Blood in the Ozarks

28. 20 Minutes

"...if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand your rights as they've been read to you?"

A literal gasp escaped my lips. The air in my lungs expanded and then froze. I didn't know how to breathe. My whole body was stuck in that moment, watching as the sheriff locked cuffs around Ortega's wrists.

"You can't do this," I told Dinah. "You have no proof. You don't even have jurisdiction in this case."

"We opened the original case and have the right to make an arrest. The Federal level can step in and take over arraignment, but y'all can't prevent us from doing our jobs on our own case."

"Sherif, please." I pleaded. "Dinah. We have a strong lead on who really killed Lynda. Ortega wasn't involved. He wasn't even here when Kayla was murdered."

"This isn't about those poor girls. Although we could do with looking into where he was when they were killed. This is about Lynda Blackwood. We have firm evidence to bring charges for her murder."

"That's impossible," I argued. "If you would just listen for a second, I'm sure we can find some kind of understanding about Ortega's role here."

"No can do," Dinah chided. "

Frustration was building inside my body and a tightness settled in my chest as I tried to find the magic words that would convince her to let him go. We didn't have time for this. Not when the killer could still be roaming free instead of in a warded prison. I'd already lost Cian, I couldn't let Ortega leave too.

"Ellery, look at me." Ortega coaxed.

But it was hard to look at him standing there with his hands behind his back. His wide shoulders were pulled back at an unnatural angle and the short link between the cuffs caused him to lean forward. Instead of following his request, I continued staring at the woman I thought was on my side. I needed her to understand she was making a mistake.

"Look. At. Me," Ortega demanded with a bite to each word.

My line of sight shifted and locked with his.

"You're going to let her arrest me, OK?"

I didn't say anything. The firm set of his eyes told me not to argue.

"You're going to let her take me and book me and you're going to call an attorney. Everything is going to be fine. Call Kenya Tucker, she owes me a favor. And then when I get out we'll head to The Shed and get to the bottom of this. OK? Can you do that?"

He waited for me to answer, but all I could do was continue to stare into his deep brown eyes.

"Can you do that?" He repeated. "Call KT?"

I nodded and some of my anger gave way. I could do this. All I needed to do was call Kenya and she'd get him out. He'd be free in a few hours, then we could find our extra werewolf and put an end to this case and the target they seemed to have on me.

I nodded again with more confidence.

"I've done this before," he reminded me. "I'll be fine. This'll be a walk in the park."

Without further protest, Dinah escorted Ortega out of the building to her cruiser. No matter how calm he was, watching Ortega be led out of the room with his hands cuffed behind his back was disheartening. He may have walked away from the bureau so he could bend the rules a bit more, but he always did the bending for the right reasons. He didn't deserve this. He wasn't a murderer.

As soon as the car drove away with Ortega secured in the backseat, I scrambled for my cell phone and immediately called KT.

Kenya Tucker was one of Ortega's long time friends. Like childhood long time. The idea that Ortega could keep a friendship running for that long was beyond me. But KT had always been there for him. From the time he punched the school mascot square in the snoot to the first time he'd ever been picked up by a small town cop. KT was always there to back him up or bail him out. It didn't hurt that now she was a lawyer and could save his ass on a professional level.

The phone barely rang before KT picked up and in a clipped, faux professional tone said, "Kenya Tucker, who's in jail this time?"

I gave a small laugh. "Hey, KT. Geez, is it good to hear your voice."

"Good to hear from you too, Ross," she told me with sincerity. "It's been too long. You need to come by the house again sometime. I've got a new cheesecake recipe that needs to be tested."

My mouth would be watering at the offer if I didn't have a dozen different problems on my mind. A good thing about KT was that she was not the least bit offended if you jumped to the point. In fact, she preferred it.

"Uh huh, sounds delicious. Hey so, I have a favor to ask you."

"Oh God. Someone really is in jail, aren't they? Must not be a Fed or you'd be calling Eli instead of me."

I laughed then gave a sigh. I didn't want to tell her, but that was the point of this whole call. "It's Tommy Ortega." I winced as I told her.

"Woow." She drew out the word in awe. "I didn't realize you were partners again."

"I wouldn't call us partners."

"Is 'partners with benefits' a better term?"

"Maybe at one time," I admitted. I knew she already knew more about my relationship with Ortega than I would probably like. "But that's not the point. No matter our relationship, he's been arrested. So what should I do?"

"What are they charging him with?"

"Impersonating a federal officer--"

"Not again." I pictured her rolling her eyes on the other end.

"--and homicide."

"Now that's a new one," she mused. "Who did he kill?"

"He didn't kill anyone," I assured her. I gave her a quick rundown of our case and how we found Lynda Blackwood outside of my room. Luckily, I didn't have to dance around the supernatural bits. The beauty of a friend who had this much history with you is they've already seen the spooky shit.

KT had very few questions as I explained. Mostly she gave murmurs of understanding, but I could hear typing in the background so I knew she was already at work both metnally and on paper .Her easy nature and confident tone when she did speak calmed me.

"Alright," she said. "Give me like 20 minutes to make some calls and we'll see if we can get your man outta jail."

"He's not my—"

"I know, I know. 20 minutes," she promised then hung up.

For the first time in the last hour, I felt like I could breathe.