Page 21 of Lockout

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s big accolades for the firm if one of their lawyers is attached to the arrests and prosecution.”

“Anything you can say that would change their minds?”

“I’m going to tell them either they tell the FBI that they need me back home, or I’ll quit my job with them.”

His eyes narrowed and he looked over at me again. My hand squeezed the handle on my passenger door as the car kept moving forward at breakneck speed while he stared me down. I motioned forward. “Eyes on the road, Lock,” I squeaked.

Of course, if I ended up a splatter on I-10 then I wouldn’t have to worry about the LoS killing me. There really was a silver lining to everything.

“Why wouldn’t you have said that before?” he asked, but he focused back on the road. “Why are you only telling that to them now?”

“Because it will ruin my chances at a partnership with their firm,” I ticked off the reasons on my fingers, “put me on their radar in a bad way, if you know what I mean. And,” I added, “if I really do quit, these guys will likely have me blacklisted from any significant law firm in Tucson. Maybe even the state.”

“Can they do that?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, yeah.”

“What about Static’s firm?”

“I couldn’t ask him to put his reputation on the line for me like that. If the partners really wanted to, they could make my life a living hell.”

He grunted in acknowledgment of my statement, but didn’t say anything.

I could see the wheels turning in that mind of his. I knew him well enough to know his first thoughts were of throwing mypartners out a window. His second thoughts were probably of how that would affect me, and why he couldn’t go about it that way.

The man was incredibly protective, but he was also intelligent. Most people probably didn’t look past the tattoos and rough attitude. That was their loss. He was smart, kind, and loyal as any man could be. Lock was exactly the kind of man you wanted on your side. The only problem was, he had a habit of sacrificing everything to make sure those around him were taken care of. I’d always wondered who was left to take care of him?

“And you’d be willing to make that ultimatum?” he finally asked after a brief silence.

“Yes.”

He glanced over at me again. “You should only make it if you’re willing to take the consequences of them calling you on it.”

“I know,” I said, my lips twitching. Despite living at his clubhouse for an extended length of time, he didn’t really know me that well yet. He’d seemed to do his best to keep away from me. Or at least that was how it always seemed to me.

“Better black-listed, than dead,” I added.

“Not the best bargaining chip.” His nod was short and clipped. “If that happens, we’ll take care of it.” His promise echoed through the car.

I didn’t respond because I wasn’t sure how to. The connections he had baffled me. He’d been in the military. Ran the club. I knew they were into illegal shit, though I never asked anyone for specifics on anything. And he had his business.

Lock owned an air charter business. He owned a few different planes, jets, and even a helicopter. Billie told me that he’d flown that helicopter to her ranch the night that Jonathan Brently’s men had tried to kill her, Toxic, and Daryl.

He employed different pilots and even stewardesses to cater toward the rich and famous and flew them all over. The only reason I knew was because I allegedly snooped in his office one night, found the name of his business on a letterhead, and then looked into it.

Lock was in charge of a seriously huge company that many powerful people utilized. They even took people out of the country when needed, for a price. And judging on how much his company was worth, according to my internet search, it was a big price. I could only imagine how many people he knew. How many favors he could call in.

Then there was his connection with the Wyoming club. Cypher was a big fucking deal. His security firm was known all over the country. If you were a lawyer and didn’t know about it, you had to be living under a rock.

I didn’t speak as Lock pulled into a parking garage. Or when he got out and came to open my door. I didn’t even complain when he escorted me into my law office. I wasn’t stupid. There were people trying to kill me and he was my best shot at living.

And it really wasn’t a hardship to stick close to him. If I pushed the whole ‘people trying to kill me’ part aside, it was really nice to be escorted by my own biker.

I looked backand forth between Joseph and Gary. They ruled their law office with iron fists, and while usually I respected that about them, today it wasn’t playing out in my favor.

“I’m sorry, Keely,” Gary said with a shake of his head. “We’re not willing to risk the reputation of our company.”

“Is the reputation of your company worth my life?” I asked, scowling at them. I’d told them everything. So either they didn’t believe me, or they didn’t care.

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