“Thanks again for meeting me at the station,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Don’t worry too much about Wes. He’s a big boy.”
“I know. And I’m sorry about falling apart back there. I think it’s everything piling on.”
“No apology necessary. I don’t know how you’ve held up under the pressure as well as you have. And if I’ve added to that stress load lately, I apologize.”
She inclined her head in acceptance.
“So…are we good?” he asked, gesturing between them.
She nodded. “We’re good.”
The door to the suite opened and Peter stood in the doorway, looking handsome and regal in navy silk pajama pants and a matching robe tied around his waist. “I thought I heard voices.”
“Jack and I were just saying good night,” Carlotta offered.
Peter curled an arm around her waist protectively. “Thanks, Jack, for seeing Carly back safely.”
“No problem,” Jack said with a curt nod. “Take care of her, Peter.”
“I intend to.”
Carlotta watched Jack’s receding back for a few seconds, then turned to walk inside with Peter.
Chapter 15
“YOU LOOK TERRIBLE, and you smell worse.” Liz took out a handkerchief and held it up to her nose and mouth.
Liz Fischer was tall and blond and easy on the eyes, even when her face was tinged with green. “How’s the morning sickness?” Wes asked.
“Ongoing,” she murmured, sounding stressed. “Look, we don’t have much time—your arraignment is in twenty minutes. So let’s get to it.” She opened a file. “You’re being charged with possession of a fake driver’s license, underage drinking, possession of counterfeit currency—says here that thirty-two one-hundred-dollar bills were recovered from the lining of your jacket. And last, theft by spending counterfeit currency in and around the hotel casino in the amount of twenty-one thousand dollars.” She leveled her gaze on him. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“That underage drinking charge is totally bogus.”
She sighed. “Wes, these are serious federal charges. The good thing is they’re non-violent, so if we offer the judge a decent defense, I might get you out on bail, although it could be a substantial amount.”
“Don’t worry, I have plenty of cash,” he joked.
She frowned. “This isn’t funny. Where did you get the counterfeit money?”
“I…really can’t say.”
Her eyes flashed with irritation. “You can say and you will say. To me, anyway. Where did you get it?”
If he told her he found it in the wall of the townhome, he’d be implicating his father. Although Randolph had made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with him. Wes hated that he still felt compelled to protect the man he could barely remember.
“How’s my dad doing?”
“He’s slightly better.”
“Is he going to make it?”
Her gaze dropped. “It’s still touch and go.”
He put his hand to his mouth to gnaw his nails. The tips of his fingers were ragged and bloody, but the nasty habit comforted him.
Liz put her beautifully manicured hand over his, pulling it from his mouth. “Look, I know you’re worried about your father, but right now you need to be worried about yourself. Where did you get the counterfeit bills?”
“I didn’t know they were counterfeit.”
“And that will be part of our defense. Possessing counterfeit money isn’t as bad as willfully spending it with the knowledge it’s fake. But if you tell the Secret Service where you got it and help them take it off the street, that’ll go in your favor.”
“Even if I got it in an illegal poker game?”
“Yes. But that’s not what happened, is it?”
“I didn’t print it myself, if that’s what you think.”
She leaned forward and rubbed her eyes, clearly frustrated. “Good. Because that would be a whole other set of charges. But that’s not going to cut it. Now—where did you get the bills?”
When she sat forward like that, her boobs looked huge. He was going to miss seeing those great knockers.
“Wes, if you’re protecting someone, it’s not worth it, I promise.”
She would probably right. If his father died, he wouldn’t have to worry about protecting him. But just putting that thought out into the universe made him feel sick.
Besides, the truth might set him free, but Leonard would be waiting for him. He was safer in here, flying shit and all.
She made an exasperated noise. “Wes, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me where you got the money.”