I jerked Axel’s hand to get his attention. “We need to do something before they kick Raven out of the country. Or worse…”
“We might not be able to help him,” Axel said.
“We can,” Corey said and jumped off the bed. He looked right at me. “We can do it. Help me?”
I nodded. Of course I would. “But how?”
“Trust me.”
~ A ~
Three Days Later
Raven lay on a bunk in a holding cell of downtown Charleston’s county jail. He shared the room with two people, but they were out in the yard doing exercise. Raven had gotten into two fights already and had been sent back, on restriction.
He was the new guy. This was routine. Everyone had to test him. He’d thrown a few punches.
He closed his eyes.
Kayli.
He couldn’t erase those green eyes from his mind. She’d screamed as she had gone down into the water. Both times.
He’d hated it each time. What if there had been a shark? Some sharp, unknown object? What if she wasn’t a strong enough swimmer?
It killed him, killed his heart. Throwing her over had meant saving her life both times. He knew Sam would have killed her otherwise. The investor was never going to let her live. That was the only thing that kept the guilt from eating him.
When the police had boarded the ship, he’d been taken in. An Academy lawyer had been by to give some paperwork, but they were still questioning his ID.
It could have been worse. Sam had confessed to the murder, only after Raven warned him of the horrible things Raven would do to him if he didn’t.
And his family.
And when that wasn’t enough, he’d threatened his daughter.
Sam had told Raven about his daughter in passing earlier in the cruise, and Raven had filed away the information for something like this.
He’d used his history in Russia, the gang he had been in, what they did to people like Sam. He’d made him believe it was the Russian mob who was coming to get him and that he’d be safer in prison.
A clank against the door stirred Raven from his thoughts. “Eugene Ravenstahl. You have a visitor.”
Raven cringed hearing his first name pronounced like that. It didn’t sound that way in Russian.
The lawyer was there often, but Raven had been waiting for Axel or one of the others to come see him.
The lawyer had told him and the group to stay away until they were sure the police weren’t going to actually charge their team, or drag them into the investigation over Sam, in case Sam tried to lie.
Raven sat up, stretched. The orange jumpsuit was baggy on his body. He put his feet inside flip-flops and walked to the door of the cell.
“Hands behind your back,” the man said.
Raven turned and waited as his wrists were tied. He was new, and they were wary of his Russian background, even if they hadn’t yet dredged up his actual files. He wasn’t technically supposed to be in a county jail, but when the ship had come in, everyone had been inspected. The prostitution had come to light. Almost everyone involved, including all of the security team, had been escorted off. Most jails and the border patrol offices were overrun.
Raven walked through the halls. He twisted his hands behind his back and tried to appear respectful to the officers.
He was ushered into a room with tables set up for visitors. The room was empty at the moment except for them. Was it even visiting hours right now? Time was hard to keep track of in a cell.
Blake Coaltar sat at one of the tables. His hair was combed back away from his face and he was unshaven. He rose a little as Raven came to the table and then sat down again.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Raven said as he sat down. The officer left him, walking away.
“Neither should you,” Blake said, with that stupid smile he always seemed to carry. “But I have to admit, whatever you did worked like a charm. I’m impressed.”
“Don’t be.”
“I’m not here to make trouble,” Blake said, his accent a little thick, making it harder for Raven to understand him.
Raven looked over his shoulder at the cop standing by the door, then back to Blake. “I don’t care. How is she?”
“Pissed as all hell at you,” he said. “I don’t understand. Why did you stay?”
“They couldn’t come after you if I made Sam confess.”
“I didn’t do it.”
Raven glared at him. He didn’t want to explain the obvious. A confession from Sam meant Blake was in the clear. That’s all that mattered.
Blake’s smile faded and he looked at the table, tracing the edge with his fingertips. “They caught me that morning we got back, shortly after Axel told me off. I was walking through the casino and they hauled me out, telling guests I’d been cheating at a game. Got tied up in one of the massage rooms. Was there for hours. Last thing I remember, they came in with a needle. It’s all fuzzy after that point.”
“Good,” Raven said. “The less you remember, the better.”
Blake pursed his lips. “I still don’t understand. You could have left me and gotten yourself off the ship. Why did you do it?”
Raven breathed out slowly. “It wasn’t about you.”
“Then what?”
“Her.”
Blake pressed his lips together, then brushed a palm against his chin. “So she does care about me?”
Raven bared his teeth. “For now.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Blake said. He pressed a palm to his chest. “Look, she says she likes me, and she obviously likes you, too. If you want to be in her life, like I do, then maybe we should try to get along.”
“I don’t care about you,” Raven said.
“Maybe you don’t care, but she does. And like hell if I’ll let her get kidnapped again. Like you let happen.”
“Like when you two almost got killed the first night on board the ship?”
Blake’s eyes narrowed. “You threw us over.”
Raven’s fists clenched behind his back. “I saved you,” he bit out.
“I didn
’t need saving.”
They glared at each other across the table.
Raven was itching to go back to his cell, but instinct told him not to leave before Blake did if he could help it. He didn’t want to appear to be running away from him.
How could she like Blake? He was smug, arrogant.
Blake relaxed his shoulders. “I don’t want to fight.”
“Then leave.”
“I came to offer a truce. Because right now, I have a problem.”
“I’m not here to fix your problems.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m hoping you’ll say no, but I doubt it.”
Raven jerked his head back, suddenly intrigued. “What?”
“When you wonder later why I bothered to help with this,” he said, pulling a piece of paper of his back pocket, “just know, I didn’t want to. I’m doing it for her.”
Blake finished unfolding the paper and slid it over the table to Raven.
Raven looked down at it. It was official-looking, stamped, with Kayli’s and his full name on it. He read the fancy lettering along the top. And then again until it sank in. “Marriage certificate?”
“It was Corey’s idea. He said he’d marry you himself, but it might not be recognized here or in Russia, and it might make it more complicated in already complicated circumstances. Kayli’s your shot, unless you find someone else.” Blake reached for the paper, touching the corner and slowly sliding it back to his side of the table. “Of course, if you don’t want to…”
Raven couldn’t reach him, so instead he knocked the table from underneath with his knee and then kicked Blake’s foot.
Blake jumped. The officer came over, eyebrow up.
Blake waved at him. “We’re good, but can you free him? I need him to sign a paper.”
The officer looked once at Raven, who nodded, and then he shrugged and undid the binding.
Once Raven’s hands were free, he picked up the paper, reading it over and over again. She’d told him before she didn’t want to get married. “I don’t understand,” he said. “Is she okay with this? Why is she doing this now?”
“To save your ass from getting deported,” Blake said. He pulled a ballpoint pen out of his pocket and clicked the top. “It will still take some paperwork, but lucky for you, I’ve got friends in all the right places. So you see, I’m more than just a delivery boy. I can make this happen.”