Page 52 of Matched By Mistake
“Calm down, Del Rio. We didn’t just randomly decide to accuse your daughter. We have her on video surveillance. Also she’s not in town and Jericho has no idea where she is,” Joseph said.
All eyes turned to him and Jericho looked at the people he’d started to care for. He felt even more betrayed at this moment because he was sure that Gayle and Fernando would have had to put Maggie up to doing this. There was no reason for her to just do it on her own.
“She was in Dallas tonight,” Gayle said.
“So she said,” Jericho responded.
“Have you called your attorney? She had dinner with him,” Gayle said again.
Jericho’s brow furrowed. “Brian Cooper?”
Gayle just flicked her eyebrows up quickly and gave him a disgusted look before she turned to the receptionist at the desk.
“Where is Nathan?”
“He’s not available right now,” Officer Hatton said.
“Oh, he’s available for me,” Gayle said. “I’m not letting him take this ridiculousness any further.”
“Gayle,” Sheriff Nathan Battle said as he came out of the hallway that led to his office. “Calm down. We have questions for Maggie. We’re not asking for a warrant for her arrest.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she demanded.
Jericho had never seen Gayle like this. Normally she was calm and he’d seen her tough side when she’d questioned him about his intentions toward Maggie, but this was full-on protective mama bear.
“It is. As much as I want to believe that she had nothing to do with the break-in, the evidence is pretty damning.”
“Can we see it?” Fernando asked.
Nathan looked at Joseph, who nodded.
“Fernando, honestly, after dinner the other night I was looking forward to putting the feud behind us. It’s past time we moved on, but this... See for yourself.”
Sheriff Battle had the video-surveillance footage on a large tablet and Maggie’s parents, his dad and Jericho all leaned in as he hit Play.
There was no mistaking Maggie’s long dark ponytail. She was wearing a trench coat, which was a bit odd considering the weather and the fact that if Jericho knew one thing about Maggie, that wasn’t her style. But he figured she was trying not to get caught.
The woman in the video also moved like Maggie. Her long stride and the way her hips moved from side to side with each step.
“Dammit. I know that’s not Maggie,” Gayle said.
“If it’s not me, then who is it?” Maggie asked, walking into the sheriff’s office.
Everyone turned to look at her and Jericho tried not to notice her. Tried very hard not to let his hormones react—it was just hormones, right?—to seeing her again. But it was impossible. He wanted to pull her away from everyone else and demand she tell him what was going on.
Why had she betrayed him?
But as he skimmed his gaze over her, he realized that she had her long hair down, curling around her shoulders, and she wore one of those body-contouring dresses she favored. She had a large bag over her shoulder and he could see that her eyes were red.
She’d been crying.
What was going on?
He’d seen her on the video. Her appearance wasn’t that different that it couldn’t be explained. But the tears? Maggie didn’t cry. Not even when she’d shared her darkest fears.
“We’ll need your alibi to start,” Sheriff Battle said.
Maggie came forward, brushing past him without looking at him. She was ticked, too. That was fine. They were both in an impossible situation. Two people who’d been bound by a contract and a surprise match on a dating app. That’s all they were.
