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“That was the FBI,” she replied. “They’ve located Chris—Christopher's Chris—and brought him in for questioning. It's quite funny how they even have the same name. They said he won’t answer anything. Now he has an attorney and is trying to make some sort of deal.” She took a deep breath. “He also is demanding to meet with me face-to-face.”Instantly alert, Alaric resisted the urge to swear. “Damn Paul. He told me he'd handle it. Are they going to allow you to do that? The guy has been trying to kill you, after all. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about that idea.”"You knew," "Yes, Paul called me on my way back. I just wanted to check up on you first. I'm just not okay with you talking to someone who has been threatening you," “They assured me I’ll be safe.” She looked down at her phone as if she expected it to have the answer. When she lifted her chin again, he saw determination in her gaze. “I want to talk to him. He must be pretty desperate to have been threatening me lik
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“We’re only holding him for the Feds,” he said, his expression pained. “He’s facing a multitude of charges, from racketeering and money laundering to attempted murder.”Alaric spoke up for the first time. “If that’s the case, then why is Vanessa here?”“Good question.” The sheriff nodded his approval. “I asked Mrs. Spencer here for two reasons. One, because Mr. Wuncler here assured me that he wanted to apologize.” He shot Chris a hard look of reproach. “And second, I’m guessing the FBI will need to ask you a few questions.”“Not without her attorney present,” Alaric quickly responded."He's right," Vanessa added, “While Christopher never involved me in his business dealings, now that I’ve been made aware he committed several crimes, it’s probably best that I obtain legal counsel.”Chris burst into laughter, surprising them. He began an insulting slow clap, eyeing her with what appeared to be begrudging approval. “Look at you,” he chortled. “Pretending to be a saint. Why did you get m
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“True.” She made a face. “After his numerous attempts to kill me, he’s now trying the equivalent of saying just kidding.”“Maybe we need to take another look in Christopher's office. Though she’s probably scrubbed it clean of anything that would even remotely implicate her, there’s always the possibility that she might have missed something.”Vanessa brightened. “Good idea. Though I’m thinking the Sheriff or the FBI would have gotten a search warrant by now.”“I’ll double-check.” Privately, he thought if they hadn’t, then no one was doing their job. He noticed the worry written on her face and tried to cheer her up, "It's going to be over soon," he assured her, "Things are like this now because we're closing up on them and we're coming to the end of all this. You've been strong and brave the entire time. You can't stop now," —------------Alaric returned from the station and Vanessa could tell from the look on his face that something was up. Alaric looked as if he had been run over b
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Chloe snorted. “I looked, believe me. Despite that, I still haven’t a clue what Christopher did with it, but I’m guessing it’s sitting in some private offshore account right now. I would venture a wild guess that Chris knows exactly where it is, but I haven’t had any luck in locating him.” With her gun still trained on Vanessa, Chloe squinted her eyes. “I don’t suppose you know where he is, do you?”For a second, Vanessa considered shaking her head. Instead, she decided to go with the truth. “He’s in police custody in downtown Anniversary.”“What? Why?”“He’s been threatening me. He’s the one who shot out my back window and sent a package bomb.”“No.” Though the hand holding the pistol never wavered, Chloe appeared on the verge of hysterical laughter. “Are you serious?”“I am.” Eyeing the gun, Vanessa decided she might as well ask point-blank. “What are you doing? Why are you holding a gun on me?”“Tying up loose ends. You truly didn’t have any idea about anything, did you?”“You mea
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The tall man in front sneered. “Because we couldn’t afford to take any chances. We know what you are, Lawman. And you’re going to be our insurance to make sure no one interferes in our business. Got it?”Outed. Alaric didn’t dare glance at Vanessa to see her reaction. He’d wanted to tell her himself, but now that choice had been taken away from him. But he couldn’t allow himself to focus on that. Right now he needed to worry about keeping them alive. Four armed against two unarmed. If Vanessa hadn’t been there, Alaric might have taken a wild chance and tried to fight. As it was, he had to do whatever it took to protect her. His BOS brothers were now his and Vanessa's best chance. If only he could figure out a way to alert them. Even if Bobby could hear well enough to decipher what was going on, any assistance he could send would arrive far too late.“Now what?” he asked, looking from Chloe to the three armed men. “What’s your plan?”“You’re coming with us,” the man who’d spoken earli
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“I’m fine.” Her dismissive look told him she was anything but.“Do you want to talk?” he asked, still clinging to the stubborn hope that a future between them might be possible.“Not now,” she responded. “Not today. Maybe not ever. I’m not sure we have anything to discuss.”Though his heart sank, he managed to smile and nod. “I understand.” And the sad part was that he did. Clearly, he needed to resign himself to a life bereft of her. Despite trying not to watch him, Vanessa saw the myriad raw emotions cross Alaric's handsome face. For the first time since she’d met him, he appeared vulnerable. She shouldn’t care—she didn’t care—or so she told herself."Paul said the reason why he'd come was to tell me that they found something in Christopher's office when they searched it. It was a thumb drive, and it indeed proves that Chloe was in on the whole thing with him. He gave it to me and I checked it out when you were with the paramedics. I have to go to the station."She waited for him to
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The instant he left the room, closing the door behind him, Vanessa turned to Alaric. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a possibility I could face charges?”He shrugged. “If I had, would you have come?"She didn’t even have to think. “Of course not.”“That’s why. I figured you’d have a much better chance if you came to them, with me vouching for you, than if they’d come out and arrested you.”“You have a point,” she said slowly. “And while I understand their reasoning, don’t they have to have some sort of proof that I did something wrong?”Alaric lifted one shoulder. “Don’t panic, okay? Let’s just wait and see what Bobby comes back with.”A moment later, the door swung open and Bobby Brown returned. Vanessa's heart sank at the serious expression on the other man’s face. This couldn’t be good.“We’re willing to consider your request,” Bobby said carefully.Alaric snorted. “Come on. You know you don’t have enough to charge her. From what I understand, we've got a ton of valuable informa
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He stared at her, and Vanessa averted her eyes. She couldn't look at him. He looked so hurt and she almost flung herself at him, but they didn't belong together and there was no point letting things go on longer than it should. They'd just be postponing the inevitable. "You don't have to stay in a hotel, Vanessa. You can stay with me…. And…. And then maybe we can get the chance to say goodbye to each other… Properly. Not standing here like strangers. We don't have to end it this way," That made sense, Vanessa told herself, or maybe it did because she wanted it to. She turned to look at his handsome face, "Alright," she said, "Let's go," —-----------It didn’t matter how many times Alaric tasted her or slid deep inside her, it was never enough. He was addicted to her—to the way she moved against him, how her mouth brought him pleasure and then riled him up seconds later when she mouthed off, or the way she cried out his name as she came. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, not whe
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