Page 11 of Protecting Maggie
“All good,” Preacher confirmed.
“Still feel the same? That she didn’t do what she was accused of?”
“Even more so,” he admitted. He simply couldn’t see Maggie transporting drugs to sell. Maybe he was being naïve, but he didn’t think so.
“Right. So…are we taking the car in to be looked at?”
Preacher smiled. That was one of the many reasons he respected his team leader. “Yup.”
Kevlar sighed. “You know after they hear Maggie’s story, Remi and the others are probably going to want to befriend her. Not sure I’m comfortable with that,” he said.
“Of course they are. Remi’s a good judge of character.”
“I know, but I’m still worried.”
“Good luck telling her you don’t want her contacting Maggie,” Preacher said with a small grin.
“Shit,” Kevlar said, blowing out a breath and running a hand through his hair. “You honestly don’t think she’s a danger?” he asked his teammate.
“No.”
“I’ll see if I can convince Remi to take things slow. Maybe start out by getting to know her by text or something. Give us a chance to check the situation out.”
Preacher grinned wider. He had a feeling Remi wasn’t going to want to “take things slow.”
It felt right to bring Maggie into their fold. If anyone needed a friend, it was that woman. She was prickly and untrusting, but he couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t imagine what two years behind bars had been like. But today, she’d crossed paths with the right people. He and his friends would make sure she’d be okay.
CHAPTER FOUR
Maggie lay on Adina’s couch and stared up at the ceiling. Her belly was full, she’d actually had a good night’s sleep, and it felt great to take a day off from stressing about finding a job, getting enough money to eat, and wondering if Adina’s car was going to finally break down for good.
Speaking of the car…she’d gotten a text from Shawn a short while ago, asking if she would allow him to take the car to a trustworthy mechanic he knew. She hadn’t responded yet, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to get any more involved with Shawn or his friends than she was already. Trusting someone, especially a man, wasn’t something she was comfortable with. Roman Robertson hadn’t even blinked when he’d set her up. The four months they’d been dating had apparently meant nothing to him. She was just a means to an end. And it stung. A lot.
So Maggie couldn’t help but wonder why Shawn was sokeen on helping her. She was relieved he and his friends hadn’t gone to the police about her using Adina’s ride-share profile, but at any time, they still could.
The smart thing would be to block Shawn’s number and pretend she’d never met him.Especiallybecause he was in the Navy. But the man knew where she lived. He could easily call her probation officer and rat her out. At this point, the best thing would be to let him do his act of charity and slowly ease her way out of his life. She shouldn’t have let him accompany her home last night, but she’d been weak. Had been relieved the three men hadn’t seemed to want to get her in trouble. But now she was regretting all her decisions.
Then again, if he was being honest, and he really could find her a job, she couldn’t afford to block him.
Hating that she’d be beholden to anyone, she sighed. Then she sat up and reached for her phone. She needed to reply to Shawn’s text.
Maggie: Okay.
Deciding it would be best to keep things short and to the point, she was satisfied with her response.
Shawn: That hurt, didn’t it?
Maggie couldn’t help but smile at that.
Maggie: A little. *grin*
Shawn: Look, I get it. You don’t know me. But I swear I’m on your side.
The jury was still out on that, but Maggie was determined to keep things between her and Shawn professional. If he wanted to be a do-gooder, she’d let him help her. It wouldn’t matter in the end. The second she was able to get out of this state, she was gone.
Maggie: All right.
She was purposely being stand-offish in the hopes he’d get the message. That she didn’t want anything from him…other than any connections he wanted to use to get her a job.
