Free Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

out?”
    â€œYes. Positive.”
    Mr. Givry looked extremely skeptical, but he turned dutifully to the female clerk. “How much is his bail?”
    â€œSeventy-five thousand dollars.”
    Both she and her lawyer gaped.
    That couldn’t be right, could it? “Are you serious?” she asked them.
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Marie said without hesitation. “He assaulted an officer.”
    Marguerite was indignant on Wren’s behalf. “Not on purpose. He didn’t know it was an officer when he struck out.”
    The male clerk scoffed at that. “Yeah, that’s what they all say.”
    Marguerite felt ill and angry. She didn’t have that kind of money. At least not without going to her father, who would stroke if she told him why she wanted it.
    â€œHi, Daddy, I met this man who is a busboy in a local biker bar and he needs to get out of jail.… What did he do? Nothing much. Just assaulted an officer and Blaine. You remember Blaine, don’t you? His father is one of your major campaign contributors. But that’s okay, isn’t it? Wren’s a good guy. He even got shot when he kept me from being raped after I was down in the area of the Quarter where you told me not to go.
    â€œDaddy? Are you seizing? Should I get the pills for your heart?”
    Oh yeah, that would go over well.
    Mr. Givry gave her a sympathetic look. “What would you like for me to do, Ms. Goudeau?”
    Loan me the money?
    Before she could answer with something more reasonable than that, the outside door opened to admit three men. She knew one of them instantly. He was Dr. Julian Alexander, who had been her undergraduate advisor.
    Tall, blond, and absolutely gorgeous, he was with two other good-looking men. One who was two inches taller and blond and another one who had short black hair. The brunette stood even in height to Dr. Alexander.
    â€œBill,” her attorney said to the dark-haired man as he offered his hand to him. “What brings you here? I didn’t know you made personal calls anymore.”
    Bill laughed as he shook Mr. Givry’s proffered hand. “I don’t.”
    â€œThen I must be imagining things.”
    Bill continued to smile. “I wish, but I have an extremely valuable client to bail out. He always gets my personal attention, if you know what I mean.”
    The look on Mr. Givry’s face said he knew exactly what Bill was talking about. Marguerite had no idea who Bill’s client was, but he must be loaded to warrant such personal attention from an attorney who didn’t normally give it.
    â€œMarguerite?” 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?”
    â€œShe’s Senator Goudeau’s daughter,” Dr. Alexander and her lawyer said at the same time.
    â€œAh,” 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 of Louisiana 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