“But,” he continued, “maybe my sister could help. She mainly does litigation. Well, actually, she’s in the process of opening her own sports agency, but that’s beside the point.”
“Then what is?” I ground out. I knew I was being rude, but now was not the time for me to deal with this shit. Logan sounded like a golden retriever, like the kind of guy who if I gave an inch to conversationally, he’d take a mile.
“The point is, Berkley has done some criminal work. Not on this scale, but more than me anyway.”
“Give me her number,” I demanded gruffly, pulling my notebook out of my back pocket.
Logan probably sensed my urgency, because he rattled it off, and I hung up with a rushed “thank you.”
Then I made my third call in as many minutes.
“Hello?”
“Hey, is this Berkley?”
“Yes…”
“This is Lane Lawless. I’m Owen’s brother? I’m not sure if you’re familiar?—”
Berkley chuckled. “Yes, I know who your brother is.”
“Great! So look, I’m calling because I have a bit of a delicate situation, and I need an attorney I can trust.”
In the background, someone—a man—asked who she was talking to, and I distantly registered the cry of a baby. Fuck, I was interrupting her family time, making me an even bigger asshole than I already was. Berkley pulled the phone from her ear, her words becoming a bit muffled as told the man she’d explain after, then came back on the line. “Sorry about that. Now tell me what’s going on.”
“My girlfriend was just arrested for assault,” I told her, realizing that was the first time I’d spoken those words out loud. “And there’s no way in hell she did it.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Who is she accused of assaulting?”
I opened my mouth to answer…only to realize Icouldn’tbecause I didn’t fuckingknow.
“I’m embarrassed to admit I have no idea.” Well, no, that wasn’t true. “Okay, no. I havesomeidea, but when my undersheriff came and arrested her, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information.”
“Yourundersheriff?”
“Oh, did I not mention I’m the county sheriff out here?”
Berkley chuckled. “You did not. So you’re the county sheriff and your girlfriend just got arrested. Did you have any idea?”
“Nope.”
“Messy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, scrubbing my palm over my face. “I don’t know what I was thinking, bothering you. I don’t even know where you live!”
“Michigan,” she supplied.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “I’m so sorry. I’ll find someone local.”
“Not necessary,” Berkley said. “You’re basically family, right? In a weird, extended sort of way. Plus, I happen to like messy cases. I spend all day dealing with elite athletes. This will be a nice change of pace.”
“So you’ll take it on?”
“Of course. I’ll need to work out logistics with my husband and our kids. He’s gearing up for the playoffs, so he’s not going to be happy I’m leaving. The soonest I think I can get out there is Monday. Will that work?”
“I think that’ll be fine,” I said, but my mind was snagged on the wordplayoffs. “Wait, playoffs for what?”
“Brent plays hockey for the Detroit Warriors.”
