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“That’s fair. You have papers for her?”
I hold them out. He scans them and grins. “Perfect. Will she be okay to walk in with me?”
I nod, dropping down to Lucy and giving her a pat on the head. “Guard Lil.”
She licks my face, making me grin. Fuck knows if she gets what I’m saying, but she’ll figure it out. Lucy’s a smart cookie, and she loves my girl. I get to my feet and hold the door open so he can pass after I hand him Lucy’s leash. I walk in behind him and move to join Nathan, who I see sitting against the far wall, a couple of empty suits on either side. I take a seat next to him. He’s about to speak, but I nod for him to check out the lawyer.
I lean forward and listen as Lane explains who he is, that he wants to be shown in to see his client immediately, and that she should have her service dog with her. When the cop at the desk starts stalling him, the lawyer tears into him. He pulls out his phone to call the mayor, which has the cop scrambling. The cop picks up the desk phone and calls someone, his eyes lifting to Lane, who stares down hard at him.
A few minutes later, two men walk into view. One of them in a uniform, one of them in an ill-fitted suit. Both of them are wearing scowls.
“Oh yeah, that guy on the left is definitely a fed. I smell the bureaucracy on him,” Nathan mutters.
I nod but keep my eyes on the scene. They’re all talking too quietly for me to hear, but when the agent in the badly fitting suit looks over and sees me, his scowl deepens before he relents and lets Lane and Lucy through.
I let out a relieved sigh and look over at Nathan, who is watching me with interest.
He lowers his voice. “Service dog?”
I shrug, unable to explain to him the pressing need I had to get Lucy to Lil and how I must have, somewhere in the back of my mind, planned for something like this to happen to make everything seem legit. Hopefully, Lil doesn’t say something to blow Lucy’s cover, though I’m sure Lane will be on guard for that.
“What happened before I got here?”
“Not much. I was told to wait, and I’d be seen soon. The waiting room itself is kinda quiet, as you can see, which makes you wonder who the fuck all the cars belong to.”
“You get the plates of any?”
He looks at me like I’m a dumbass, which, of course, I am. This is what he does.
“Right, my bad,” I mutter.
“I get it. These fuckers seem to have a hard-on for your girl.”
“Not the first person to say that. What I wanna know is why? When she went to them, they weren’t interested in her story. Now they want to use her to get to James, potentially putting her in danger. Fuck that.”
“You know how these guys are. Why do you think women have such a hard time reporting shit to the cops to begin with? They’re either not believed or dismissed as dramatic. Or my personal favorite, they’re told the cops’ hands are tied. But if she gets murdered, she should definitely call them.”
I’d laugh if it weren’t so tragically fucking true.
We sit there for what feels like hours, and not a fucking soul comes out to tell us what’s going on. A steady stream of people comes and goes, giving us a wide berth. They must see the violence bubbling under my skin and read the warning for what it is.
At one point, Nathan disappears and returns with coffee for both of us. He leans a little closer when he takes his seat once more. “Four of the cars are government-issued. Definitely Feds. Nothing suspicious on the others so far. Three belong to officers, and one is registered to whom I’m guessing is that guy over there.”
“There were more than eight cars when I drove past.”
“The team is still running down the others. There were a couple of plates that the cameras only picked up partials for, so it’s taking longer.”
He stops talking when a door opens, and the sound of claws taps across the floor. I stand and hand my coffee off to Nathan, recognizing the sound of Lucy approaching. I see Lane first. Just behind him, with her head down, is Lil. As if sensing me, she lifts her head and offers me a wobbly smile. I stalk toward her, noticing the men following her out. I keep my eyes on them, not liking the way one of them in particular is watching her when she is led around the counter.
“Don’t leave town, Mrs. Taylor,” the asshole says, which has Lane whirling on him.
Lil ignores him and breaks into a run. I brace as she collides into me, pulling her tight to my chest and wrapping my arms tightly around her. “You came,” she murmurs into my chest.
“Nothing on this earth would have stopped me from getting to you.”
Chapter Nine
LIL
