V
We took one of the several vehicles sitting in our father’s huge garage.
I was on edge as I drove, a large part of me expecting a drive-by shooting to happen at any moment. An ambusher might not know it was me and my sister in the car, and there were plenty of people who wanted Mickey Five Fingers dead.
The property I planned on visiting was located on the other side of the city. I knew the man I needed would never speak to me on the phone. Once face to face with me, however, I hoped guilt would go a long way to getting what I wanted.
The property was even bigger than my father’s house, though with slightly less protection. The house was accessible from the street, a large porch surrounding the two stories, and freshly mowed lawns stretching between the porch and the sidewalk.
I pulled the car up alongside the street outside and switched off the engine.
Nicole had been silent throughout the drive.
“You can wait here if you want,” I told her.
She looked to me, her features taut. She’d realized whose house we were visiting. “Is that okay? I’m worried about what he’s going to ask me. The man asks questions for a living and I really don’t think I’m up to getting the third degree about what’s happened to Dad.”
I nodded. “Sure. I get it.”
“What are you going to say to him?”
I shook my head. “I’m not quite sure yet. I guess that depends on whether he greets me like a long-lost relative or a criminal.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
I climbed from the car, feeling like every curtain in the neighborhood was twitching. This area boasted huge, six bedroom homes, with manicured lawns and expensive vehicles in the drive. Sure, I was driving an expensive car as well, but I didn’t think the likes of me, with the sleeve of tattoos down my arm, was the type of person they usually got around here. I wanted to climb back in the car and drive away again, but I needed to do this. It’s for X, I reminded myself, and I would do anything for him.
Wanting to get it over with, I hurried up to the front door, breaking into a jog in my haste. A swing seat was on the porch, plant pots of bright pink and orange geraniums positioned in the corners. An ornate brass doorbell was located beside the front door, so I pressed it. A peel of chimes sounded from somewhere deep within the house.
Footsteps approached and I caught my breath, trying to still my pounding heart. I needed to remain cool and unruffled.
The door cracked open and I caught sight of the man I’d come here to see.
He was an older man, in his fifties, called Joseph Monroe. He’d been the lawyer for our family for as long as I could remember, and was the defense lawyer on my father’s case. The same case he managed to get thrown out due to the ‘evidence’ one of my father’s men had presented about me being the one who’d killed my mother. Technically, that had been the truth, but they’d left out the part about my father forcing me to do it, making me choose my sister’s life over my own mom’s.
He spotted me through the gap in the doorway and his eyes widened behind his glasses. Immediately, he tried to slam it shut again, but I stuck my foot in the gap so the door jammed against the outside of my boot.
“Don’t, Mr. Monroe,” I said, my voice stern. “I need to talk to you.”
The lines on his forehead deepened. “Sorry, Verity. We have nothing to say to each other.”
“Do you really believe that? You watched me grow up, I even called you Uncle JoJo when I was small, and now you won’t even speak to me? What’s wrong? Has your conscience finally gotten the better of you?”
“I’ve got nothing to feel guilty for”
I cocked my eyebrows. “Really? You’ve known my dad for as long as I can remember. Don’t pretend like you didn’t know the truth of what happened the night my mother died.”
“I know you shot her.”
“Because he made me choose between her and Nicole.” Just saying the words caused pain to lance through my soul.
“He was angry. He felt betrayed by you both.”
I snorted. “You don’t need to defend him now, Joseph. He’s not on trial any more, remember? And it wasn’t as though he was some innocent in their marriage. He had enough broads hanging around. He wasn’t faithful to my mother the whole time they were married.”
“That’s different,” he muttered.
“Is it? How, exactly? Different enough that it was worth killing her over, clearly.”
“That wasn’t my fault, Verity. I wasn’t even there. I just did my job. No more, no less.”
I paused, closing my eyes briefly, centering myself. I needed to remember my reason for being here. “I’m not here to throw accusations around. I need your help with something. It’s business. I want to come inside.”
He opened the door slightly and peered around, up and down the street, then out to the car out front.
“I didn’t bring a whole gang of men to beat the crap out of you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not that you don’t deserve it, of course.”
He leaned back into his house, still regarding me suspiciously.
“I’m not going to hurt you, either,” I continued. “If I wanted you dead, you would be already. Like I said, this is business. My father is away for a while. He and I have made amends, but it means you’re going to have to deal with me, just like you dealt with him.”
“You’ve made amends? What does that mean, exactly?”
“That we’ve decided enough is enough. He’s realized it’s better to have me with him than against him. I am his daughter, after all.”
Joseph frowned. “Where’s he gone? How long is he going to be away?”
I exhaled a sigh. “Everyone is asking me that. I wish I knew. But like I said, while he’s away, I’m going to need your help. So are you going to let me inside, or shall we have this conversation out here, nice and loud, so all your neighbors find out exactly what type of men it is you’re defending?”
“Okay, okay,” he said, finally giving in and ushering me into the house. The place was all cream carpets, with dark wooden furniture, and expensive looking artwork on the walls. “Keep your voice down. My wife is out back.”
Even after all these years, I’d never met Mrs. Monroe. I wondered if she knew what paid for the huge house, cars, and luxury foreign vacations every year. Perhaps she did, and she simply didn’t care as long as the money kept rolling in.
He led me into a small sitting room, rather than his study or office. “Sorry, it’s at the back of the house. The wife would want to know what was going on. I prefer it if she doesn’t ask too many questions.”
“Right.”
“So, tell me what you need.”
I settled onto the edge of the couch, and he took the chair opposite. “A friend of mine is in trouble with the law. A lot of trouble. He’s been arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, and the public defender he’s been assigned doesn’t look or act like he’d be able to find his ass with his own hands.”
“Right.” Joseph Monroe glanced down at his lap, as though considering what he was about to say, and then looked back up at me. “First of all, whether he’s guilty or not is irrelevant. Secondly, there are plenty of defense lawyers around. Why choose me?”
“I know you’re the best. That’s why my father hired you.”
“And now you want to hire me for some guy?”
“He’s not just some guy. He’s important to me. Very important. You’re a friend of our family, and you have been for years. You owe me this.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“Yes, you do. You know why.”
His face grew red with indignation, and he sat up straighter. “I was defending your father, and you were the one who was going to put him behind bars.”
“You knew what he did. You were defending him even though you knew the truth of what happened to my mother. Jesus, you knew her, too. You’ve sat and had dinner with us all, and yet you still defended him.”
“It wasn’t that easy, Verity. You can’t just say no to a man like him—you should know that better than most.”
I leaned forward, fixing my gaze on him. I was armed, the barrel of the gun wedging hard into my hip, as though reminding me of its presence, but I preferred not to use it. I wanted this man to want to work for me because of who I was and our shared past, not because I had threatened him.
“But my father isn’t around right now, Joseph. You have me instead. I think you need to start remembering that I’m not someone you say no to either.”
I watched part of the color drain from his face, so he ended up with a strange, mottled, red and white complexion. He cleared his throat and tugged at the top button of his shirt. “Now, Verity, there’s no need to be like that.”
“No? So, does that mean you’ll defend my friend?”
“I guess I don’t have much choice.”
“I’m glad you see it that way. His name is—” I almost said Xavier Creed, but caught myself at the last moment. “Lee Mason. He’s in Riker’s Island.”
The lawyer nodded. “I figured he would be.”
“When can you see him?”
“I’ll get a meeting set up for tomorrow. He needs legal representation, and he should have been offered it by now. “
“Thank you.” I got to my feet. “I’ll see myself out. Please, keep me informed about what’s happening. I’m staying at my father’s house.”
He nodded and cleared his throat again. “Umm, Verity, about the bill for my services …”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get paid.”
“Right. Of course.”
I left him in the house and walked back down to where my sister was sitting in the car. She jumped when I opened the door and then stared at me, chewing her lower lip. “Well?”
“He’ll do it.”
“You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
I gave a small laugh. “No, Nickie, I didn’t. That’s not the only way to get what you want. We just had a little chat, I promise.”
She relaxed into her seat. “Okay, good.”
I started the car engine. “But if he doesn’t get X out of jail, I’ll do a lot more than have a conversation with him.”