Page 3 of Fast Justice

“Got some paperwork here for signing authority on my accounts, power of attorney and whatnot. I’m just in the process of reorganizing my estate and will, and it’s pretty complicated. I’ll walk you through everything when you get here. I need to have it in by eight tomorrow morning. Can you swing by tonight?”

She huffed out an irritated breath, hoped he didn’t hear it over the car’s speakers. She couldn’t say no, she was the eldest, and paperwork like that was important. Things like this had always been her responsibility. It was her role in the family. “Not sure. I’m in meetings all day, so I don’t know when I’ll be done.”

“Okay, so you can stop on your way home then. It’ll just take a few minutes to sign everything. I’ll leave it all on my desk.”

“Fine.” Her parents lived ten minutes from her, and it was on her way home. “I’ll text you once I’m done at work. Could be late, though.”

“All right. Working on a big case, huh?” The interest in his voice was impossible to miss. He was still a legend in legal circles around here, even though he’d “retired” a few years ago. He missed it every day, as though he’d lost part of his identity when he’d stopped working.

“Pretty big, yeah.” Her office had three key witnesses ready to testify against Carlos Ruiz, but the formerVenenolieutenant had agreed to a deal and given them damning evidence against other key cartel members. His arrest and incarceration had created an epic power struggle within the remaining players. Everyone involved with the case was still trying to figure out what the hell was really going on within the organization.

“Makes me miss the good old days,” he said. “How’s traffic?”

She was a bit surprised that he seemed to want to prolong the call. Usually he was brusque, got business taken care of and ended the conversation as soon as possible. “A mess.”

A car coming the opposite way entered the intersection after the light turned amber and got stuck behind the lineup of cars, preventing her from making the damn turn.

“Hang on a sec.” Rowan shot the driver a dirty look and zipped out to maneuver around its rear bumper, needing to get the hell out of the intersection before the other cars began moving with the green light.

“You can give me some hints about the case when I see you tonight.”

Safely on the other side of the intersection, she slowed down for the stopped traffic ahead of her at the next light and tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel impatiently.Come on, people,move. “Won’t be able to give you much to go on—”

She broke off on a gasp as a car suddenly came out of nowhere and veered in front of her, almost T-boning her. She barely managed to wrench the steering wheel sharply to the right in time to avoid the crash. Two cars beside her in the left lane weren’t so lucky. They collided, narrowly missing her.

“Rowan?”

She couldn’t answer him, too busy stomping on the brakes to avoid hitting the truck in front of her. A split second later, a car slammed into her from behind.

She grunted as the impact jerked her forward against the shoulder strap of her seatbelt, her head snapping back into the headrest. With her foot jammed on the brake she somehow managed to miss the truck, then a second vehicle hit the right side of hers with a crunch of metal, snapping her head to the side and knocking her left shoulder against the door.

“Shit,” she gasped out, heart hammering as her vehicle jerked to a halt.

“Rowan? Are you all right?” her father asked sharply.

Dammit. She put the car into park and shut off the engine. “I gotta go,” she blurted, and ended the call. Her heart was still beating fast, a mix of anger and shock coursing through her, quickly followed by annoyance. She had to be at the first meeting in just over twenty minutes. She didn’t freaking have time for this mess.

Her hand shook a little as she unlocked her door and reached for the handle. Before she could summon the strength to push on it, someone ripped it open for her.

Startled, she blinked up into the handsome, familiar face staring back at her.Malcolm?DEA Special Agent Malcolm Freeman, the man she’d walked away from but couldn’t forget.

He leaned down to peer at her, hands on either side of the doorframe, his expression full of concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answered automatically. She didn’t think she was hurt, just shaken up. What on earth was he doing here?

He ran that melted chocolate gaze over her for a moment, assessing her for injury, then reached in to wrap his powerful arms around her and pull her to his chest in a quick hug. “You sure? That second guy hit you pretty hard.”

Automatically she flattened her palms on his back, drank in his warmth and strength. Seemed like a lifetime ago since she’d had his arms around her, and right now they felt like heaven. Safe. Secure. That innate protectiveness of his was one of the things she’d loved most about him. “I’m not hurt,” she managed. At least not seriously. She was breathing fast though, kind of choppy.

All too soon he released her and leaned back to study her eyes. “Cops are on the way.”

She half-swiveled in her seat to look out the passenger window, put a hand to the side of her neck as a twinge of pain shot through it. If traffic had been bad before, now it was a tangled mess. “What about the other drivers?”

“They’re okay. The second guy took off. I let him go because I wanted to make sure you were all right, but I got the plate number.”

She gingerly turned back around to face him. God, he looked more incredible than ever. Black hair cropped close to his head, wearing dress pants and a sapphire blue button down shirt that set off his deep brown skin and stretched across his muscled chest and shoulders. “Where the heck did you come from, anyway?” It was surreal that he’d just appeared out of nowhere at a time like this.

“I was five cars behind you at the light.”

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