“What did you say to Mark?” he asked suspiciously.
“Nothing. Just let him do what he’s doing. Remind him to look where I told him.”
Jaxson said something quietly on his end, away from the phone. He would make stuff happen, even if Mark was too upset to do it. I relaxed back into the seat and felt about a billion years old.
“Thank you, Jaxson. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“Did you do it?”
Someone growled, “Of course he did.” That was definitely Vane. He must have his ear pressed to Jaxson’s to sound so close. Un-fucking-believable, I’d get to be yelled at in synchrony.
“Is Stormy okay? Can you find out for me?”
“Who?” they both said at once.
“The… uh… man I was with.”
“Oh, I know him. I can check around,” Vane said.
Jaxson huffed. “What do you meanyou know him? You know what? Never mind. Mr. Midberry, you need to worry about yourself.”
On the desk laid a silver Sharpie, and I picked it up and twirled it around in my fingers. “Oh, trust me. I am worried. Plenty worried. I’m always numero uno on my worry list.”
“Mark is in your office now. Is he looking for a lawyer’s number for you or calling one? I’ll call one for you,” Jaxson said mostly to himself, the way he did when he was taking control of an issue we were working on in the office. He was good at spearheading projects, and I had a tendency to step aside and get out of his way. I used to love the adrenaline rush of the job, but lately… lately I’d been scratching that itch for a good rush somewhere else that sure ashellwasn’t the executive chair.
And now I was sitting in a police station.
“Won’t do any good to call a lawyer for me.”
“Why the hell not?” Jaxson was so fucking cute I just wanted to put him in my pocket. It was like he thought everyone was a moneybags like his sugar daddy.
I twirled the Sharpie again, but it spun in the air and fell to the floor with a clatter. “I spent all my money on hookers, Jax. And those are the facts. I don’t have any for expensive lawyers who could haul my ass out of the fire right now. I’m fucked.”
“Mark, what are you shredding?” he asked, and then returned to me. “How? Are you serious?”
“As a case of brain amoebas.”
“Give me the phone,” Vane said, quickly followed by, “and what the fucking fuck, buddy?” His heavy breathing smacked into my ear and made my eyes twitch.
“I’m sorry I got caught.”
Vane’s low rumble of anger had me hunching down in the chair. “The Courtesan is one thing. That’s mostly safe. Even a fucking locked bathroom, Ross. Anywhere that isn’t you with your dick in your fucking hand in public would have been great.”
“Oh, it wasn’t in my hand….” I went for funny, but the stony silence that followed my admittedly terrible joke had me clearing my throat. “I know. I have no money for a lawyer. Please tell me you love me enough to help out,” I mumbled in a rush. “I could probably call my dad and see if he’d spot me. I’m going to be lucky if he doesn’t try to cut me out of my half of his business after this.”
“Fine. Fucking fine. I’ll take care of it.”
“We’ll fix this!” I said and straightened again. With Vane at the helm, this problem was as good as over. I smiled and leaned back in the chair, glancing around the office. Suddenly the potted plants looked a lot friendlier and the artwork more interesting. Why had I even been worried?
“No, we won’t. There’s no fixing this. You’re done. And if I don’t want to be next….”
Good mood gone.I rubbed at my chest. “You’re cutting me deep here, man. Are we not friends anymore?”
“Shut up. Damn it. You’re such a fucking asshole. Of course we’re still friends. Like one paid piece of ass could break tradition. But this isn’t going to be fine. If you think it is, you’re high. You’re not high, are you? Maybe we could say you need rehab? Or a medical condition…. There’s no saving this shit.” He finally stopped his rambling with a sigh. “Which station are you in?”
“Lakeside.”
“Fuck. Monahan is a ballbuster. Jaxson, call—” The line went dead, which was fine because the door snapped open. I tried to place down the handset into the cradle like I hadn’t been talking to someone I probably shouldn’t have been and fumbled it onto the desk. A man with shaggy brown hair and scruff came in and stared at me while I tried three times to hang up the phone before I accomplished it and then sat back to cross my arms over my chest. He kept staring, and he was cute enough. He had some really nice lips, but that only got me thinking about Stormy again and worrying about him. I adjusted my tie, and finally, with a sunny smile, the man stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind him. He wore a cheap blue suit, not a uniform. I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. He was either a lawyer or one of the smartest people the cops could scrape together.
