Free Leader of the Pack by Leighann Phoenix

Derrick smiled at the guard, knowing there really wasn’t anything he had done that the guard could do anything about at this point. He hobbled out of the courtroom on his crutches.
    * * * *
    Rafe watched from the back of the courtroom. This is better than I thought it’d be. I don’t think she could be pushed much lower , he thought.
    The last time Rafe had seen Aislinn she was full of fire. She had fought him like a hell cat to get away. He knew he’d track her down again. For now he was content to let her stew. It was obvious that the atmosphere of her life here was wearing on her. He wanted her so low that when he offered her help, she would accept because she lacked any other alternative. This court case had totally blown her cover. If there was one type of record you couldn’t keep secret, it was a police record.
    Rafe’s contacts regularly kept track of police records. The minute Aislinn’s name came across his desk, in the same area he was already headed, he knew he’d get his chance with her again. But, he was patient and had more important things to attend to for now. If she had ended up in jail he would have done something about that. But she could handle a fine. Besides, from what he had been told she was working for the Arnauk, and that might come in handy in the end.
    * * * *
    Cullen’s stomach started to growl. He had been staring at the latest reports and avoiding leaving for the reservation. It was a three hour drive. He still had an hour or two before he had to leave in order to be there before sunset. He had been managing to find excuses to not leave all day. Everyone was waiting patiently. As far as most of the others were concerned this was Cullen’s day. If he wanted to be late and piss off Jenna, that was his call.
    The report he was looking at seemed to be calling his name. It was as though he knew there was something in it that he was just missing. His stomach growled again. Finally he decided to just take the damn reports with him. He pulled them together and headed down to the restaurant.
    Cullen sat down in his normal seat more than a little nervous about possibly seeing Aislinn which pissed him off right from the start. He began spreading the records out to look at them while he waited. Just then a small commotion got his attention. He looked up to see Aislinn rushing through the restaurant and Meghan following her. He didn’t even think about it. He just knew that something was wrong.
    Cullen came up to the employee’s break room. He could smell Aislinn and Meghan and he knew that they had gone in there. The door was open a crack. He could hear crying. He almost stormed in to find out why Meghan was making Aislinn cry when he heard someone start talking.
    “Meghan I’m sorry,” I didn’t mean to be late Aislinn sobbed. Cullen stopped and listened, hoping he’d hear what was going on. He figured that Aislinn wouldn’t tell him.
    Meghan tried to be mad, but it was really hard to be the boss and yell at someone when they were already upset. “Alright, just tell me why you’re so upset. I can’t very well send you out to wait on customers like this.” Meghan tried to be comforting, but Aislinn pulled away in a manner that reminded Meghan of someone who had been abused.
    Aislinn shook her head. “I can’t. Please I just need to go to the restroom. I’ll be fine.” She sounded so defeated. Cullen knew how she felt.
    “Aislinn,” Meghan said in a sympathetic tone, “I need to tell Liam something. I know you told Rissa that you had to go to court today. Is this about that? What happened?”
    “Rissa told you?” Aislinn was scared to death she was going to lose her job. God she had just been to court and found guilty of battery. Never mind that it wasn’t her. She would have done it herself if she had been capable. As it was it didn’t matter who had done it. She was the one who was found guilty and the Taigh-O  sda wasn’t the kind of place that employed people with a