Page 51 of KAI Tortured

“I’m Orion Carte.” I nod at Maisy sitting in the back. She hasn’t noticed me yet. “Her lawyer.”

The officer hesitates, uncertainty etched across his face. He briefly turns his head to seek some hint or direction from his partner, perhaps hoping for guidance on how to handle me.

However, I can tell from his partner’s fleeting glance that there’s a flicker of recognition there – he knows who I am. Wisely, he offers no help, merely shrugging nonchalantly.

The cop turns back to me. His face broadcasts the internal conflict he’s experiencing; his eyes narrow slightly as he mulls over his options. There’s a brief moment where the world seems to pause, highlighting the severity of what his next words or actions could mean for him.

I address him again. “If you believe you have enough evidence to take my client into custody, I require a detailed explanation of this evidence and how it links my client to the crime.”

“Um, look,” he sputters, “we’re taking her to the station, so you can take it up with my boss there.”

“Wrong. You’re gonna release her, to me.” I hand him my business card. “You get your boss to contact me whenever he wants.”

He doesn’t know or understand how things work in New York. His youthful appearance only reinforces my suspicion that his assignment to this particular task was no accident. I can almost see the cogs turning, the way he hesitates and looks around, a clear sign he’s grappling with the nuances of the job. It strikes me that they likely chose him for this very reason – because he’s unfamiliar with the mafia. So far. This lack of awareness makes him the perfect pawn.

“I don’t have all day,” I say impatiently.

The cop shrugs and gets out. Before helping Maisy out, he looks around again. Everyone else has left by now. No doubt, they all recognized me and didn’t want to deal with the mafia. Good choice.

Maisy has seen me and is crying now; she jumps into my arms before her handcuffs are even off. The cop pulls at her arms and uncuffs her.

I nod at him. “Thank you, officer…?”

“Zack. Zack Videnov.”

“Thank you, Zack. When your boss calls me, I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you.” Maisy’s weeping inconsolably in my embrace. “Shhh, it’s okay. I got you.”

I wrap my arm around her waist and raise my free hand to signal Emilio to pick us up.

CHAPTER 14

MAISY

“Why, why would they say that?” I bawl, wrapped in Kai’s arms on our way to Logan’s tower.

Christopher orchestrated this whole thing to have me arrested. Or was it Rosie? How could I have been so blindly stupid? So stupid to meet him? So stupid to kill Natasha? In front of everyone, too!

“Please stop crying, we’ll figure something out,” Kai says in an attempt to soothe me, but all of a sudden, that same influx of nausea comes forth.

“Stop the car, I’m gonna throw up!” I yell.

“Keep driving, Emilio,” Orion orders, so I lean down to retch between Kai’s legs. My stomach lurches a few times but nothing comes up. It’s unpleasant, and quite painful as my abdomen contracts.

“It’s the adrenaline,” Orion insists. “She’ll be fine.”

Feeling lousy, I wipe the drool from my chin. “He said that he saw a video of me shooting Natasha, and that Rosey has the gun. Why didn’t you pick it up after I killed her? And how do they know? No one was there, apart from your men!”

“There must’ve been video surveillance of the whole place.” Orion strokes my back. “Don’t worry Maisy, we’ll find a way out of this.”

I turn to him, my throat tight from crying. “Out of this?? The police wanted to take me away!” I yell in his face. “They nearly succeeded, you know! What took you so long?”

Orion doesn’t say a word. I’m right. He took ages to show up.

“Tell me, what happened?” I cry.

“Sweetheart…” Logan gently turns my chin toward him. “We said this would be a trap and it was. Please, I beg you, start listening to us for a change. We know you’re smart, but we’ve been in this business since birth, and trying to navigate through it on your own often leaves you either dead or in jail. Rosey just found a way to put you behind bars. That’s what happened.”

My desperation turns to anger. “Fucking Slavs! I’ve had it with them!” I wipe away my tears and move to sit next to Kai. I don’t need anyone hugging me anymore. I’m not the meek, helpless Maisy Roy. I’m Maisy fucking Slavinovich, and fuck me if don’t have in me some of that nasty blood. I have it, and I will use it. Against all of them.

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