Page 17 of Jude

A police radio crackled with static-laced dispatch updates.

Punctuated by the clink of handcuffs and the thud of the holding cell door slamming shut down the hall.

I shifted in an uncomfortable chair, eyes on Sofia through the pane of an interview room.

She sat alone at a table, head down, gripping the edges of her denim jacket as she stared at her feet.

The bureaucratic gears were already turning to process her.

I pursed my lips, unable to let go of my worry, lost in thought, concerned she’d be left out to dry.

She was now flagged in the system as a material witness to a cartel using tourist visas to lure young women into the country.

In a few hours, her visa would be invalid, and her stay would be contingent on whether the Feds deemed her account valuable.

My years spent in uniform and around Kian taught me how the state handled witnesses with no permanent address; they dropped them into high-turnover county shelters and detention centers.

Where they slept in mass cages, and the intake workers stopped caring about maintaining discipline by midnight.

The thought twisted in me, and with a curse, I surged to my feet and knocked on Kian’s open office door.

My stepdad sat behind an oak desk, about to stamp Sofia’s forms for her transfer to a holding facility.

She had no sponsors, no money, and no one to turn to in the States.

She also had the mob after her, so returning to Italy was out of the question for now.

I closed the wooden door behind me, cutting off the noise outside.

‘Kian,’ I said, keeping my voice down so it wouldn’t carry through the drywall. ‘Don’t push her into a state lockup. Let me call my attorneys in Nashville. We can petition to list her as a dependent attached to my name, making me her sponsor and giving her immigration clearance, for now. Transfer her into my personal custody and we’ll bring her to the house. We can figure out where to from there.’

Kian frowned. ‘It’s your mother’s birthday weekend.’

‘She’s having over thirty to forty people over, think she’ll mind one more?’

We locked eyes, and I arched a brow, knowing Maggie would take Sofia under her wing like a hen clucking over a lost chick.

Kian paused, his pen hovering a fraction of an inch above the green ledger.

He turned his head, his gray eyes scanning my face with the intense scrutiny he reserved for thugs in custody or suspects in court.

He was searching for the reckless ex-con, but only found a man trying to do the right thing.

‘That’s a huge gamble, Jude,’ Kian said, dropping his voice into that slow, solemn tone he used whenever a situation was about to go sideways. ‘You’re putting your own neck on the line to vouch for her. If whatever she’s tangled with gets into your orbit, it might prove a disaster. Or you just might be helping a traveler in need, because to be honest, the poor woman has nowhere else to go.’

‘My legal team handles multi-million-dollar international contracts all before lunch,’ I countered, leaning my palms on his desk. ‘If anything goes south, they’ll handle it. How about she stays with us this weekend? We give her a room, food, and 48 hours to breathe without her having to check over her shoulder. We can assess the situation, and if she’s safe, I’ll then pay for whatever accommodation she needs in Vermont. Until she’s on her feet at least, or when and if the feds decide to take her on as a material witness. You’re the one always banging on about helping those in need. Wouldn’t that fly?’

Kian stared at the unsigned affidavit for three long seconds, then threw his pen into the blotter with a sigh.

‘Get your phone out and start dialing those high-priced legal sharks of yours. I’ll tell the intake deputy that her transport to county detention is on hold for now. I can’t do much more; my hands are tied.’

‘More than enough,’ I drawled.

I tugged my iPhone from my pocket and pulled up the contact file for my lead attorney, Brian Waring.

I glanced back through the narrow window at Sofia, who was staring down at her worn leather boots.

She had no idea that a couple of phone calls were about to haul her out of the deportation pipeline.