Page 141 of Dirty Grovel

Artem grunts, “They’re refusing to post bail because there were so many witnesses. Looks like she’s gonna have to stay in there a little while longer.”

Fuck.I’m already dreading telling Sutton that. Lord knows she’s in a foul mood, considering I’d forced her into my SUV and locked her inside the moment she tried to get to her sister.

“Did you talk to the DA? What about Judge Simmons? He owes me a couple of favors.”

“I spoke to both,” Artem answers. “They keep citing due process. The truth is, their hands are tied on this one, brother. It happened too publicly. They can’t risk their reputations in order to call in a favor for a powerful friend. This might have to be by the book.”

“Blyat’,” I say, fists clenching helplessly. “That’ll take time.”

“I’m sorry… But, fuck, who could have seen that coming?” Artem hisses. “Did she give Sutton any indication that she was gonna hijack the whole plan?”

“Obviously not. If she had, Sutton would have told me, I’m sure of it.”

“Jesus,” Artem mutters. “This is a real shitshow.”

I’m inclined to agree. The only silver lining: Drew Anton is dead. Deader than dead.

I’ll give Sydney one thing: she may be a shit judge of a situation but she can make a decent kill shot.

The Palmer sisters have been nothing if not surprising.

“Get our legal team on the job immediately. We need to drum up a believable defense for Sydney. There’s no way Sutton is going to rest until her sister is free.”

As evidenced by the screaming and pounding coming from inside the SUV.

“I’m on it,” Artem assures me before the call ends.

I take a deep breath and approach the SUV, ready to be assaulted by a pregnant woman with the heart of a warrior.

I’m not surprised by the tornado that hits me the moment I pry the door open.

“Let me out!” she screams. “How dare you lock me up in here like a child?! How dare you keep me from my sister?!”

I force her back into the vehicle and climb in after her. The locks click back into place and the partition goes up, separating us from the driver.

“You need to calm down, princess.”

“Don’t call me that!” she snarls. “And don’t tell me to calm down! They have my sister! They arrested her!”

“Because she shot a man in broad daylight,” I snap back, furious at how out of control I feel right now. “No, she didn’t just shoot a man—shekilledthe fucker.”

“He deserved to die.”

“Buttheydon’t know that! Eleven different bystanders saw it happen. As we speak, they’re in the police station, giving eyewitness accounts of what they just saw.”

“No!” Sutton breathes, her panic dissolving into fear. “God… What was she thinking?!”

“So you had no idea she was planning this?” I ask.

Her eyes snap to mine. “Of course not. If I did, I would have stopped her.”

I swear under my breath. “The situation is dark but not dire. We can find a way to spin this.”

Sutton frowns. “What does that mean?”

“My lawyers are already putting together a compelling defense for Sydney. She was the victim of emotional and physical abuse. She was in deep depression and suffering from PTSD as a result. We can use provocation as a defense. There’s precedent for it and?—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sutton interrupts, her eyes swimming with tears. “Slow down. You’re talking about mounting a legal defense for her? That will take time. That will mean she has to sit in a jail cell until a trial takes place! Unless—” Hope floods her face. “—we can get her out on bail.”

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