“No, it doesn’t. But it does mean I can have you questioned, and I will.”
“We don’t have time for this,” I said. “We’re going on a trip. A very important trip. You can’t hold us here.”
“You’re right. I can’t. But the police want to question all three of you. Don’t leave the state until they do.”
Joe rubbed his stubbled chin. “Christ.”
“It’s not your fault, Joe,” I said.
Talon punched some numbers into his phone. “I’m calling Jade. We need an attorney.”
“The police expect you sometime today,” the warden said.
“My girlfriend is a detective on the force,” I said. “I can assure you this will all come to nothing.”
“For all of your sakes, I hope you’re right,” the warden said. “But we have to investigate. Good day.”
We all stood, and the guard moved from the doorway, letting us pass.
“I’m sorry,” Joe said, once we were alone. “This is on me. I did slip a guard a benji. On two separate occasions.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” I said. “We all wanted to see him get the shit kicked out of him.”
“You were just taking care of things,” Talon said. “Just like you always have, big brother.”
“I wanted him to suffer for what he did to you,” Joe said.
“We understand that,” I said.
Joe rubbed his forehead. “Shit. I swear to God I never paid anyone off to kill him.”
“We know, Joe,” Talon said. “He’s no use to us dead.”
“Look,” I said. “We’ll talk to the cops, assure them we had nothing to do with Larry’s murder, and then we’ll get out of town.”
Talon eyed his phone screen. “Jade just texted me. She’s getting an attorney at the top criminal defense firm in the city to meet us at the station. Everything will be fine.”
I sighed. “All right, then. Let’s get this over with.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ruby
“How did you get in here?”
“The same way I got in the other night.”
“So you left the book.”
“I did.”
“You should know. I’m armed.”
He smiled, and a spooky recognition oozed through me. His smile resembled mine, right down to the slightly lower gumline on the left side of his mouth. I’d never noticed that before.
“I am no threat to you. I never was.”
“Oh…except for the time you tried to rape me.”