Page 28 of Grimm
REGINA
Why in the hell was I willing to risk my career, the only thing I knew, for the president of a One-Percenter motorcycle club?
The question swirled in my head even as I sat at Tavish’s dining room table, going through the evidence showing Judge Richards was on the take. I couldn’t deny what was between us, but suffering the backlash not only from work but also from his club? Was it too much to go through just to be with him?
At the moment, I could definitively say yes, it was worth it. He was worth it. Whatever came our way, I’d see where this would lead. But who knew what the future held? For him, I could be just another woman. For me, I could be blinded by lust. Who the hell knew?
While everything was up in the air, what Tavish had against Judge Richards was solid. Yet, we needed more to prove Angus wasn’t guilty of the crime he’d allegedly committed. Although Angus’ conviction was straightforward, undoing it would be more work than I thought Tavish realized.
Based on the evidence I’d been sifting through for the last two hours, Judge Richards was on someone’s payroll. Whose was the question. His corruption was deep and undeniable, crimes that should have been dismissed with the defendants receiving maximum sentences. In other cases, he overturned jury convictions, which was extremely rare for any judge to do, mainly on the grounds of insufficient evidence despite overwhelming evidence. However, none of it proved Angus’ innocence, only the judge’s guilt.
I sighed and focused on Tavish, who’d had several beers while waiting for me to comb over everything.
“What?” he asked, placing the bottle on his dining room table.
“I agree with you. Judge Richards is crooked. His leniency for some and harsher rulings for others is out of the ordinary and forms a pattern.”
“So, what can we do about getting Angus out of prison?”
“Right now, all this proves is that the judge is crooked, not that Angus is innocent.” I waved a stack of papers in the air and then sat them back on the table. “We need more evidence, if there is any.”
He sighed and ran his hand down his goatee. I understood his frustration. If I believed any of my family had been unjustly convicted of a crime and had all the evidence he had gotten over the years, I would have believed freeing them would be easy. However, the law didn’t work that way.
“Unfortunately,” I continued, “it’s easier to convict someone who is innocent than to get an innocent person out of prison.”
“But that’s bullshit, Gina.”
“It is, but that’s just the way it is, Tavish. Judge Richards’ son was undercover in your organization. Why would anyone other than your father or another member of Sin City want him dead? And why in the hell would Judge Richards finger your father if he wasn’t the killer? Someone killed his son and tried to kill him. Wouldn’t he want the killer caught?”
“That’s why I asked for your help.” He sighed and wiped his hand down his face. “Look, I can see why you and everyone else believes Angus was the one who did it, especially with the judge saying he did. And Agent Richards was funneling information to the FBI, trying to take Sin City down. I get it, Gina. But Angus didn’t do it. I know he didn’t because he was with me the night it all happened.”
The shock of his confession hit me full force. Why in the hell did he not come forward and give his father an alibi? The police could have investigated and cleared Angus if Tavish was telling the truth, and I couldn’t think of any reason for him to lie to me.
“I don’t understand, Tavish.” I sat my pen down on my legal notepad and looked him in the eye. “Why let your father take the fall for a murder he didn’t commit if you could have given him an alibi? And why would your father take the rap when he could provide you as an alibi witness? None of it makes any sense.”
“I can’t tell you why.”
I rolled my eyes. I should have expected his answer, but I’d hoped he’d trust me enough if he wanted me to get Angus out of prison. He needed a miracle, and an alibi might be his miracle.
“All you need to know is he was with me,” he continued. “What I need you to do is use your connections to find out who else the agent was working for and why they wanted him dead.”
“Are you sure you can’t tell me anything about Angus’ innocence?”
“Gina, if I could, Angus would have never been on trial for murder. As I was saying, the only hope we have is your connections.”
I looked down at my watch. “It’s late.”
I had an idea of who I could call and pressure, but two o’clock in the morning was definitely not the best time to disturb Carson. Even though he was probably awake and at the office, I hated contacting him outside of office hours. He didn’t like to focus on work, only on how to get into my pants. At least, if I contacted him during work hours, he’d keep it somewhat professional.
“Let me make some calls tomorrow.”
Tavish nodded and downed the last of his beer. He placed the bottle on the table and stood. “Stay with me?” he asked, reaching out his hand to me.
My mind screamed this was the worst mistake I could make, and I had already made a few with the number of orgasms the man had pulled from me. Staying overnight at his place would definitely be a mistake. My career would be in shambles if it got out that I was involved with the president of Sin City, but the thought of leaving him caused an unbearable ache in my chest. I wanted to be here despite the problems it would cause.
I grasped his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. We gazed at one another, us both resigned to the fact we were going to go through with this. He was mine, and I was his. So, I would lose it all for Tavish MacDaniel.
However, after it was all said and done, I hoped I could live with the decision because there was no turning back after this.
