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Fan-fucking-tastic. Of course she had to be married on top of it all. His chest ached.
“I wouldn’t put anything past you, Buchanan.” He shoved all his emotions—for Alex, for his best friend, for everything—into a tiny box in his mind and set it aside. “You’re an asshole. We know Roxie would vouch for that.”
Joe flipped him off, then turned to Alex, dismissing him. The fucker.
“Alex, I wanted to let you know in person that Woodsworth struck a deal. They’re going with six months in jail, plus a year of bullshit community service.” Joe raked his hand through his hair, his frustration obvious. “I’m really sorry. We were all hoping for a lot longer.”
* * *
Alex’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t have heard that right.
“Six months? That’s it? Preston almostkilledme, and he getssixmonths? He also attackedyou. Isn’t there some law about attacking an FBI agent?” Her pulse raced. Disbelief and horror turned her stomach. Her gaze shifted from Joe to Quinn, with a desperate hope that Quinn would tell her differently.
He didn’t.
Holy crap. Six months.
The erratic thumping of her heart signaled the beginning of a panic attack. She fisted her hands in her lap, trying to hold it at bay.
“The county prosecutor’s office made some clerical errors when they filed the paperwork for his case. There were some other... issues... on our end that fucked things up, too.” Joe pressed his lips into a thin, angry line. “Long story short, they were only able to get one minor assault charge to stick. Everything else was thrown out. I’m really sorry, Alex.”
Her chin dropped to her chest. She was pretty sure she already knew the answer to her next question, but she asked it, anyway. “He’s not going to serve the full six months, is he?”
“Well...” Joe hesitated.
“Don’t placate me, Joe.” She was tired. Down-to-the-bone weary. “Please. Just tell me how long.”
His bright-blue eyes met hers. “If you’re lucky, five months. Tops. If he’s lucky, then one month.Possiblyninety days. My bet is on him.”
Rubbing her pounding temple, she sat back and let a frustrated sigh escape. “Mine is, too.” She rose from her chair, suddenly antsy, and paced the small room. “Let’s say he gets out in a month. Then what, Joe? Does he know where I am?”
“No. And I don’t think he knows about the baby.”
She spun to face him. “Back in Boston, you said that Preston was told I’d miscarried. Now you don’tthinkhe knows?” Chills skated down her spine. “Either he knows or he doesn’t. Which one is it?”
“I don’t know. We aren’t sure who he has in his pocket. There’s a chance someone could have leaked the truth.” Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, then gave her a look she couldn’t interpret. Her unease grew and in her gut she knew that she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say next.
A loud knock at the door caused her to jump.
“Come in,” Quinn called out, his deep voice echoing in the quiet room.
A baby-faced deputy poked his head through the door. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Sheriff. There’s an urgent phone call for Agent Buchanan.”
Without a word, Joe rose and followed the young deputy out.
When the door shut behind them, she sat down. Hands fisted on her lap, she dug her nails into her palms, leaving little crescent-shaped marks. Her mind raced with everything that had transpired. But there was something in particular that nagged at her. Something that made anger and disappointment battle inside her for attention.
Quinn.
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, eyes locked on his desk.
She stared at him. When he finally met her gaze, the anger won out, and she embraced it. “Do you honestly think I was cheating on my pious and faithful husband by having an affair with Joe? That I’m having Joe’s baby and all these bruises and stitches are some wronged husband’s justified idea of getting payback on his whore of a wife?”
“Yes. I mean, no! Dammit, no.” Quinn sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. He stood, rounded his desk, and sat in the chair Joe had vacated, elbows on his knees, hands clasped.
She crossed one leg over the other and put her fisted hands on the armrests.
“Alex, I don’t know what’s going on, but regardless of what happened or what didn’t happen between you and Joe, nothing justifiesanyoneraising a hand to you.Ever.”
