Page 87 of Protecting Maggie
“In a heartbeat.”
“But that would ruin your career. You’d probably be charged with aiding a fugitive.”
Preacher shrugged. “Don’t care. All I care about right now is making that horrified look on your face disappear.”
Maggie closed her eyes and sighed. “I can’t run. A lifetime of being hunted sounds like the worst kind of hell.Besides, I suck at foreign languages. I almost didn’t graduate college because of French.” She opened her eyes and stared at Preacher. “I need to go in now. If I don’t, they’ll issue an arrest warrant. That’s what the guy on the phone said. I’ll go in and talk to them, explain what happened. Maybe you can give me your commander’s number on the base for my PO? Maybe he can vouch for me?”
“Done. And Caroline is right, Tex will come through. We just need to stay calm. Okay?”
Maggie licked her lips. “Okay.”
But Preacher could tell she was anything but calm. He could literally see her heartbeat in her neck. Could feel the slight shaking of her body under his hands.
He hated this. Loathed it. He’d never been the kind of SEAL who enjoyed taking another person’s life. But if Rear Admiral Robertson was standing in front of him right now, he’d break his neck without feeling an ounce of remorse.
“Come on, let’s go. Cheyenne, will you call Kevlar and let him know what’s happening?” Preacher asked.
“Of course.”
“And I’ll call Abe. He’ll rally the rest of the troops. Don’t worry, Maggie. Our guys’ll figure this out,” Alabama told her.
Maggie nodded and attempted to smile, but everyone could tell it was forced.
Preacher took her hand and led her through the bar to the door. His mind spun. He needed to figure out what to say to Maggie’s probation officer to make her believe that she hadn’t gone on a pleasure trip to Ukraine. It was aridiculous thought, but the bottom line was that leaving the countrywasagainst the terms of Maggie’s probation. The state had every right to put her back behind bars until this mess was sorted out. But he hoped that wouldn’t happen before it could be proved that Maggie had no choice. That she’d been fuckingkidnappedand locked in a crate.
Hell, he’d bring in Artem, Borysko, and Yana if he had to. Anything to make this nightmare end for Maggie.
Her fingers clasped his with a grip so tight, it almost hurt. But Preacher didn’t say a thing. He’d go to the ends of the Earth for the woman at his side, and it killed him that he didn’t have the magic words right this moment to make everything better. To fix this. Not being able to help the woman he loved through one of the most stressful times of her life was as painful as anything Preacher had ever experienced.
His heart hurt as he drove them toward the government building in Riverton, but Preacher vowed that no matter what happened, he’d be Maggie’s rock. Her protector. The one person in the world she could rely on.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Maggie was freezing. It wasn’t cold outside, but she felt frozen from the inside out. This was literally her worst nightmare come true. She’d done everything in her power to stay on the straight and narrow. To not do anything wrong so there would be no reason to put her back behind bars. Okay, using Adina’s ride-share account wasn’t exactly legal, but she hadn’t been hurting anyone. Especially because she’d had her friend’s permission to do what she’d done.
She’d never in a million years thought she might be thrown back behind bars for being freakingkidnapped. She didn’t have any say in what happened to her. God, she’d beenunconscious. But no one believed her when she’d said she had no idea those drugs were in her car. Why would anyone believe her now?
The only reason she wasn’t screaming at the unfairness of it all was because of the man holding her hand. Shawn was literally holding her together. The truth was, she was terrified. More scared than she’d been to stand up and let those Russian soldiers see her. Back in Ukraine, she had control over what she was doing and what would happen next. She’d been able to hide, to run, to use her brain to get away.
Now? She couldn’t do a damn thing. There was no running, no hiding, and what happened next was literally up to someone else. Her probation officer was generally pretty laid-back. The woman had been kind anytime she’d met with her in the past. Maggie just had to hope she still felt a little compassion toward her when they met in a few minutes.
Just walking up to the building made her feel sick. As the door closed behind them after they entered, Maggie felt the weight of it down to her soul. She prayed she’d be able to walk out the same door in the not-so-distant future.
“Tex is on this,” Shawn said softly as they stepped into the elevator that would take them to the third floor. “Caroline texted and said he’s pissed way the hell off. There’s no way the state can lock you up for leaving the country against your will.”
Maggie nodded, still numb inside. It felt really good that she had such staunch supporters, but she wasn’t convinced it would make a difference in the short run. Rules were rules, and she was petrified that she might be spending the night, or the next several, behind bars.
She suddenly wanted to pull away from Shawn. Insist that she wasn’t good for him…but she wasn’t that strong. She needed him. He was the only thing keeping her from sinking to the floor in a puddle of despair.
The elevator dinged as it reached the third floor, and Shawn led her toward the person sitting behind the reception desk.
“Maggie Lionetti here for an appointment,” he said confidently, as if he’d done it a million times.
Looking down at the computer screen, the woman nodded. “Go through the double doors here and have a seat inside. Someone will come for her in a moment.”
The sound of every door she went through closing behind her was like a death knell. Maggie could still remember the sound of her cell door clanging shut every night, and while the glass doors didn’t sound even close, the imagery was the same.
They sat, and Maggie did her best not to hyperventilate.
