Free Vamps: Human and Paranormal by Eva Sloan, Mercy Walker Page B

He chuckled long enough to peeve Lucy off again.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “You.”
    Lucy squared her shoulders.  “Why am I so funny to you?”
    “Well shit!”  He slammed his fist down on his desk, making Lucy jump.  “I told you before, I’m tapped out.  Broke.   It took everything I had to pay back that psycho Scarlet.”
    “Oh...”  Lucy genuinely felt confused.  “But you said anything at all.”
    “I meant as in legal representation.  I thought— maybe —you’d want to try to get your precious Daddy out of jail.  Maybe sue someone over something.”
    Does that mean you didn’t do everything you could for him?  The thought was like holding a red hot, double edged sword.  On one hand, she was instantly angry he hadn’t done right by her father.  On the other hand, her father didn’t give a damn about her...not anymore.  So why was she letting herself get upset over him?
    Lucy closed her eyes, shook her head and took in a long, slow breath.  Get this crap out of your head! You can’t give up this easy...
    Sure you can, the mean little voice chimed in.  I’m sure you can just go back to McDonalds tomorrow.  Things will be just like they were, like nothing ever happened.
    Lucy wished the mean little voice was real, as in something or someone she could reach out and strangle.
    That wonderful heat bloomed in her head again, the heat that ignited whenever she got really annoyed.  It made everything sharper, more focused—and it made her feel strong.
    “Fine.  No cash, no problem.”
    Luvici’s eyes got round with surprise.  “No problem?”
    “Nope.  None at all.”
    Luvici let out a breath and slumped in his chair with relief.  That lasted three seconds.
    “But since you’re offering me your legal services in more of a barter/blackmail scenario, then you’ll need to find me some sort of deal.”
    “A deal?”  His eyes darkened as he started to understand he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
    “Yeah, a nice fat deal.  Maybe...I don’t know...”   Lucy really didn’t know.  She’d planned out the whole blackmail the shyster lawyer routine, but she wasn’t a legal eagle.  What kind of deal would get her the money she needed, but didn’t involve actual work, or something unimaginably dangerous?
    Then she thought of something she’d read about online.  Something she’d thought was not only a tacky piece of petty crime, but that seemed to involve no actual work at all.
    Perfect.
    “I’d like you to set me up one of those arranged marriages.  You know, where I marry a rich, illegal alien for a big-fat-hefty sum of money...and then six months later we get divorced.”
    She could literally see the gears twirling around in Luvici’s head.  There might just be more than a hamster on an exercise wheel in there...
    “That’s something I don’t usually delve into.”
    “But you have some experience in the matter?”  Lucy was suddenly sitting on the edge of her seat.  She could just make out the sparkling diamond at the end of the tunnel.  “That’s something you could set up for me?”
    Luvici nodded.  “Sure,” he said, reaching for the cigarette he’d set down when they started talking.  It had burned out already.  He picked up his pack and tapped out another one.  His hands were still shaking as he sparked it up, but after one enormous inhalation a sort of calm settled around him.
    “I just don’t think you realize all that goes into one of these arrangements.”
    Pregnant pause.  She had to prompt Luvici to continue.  “As in?”
    “Well, for starters, the Immigration Department is a real bitch about this sort of thing anymore.  They’ll put you through the ringer.  They’ll investigate every aspect of you and your groom’s lives, including family, friends, and work acquaintances.”
    The family thing struck a fairly dissident chord for Lucy.  How on earth would she explain this to her grandmother?  Gram will kill me...
    “And the penalty