Page 18 of Cowboy and the Convict

Janie sobered almost immediately, her eyes widening. "They can put a warrant out on me over unpaid parking tickets?"

He scrubbed one hand over his face, exhausted from spending his morning doing laundry instead of sleeping. "Technically, they can. They just don't normally work so hard to get an arrest." It didn't happen often, but he'd come across a few warrants for unpaid parking tickets in his career. Never before had a municipality called them to have someone brought in, though. The warrants were usually only discovered during a traffic stop or other interaction.

Which made this especially strange.

Janie’s jaw went slack, and her complexion paled. “Are you serious?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice. Like she was hoping he was the kind of asshole who would joke about something like this.

And that didn’t sit great. Made him wonder kind of men she was used to dealing with.

"Unfortunately." Devon tipped his head toward his cruiser. "They sent me to bring you in." It was an approximation of what happened. He was there to bring her in, but only because he made it clear no one else would be handling this situation but him. They didn't understand her like he did. Wouldn't be patient and give her time to wrap her brain around what was happening. Wouldn't stay calm when she reacted.

Not that he was doing a great job of it either. Right now he was calculating just how long it would take him to get to Tukwila and back again, because whoever was behind this was doing it simply to be a prick.

Janie stared at him a second longer before finally straightening. She lifted her chin and shot him a glare. "Fine." After adjusting the purse she had slung over one shoulder, she held both hands out. "Might as well cuff me then."

"I'm not going to cuff you." He moved in a little more, hands itching to reach for her. Wanting to provide comfort she would not appreciate. "We just have to go in, do some paperwork, and then you can go home."

Janie’s eyes moved over his face. "That's it? I don't have to stay?"

Devon shook his head. "You don’t have to stay. I made some phone calls, so you just have to get a court date, and then you can leave." He’d had to work fast to get it all done before five, but keeping her overnight wasn’t an option. Even though he was pretty sure that’s why the call came so late in the day. Janie had pissed someone in Tukwila off, and they were hellbent on making her pay for whatever she’d done.

Luckily, he had a few friends in high places and was able to sort the situation out in a way that would keep it under the radar. He wanted to keep this as easy and as quiet as possible. If it made it back to his mother-in-law that her renter had been arrested, there was a good chance she might try to find a way to get out of the lease agreement, and that would leave Janie scrambling for not only whatever money it was going to take to make this fiasco go away, but also a new deposit and first month's rent.

Doing it this way, no one had to know what happened.

Janie's jaw clenched, but a flicker of something he'd never seen before flashed across her eyes as she stared him down. "Fine. Let's go."

She aimed for the back door of his cruiser but he redirected her trajectory, resting one palm against her back and urging her around the vehicle. "I don't know what's going on, but someone in Tukwila is pretty pissed off at you." He opened the passenger's door and urged her inside. "You have any idea who that might be?"

Janie plopped into the seat, eyes going straight ahead to stare out the windshield, her expression flat. "I don't really want to talk about it."

He crouched down beside her. "I can imagine, but I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

Janie’s head snapped his way. “I didn’t ask you to help me.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You didn’t.” He held her gaze. “I’m still going to.”

He’d never been one to fight. For most of his marriage, he assumed there was nothing to fight about. That things were exactly the way they seemed.

He’d been wrong.

So while he preferred to go with the flow, he was starting to realize sometimes he had to put his foot down to get his point across with Janie. And this was one of those times. “Now tell me who in the hell is so pissed off at you they called in a warrant just to fuck you over.”

Janie closed her eyes, head falling back against the rest. "I swear to God, if you try to lecture me—"

"No lectures. I promise." He hadn't considered the way he was coming across. Didn't have a clue Janie would look at it that way. If he had, he would've shut his mouth about it a long time ago. Found a different way to approach things.

Taking a deep breath, he did just that. "Just tell me whose ass I have to kick."

A bark of laughter jumped from her mouth as her eyes flew open and fixed on his face. "I'm pretty sure they frown on cops threatening to assault government officials."

"Good point." He reached inside to grab the seat belt, pulling it free to wrap it across her chest. "Tell me who's ass you're going to kick then."

Janie groaned, head dropping back against the seat again. "He's not even worth the effort." She sighed, shoulders slumping. "Sometimes even I’m shocked at how dumb I am." Pursing her lips, she twisted them from side to side before meeting his eyes. "Before I tell you, I need you to understand I have terrible fucking taste in men."

He straightened, leaning one arm against the frame as he continued studying her. "I sorta gathered that already."

Her brows jumped up. "Was that a dig at Griffin?"

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