Oblivious.
Slater gave him a deadpannedare you seriously that stupid?stare. “All right. Let’s follow some leads to other cases, then. I’ll try to contact Sebastian’s parents again, see if he is ready to talk. Until then you have other work to do, boys.”
We all nodded.
* * *
Five days.
That’s how long it’d been since I’d heard anything from River, and that annoyed me. I’d texted him a few times under the pretense of asking if Vic had contacted him, but he didn’t message me back. I never called, although I had been tempted. Slater, on the other hand, had been keeping me up to date while I was at the station. Sebastian’s parents were adamant they didn’t want him involved in that trafficking-ring business anymore, and that meant they didn’t want him answering any of our questions. Slater said he’d begged and received the same answer every time.
Until today.
It was technically my day off from both jobs, but when Slater called to let me know that Sebastian wanted to talk to us, I knew what I had to do. I sat on the couch in the family room getting my thoughts in order, and then finally called River.
“What?” His voice, while curt, was a beautiful thing to hear. “If he’d called, I would have contacted you.”
“You could have replied to me.” I laughed, and he sniffed in irritation. “I’m not calling you for that. You remember Sebastian?”
“How could I forget him?” River sighed. “My best pal, Seb. I was handcuffed to a bed with him, if you recall.”
“His sister rang us up. Sebastian wants to talk.” I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch while I waited for him to say something. It seemed to take a long while, but I doubted it actually was more than a few seconds.
“So?”
“Come with us.”
“What?” River’s voice rose, and there was noise on the other end of the phone, like maybe he was shuffling some papers around. “Why would I want to come with you?”
“Because he’s a victim too.” I leaned back and stared at the photo of Alex at our wedding on the mantle. I really needed to remove it. Put it anywhere but the family room.
“I’m not a victim,” River snapped.
He was, very much so, but I’d dealt with men like River. They could never see themselves as victims because they always thought they were stronger than that. It wasn’t that they thought victims were weak—because they definitely weren’t—but rather they never imagined themselves as someone a perpetrator could prey on.
“I think it would help him if he could talk to you, boy.” I didn’t know why the pet name slid out, but it did so, easily.
River inhaled, and I clenched my eyes closed, hoping I hadn’t screwed the pooch, but then he released his breath and I relaxed. “Fine, I’ll come. When are you leaving?”
“Now. I’ll pick you up. Are you at work?”
“Yes. I’ll be ready when you get here.” He disconnected the call before I could say anything else. I shook my head and grabbed my keys, locking the house on my way out before I got into my truck.
His office was right in the center of the city, near Bar Row, and it took me forty minutes with midday traffic to get there. When I pulled up in a drop-off zone, he was already waiting, briefcase in his hand and a scowl on his face. He yanked open the door and swooped into the seat.
“Let’s make this quick. I’m busy.”
I didn’t doubt that. River’s firm had an amazing record, and he was worth a pretty penny, too. I checked out his rates after the incident at the hospital. Directing the truck back into the city traffic, I sighed.
“Listen, River, if I offended you—”
“You’d know.” He glanced from outside the window to me, lips pursed. “This isn’t about you. Vic hasn’t called me. I’m fucking annoyed at him.”
“Some guys just don’t talk. So we go to the next club.” I shrugged. “I know not all of them have actual buildings, so you’ll have to find the next meetup.”
“You don’t understand,” he snapped, eyes narrowing behind his gold-rimmed glasses. He looked handsome like this, a force to be reckoned with, and I could imagine the power he showed in a courtroom. Between his charm and his passion, I saw how he had a high success rate. “I defended Vic, practically for fucking free. I gave him my time to help him get out of trouble. He owed me.”
“Not everyone believes in debts.” I took the streets onto the motorway. Sebastian’s parents lived in a suburb north of New Gothenburg and it was at least a fifteen-minute drive. “You know now not to help him. When he finds himself in the fire the next time, don’t pull him out. Or….” I glanced at him and raised my eyebrows. “I could give my coworkers a tip.”
