“Miss Irons? It’s officer Danner.”
I stiffened, anger and fear seized the air in my lungs like a vacuum. “Yes, officer, what can I do for you?”
Keep calm, keep calm. You can’t be arrested for sleeping with King. He’s legally an adult..
“I was wondering if you could come into the station today, as soon as possible would be best,” he continued.
My hands slipped over the steering wheel, wet with sweat. “May I ask what this is regarding?”
“You may, ma’am, but I’m not at liberty to tell you over the phone.”
I chewed so hard on my bottom lip that it began to bleed. Strangely, the taste of my own blood settled me. “I’m just driving back from Vancouver but I’ll be there in an hour or so. Do I need to bring my lawyer?”
“No, Miss Irons. We just want to ask you some questions.”
“I’ll see you shortly, then.” I hung up and immediately asked Betty Sue to dial another number.
“Teach,” Zeus answered in his low, thunderous voice.
“Shouldn’t call me that anymore, Zeus. I quit,” I told him. Nerves flared to life in my belly, reminding me that I had no plans for the future, very little money and a stubborn, mildly unstable husband who refused to let me divorce him.
He laughed, low and slow. “Bat owes me fifty bucks.”
“Excuse me?”
“Knew you’d quit. No way you’d stay at a place like that after they fuckin’ let that shit happen with the police.”
“Did you find out who framed him yet?”
There was an ominous silence. “Not yet. But I had a word with that fuckin’ Headmaster and if King gets out, he graduates, no problem.”
“If?”
“He’s gettin’ out today. Got our fancy lawyer from Vancouver on it who says they had a warrant for his fuckin’ locker but they found that shit in his backpack after searchin’ ‘im. It was clearly fuckin’ planted, given no kid of mine is gonna be cartin’ drugs to school.”
The tension that had been coiled around my heart like the snake from Eden loosened instantly and for the first time in days, I felt able to breath.
“You call for an update?”
That snake immediately coiled back into place. “Yeah, Officer Danner called me into the police station.”
The ensuing silence was a living thing, reaching through the phone to take my neck in its vicious hold. I struggled to speak because I had a feeling that if I didn’t, Zeus would get on his motorcycle, go to the station and throttle Officer Danner.
“I’m going there now. I just thought, I don’t know, that I should tell someone where I was going and since King is, um, indisposed, I thought I should call you.”
The silence slackened just enough for me to breath again.
“Good. I’m the one you call second every time, yeah?” he affirmed gruffly.
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“You go down there and I’ll have that fancy lawyer waiting. Name’s Gerald White. I’ll be down there too but not inside, yeah? We’ll talk when you get out.”
“Okay, Zeus,” I agreed, astonished by the sense of relief.
Then again, it wasn’t that surprising. Anyone would feel safe and protected with a man as fierce, cruel and strong as Zeus at their back.
When I entered the station, an older man with what looked like only three strands of hair on his head came forward immediately to introduce himself as Mr. White. A few minutes later, after I was briefed on how act even though I told him I’d been interviewed by the police before (after Lysander killed Marcus), Officer Danner descended the stairs to the reception area to retrieve me.
It was inappropriate, but I noticed as I did every time I saw him, that he was absurdly handsome. However, unlike the Garro men, Lionel Danner was stern, controlled in a way that spoke of regimented schedules and military education, and he gave off a vibe that told you he would protect you at all costs, he just wouldn’t love you while he did it. The contradiction was alluring and I was certain that many women had fallen for the hero in him and ended up in love with a bastard.
It was the hero that approached me, the handsome creases in his tanned face flexed into a smile as he took first Mr. White’s and then my hand in his own.
“Miss Irons, it’s unfortunate that we keep meeting under less than exemplary circumstances.”
“Stop involving me in them, then?” I asked with sarcastic hope.
His lips twitched then flat lined. “I just have a few questions for you, if you’ll follow me this way.” He looked with mild distaste at Mr. White. “You don’t need The Fallen’s lawyer, Miss Irons, this is a friendly chat.”
“Forgive me for thinking that no chat with a police officer is ‘friendly’,” I said as I followed him down a hallway and into a small interrogation room. “I have enough experience to know better.”