Miranda was small, so she was able to easily slip past Titus and bolt for the other end of the hallway where there was also a door. Ward and Bob looked at each other.
“My bum knee,” Bob said, mustache twitching.
“You know I got that hip operation coming up,” Ward said and glanced over his shoulder at the younger men in suits.
One of the FBI agents sighed, and then they both raced after Miranda. Their legs were long and she wasn’t very fast in the heels she wore. No one had to lay a hand on her to surround her, it just took one agent beating her to the door, and the other hemming her in.
“You’re out of your minds!” she yelled, then kept on ranting. I winced, and Jake brushed a kiss to my cheek.
“Come on, you too, Logan. You have to go to the station with us,” Ward said, and I wanted to scream.
“What? Why?”
He frowned and ran a hand over his flyaway hair to flatten it. “Technically you’re in violation of an emergency PFA she managed to get the magistrate to issue this morning. Protection from abuse order.”
Nearly choking, I flinched. “She got that againstme? How was I supposed to know that?”
“You couldn’t have.” He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t even had a chance to deliver the paperwork. We do have to enforce it, even though we know she’s not on the up and up.” He glanced along the hall with a weary sigh. “I’d say she’s fifty feet away. Now, comply with my request to come to the station and discuss the issue, please?”
“What the fuck?” Jake growled out. “After all this, he’s still in trouble?”
Declan cleared his throat, and Ward glanced up at him. “Can we meet you there? I don’t want him in a police car. He needs to be with us.” There was no room for argument in Declan’s voice.
Mom stood stunned nearby. I wanted to go to her, but she had tears running down her face. Connie was yelling at Titus now, which had Mrs. Pelterman, one of the neighbors, opening her door, but she slammed it again after she glanced around and got an eyeful of the cops.
Ward stared at Declan for a second, then nodded. “All right. Let’s go, fellas. Follow us out. I believe you remember the way to the station, even though you’re a city slicker now, Logan.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, a little embarrassed. “I do.”
Mom and Titus were both trying to talk to Connie, who was giving Miranda a run for her money as far as getting loud went, so I didn’t try too hard to get involved with them, simply let Jake and Declan herd me downstairs and on outside.
The trip to the police station didn’t take nearly long enough, and Jake sat in the back seat of the SUV holding me and letting loose a “fuck” every now and again. Every time he did, Declan would nod along as if we were having a deep conversation. I was terrified I’d have to stay, or worse, go to jail, no matter what had happened with the FBI. My mind wanted to believe that things were finally resolving, but I’d had so many ups and downs with Miranda my heart was racing, and I couldn’t quite let myself believe it was all real. On the drive, Declan called someone and told them what was going on. When I sent a panicked glance at Jake, he shushed me.
“It’s your lawyer.”
“My… what?” I asked, confused. “Since when?”
“We were going to tell you tonight,” Jake said and flushed. “Until I decided to come tell off your ex.”
“Power move, Jake,” Declan said from the front with a sigh. “I can’t believe you did that without saying anything to me.”
“Sorry,” he grumbled.
“Thanks,” I whispered and kissed his cheek.
“Don’t encourage it,” Declan said with a laugh as Jake sat taller and smirked.
By the time we walked in the front of the police station with Ward, who had waited in the lot for us, I was no less scared something would go wrong than I had been earlier, even with both Declan and Jake holding my hands. We got a few looks from the secretary and other cops as we went in, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Ward showed us to a small office I hadn’t been in the last time. It was little more than four white painted walls, a desk, and some seats—he had to go get an extra chair for Declan—before he shut us in with some bad cups of lukewarm coffee and a promise to be back soon. Time dragged. I had no clue how long went by while we waited and waited for something, anything, to happen, but it felt like hours.
There was a knock on the door and I glanced up, expecting to see Ward again, but I was shocked when Mom stuck her head in. Tears streaked her face. The door opened a little wider and Titus peeked over her head.
“Can I come in?” Mom asked.
“I don’t know, can you? Are you allowed in here?”
“Oh yeah, they showed me where you were.” She shrugged and shuffled past the threshold. Titus followed her in and closed the door behind himself. Neither of them were wearing coats, so it seemed like they’d taken off not long after we had and hadn’t even stopped to dress for the weather. My heart jerked.
