Muting my call, I barely stop from reaching out to him, “Puck, I’m good, I’m telling Giuseppe the details because he is our lawyer and I want him to file a complaint. You might not like what I say but focus on me being fine. Okay?”
“King will,” he growls through his teeth, his anger clear in his words and posture.
“King will go off,” I agree with him, “and you haven’t met Koz. I promise they won’t let what happened to me go. But the both of them will go absolutely ballistic if anything happens from this point on.”
I let my words sink in. Giving him a task to do as opposed to endless reminders of what happened. And it works.
He blows out loudly, nodding his head, like he’s pepping himself up. “You’re right.”
He’s still skating a fine line and it probably won’t take much for him to start rethinking about turning the car around, but I have to talk to Giuseppe and get the ball rolling. I watch Puck closely and go in for a sneak attack, “Hey, you said onion rings…”
The lines around his eyes go from tension to something else. “You still eat them? They’re disgusting.”
I laugh and keep the mood light, thinking we’re over the worst of his frustrations. “Wash your mouth out. They’re delicious and you know it. I’m going to finish up with Giuseppe.”
He nods once, and then pulls back out into traffic. And I return to my phone call.
“All okay?” Giuseppe asks.
“Yeah,” I say, watching Puck closely. “I’m fine. Like I said, I’m okay, just sore now. And tired.”
“Did they designate you?” Giuseppe restarts his questioning. There’s no hiding this man is a lawyer.
Risking a look at Puck to make sure he can’t hear; I answer, turning away from him for more privacy. “Yeah.”
“Public designation? Did they grant you special privileges?” Giuseppe’s mannerism and tone is all professional. Even though we haven’t met, I can visualise him writing every word I say down.
“Yes to the first question. But it was only Fallen and Koz left then, and they all know anyway. Special privileges were not granted in any way, shape, or form.”
“Noted. Did they get Lew too? I’m in the process of wiring some money.”
“Yes to Lew. I don’t need money.”
“I will feel a lot more comfortable knowing you have enough cash on you in case you need to disappear, Ms. Raney. I’m also going to send Rhodes as a replacement bodyguard for you. I suspect it will take him twelve hours to get there. I’ll send you his photo ID so you’ve got it on hand. He will find you and will have cash on him.”
“How long do you think Koz and Dad are going to be held?”
“I suspect they will hold them for the legally approved period of questioning. The CBIJ are getting more and more desperate in trying to incriminate Mr. Siderno. Their lack of ability to find anything substantial to pin on either of them will have them be as aggressive and insistent as they can be, in a legal sense. Not that I know your father, but I have worked with Mr. Siderno for a long time. With the charges they’ve been trying to make stick, they will hold them for the full seven days and do the standard sleep and food deprivation along with endless questioning.”
“Seven days?!” I shriek.
Puck’s head tips slightly.
“What do you need?” Giuseppe follows my panic.
I drop my voice low again. “Medication. The girls have already got the most urgent, but if I don’t have Koz, I will need more.”
“Do you want me to make arrangements for you to stay with the local Unity Collegiate?”
I risk another look at Puck, hoping he doesn’t have supersonic hearing. Inevitably, he’s going to find out I’m an omega, or he might already know, but I want to be the one to actually tell him. If I choose to.
“I’d prefer you get in touch with them and let them know I’m stuck somewhere with him, or they could potentially lock me up there until I graduate, which is at nine am tomorrow morning.”
How ridiculous, it really does come down to a date and a time when I go from being a student to being a registered omega. All my classes are done, I passed with flying colours, but the processing of my official capacity and my government identification doesn’t occur for a few more hours. Which means if I got stopped right this second, I could end up being deported and held at the Collegiate. I was incredibly lucky to be able to walk out of the police interrogation with my freedom.
“Koz has me listed as your lawyer everywhere already. I’ll contact them immediately. What about a place to stay?”
“I think I’ll stay at the compound.”
