“Hey, Officer Caro.”
He took the seat next to me and glanced at a woman who came bustling through the front glass doors, huffing her way to the desk as though being here was a hassle. A homeless man being led in by cops followed her, and his stench was enough to make my nose wrinkle, but the cops were quick to lead him through a door to the right.
“You get all kinds in here.” I chuckled.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He shook his head and laughed with me. “The mayor being caught in city hall is the least of New Gothenburg’s problems, but the media is eating it up.”
“Why? Ross has never done anything wrong.”
“Because he’s a mayor.” He waved toward the closed door that led to offices where I knew plenty of cops were working behind the scenes. “They hate him for making them redo training after the incident with the women being sexually assaulted by Haynes. As far as they’re concerned, Midberry was throwing them on the fire to make himself look good.”
“And now that they have him on something, they want to make an example of him,” I finished.
He gave me a sad smile as an answer.
The lady at the desk raised her voice, waving her hands in front of her furiously, and gained our attention in the process. Caro sighed and patted me on the shoulder before he stood and stalked over to her. His height alone would scare anyone, and as soon as she saw him approach, she snapped her mouth closed. He talked to her for a moment and then gestured for her to follow him.
Not long after Caro disappeared, River exited a door to my right, back straight and a hard expression on his face that I decided immediately I didn’t like. I stood and held my breath as he came toward me.
“How bad is it?” I whispered.
“Bad.” He dropped his briefcase onto the chair I’d been sitting on and rubbed his hands over his face, digging his fingers into his eyes under his glasses. Once he’d taken a deep breath, he grabbed his briefcase again and motioned out the front door. Together, we walked from the station and toward his car, a sleek black Maserati.
Once we were inside, he reached between our seats to settle his briefcase in the back before turning to me. “They want to take him for public lewdness and patronizing a prostitute. They asked for you, too, but you were right, Ross didn’t relent on that. He wasn’t going to give you up.”
“You can fight the charges, right? Since they’re not charging me?” I asked hopefully. My stomach churned and I felt the urge to be sick, but I couldn’t, especially not here in River’s car. He’d give me to the cops himself.
“I could try, but Ross doesn’t want to go to court. He wants this to be over quickly.” River slid off his glasses and leaned his head back against the leather interior of the car. “The DA came up with a deal for him. They’ll drop the patronizing charges and leave you alone if he agrees to two months in prison and a fine for each photo they have on him.”
“That’s ridiculous!” My hands curled into fists on my thighs. “All that for public lewdness? He doesn’t even have a prior record.”
“And he was getting his dick fluffed for a fee. He pissed them off. Shit rolls downhill.” River shrugged.
“Then take it to court. Fight it.”
A woman walked in front of River’s car, clutching her child’s hand tightly as she ushered her onto the sidewalk. The little girl waved at us, and I raised my hand to wave back. How I wished I was that age again, back with Dad and Papa and innocent to the world around us.
“I want to do it, but he doesn’t. He thinks that’ll just hype the media up about the whole situation, and he wants it to go away. Thinks he owes it to Vane Elwood. On top of that deal, they promised him a cell on his own.” River touched my shoulder to get my attention, and I returned my gaze to him. “They’re putting him in cells I call the rich man’s prison. The only other inmates who can go near him are men in for white-collar crimes.”
“And that makes it better? He’ll lose his job, River.”
“He’s already lost his job. There’s no way in hell he’ll keep it after being caught with a professional in the stairwell of city hall. I’ve already heard talks that the deputy mayor is going to step up.”
“They haven’t talked to Ross about it,” I snapped, harsher than I’d meant to sound.
He sighed. “They will. He’s done as the mayor, Lane. He got caught with his pants down, literally. It’s all over.”
I leaned forward and dropped my face against his leg, groaning. He patted the back of my head, but I didn’t feel any better. “Fuck. This is my fault. I should have listened to my horoscope.”
River huffed, and I swore I heard him mutter, “They aren’t real.” After a moment of silence that lingered between us, he sighed. “You should go see Madam Winters. She called me and wants to see you.”
“Why?”
He shrugged and started the Maserati. The rumbling was a soothing sound to my soul, not one I expected. I wasn’t a car fanatic, but even I could admit River’s was beautiful. Expensive, too. “I don’t know. West is with Ross right now, sorting out the details. I’ll take you to the Courtesan.”
All I could do was nod as I grabbed my seat belt and buckled it. If the madam wanted to see me, then I had no choice except to go. She took care of us, and that earned respect from everyone, but there was more to her than met the eye. She was a dangerous woman.
It didn’t take us long to get to the Courtesan. From the outside the hotel looked like the glamorous historic building it was, with curved balconies and a clean brick façade. All the structures on this street had the same restored vibe, whether it was a house or a store, but the Courtesan was the only hotel near here, and really it looked more like a palatial estate.
