Ross whistled and wrote on the notepad placed in front of him. “You’re right. It would definitely be something to see if we could pin this on Bennett.” Ross scribbled some more on his notepad before making eye contact with Aja again. “All right, Counselor, I’ll give you the immunity you’re asking for. But only if your client agrees to testify against Bennett if this goes to court.”
Aja narrowed her eyes. “You’re gonna try to plead Bennett out?”
The prosecutor tilted his head as his eyes met Aja’s. “Bennett is a big deal in Fresh Springs. The crimes were committed in Fresh Springs. More than likely, they’ll be tried there too. If he fights this, he’ll more than likely lose with this video. But that still doesn’t mean he won’t fight us. I’m about to put in a call to a friendly judge to get a warrant to search Bennett’s accounts and his home. Hopefully, we can catch him off guard and get more to pin on him to use as leverage for a plea bargain. Does your client still have the money Bennett paid him?”
Aja tapped her pen on the table, then wrote down an address and slid it to Jackson. “My client says Bennett handed him the money himself. Maybe you can trace the bills back to Eli through the serial numbers once the Rangers retrieve them from that address.”
Ross watched her again. The lawyer in her knew he was tallying up the ways in which she’d practically made his case for him. He wrote a few more lines on his notepad and stood, extending his hand to Aja. “You’re not half-bad at this lawyer thing, Ms. Everett. If you ever feel like working for the prosecution, look me up.”
She stood and accepted the hand he offered, smiling as she answered, “Thanks, but this county couldn’t afford me.” She looked down at a wide-eyed Taylor and winked. “This was simply me helping out a friend.” The boy smiled, relief smoothing out the worry lines previously carved into his young face. His ordeal wasn’t over yet, not until they could put Eli Bennett behind bars where he belonged. But the immediate danger of him losing his freedom was over, and that was a win she was happy to claim.
Ross left the room, leaving Jackson, Taylor, and Aja remaining. She stole a brief glance at Jackson. There was something unrecognizable settling in his eyes.
He was probably trying to figure out how a person could manipulate a child like Taylor, or thinking about some other detail of the case. Because whatever he was thinking about it, she was certain it wasn’t her. And she definitely didn’t think he was feeling the looming sadness closing in on the margins of her heart.
No, that was reserved for her. Because as happy as she was that this craziness was about to be over, that Taylor would walk out of this building with his freedom, and that she and her people were safe again, a little corner of her heart ached the slightest bit in knowing Jackson would leave Restoration Ranch.
She cleared her throat, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her. She was a grown woman who’d walked into their one night of glorious sex with open eyes. It was never supposed to be more than it was, and she wouldn’t let herself get all worked up like some clingy teenager who didn’t know how to end things with a kiss and a smile. “Taylor, I’ll wait here with you until your dad arrives with your new attorney.”
“His dad arrived a few minutes ago. Reenie texted me.”
Aja smoothed her hands against her braids, trying to control the awkward, nervous energy suddenly running through her. “Oh, good. That means you’ll be out of here soon.”
Jackson stepped on the other side of Taylor, leaning down and unlocking his handcuffs. “My associate Ranger Adams will be in with your paperwork and your dad, Taylor. Soon you’ll be free to go.”
The boy stood slowly, then in a rush of anxiety and relief, he threw his arms around Aja and hugged her so tight she knew he had to have rearranged some internal organs. “Thank you so much, Ms. Aja.” She was about to tell him it was nothing when she felt tremors run through his body and heard his heavy, emotion-laden voice crack. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. Please forgive me.”
She rubbed her hands up and down Taylor’s back, soothing him as if he were a baby instead of the almost-man filling her arms. “The fault rests with Bennett, not you. He forced you into this. Not to mention, we’ve all needed a little forgiveness in our lives. Me especially. I’m simply paying it forward.” She stepped out of his embrace, drying the tears on his face with a stroke of her thumbs. “Next time, if something like this happens to you, talk to someone. Your family loves you. They would never have let Bennett get away with this. Not for any reason.”
There was a knock on the door, and Earl Sullivan stepped inside, followed by a brunette in a business suit. After a brief exchange on the events, Aja followed Jackson out of the interrogation room, leaving a grateful parent and child to wrap things up with their new attorney.
“You did a good thing in there.”
Her lips curved seemingly of their own power whenever his velvet tones danced in her ears. She honestly needed to get a handle on that, or he would think she was some kind of grinning idiot.If he doesn’t already believe it.
“I know I did. Glad you didn’t fight me too much on it, or things would’ve gotten ugly.”
Jackson held up his hands in surrender. “Fighting people is your thing, not mine. I’m glad you could help that boy. I was never comfortable railroading him, by the way. But I don’t have a lot of control over Ross.”
“Jackson, sooner or later, you will have to learn that there’s a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. That’s not a judgment on you specifically, more on the system itself. People who are making ends meet or are poor, disenfranchised, or belong to marginalized communities don’t have equal footing in the legal system.”
Jackson let a derisive chuckle slip into the air. “This coming from a woman whose job it was to get her rich clients out of hot water with the law?”
“I worked with those rich clients so my firm could afford to take on double the pro-bono hours we were required to, and I donated my money and my time to legal clinics in areas of low socioeconomic status to give people a fighting chance in the system that often says they don’t matter. There’s no rule that says I can’t like making money and help those in need at the same time. There’s also no rule that says you can’t bring people to justice and still help them at the same time. It’s all about balance, Ranger Dean.”
She waited for an angry reply; annoying him seemed to be her superpower, so it wouldn’t surprise her if her words got a rise out of him. But instead of the defensive retort she was expecting, Jackson stepped closer to her and gave her a playful tap. “You’re right. There’s no reason I can’t do both.”
She stared at him. He still had that strange look of introspection mixed with speculation he’d had when they were in the interrogation room. She didn’t understand what he was seeking the answers to, but whatever it was, there was something softer and less guarded about him. She was about to ask him what was going on when he pressed a gentle hand against her upper arm and said, “Let’s get you back home.”
* * *
Jackson took the scenic route back to Restoration Ranch, and he knew he was doing it on purpose. There was something about returning Aja to the ranch that felt final, like he was closing the door on an important moment in his life. He’d spent a handful of days with this woman and her land, and now the idea of never being there again with her was making him feel detached and lost.
He didn’t want to think about why that was. Instead, he held on to the few remaining moments he had with her in the cab of his truck, wallowing in the quiet comfort of her presence for the last time.
Fighting the building desire to reach across the console and rest his hand on her thigh, he tightened his fingers around the steering wheel. Just because she’d allowed him to share her body once, that didn’t give him the right to take such liberties now. Especially not when he’d insisted such intimacies could never happen between them again.
God, he was still kicking himself for that.
