That was when I lunged at him, knocking us both into the table. Auggie screamed as I began to pummel his face. He was equally strong, however, and grabbed my fists after the first few punches. In the back of my consciousness, I heard Bill’s voice, warning me to stop. He finally pulled me off and the bastard began wiping imaginary dirt from his sleeves. “Whoa, whoa, lil’ Bro,” he taunted me. “I do believe you may have crossed a line just now. Officer?” he turned to Bill. “I’d like to press charges for assault with intent to do bodily harm,” he stated in a calm, rehearsed tone, and I realized it had been his plan all along.
Bill glared at me. I knew I’d lost it and was going to regret it. The cops had already been called so there was nothing to do but stand and wait for them. They cuffed me and I quickly told Auggie to get home, lock the doors and stay with Ford until I contacted her. “Call Brandon,” I told her, referring to her attorney friend who had always wanted to be her first choice. I couldn’t believe I was now in the position of asking for his help. “Bill, look after her,” I called over my shoulder and heard his accommodating grunt.
They had taken me away in the squad car, charges pending. So, now, there I was, in a cell waiting to see what they’d do to me. That’s when an officer came up to my bars and unlocked the door. “LaViere?”
I nodded.
“Charges have been dropped. Get out of here,” he said, holding the door open. Behind me, there were catcalls and jeering cheers from those who would not be so lucky.
Bill was waiting at the curb when I emerged from the building. “Take me home,” I told him, but he had already pulled away.
CHAPTER TWO
Worth
Bill followed me into the house where Auggie was anxiously waiting, her eyes filled with concern. “Bill, be with you in a few,” I said.
I whispered to Auggie, “I love you, but need to wash the stink off before I hug you.” She nodded and promptly ushered Bill into the family room. I heard her offering him something to eat and drink as I bounded up the stairs and took the hottest shower I can ever remember.
Throwing on sweat pants and a t-shirt, I combed my hair and when I got downstairs, the first thing I did was embrace Auggie, kissing the top of her head as I held her tightly. Betsy appeared with Ford and I held him between Auggie and myself, closing my eyes and absorbing their clean innocence. I handed Ford back to Betsy, who left us alone, and pulled Auggie down onto the sofa next to me.
“Bill, talk to me,” I said.
“Well, dammit, Worth, you knew better than to pull that stunt. Lucky for you, I convinced him that none of you needed any attention and he dropped the charges. Otherwise, you’d be sittin’ in there and there wouldn’t be a whole lot I could do without calling attention to you.”
“I know. I appreciate your role in all this and for looking after Auggie. I want security, Bill. I want a man here at the house twenty-four-seven and another at the clinic when any of my family is with me. I want cameras monitored and the phone numbers changed. If he’s telling the truth, we’re not dealing with just one malcontent, but with who knows how many unscrupulous characters,” I said, referring to Linc’s “syndicate.” It burned my mind to call this imposter by my brother’s name, but there was no other way to refer to him.
Bill nodded. “Worth, he made a lot of accusations. I do stand on the side of the law, you know.”
“Father is dead and there’s no other person to prosecute, even if Linc was telling the truth,” I pointed out.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it,” he argued. “You’re being blackmailed into considering using your influence to fix races. That’s against the law and as much as I want to help you out, I can’t turn a blind eye to that. You understand, right?”
“I get that, Bill, but what are the options? Tell me, would you do as he asked?” I pleaded with my eyes. “I have to protect Auggie and Ford.”
Bill’s face was concerned and that made it harder on me. He was generally so casual and in control. This was his line of work. If he couldn’t figure a way out, how was I to do it?
He shook his head in bewilderment. “You’re in a bad place, Worth, there’s no two ways around that. You might consider packing up and moving.”
“And run? Run away from my father’s deeds? Run away from all that Auggie and I have built? They’d only find us. He’d find us. I don’t think that’s a solution, Bill. Maybe a delay, but not a solution. I want this ended.”
“I’m not going anywhere, although no one has asked my opinion in all this yet,” Auggie murmured. I hugged her, realizing that she was absolutely right.
“You’re right, sweetheart. This involves you as much as me. Do you have any ideas?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Well, in my opinion, no matter his background, he is blood family to you and to me. I don’t think there’s any question about that. And as badly as he behaves, we have to remember that he has reason to be jealous. So, I don’t think that aggravating him will do anything but make him meaner.”
She made an excellent point and I was surprised I hadn’t considered it myself. I was, after all, the psychologist.
“I also think that you’re taking his word on what this… this syndicate wants. It would be very hard to prove whether you’re cooperating because you’re not personally fixing any races. You’re only being asked to cooperate by using your connections. No one can prove whether you’ve done that or not.”
“Also true,” I said and even Bill was nodding his approval.
“So, I think as long as we don’t do things to antagonize him or his friends, and we don’t compromise our integrity, we’ll be fine. He’ll probably give up and go away. I don’t care about my mother, and your father is gone, so no one else is involved. I think it’s a good idea to be wary, but by over-reacting, we’re giving them exactly what they want, and the only ones to suffer will ultimately be us.”
“Auggie, darling, you should be doing my job.” I smiled and hugged her close. “I think you’ve provided the only sensible option to take at this moment. In the meantime, Bill, will you see to that security and we will go on as we always have?”
Bill brought up a point. “How will you explain a man showing up and calling himself your dead brother to your friends?”
I gave this some thought. “If asked, I’ll say he’s a distant relation, but won’t elaborate beyond that. He is a relation and he has been distant. The names — well, my parents could have liked the name and copied it. I don’t know. I’m not going to worry about such little details when anyone who hears about this will gossip and come up with their own opinion. That’s nothing new to me. They’ve been talking about me for years. Auggie, can you bear up to that?” I asked her directly.
She shrugged. “I’ve been known to raise an eyebrow or two myself, and Mother certainly took care of creating enough scandal that I’ll never live down.”
The three of us sat quietly for a few minutes, taking the time to look for weak links in the plan.
“Want me to check out his connections?” Bill asked.
“No, no leave them be. Don’t stir up a bee’s nest,” I answered and we all nodded.
“That seems to be it, then,” Bill concluded and after nodding to Auggie, shook my hand and left.
“The entire time I sat in that cell, there was only one thing I could think of,” I said.