Page 6 of Justice's Reward
“Hey, I don’t know what your beef is, but he didn’t resist arrest. He’s an attorney and former JAG. How about you treat him decently?” Tack growled.
“Listen, scum. The chief and your SWAT captain may think you’re special, but your club will be going down, and it starts with this murderer. Now back off before I take you in too,” Stanza said.
Tack chuckled. A couple of his team had walked up behind Tack. Justice was waiting to see what would happen. Tack wouldn’t do something stupid. His name came fromhis specialty of seeing all sides of a situation and figuring out how to tactically get what they wanted.
“Listen, Stanza, leave Tack alone. He’s an officer just like you are. Name-calling and threatening him won’t get you anywhere. Since we don’t have a call, we’ll be following your cruiser back to the station. Make sure you don’t deviate from the most direct route,” Tack’s commanding officer said.
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” he said, slamming the door and stomping around to get in the driver’s seat.
Once he was situated behind the wheel, he caught Justice’s eyes in the mirror.
“You’re going down for this. I’m tired of the police giving the Saint’s Outlaws carte blanche instead of giving you the ending you deserve,” he said, turning the car and radio on, then pulling out of the parkinglot. He took a curve tightly, trying to throw Justice around in the back of the car, but Justice braced his feet against the floor and stayed steady.
Justice didn’t know what was happening, but he knew something was off. He hadn’t killed Gina, but he imagined there was a long line who wanted to. He hoped Adley would agree to represent him. She was a bulldog for her clients, and that’s what he needed—someone to fight for him because he didn’t want to go down for something he didn’t do.
Chapter Five
Adley settled into her favorite chair for reading and watching shows. It was the perfect Friday night. It had been two weeks since she’d had the scare at the Arboretum. She and Macy had returned home Sunday night. She hadn’t seen anything strange, and she had her alarm system.
Now it was time to relax. She had sweet n’ sour chicken, chicken fried rice, lo mein noodles, and crab rangoon. She had her show ready to watch and a new ebook from one of her one-click authors.
It was her favorite way to relax on a Friday. If her sister wasn’t out of town, she’d be right beside her. Macy had tried to convince Adley to wait to watch their show, but nope, nuh-uh, Adley wasn’t waiting. Macy had watched the newest episode of another series they loved and then told Adley about it before she could watch it. She adored her sister, but sometimes, she jumped on Adley’s last nerve. Macy was in Denver for the weekend but would be back on Monday. Adley wasn’t waiting four days when she was positive Macy would watch it tonight.
Maybe the amazing food, books, and show could keep her mind off Justice. It was like the man had Adley-radar and showed up wherever she was.
But honestly, it wasn’t just his thick arms and tattoos, nor his wearing that baseballcap backwards with his white T-shirt and his cut, which should send her running for the hills. It was the sweet and goofy smiles he gave his son and the way he cared for his mother.
After her excitement at the Arboretum, she’d pushed him from her mind. But now, just sitting here two weeks later, all she could think about was his freaking tight jeans hugging every thigh muscle and cupping his oh-so-perfect butt. The hat on backwards as he cuddled his son and sangFat Bottomed Girlswas just one more facet to Justice that had her ready to drop her panties and tackle him.
If she was going to ever get to have Pit’s KC Barbecue and her favorite sticky sweet sauce with brisket and ribs again, she would need to get herself under control.
And she, her sister, and Mom knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving. Her mom’s husband had been handsome and could even show the world a calm personality, but once the clubhouse doors closed, it was a nightmare. Adley had seen more blood, sex, abuse, and drugs in her young life than any child should. Macy was two years younger than Adley and luckily didn’t have quite so many vivid memories as Adley.
She flicked her show on and grabbed her food. She needed to get lost in her show and not in the nightmares of the past. She wanted to be able to sleep tonight, and reminiscing about the past wouldn’t make for a restful sleep.
She would be forever grateful to the figure who rescued them. After Adley received her bar license and started representing clients,she’d received an email. The words, Those who are given a second chance owe a debt to make the world a little brighter. Adley had known it was from their rescuer of years ago. She considered it a small price to pay to represent whichever client came through the email. Every single one that had been requested had been in horrible situations and deserved to be free. Adley considered it paying it forward to help someone else out just like she had been all those years ago. Her second chance was a debt, and Adley didn’t believe she could ever completely repay it. If they had stayed, Adley was positive her mom would have eventually died trying to protect Adley and her sister. At ten, Adley hadn’t understood the looks from the men, but as an adult, she understood she and her sister were in danger of having their innocence stolen from them. She’d escaped withher innocence, even though she was a little scarred.
Her phone rang, and she smiled at the ringtone,Unstoppable.Her mom had told them as they got into high school that it was their job to use the chance they’d been given and become unstoppable. Adley knew that was the only ringtone that fit her mom because, despite what her mom had been through, she’d carved a life out for her girls and herself.
“Hey, Mom, how are you?” Adley asked.
“Good. Just wondering if you were in the mood to come for lunch on Sunday?” she asked. “I know you were just here recently, but darn it, the house seems so empty with you girls not here this weekend.”
Adley loved seeing her mom, and if she was cooking? Bonus! Even though she’d just spent time there two weeks ago, she wasmore than happy to spend more time with her mom.
“Of course. Do you want me to bring something or get there early to help?”
“Well, you know more time with my girls is always welcome. Macy texted, and she’s catching an early flight Sunday morning so she can do a noon lunch. See you at eleven?” her mom asked.
A beep had Adley looking at her phone. “I’ll be there. I need to go. I’ve got another call, and it might be a client.”
“Love you, baby.”
Adley clicked over. “Adley Pearson, how may I help you?”
“Ms. Pearson, this is Pit Lawson. Justice has been taken in on charges, and the club would like to retain your services to defend him,” Pit said.
Adley was stunned. Why would Justice have been taken in? She didn’t want him in jail, but if he’d done something immoral, she couldn’t represent him.
