Page 26 of Abel's Omega
Pro bono. Abel put his head down on the desk for a second, phone still pressed to his ear. It seemed too good to be true. “Are you certain?”
“Of course. It was my pleasure. But perhaps I could borrow Mr. Garrick for some other cases? He has a fine, detailed legal mind, and it’s a criminal waste that he isn’t permitted to practice.” Once again, Abel sensed the predator lurking inside the human, masked behind the human’s subtle humor. The line was silent for a moment, and Laine’s chair creaked in the background. “You should know, Judge Wilson called to find out what I knew about the accident.”
“And?”
“That’s it. But you should press charges.”
“I didn’t think that was an option—isn’t that up to the police?”
“They might need to be pushed. You are, after all, shifters.”
True. But he wasn’t sure he had the energy left to deal with human intransigence. “I was going to try the Council and see what they could do.” Another thing he needed to shoehorn into his schedule, put together his complaint for that.
Laine drew in a long breath. “He’s an older Alpha, and your pack is rich, as packs are ranked. It can’t be that different from human society. How do you think that will go?”
And Abel wasn’t exactly the most popular Alpha in the country, though Laine didn’t know that. Abel grunted, because really, what else could he say? He didn’t think that Laine expected him to have anything, either.
“Call the police, Abel,” Laine said. “Ask them to press charges. And if I can borrow Garrick to keep me from making some stupid first year mistake, I’ll put together a case for the civil courts and see if we can get that judgment overturned.”
Abel blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “That would be great. Last night, we had another omega show up at our gates, begging for sanctuary.”
There was a pause on the line, then Laine came back on, his tone intense. “Don’t do anything that will set people’s backs up. Maybe I should take a drive down tomorrow, we can talk about this more easily in person.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I don’t have enough information.”
Abel could tell that was something that really stuck in Laine’s craw.
Laine continued. “Not only that, but there’s the difference between human and shifter culture. I don’t know your culture, your unspoken rules, the idioms in your speech even. Your history and your mythology. Trying to help you with pack matters is like me trying to go to Greece and practice—I’d stink on ice, because even if I knew the laws, I don’t know how to spin things within the culture. If I come down tomorrow, I could take Garrick back with me too, and save your driver a trip.”
“He’ll need papers for that and it’s the weekend. We’ll never get them for tomorrow.”
The light, slightly flirtatious tone came back. “Oh, you just leave that to me. I have a friend or two who can help. Expect me before noon.”
They said their goodbyes, and Abel flipped through the contacts on his cell phone until he found Garrick.
“Abel,” Garrick answered.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Working on the omega project. Why?”
“Laine Montague wants to come out to talk about suing Montana Border over the car crash. You want to sit in?”
“I’d love to! What time?”
“He said to expect him before noon. He wants to borrow you for a case he’s working on too, if you don’t mind. And maybe for some others.”
“Really? That would be fantastic!” The excitement in Garrick’s voice vibrated out of the phone, but then he paused, and his tone when he continued was less enthusiastic. “I don’t think I have the time. I got tied up in the service contract for your new client, and with the government over the brewery, and I’m behind on the omega thing.”
Abel leaned back in his chair and bent his arm behind his head. “How is the research going on the omega thing, anyway? Anything new?”
“Not much. I found a story from turn of the century about an alpha who suddenly shot to the head of his pack, and his mate was an omega female, but I can’t tell if his rise in power happened before or after his mating.” Garrick sighed. “I’ve pretty much exhausted our resources here. I’ve interviewed all the way down to the forty-year-olds, and the stories are getting repetitive. As in—they came from someone I’ve already interviewed. Do you want me to try with the other packs? Or Harvey mentioned that about fifteen years ago, some professor came asking questions about our history and our culture. I could track him down.”
Abel scratched at the back of his head and thought about that. He didn’t even know if therewasanything to this True Omega thing. Certainly Jason had never shown any sign of their fabled magical powers. Except for that way he had of calming everyone down when things got tense. And that knack he had with plants, though surely that was a gift anyone could have. But what if it was real? He had one sitting inside his own walls. Did he want other packs sniffing around it? And what the hell did it mean for Mercy Hills? “No, I think we’ll bury that carcass until we know enough to be sure it’s worth digging up again. Can you put what you have together for me to look at?”
“Sure. It might take me a week to get everything transcribed, though.”
