Page 37 of Stone Coast (Tyson Wild Thriller)
T he warm sunlight felt good on my face when I stepped out of the county jail. I had to be processed through the system before my release, which took a few hours.
Prescott greeted me with a smile. “Don’t say a word, and come with me.”
A crowd of reporters and camera crews gathered. Lenses closed in, oppressive and suffocating.
Tessa Vaughn had pushed her way to the front of the mob. The girl was a shark, and she smelled blood. “Did you kill Carter Wallace?”
I said nothing.
“Is this related to the death of your fiancé?”
Prescott escorted me through the crowd to a black Lincoln Town Car that waited at the curb. He grabbed the door, and I slid across the cushy leather seats. He climbed in after me and pulled the door shut with a thunk. With a nod to the driver in the rearview, the car rolled away.
I was overwhelmed by the attention. I couldn’t believe there were so many reporters. With a glance through the rear window, I watched the horde capture more footage as we pulled away. It was surreal.
“How does it feel to be free?”
“I’m not really free with this hanging over my head,” I said.
“You need to think positive. I don’t lose cases.”
“You’re telling me Mr. X paid my bail?”
“And my fee, which isn’t cheap.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“Nobody’s that generous. Money always comes with strings.”
“Think of it as a gift. He feels bad about the other night.”
I regarded him with suspicion.
“Of course, you do have a choice to make.”
“What choice is that?” I asked, knowing the answer.
“You can walk away, keep the bail as a gift, and handle your affairs from here.”
“Or?”
“You can join the organization, enjoy the best legal defense money can buy, and help take bad guys off the street.”
My eyes narrowed at him. “Why is X so interested in me? ”
“X has an eye for talent. He knows a good thing when he sees it.”
I continued to survey him. “What’s your angle in this? Just a hired gun?”
Prescott smiled. “I believe in the mission.” After a thoughtful pause, he said.
“My wife was murdered two years ago. They broke into our home, they…” his throat tightened, and he had to stop as the emotions swelled.
“Well, I don’t need to go into the details.
They took a few pieces of jewelry and some cash. Nothing worth a life.”
He bottled it all up and shoved it down. Prescott’s face turned to the window. He didn’t want to show his pain.
“I’m sorry.”
“Cops never caught the perps. I met X, and he told me about the organization. He promised he would do everything in his power to bring the perpetrators to justice.” Prescott looked back at me and smiled. “I was sold.”
“And you’re hoping I’ll be sold?”
“Xzavier thinks you’d be a good addition to the team.”
“Xzavier?”
Prescott realized he’d let the name slip.
“You have two options. Go about your life on your current trajectory, or do something that makes a real difference. And in the process, get assistance from powerful people and have your legal defense completely covered. It’s totally up to you, but you need to make a decision.
Do I take you back to your marina and drop you off?
Or do I take you to meet the rest of the team? ”