroom. Try again, Mrs. Larter.”
Challenge accepted. “See, that’s the weird thing about Linwood,” I mused, “it seems like people are fairly open-minded but it’s a small town to the core. Granted, I haven’t lived here long, but I’ve noticed the rumor mill tends to be particularly vicious to women labeled as tramps. Now, I’m no prude. Use it if you’ve got it, honey. But I wonder how your constituents would react to finding out that you did a little tramping around yourself. Actually, a lot of tramping around… Ginger May.”
As if I’d flipped an invisible switch, her face suddenly turned as white as the morning snow. Her lips parted but nothing came out.
“Yeah, I know all about your foxy alter ego,” I revealed. “Colorado Springs may be hours away, but the internet knows no borders. I’ve gotta say, legitimate escort services are really up on their digital recordkeeping these days, it’s pretty impressive. Did you know some of your old clients kept their own records too? I tracked down emails and videos from five of them in a matter of hours. Let’s just say they put you in very compromising positions and I don’t just mean that figuratively.”
By now her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. “You’re lying.”
I pulled out my phone, found one of the more damaging videos, and held it up for her to see. “This one’s my favorite. I definitely took you for the fetish type, but getting fucked in a latex nun outfit while getting your ass stuffed with a crucifix? Oh boy. I really don’t think that’ll go over well with your religious supporters. Isn’t the mayor Catholic? And come to think of it… his position is your ultimate goal in the next election, isn’t it?”
“I… That’s not…What are you going to do?” she stuttered.
“Mmm, I don’t know yet. I’d really hate to have to make these public because I’m not a huge fan of slut shaming, but I guess it depends on you. Don’t look so sad, at least you’re dealing with me instead of my husband. I tend to be