“What?” Kiley demanded when Brett tossed some bills on the table.
“Winslow came out of the bank swinging and there was a cop nearby. Jesse said they were just tossed into the back of a squad car. Since Jordan insisted that he stay out of sight, I have to go try to get Jordan out of the station before Shane shows up.”
“I’m going with you,” Kiley declared. “Dee, tell Henry…”
“No, Kiley,” Brett interrupted.
“Yes, Brett. If you won’t take me, I’ll drive myself.”
He could tell how determined she was. “Jordan’s not going to like this but I don’t have time to argue.”
* * * * *
Brett was parking when he saw Jordan, Malcolm and an unknown man leaving the police station. Jordan was smiling as he spoke like it was any average day. Malcolm looked as if he had gone ten rounds with a prizefighter. His face was purple. One eye was swollen shut and his clothes were a disheveled mess. At the curb, Vincent was waiting beside a large, black car. He reached out, offering Jordan his hand when the trio reached him. After a brief conversation, Vincent made a gesture toward the car. Malcolm was forced into the back seat when he resisted. Jordan, on the other hand, got in willingly, almost as if he was going for a drive with friends.
Brett heard Kiley gasp and said, “It’s not what it looks like. That’s Jordan’s business face.” He read the doubt in her eyes. “He’s going because he has to in order to resolve this. You have to believe me. Look, there’s Shane. Let’s see if he knows anything more.”
“What the hell is he doing?” Shane growled when he spied Brett. “I got a call, saying he was picked up for brawling in the street.”
“He was trying to talk to Winslow.”
Shane spewed a string of obscenities. “Sorry, Kiley. What is he thinking? Let’s see if they’re going to hold him.”
“He just left,” Brett supplied as they entered the station.
“Left? With whom? Brian,” Shane snagged the officer who had called him. “What’s up with my brother?”
“Hey, Shane. You just missed him.” The man laughed. “Damn, you should have seen him in action. I thought you were impressive to watch but man, your brother can move. I don’t know what had the other guy so pissed off but he came tearing out of the bank and went straight for him. He was swinging and swearing and your brother sidesteps him and calm as can be, tells him to settle down, that he just wants to talk. The other guy went berserk but your brother managed to avoid everything, talking the whole time, trying to get him to listen but he wouldn’t shut up so finally your brother popped him dead on the head. Asshole never even saw it coming but the guy’s so stupid he still wouldn’t quit.” He snorted. “Nope. He kept right on charging even after it was obvious he didn’t stand a chance. I don’t think he came close to connecting anything he threw. Idiot looked pulverized by the time I pulled them apart and your brother didn’t even need to straighten his tie.”
“Enough, Brian, we get the picture.” Shane nodded toward Kiley, who had gone very pale. “Where’d he go?”
“Hell if I know.” Brian shrugged. “Five minutes after we got here, some hotshot lawyer in an Armani suit waltzes in and wants to know if there are any charges. Before I could say a word, your brother pipes up that it’s all a misunderstanding. The other guy changed his tune from wanting Jordan to fry for what he did to the same misunderstanding shit. I gave them both a warning, since neither would say more and they left with the lawyer. You have any idea what’s really going on?”
“No, not really,” Shane answered evenly. “I guess I’ll catch up with him at home.” He motioned for Brett and Kiley to follow.
Outside, Shane turned to Brett. “Where is he?” When Brett hesitated, he added, “I know you have a way to find out so just do it. Come on, Brett.”
Brett saw the concern in his eyes. He nodded and pulled out his phone. After a short exchange, he told Shane that Jordan was on his way to Samuels’ townhouse in the hills. “Shane, Jesse says if I can’t talk you out of interfering that I should make you understand how important it is that you leave your badge and gun in the car. You can’t go in there as a cop. Stress the brother thing and you just might manage not to blow this for Jordan. You know you should just let him handle this.”
“And you know I can’t, Brett.” He met his gaze. “Why don’t you take Kiley home? I know you guys have that meeting today. Kiley, Jordan’ll call you when it’s over.”
“I’ll be at work,” Kiley stated, surprising them both. She was still pale but she seemed calmer. Her face was unreadable.
“All right,” Shane glanced at Brett. “It will be fine, Kiley.”
“I’m sure it will.” She left them and walked to Brett’s car.
“Brett?”
“I know, Shane. I’ll stay with her as long as I can.”
“I’ll tell Jordan. Now, I have to go.”
* * * * *
“Mr. McKade, what an interesting surprise to have you join us. Please, take a seat,” Samuels greeted Jordan with courtesy.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Samuels. It’s nice to have the opportunity to meet you.”
The two exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, both completely ignoring Malcolm who was still standing by the door with Vincent.
“Excuse me, Mr. Samuels,” one of Samuels’ men said as he entered, crossing the room to whisper something that only Samuels was able to hear.
“By all means, show him in,” Samuels said cheerfully. A moment later, Shane was ushered in. “Detective McKade, how nice of you to come. I must say it’s not every day that one of our city’s finest shows up at my door, at least not without a warrant.”
“Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Samuels. I assure you that I am not here in any official capacity.”
“No? Why then, are you here, Detective?”
“Pure and simple concern for my brother. You are probably still wondering why, since he obviously isn’t happy to see me and I know I’ll hear his opinion on my interference later. The fact is that no matter how old we get, Jordan will always be my kid brother. And now he’s gone and fallen in love so I’m afraid he might not be thinking as clearly as he usually does.”
“In love? How nice. Tell me, Mr. McKade is this girl special?”
“Kiley Fisher is more than special, sir. She’s my future, my life.”
“Pretty?”
“Not that it matters but yes.” When Samuels looked at him expectantly, he continued, “She has the softest red hair, the biggest, most expressive green eyes, the most caressable skin with the perfect amount of freckles, a smile that lights up her whole face and a laugh that I can feel in my heart. She has a great sense of humor and an adventurous streak that I’m sure is going to surprise me endlessly. She’s clever and interesting although I’m going to have to work on her self-confidence in those. Kiley’s caring, kind-hearted and compassionate. In fact, she’s the reason I’m involved here.”
“Do you intend to marry Miss Fisher?”
“If she’ll have me. We need to put this behind us first.”
“Do you see yourself getting bored and letting your affections wander, Mr. McKade?”
“Never,” Jordan answered truthfully. “If Kiley becomes my wife, I intend to cherish her forever. No matter what our future holds, she’ll know without a doubt, that we’ll face all of it together.”
“Detective, what’s your opinion of this Miss Fisher?” Malcolm’s nervous shifting distracted him. “Stand still, Winslow. We’ll get to you.” He pinned him with a deadly glare. “My apologies. Detective, you were about to comment?”
“Honestly, I haven’t spent enough time with Kiley to know her very well but I do know that she looks at Jordan the same way he looks at her. I also know that my brother is an excellent judge of character. His instincts are phenomenal so if he believes Kiley is the woman meant to share his life then I believe it too.”
“I see.” He looked back and forth between them. “All right, Mr. McKade what does your Miss Fisher have to do with me?”
“She is the girl Winslow chose for his scheme last week.”
“Ah.” He shot Malcolm another glare. “As I understand it, she had been drugged?”
“Yes, sir,” Jordan confirmed.
“The odds of you being there at that precise moment are astronomical. Winslow,” Samuels stood, “you are damn lucky to be alive. If I’d caught you doing that to my woman, I would have killed you, very slowly and very painfully. In fact, if you’d succeeded in getting here with Miss Fisher, I might have killed you on principle. Come to think of it, I still may.”
“Begging your pardon, sir but that’s another reason I had to come,” Jordan risked interrupting. Samuels turned to stare at him. “I was afraid that would be your reaction, knowing how you treasure your wife. When I told Kiley, her gentle nature overruled her sense of outrage and hoped to prevent that.”
“Amazing. The fool here chooses a woman willing to want to save his miserable hide, regardless of what he intended. She’s loved by a man noble enough to put aside his own desire for revenge and get involved where he most definitely should not be. On top of that, the nobleman’s brother waltzes in, declaring his loyalty and risking it all over a piece of scum who truly doesn’t deserve to live.”
“In my defense, Samuels I meant no disrespect. I had the impression that the girl was willing but needed something to help relax her. She asked me for it.”
Samuels silenced him with a glance. “That’s Mr. Samuels to you and you’d do well to remember it. Might I recommend you stop lying before Mr. McKade loses the tremendous control he’s exhibited thus far and tears you to pieces? Perhaps you’d like to begin again.”
Malcolm was visibly shaken. “Uh, yes, Mr. Samuels. The thing is I was on my way to pay you today but McKade stole my money.”
“Stole your money?”
“No, sir,” Jordan spoke. “I merely had his funds frozen to prevent him from leaving before we had a chance to talk.”
“Hmm, interesting.” Samuels considered them. “Winslow, I believe Mr. McKade did the appropriate thing. I believe you tried to ruin an innocent woman, perhaps because she favored Mr. McKade over you or perhaps to get back at him for turning you away. I suspect, had you accessed your account this afternoon, you would have run in order to escape the debt we all know you owe me. You also would have done the same with Bo, who I know did not appreciate the way you involved him in your despicable ploy. In my opinion, any of these things individually would be too serious to overlook. The fact that you are guilty of the lot makes certain consequences unavoidable. However, I feel I must take into consideration the wishes of the lady in question. Mr. McKade, what does your Miss Fisher see as the ideal outcome today?”
“Mr. Samuels, Kiley would prefer for Winslow to leave the area. She also wished for a way to ensure he’ll never try anything similar again. I should add that Kiley doesn’t know the extent to which he has taken advantage of many of the female patrons at Mr. Paul’s, the restaurant where she works.”
“Winslow, you are certainly the luckiest bastard I ever met.” Samuels was quiet. “Detective, is there any chance of you being corruptible?”
“No, sir, absolutely none.”
“Mr. McKade, I won’t bother asking you. Since I’m not one of your clients, I already know the answer to that. Does this trash have enough to cover his debts?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would he have anything left?”
“About ten thousand dollars.”
“All right, Winslow here’s the deal. You pay up, both Bo and myself. You give my wife five thousand dollars to donate to the rape crisis center where she volunteers. You use the rest to leave town. You have three days. If you’re still here or if you ever come back, I assure you I will deal with you. I have many friends and I will use them to keep an eye on you. If I hear of you pulling another stunt like you attempted here, I will take it personally and I will deal with you. As I will if I ever have any indication that you have returned to the same method of enhancing your cash flow. Do you understand the gift you’ve been given by Miss Fisher?”
“Yes, Mr. Samuels.”
“Have I made myself clear? I’d hate to find there’s been a misunderstanding about something I said.”
“I understand.”
“Any objections, Mr. McKade?”
“No, sir.”
“Perhaps you’d like to discuss this with Miss Fisher?”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m sure she’ll be pleased.”
“Detective?”
“You’re being more generous than he deserves. Thank you, sir.”
“Good. Mr. McKade, how much time will you require to restore his account?”
“I can arrange it instantly if you’ll permit me to make a call.”
Samuels nodded.
“It’s me. Do you know where I am? That’s right. Go ahead and release it. Great thanks. It’s done.”
Samuels raised an eyebrow. “Vincent, accompany Winslow to the bank. If there’s any trouble… Let’s just say there better not be any trouble.” Vincent motioned for Malcolm to leave but Samuels stopped him. “Three days, Winslow.”
When he was alone with the brothers, he said, “Such a shame. What I wouldn’t give to have you two in my pocket. The loyalty you’ve shown here is hard to come by. Unfortunately, that same loyalty prevents me from using this visit to my advantage. Your credibility will not be compromised by me or anyone in my employ.”