Page 16 of Hidden Ties

Her attorney stared at her stone-faced. He was much less attractive when he wasn’t smiling.“You just made my job much harder.”

To be fair, she had probably dropped in his estimation at her confession.

“It was just a harmless prank,” she tried her best to excuse herself.

“The judge won’t see it that way.”

“The judge didn’t have to work for the Horseshoe.” She continued rather frankly, “They’re dicks.”

“Is thereanything elseyou need to tell me?” he asked, clearly urging her to think hard.

“No …”God, she needed her Twizzlers. “You got anything else to eat in the briefcase? Or a vape I can take a hit of?”

He shook his head before one of his eyebrows slowly rose. “You don’t seem sure.”

Damn.

Her shoulders slumped forward. She wasn’t going to see any of those sweet red vines in her near future.“I think I need a break.”

“Valerie—” he tried coaxing her again more forcibly, “is thereanythingelse you need to tell me?”

She wanted to cry. The fantasy of him ever carrying her groceries in for her finally bit the dust.

“Not in the computer,per se… But does taking their scrap computer parts count?”

SEVEN

THE AUDACITY OF THE MAN

Two million fucking dollars? She wasn’t fucked …

Valerie wasroyallyfucking fucked.

With it being Monday, she had officially been in jail for well over forty-eight hours, and the withdrawals were definitely starting to hit even more.

Hearing approaching footsteps, she thought she’d try again for the millionth time. “I’m starving! What’s a girl gotta do to get some food around here?”

Officer Daniels came into view on the other side of her cage. He had been avoiding her all weekend, and she knew it, because he hadn’t once looked in her direction when he walked down the hall, no matter how much she called out to him. However, his eyes traveling down to her empty food tray on the cell floor told her his time of ignoring her was over.

“You just ate,” he said in exasperation.

“Okay, then …” Those words had only set her off as she began correcting herself. “What’s a girl gotta do to get somegoodfreaking food around he—”

Her screaming came to a halt when Officer Daniels unlocked the door, swung it open, and nonchalantly said through her tirade, “You’re free to go.”

Valerie rapidly blinked in shock and wondered if she’d heard him correctly. “What?”

He placed strong hands on his belt and took an intimidating step forward. “I said, you’re free to go, Monroe, or would you like to stay here another night?”

“No, I—” She cleared her throat, trying to put her imp back in its cage and get her thoughts in order. “I don’t think I do.”

Heading to leave, she went to walk past the officer through the small opening but found his hand on her arm, stopping her.

Any intimidation tactics were gone. It wasn’t Officer Daniels speaking but a concerned man. “You sure about that?”

She stared up at him in complete confusion. She would never, ever understand men. “You ignore me all weekend, and now you look like you want to help me when I’m no longer locked in a cage?”

“I-I—” It was clear he had no idea what to say, and him looking down at his watch followed by glancing down the hall where another cop could come through at any moment told her he had no time to say it if he did.