Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Who is this Ambrose Dunn guy?” I asked, changing the subject.
He bent down and grabbed a pair of my flipflops and placed them on my feet.
I tried not to like that, either.
“To tell you about Ambrose, I’d have to tell you about the new DA, Leslie Tanner, first,” he explained.
“Then I’m all ears,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
He pulled my arms away from my chest, then walked me out the door of his bedroom.
He ignored his family and went on to explain, “Leslie has things to prove.”
He went on to explain how Tanner was new and was trying to make a name for himself. How he was handing out harsher punishments where he could so he could look like he was making the city safer.
He then went on to give me a few examples of what was going on with others in the community.
By the time he was done, I was terrified.
“Am I going to go to jail?” I asked, heart in my throat.
Out of everything that had happened lately, that hadn’t even been on my radar.
Hell, even when Quinn had explained that I could be implicated in some way, I hadn’t thought that this would be an outcome.
“No,” he said. “That’s where Ambrose Dunn comes in. He’s with the DEA. Silas McKenzie recommended him to me. He was able to pull a few strings, and link your brother to not only Dallas, but Oklahoma and New Mexico. Since it’s through multiple states, DEA was able to take over the investigation. Bad for Costas, but good for you.”
I blew out a breath, not happy to hear that news, but not upset, either.
“What does that mean for Costas?” I questioned.
“Federal prison. More charges,” he answered. “Longer sentence.”
My shoulders drooped. “And me?”
“And you get a fair judge,” he answered. “Now, we’ll go talk to him.”
We made it out into the main room, and once again the sight of all the things that I’d once told Quinn that I wanted in a house struck me stupid.
I loved this place he’d created.
I loved it even more that Quinn had remembered.
I also wasn’t willing to admit how much it meant to me.
“In here,” Garnett called when we stepped into the main living area.
Quinn turned us so that we were in the kitchen, where all of them were holding cups of coffee.
Garnett came up to me and placed her hands on my cheeks before saying, “You look beautiful.”
I tried to smile but failed.
I just wasn’t in the mood to play happy.
“Thanks,” I murmured quietly.
“Agent Dunn,” Quinn said. “This is my fiancée, Shayne Rodriguez.”
I went to immediately disagree, but Quinn squeezed my hand, halting my words before they’d left my lips.
Garnett snorted and pulled away, walking back to the counter where she grabbed two mugs of coffee, handing one to me, then taking a seat at the bar.
Sometime over the last couple of days, new barstools had arrived.
Ones that I would’ve picked.
I had a feeling Ande had something to do with that.
“Nice to meet you,” Agent Dunn said. “And call me Ambrose.”
I nodded. “Ambrose.”
“I’m here because I have to be,” he explained. “I’ve read enough of the report on the circumstances, as well as talked to your brother-in-law, Gable. I don’t technically feel like I need your statement on the matter to make a sound judgment, but I have to make it look like I’m being fair.”
My stomach started to feel funny. Like life wasn’t as bad as I thought it was a couple of seconds ago.
My brows rose. “What do you need from me to do that?”
Short of giving him my body, I’d do just about anything not to be in trouble with the law.
“Tell me everything, in your own words, of what happened over the last year leading up to the arrest of your brother,” he suggested.
So I did, explaining how I went out of my way to stay away from home as much as possible. How I used the back entrance to enter into the house. How I left when Costas arrived.
“I can attest to all of that,” Quinn offered up. “I was over there at her place the night before the warrant was served and the arrest of Costas was made. I saw nothing lying out in plain view. I looked pretty thoroughly, too.”
Quinn looked rather sheepish, allowing me to see that on his face.
I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at him.
His admission didn’t surprise me, though.
I mean, he was a cop, through and through.
You didn’t just turn something like that off.
“Okay,” Ambrose said. “The DA, Tanner, is going to…”
I tuned him out, allowing the people in the room who knew what they were talking about to converse.
I allowed my gaze to flitter around the room, tuning out everything but the way seeing Quinn’s newly built house made me feel.