Page 17 of Carry On

“All right?” I demanded. “What the hell doesall rightmean?”

It means you’re not worth helping,the voice offered up.

My scowl deepened as a result.

“It means, sit tight,” Lincoln said. “I’ll have you out of here shortly.”

“Have me out of here?” I repeated ludicrously. “What the hell—”

“Do you want an apology?” he interrupted, one hand on the door.

“What?” I just stared at him dumbly. Was he fucking nuts?

“I’m thinking they need to apologize,” he mused. “Yeah, all three of them. Sit tight. I’ll have you out of here shortly.”

He was gone before I could say another word. Whatever the hell he was on, I wanted some of it. I’d rather be his kind of delusional than mine.

CHAPTER 14

LINCOLN

Thiswholecasereekedof social status and rich kids getting their way—two things I fucking hated. Unfortunately for them, I knew their lawyers, I knew their case was nothing more than trumped-up entitlement at its finest, and I knew exactly how I wanted to handle it.

By the time I stormed into the interrogation room where all three assholes were waiting with their lawyers, I was out for blood.

“My name is Lincoln Cassidy,” I said, not giving them a chance to say anything. Getting all of them into a room together had been a feat. That only pissed me off more. “Mr. Calhoun retained me as his lawyer.”

I drew in a deep breath, taking a moment to survey the three kids—Glenn Holden, Elias Stein, and Oren Woods. From the looks on their faces, Nash had done a number on them. That little notion was wildly satisfying. I recognized two of the lawyers sitting with them. Both were big names connected to big clients. The third was nothing more than an intern who didn’t belong in that room.

“Listen closely because my client has spent more than enough time in handcuffs.” I took out my phone, which had a map of the park on it, and set it on the table in front of them. No one moved. “Do you know what this is?”

“A fucking phone,” Oren scoffed, but I chose to ignore his attitude.

“This is a map of the park where the three of you accosted my client,” I continued instead. Reaching down, I rotated the map and zoomed in. “Do you know what this is?”

“Are you dumb?” he demanded, a brow arching. “Do you need someone to—”

“This,” I said over him, “is an ATM, and that ATM is attached to a bank, which means it has a security camera that is always filming. As we speak, I have two officers on the way to visit Judge Kramer for a warrant that will let officers pull the security footage from that ATM. Judge Kramer and I are friends. We play golf every month, which means he’ll give me that warrant.

“And when the officers go through that footage, they’re going to find your clients harassing mine,” I told them. “From there, my client intends to pursue charges againstyoufor assault because you put your hands on my client first,youfor theft because you took his property and refused to return it, and then all three of you for harassment because you went out of your way to degrade and humiliate my client.”

“You can’t—”

“Oh, I can, and I will,” I snapped. “And I promise you, I will make it the most publicized case of the year. Every day, I will talk to the press, and I will make sure the three of you are forever associated with attacking an unhoused veteran, one who has a stellar record of service.”

At least, I hoped he did. I was bluffing on that part. I knew for a fact that Nash had been honorably discharged, but that was it.

“Shit,” Elias muttered.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I will make it my personal mission to make sure that the world knows exactly what kind of scumbags the three of you are. Every time anyone looks up your name, this case will be the first thing they see.”

“All right, all right. You made your point, Cassidy,” one of the lawyers, Mark Salvino, interjected. “What do you want?”

I made a show out of glancing at my watch.

“At this point, the officers will be at Judge Kramer’s house in fifteen minutes,” I said. “Your clients have fourteen minutes to drop the charges and make the most sincere apology imaginable to my client, or I’m going to detonate a bomb in the middle of their cushy little lives. They won’t be able to go anywhere without being the assholes who harassed a veteran.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Oren exclaimed. “Look what he did to my face!”