Not Quite Juliet: A Club Imperial Novel (Silver Soul Book 1) (37 page)

Vanity sat in the corner all night, watching and watching. I was also keeping my eyes peeled, but the infectious happiness of the patrons at Nicole’s antics kept me off guard. I didn’t like it, but I also trusted Vanity and Franz, and his staff. My friends.

So, when the big biker dude grabbed my arm, I wasn’t expecting it at all. He pulled me to the bar exit and yanked me close. I yelped.

“Make another noise, and the pretty girl in there with you is going to find herself very dead.” He growled at me. “Under the counter. Let’s go. Taylor’s waiting in the garage for you.”

I ducked under the counter and he grabbed my arm as soon as he could. He walked me past the people at the bar, and over to the door that led to the back. I didn’t struggle. I didn’t want Nicole hurt. He pushed me through the hallway there, and into the rear entrance. I glanced behind me, hoping Vanity had seen what was going on, but there was no one there.

The guy twisted me back around. “Ouch! Do you mind? The skin is delicate.”

“I wasn’t paid enough to be gentle.” He pushed me toward the door, then gave me a toothless grin. “And I don’t think comfort is going to be a problem much longer.”

“He didn’t have the balls to even come in and get me, did he?” I looked around again. Please, I needed someone to realize I was gone.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He had a cruel smirk on his face. “I’m just doing what I was paid to do—pull the fat bitch bartender to the back. Fat stack, too. You pissed someone off.”

“Let me go,” I said. “I can get you just as much. More. Let me go.”

“I got cash in my pocket.” I was shoved toward the stairs this time. “My job is done at the bottom of the stairs.”

“Let’s end it now,” Vanity said as her foot crashed into his head. He tumbled sideways from the blow and smacked his head into the wall. Vanity shook her fist at the ceiling. “God, I love being a Turtle!”

“Hey, Michaelangelo. There’s a certain mentally unstable ex-sub at the bottom waiting for me.”

“Yes, we know.” She smiled. “Dunham and Albright should be around back by now. Head down. We’ve got you covered.”

I nodded and walked down to the employee garage. I opted to look like I tripped down the last few stairs. It wasn’t hard; I actually lost my footing. Before I recovered, there was a gun in my face again, and a zip tie around my newly healed wrists.

Taylor was standing there, alone. “There you are, Mistress. You’re quite the challenge. You actually got out of a fire set to kill you. I’m impressed. You won’t be getting away this time.”

“Tay, what is your problem?” I really sounded like I had balls. I didn’t. I was about to crap my pants.

“You!” Taylor cocked the gun. “You, you stinking bitch. You turned me down and we could have been perfect together. You managed to get me tossed in jail. You managed to get out of a fire meant to kill you. So my problem is you. I’m not even going to give you a chance to apologize to me. I don’t even want you to think I’m going to take you back. You’re just going to die.”

Well, that escalated quickly.

He had the gun to my temple and pulled the hammer back.

I was about to die.

No flashbacks. No flash forwards to what could have been. Just the cold steel on my temple.

I scrunched my eyes shut. The shot echoed through the garage.

No pain.

Nice. At least I got that concession.

But there was no bright white tunnel. There were no angels singing. No gates, no lights. Not even the fires of hell. In fact, the only thing that really stood out was the faint smell of motor oil in the chilly air.

Wait a second.

I wasn’t dead.

I snapped my eyes open. I was still in the garage. Alive. I looked down and immediately wished I hadn’t. Taylor was laying there, blood pouring out of his mouth and shock on his face. The gun had skittered off to rest under a nearby car.

He
was dead.

I snapped my head to the entrance to find Albright and Dunham standing there, looking stunned. I turned and looked the other direction. Lieutenant Simon Garabaldi was standing there with the heat of the freshly fired gun curling away from the weapon in his hand.

Nick tumbled down the stairs with Vanity hot on his trail, but froze at the bottom.

“Morgan?”

I looked up at him. “Nick.”

We ran for each other and crashed together. His mouth fused to mine instantly, and the heat raced between us. The kiss was fierce and consuming. It validated me—I was alive! Nick was alive!

Nicole was on the stairs a moment later. “Morgan!” She charged over and grabbed me giving me a hug. “I knew that rat bastard was trouble!”

I laughed weakly. “You. Distracting me with the magical bartending routine. I would’ve been able to point him out if you weren’t so damn good at what you were doing behind there.”

Garabaldi walked over to us and motioned us back away from the very dead body of Taylor Sherman. “Misses Kirkbride, Doctor, please just move back and stand against that wall. I’m going to need you to give your statements, as I’ve discharged my weapon and a man is dead because of it.” He cut the zip tie off my wrists.

I nodded, and looked down at Taylor. Shoot to kill; he’d gotten his comeuppance through left frontal lobe and out through the back of his skull. “You...killed him.”

“It was him or you,” Garabaldi stated. “Wasn’t a choice in my world, Miss Kirkbride.”

“You gonna be okay?” Nick asked, taking my chin in his hand and looking into my eyes.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear more sirens approaching the club, and I knew this was going to be a very, very long night. But I didn’t care. Nick was here. I was alive. He held me, and I rested my head on his shoulder.

This was where we belonged.

––––––––

T
he cold wind whipped at me. I hated Edgar this time of year, but I had to be here. No, I wanted to be here. This was important. This was the point of the past nine years of my life. I raised my hand and knocked loudly on the door of the neat-but-worn double-wide. How these things ever kept anyone warm was beyond me.

I was an idiot for not wearing pants. These stockings were going to freeze to my skin.

Some native Badger daughter I was.

And why was no one answering this door? I raised my hand to knock again and the door popped open. A woman my age stood there with a gorgeous little girl on her hip. She knew me; her lip turned down in disgust. “Morgan. What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too, Leanna,” I answered, and schooled myself. I was there to help.

“Go away.”

I held up the blue wrapped papers. “You want me to come in. Trust me.”

She deflated. Oh, that hurt. She’d probably seen these damn official papers too many times. “Let me get him.” She held the door open for me to walk in.

I did. I instantly felt the struggle of this little family. There was a cat perched on the window, and a dog asleep in front of the electric fireplace. There was a little boy sleeping peacefully in the chair near the television. Leann shook her head softly at the sleeping boy.

“Do you know he has to meet with a parole officer twice a week to make sure he’s not ‘abusing’ his own children?”

I sighed. “Yes, I did. There’s not much I don’t know about Bran.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Smart-dressed all fancy, you’re here to finally finish what remains of his hope, aren’t you.”

“No, Leann. Not at all. Please. Just get him.” I kept my voice quietly, non-intrusive.

Leanna turned and marched into the back. I saw her put the toddler in one of the rooms and a moment later, she disappeared into another room. I looked around. It was that same neat-but-worn out feeling I’d had outside the house. A real family with real dreams and real problems because my father was a real asshole.

I hadn’t been sad when I got the phone call my father had been killed in a hunting accident. He was probably showing off for one of his idiot friends. I knew my brother wasn’t doing a good job running the farm. My mother had written me and Nicole a letter, begging for our help. We’d both decided to let my brother try and fail. I had talked to a neighbor, and told him my mother should never do anything around there because she had a weak heart. Mr. Pollard was more than happy to see my mother the widow was taken care of. I suspected he had a crush on her as well.

Leanna walked back into the room with Bran trailing behind her. And once again, as I’d been when I first met him a life time ago, I was struck by his rugged good looks, marred by worried circles under his eyes. Suffering under the guilt of a crime he never committed.

“Morgan...” He was genuinely shocked to see me standing in his living room.

“Hi, Bran.” I nodded at him.

“What are you doing here?” He wrapped his arms around his wife as though she were his shield. “You didn’t even do more than fly in and out for your dad’s funeral.”

“Showing off,” Leann said, bitterly.

“Not even close,” I said. “A friend kindly allowed me to use their plane so I didn’t have to deal with anyone for more than I had to. In, out and done. I didn’t want to deal with the backlash that’s still floating around for something I didn’t even have a hand in.”

“Lucky you,” Bran said, but there was no accusation in his voice.

“So, why are you here?” Leann wasn’t interested in having this interloper in her house.

I held up the blue bound papers again. Bran closed his eyes and shook his head. He’d seen these too many times, but this time... This time was completely different.

I took a breath and started the speech. “As duly designated representative of the State of Wisconsin and the County of Marathon in the case of Brandon Silver v. the State and County, I hereby serve this affidavit stating that the entire judgment against the defendant is vacated and rendered null. All time served is noted and all further counseling and parole monitoring is terminated. The necessary requirement of reporting conviction is revoked and the record of conviction is hereby expunged immediately. Financial compensation for time served has been arranged and will be forwarded within eight to ten weeks. No further charges may be brought against you in this case, and the matter is considered closed in the eyes of the state and county.”

Leanna had a hand over her mouth and tears glistening in her eyes. She looked up at Bran who was just staring at me. I held the papers out to them, and Leanna took them carefully.

“I left Edgar and Marathon because I didn’t want this to happen. And once it happened, no matter what I did, I spent the next nine years trying to figure out how to get it undone. And that paper, right there, is the result. You didn’t do anything wrong and now the law and the world knows that.” It felt like the weight of the world finally lifted off my shoulders.

Leanna launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around me. “Jesus Christ, they’re all wrong about you, Morgan. All wrong.”

I smiled. “That’s why I don’t live here anymore. It’s a witch hunt, and they didn’t want the truth.”

“I don’t...I don’t know how to thank you.” Bran said staring at the blue papers.

“You don’t have to,” I said. “This never should have happened.”

“You really became a lawyer because of this?” Leanna leaned against her husband.

“Yes. Partly. There were other things, but it played a big role.”

“Stay for a drink?” I could see the tears in her eyes.

I smiled at the two of them. “Thank you, but my husband is waiting back in Green Bay. I just wanted to be the one who brought you the good news. And to tell you if you want to move down to Pittsburgh and give a new place and a new life a try, there’s a job for you at Walsh-Tyndale. It’s not big money, but it’s not here and there’s no stigma there.” I pulled out a business card. “If you want to talk about it. You can call Victor or Nathaniel, and my number is on the back.”

Bran walked out from behind his wife and pulled me into a hug. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”

“Yes, I do,” I said. “That’s why I did it. You never did anything wrong. You were a nice guy who got caught up in the bullshit of small town gossip.”

“Thank you,” Leanna said, and gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Keep in touch, please,” I said, turning to the door and opening it. “And seriously consider the job. There’s plenty of room to move up, and lots of space to escape the gossip.”

I stepped out and pulled the door closed. I didn’t want to ruin their moment by hanging around. I quickly hustled down to the car, the cold air swirling up my legs. I hopped in the car, and backed out of the driveway. I looked back at the house as I was getting ready to pull away, and laughed.

Bran was the same person. I could see the bedroom door was closed, but the front windows were wide open and I could see him undressing his wife, dipping his head to feast on her more than ample breasts. Same Bran. Same proclivities. He knew I would look, and he got a thrill from it.

Couldn’t blame him.

The drive back to Green Bay was nearly two hours, but it didn’t bother me. I liked the alone time once in a while. The past three years had been so hectic and crazy, between finishing up school, dealing with the trial for Taylor, clerking for MacPhearson, trying to prove my worth as an ADA in the past six months and getting the sentence vacated. I felt like it had been non-stop all that time.

Nick and I had a plane to catch out of Chicago late tomorrow, and a beach in Hawaii that had our honeymoon written all over it. God, that was going to be nice, even though we’d been married for nearly three months. I wanted to finish Bran’s legal work and deliver it to him, because I felt like I wouldn’t be able to move on until it was done.

I pulled up to the lodge where we were staying and parked the car. I listened to the end of the newest Silver Soul CD, which Nick had refused to give me until I was in the car alone. It was amazing, and that was probably an understatement. So many songs I knew exactly where they came from in my friends’ lives. I heard Nadine’s songs, Nick’s, Sal’s... Jose had written the most beautiful song on the album and how different it was to have been there the day he wrote it and knew exactly what was going on. They really would make it big if they wanted to, but seeing them all happy day-to-day... I knew they’d already made it big.