Page 11

“Brielle.” Lana extended her hand and Brielle automatically took it.

“Hi.” Brielle flashed a small smile but said nothing else.

Knight continued. “Neither of you have met Ethan Perry. He’s a lawyer, too.”

“Rip’s brother?” I asked.

Ethan smiled. “Don’t hold that against me.” Then he nodded at Brielle. “Ma’am. You’ve landed in a nest of vipers.”

Brielle looked lost and resigned. The years had made their mark on her just as hard as they had me.

“Knight said he passed the file on.” I glanced from Lana to Ethan.

Lana shrugged. “Knight started it. I got the first pass because it looked straightforward. When I realized it wasn’t, I pulled in Ethan. I’m the shark. Ethan’s…” she glanced at the man in question, “…complicated.”

Ethan handed me an envelope with some pictures in it. “That’s what your PO is going to be receiving in the next couple of days if he hasn’t already.”

“Where did you get this?” I pinned Ethan with my gaze.

He seemed unfazed and ignored me. “You’ll want to stay ahead of that, so I scheduled a meeting for you this afternoon. We can do it by video conference.”

“If you’re right about my parole officer getting these, isn’t it already too late?”

“I should have phrased my statement better.” Ethan shook his head. “At the time when I set up the meeting, your PO hadn’t heard about this. Since we scheduled the meeting, he’ll know what it’s about if Sutton gets to him before that meeting. But we don’t want to wait any longer than strictly necessary. I just wish I’d known about this sooner.”

“Why does that matter?” Brielle asked. “I offered to leave.”

Ethan met her gaze. His smile wasn’t unkind, but I got the feeling he still hadn’t made a decision about her yet. Which bothered me more than I could say. “Because his parole officer always has the final say. Sure, there’s a hearing and such, but ultimately, it’s everyone’s word against the felon out on parole. And no one gives a damn. No offense, Dane.” He glanced at me before continuing with Brielle. “But people like him are supposed to disappear.” He sighed and sat back more fully in his chair. “Also, even if it makes a difference that Brielle came here on her own, it was only true for the meeting they have pictures of. But two full days? That’s a violation even if you had no contact before yesterday.”

Lana nodded. “If we’re right about Sutton, he will have already called your PO, Dane, and local police. And probably your old cellmate’s mother for good measure.”

“He’s playing hardball,” Ethan continued. “I just need some more time to put a few more pieces together.”

“That bad?” I raised an eyebrow.

Ethan met my gaze with a hard one of his own. “Bad enough I may need to get Seth Miles involved to finish the cleanup.”

I sat back and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. “Well, that’s not ominous or anything. What do you want us to do?” I needed an idea of what I could reasonably get away with in regard to keeping Brielle in the compound as long as possible. And, no. I didn’t want to examine the reason why keeping her safe seemed necessary when she was my enemy. Sort of. Also, I was beginning to recognize what a dumb shit I was for refusing to accept that maybe, just possibly, Brielle’s choices were way the fuck fewer than my own. I’d indicated as much to her, but I wasn’t sure I’d truly believed it at the time.

“Do nothing,” Ethan said. “Stay on the compound. Don’t leave unless your PO calls you directly. Then you call me. If they do call, you don’t volunteer anything, but if they press you, you tell the truth.”

I looked at Brielle, then at Lana. “What about her?”

“No one can force her to stay,” Lana said easily. “Having said that,” she gave Brielle a steady look, “I’d recommend staying here for your own safety, Brielle. This is the safest place in the city.”

Brielle said nothing, just looked at her own hands. “Of course,” she said softly.

Ethan folded his file and dropped it into a messenger bag. “Any other questions before I let Ms. Thompson have the room?”

I leaned forward. “You said you found something on Sutton. What’s going on?”

“Not something I’m ready to share, but I agree with Ms. Thompson’s recommendation for Brielle.” Ethan stood and shouldered his bag. “If anyone shows up for you, you call me before you do anything. Knight, if they won’t let him call me immediately, you do it for him. I need to make a call, then I’ll be back.” He looked at me. “We need to discuss expectations going forward.”

“OK then.” Knight gave him a two-fingered salute.

He looked past me to Brielle. “Do you have a lawyer?”

She shook her head. “No. I’ve never had a lawyer. Didn’t know I needed one.”