“I’ve read articles about you too.” She shrugged. “Currently, the whole city is wondering who you’re in bed with.”
I cringed.
“I hate to say it that way, Rose, but. . .I know Xandi. However, I don’t know you.”
“Then, let’s get to know me.” I held out my hand. “My name is Rose Walsh. I try to fight on the side of good as much as I can. Currently, I am in bed with no one. I am not dating Dimitri Ivanov and I plan to have no further contact with Mayor Parks.”
“And you want to help me battle Paradise city because you care about blacks in the West. Why?”
“I hate when the bad guys win.”
Drake appeared. He placed three glasses on the bar, engraved with lines of flowers. Next, he poured Rosé champagne halfway into each glass. The golden liquid bubbled. Then he topped each one with puffy pink cotton candy and poured more over it. The cotton candy dissolved, transforming the liquid to a pinkish gold.
“Thank you.” I picked up mine.
“No problem, Ms. Walsh. Please, let me know when you’re ready to order.”
“We will.”
Never picking up her glass, Melissa watched me.
I took a sip of mine and loved the sweetness. “This is delicious. You should try it.”
“You really want to help me?”
“I do.”
Suspicion filled her eyes. She took the glass and then tried it. “You’re right. This is good.”
“And our teaming up would be good too.”
“So, you’re going to pay for my whole legal team?”
“I will.” I took another sip and tried not to get too excited. I could feel her leaning my way for help.
She placed the glass down and tapped her fingers on the bar. “It could go on for years. That’s a lot of money.”
“I happen to have a decent amount. My only question is do you really have a case?”
“I do.”
“Prove it.”
“I have a lot of evidence.” She lowered her voice. “That’s probably the only reason why I’m alive.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“They know I made copies of certain things and have them with different people. I told Jonathan Parks that if something happens to me, those people have been instructed to give the evidence to the media.”
“Oh my.” I took another sip.
“So, I’m alive due to that.” Her bottom lip quivered. “However, Jonathan doesn’t plan on having me legally fight him during this election, so he’s forbid every lawyer in a 50 mile radius of Paradise to not take my calls or meet with me.”
“I know some lawyers out of New York that would come down and help you. They could gather a proper legal team from this state. But the case would need to be juicy enough.”
“It is.”
“Can you give me a small taste?”
She frowned. “Are you sure you’re not involved with the Diamond Syndicate?”
“What? No.” I considered the question. “Wait. What does the Diamond Syndicate have to do with anything?”
“Well. . .” She looked over her shoulder. “I started recording the meetings that Jonathan was having in the courtyard behind the mayor’s office. It’s a public area and so recording is legal and able to be submitted in court.”
“How were you able to get close enough to record?”
She pursed her lips.
I placed my hand on hers. “I can protect you.”
“How?”
I gestured to my guards on the other side of the bar. “I’m going to give you one of my guards to keep you safe.”
She parted her lips.
“And I can get more guards in a few days. I would just need time to work it out.”
“You really will protect me from the Diamond Syndicate and Mayor Parks?”
While the Syndicate’s mention made me nervous, I nodded anyway. “Yes. And because Xandi is your girl, she will make sure I do it.”
She nodded.
“How were you able to get close enough to record these courtyard meetings?”
She sighed. “I was part of the meetings. Sometimes I was the middle man for Jonathan. He didn’t like speaking with Police Commissioner Kane personally.”
“Alright.” Super intrigued, I moved my hand from hers and took another sip to calm myself. “What are some of the things you recorded?”
“Jonathan ordered Commissioner Kane to have the police bug all of the Diamond Syndicate’s churches.”
“Legal monitoring?”
“Not at all. The police bypassed warrants and judge approvals. The recordings weren’t intended to be used in court.”
I shook my head. “What were they going to be used for?”
“To get rid of the Diamond Syndicate.” Melissa picked up her glass. It trembled from her shaking fingers. She took a sip and then placed it down. “And. . .what Commissioner Kane learned about in the recordings was that. . .”
“I promise you that you can trust me.”
She checked behind her again, faced me, and then whispered, “He knew that the Four Aces old leader, Leo Hao was planning to kill off the top Diamond Syndicate members.”
That news bent my mind. Then, shock rocked me. I set the glass down. “Can you. . .explain that a little more to me.”