Free 17 - A Hard Days Night Searcher.doc by Unknown Page A

was, but he must be loaded to warrant such
    personal attention from an attorney who didn't normally give it.
    "Marguerite?" Dr. Alexander said as he approached her. "What brings you here? I hope
    you haven't been in any trouble."
    She shook her head. "The lack of news coverage alone shows that I'm innocent. I came
    in to bail out a friend but found out I don't have enough money to cover it."
    She frowned as she suddenly realized who the dark-haired man was. "You're William
    Laurens, State Senator Laurens' eldest son, aren't you?"
     
    Bill cocked his head as he searched his mind for clues as to her identity. "Do I know
    you?"
    "She's Senator Goudeau's daughter," Dr. Alexander and her lawyer said at the same
    time.
    "Ah," Bill said as enlightenment came to his features. He extended his hand to her.
    "We've met at campaign parties."
    She nodded. "I love your wife. She's quite a character." Selena Laurens was more than
    that. Extremely idiosyncratic, Selena was a psychic who owned a new age store down in
    the Quarter. She was only tolerated by Marguerite's father because Bill's family was one of
    the wealthiest in the state ofLouisiana and Selena's family wasn't too far below his.
    Had Selena been poor, she would have been an insane kook. As it was, Marguerite's
    father referred to the tarot card reader as "eccentric."
    Bill laughed. "Yes, she is. It's why I love her." He indicated the blond man with him.
    "This is my brother-in-law Kyrian Hunter, and you already know Julian."
    "It's nice to meet you," she said to Kyrian, who shook her hand and returned her
    words.
    "If you guys will excuse me for a second…" Bill went over to the clerk to speak with
    her.
    Marguerite looked back at Kyrian. "You're the man Nick Gautier used to work for,
    aren't you?"
    Kyrian frowned. "You're a friend of Nick's?"
    She nodded. "He was a great guy."
    "Yes, he was," Kyrian said, his expression extremely sad.
    Bill rejoined them. "They're getting him now, but damn, that boy needs to learn to stay
    out of trouble."
     
    "What happened?" Kyrian asked.
    Bill sighed heavily. "Well, he neglected to tell me he'd assaulted a Tulane cop and now
    they have him in isolation."
    "Wren?" she asked hopefully. "You're here for Wren?"
    Kyrian looked stunned by her words. "You know Wren, too?"
    Marguerite nodded. "We only just met, but yes, I know him." She looked about
    sheepishly. "I'm ashamed to say that I'm the reason he was arrested."
    Bill arched a brow at that. "How so?"
    "Wren came to campus to return my backpack to me that I'd left in Sanctuary. When
    he started to leave, a group of frat boys started harassing him. After insulting him
    repeatedly, one of the boys shoved him and then Wren slugged him. The rest jumped on
    him and then the police came and arrested him for the disturbance."
    She could see Bill processing the new information with a keen focus on how he could
    use it to get Wren out of trouble. "Did he really attack a cop?"
    "Yes, but it was an accident. The officer came up from behind him and I'm sure he
    thought it was another student jumping on him. Wren didn't see who it was until after he'd
    struck the officer."
    Bill narrowed his sharp gaze on her. "You willing to testify to that?"
    "Absolutely."
    "Good," he said with a smile. She could tell that Bill was going to get Wren out of
    trouble. Thank goodness.
    "So who is this kid that he got you out at dinnertime to spring him?" Mr. Givry asked.
    "Wren Tigarian."
    Her lawyer continued to frown, as did Marguerite.
    "Should I know that name?" her lawyer asked.
     
    "Tigarian Technologies," Dr. Alexander explained. "He was the only child to Aristotle
    Tigarian and the sole heir to their entire international empire."
    Marguerite gaped at that. Tigarian Technologies was second only to Microsoft in the
    corporate world. "Why does he work as a busboy?"
    Julian gave her a pointed look. "Why does the daughter of a prominent senator go to
    Tulane and notPrinceton , Harvard, or Yale?"
    "I likeNew Orleans