Free Liberated by Dez Burke Page A

the paperwork, it was already late. He hated like hell leaving Jesse in jail overnight, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it until the morning. Jesse was tough and he’d make it through the night just fine. It wasn’t as if this was the first time he’d been arrested either, though the offenses were usually stupid misdemeanors like public drunkenness or disturbing the peace. Never anything serious enough to keep him in the slammer for more than a day or two.
    Flint had already contacted a bail bondsman he knew and had everything ready to go if he couldn’t convince the judge to dismiss the charges first. His connections from the public defender’s office were definitely paying off now when he needed them. Never in a million years would he have foreseen having to represent his brother on a murder charge.
    Flint zipped up his leather jacket and stepped outside the police station. He headed for his motorcycle parked in the far end of the lot. Even at a police station, he knew better than to park his bike close to any of the other cars. Too many times he’d found his bike lying on its side where a car had “accidentally” backed into it.
    Even now, some idiot had parked their truck right beside his bike, even with all the empty spots closer to the building. The truck’s door opened and a shadowy figure stepped out. Flint automatically felt for the pistol he normally kept in his inside jacket pocket then remembered he had left it at the house since he couldn’t be caught carrying a weapon into the police station. The person turned and he caught sight of her hair under the pale glow of the streetlight.
    Kendra!
    He ran the last few steps then drew up short when he reached her side. “What are you doing here?”
    She tugged her coat tighter around her. “I needed to see you. And to check on Jesse, too. How’s he doing?”
    “He’s okay for now,” Flint answered. “Unfortunately, there’s no way I can get him released on bail tonight. It will have to wait until morning after he goes before a judge.”
    “Will he be in a cell by himself?”
    “I hope so. I’m not worried though. Jesse has quite a reputation, and I would be surprised if anyone in this town has enough nerve to mess with him in there.”
    “How about you?” Kendra asked in a soft voice. “Are you doing okay?”
    “Much better, now that you’re here.”
    She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said simply. “You asked me to trust you and give you time to explain. I was hurt and confused so I acted childish.”
    “Kendra, you don’t ever need to apologize to me for anything. I should’ve told you the truth right upfront.”
    “Why didn’t you?” she asked, the hurt coming through in her voice. “I don’t understand why you felt you couldn’t tell me you were a lawyer. And a damn good one too, from what I’ve read. You let me go on believing you were a tattoo artist. I felt like you had tricked me. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why.”
    Flint sighed and leaned back against the hood of her truck. “This is going to sound really stupid, and you probably won’t even believe me.”
    “Yes, I will,” Kendra reassured. “Just tell me.”
    “I’m not that person anymore,” he tried to explain. “A guy who puts on a business suit and goes to work every day at the courthouse. Defending clients who may or may not be innocent. I made a decision to leave all that behind and come home. To rejoin the Steel Infidels and to be there for my brothers if they needed me. My life is so different now.” He hesitated, struggling to come up with the right words. “I didn’t tell you because I needed you to like me for the man I am now. A bad guy. An outlaw. Not the good guy I tried to be before. No matter how much I might want to be, I can’t be that guy anymore. It would be wrong to fool you into thinking I was something more than I am.”
    Kendra moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.