Page 127 of Last Chance Love

“Didn’t stop anyone from letting me access them before,” Reed said, apparently feeling cranky.

“It was limited access,” Mona pointed out. “Andyou were supposed to be locked up.”

“So we’ve circled back around to that?” I wondered wearily. If we were going to be running circles all day then I was never going to grab some sleep before I passed out.

“No,” she said, glancing at Mr. Isaiah behind his desk, who had said nothing so far and was watching us gravely. “And you took advantage of Max’s…lapse in judgment.”

“Also, yes,” I said, remembering the look on his face when he heard me say I had been lurking outside the building for hours, waiting to see if he might leave and give me a chance to slip inside. If I wasn’t mistaken, I was going to get an earful from him when he caught me alone later…that was if Mona didn’t throw both Reed and me in a cell for our part in this debacle.

She eyed me, and I didn’t need to read her mind to know she didn’t believe me for one moment. Even though Max had accepted the chewing out he had undoubtedly taken from her, her heart hadn’t really been in it. She suspected he’d played a far more significant role in all this, but there was no way in hell I would sell Max out. Especially because not only had I lied for him, probably pissing him off, Reed and I had slipped out of the building when he thought we’d stay there,definitelypissing him off.

Hmm, maybe prison wouldn’t be too bad.

“Right,” she said as if the agreement stuck in her throat, forcing her to clear it before continuing. “And that’s when Alice Greenway caught the two of you in action.”

“And tased me,” Reed muttered angrily. “For an excessive amount of time, I might add.”

“I recall that when she was looked over a few hours ago, she had two noticeable burn marks on her upper and lower back,” Mona said, raising her brow. “So you can rest assured she managed to get hers.”

“I know,” he said, still sounding grumpy. I had a suspicion that if we didn’t get our asses handed to us over this, he was going to be bitching about getting tased fordays. Reed wasn’t a man to complain for the most part, but good lord, when he found something to complain about, he could milk it to death, resurrect it, and leave it begging for the peace of death as he continued milking it.

“She tased Reed, stunning him. She wielded a gun at you,” she continued, looking at me while I nodded. “And she told you it was her? Just like that?”

“Didn’t Dr. Gideon talk to you about this already? What he heard,” I asked, wondering if the old man had backed out at the last minute.

“He missed the beginning,” she said. “Including the part where you magically managed to get her to fess up.”

“Magically,” I scoffed. “I’d say she was cocky, which she was, but she was scared and panicking. I didn’t magically do anything but scare the crap out of her that she was going to get caught because of us. She was rambling, which probably made her feel better and more in control, kind of like the gun did. So she talked, and I kept her talking. Mostly to stall time for someone to show up after I saw Dr. Gideon return to his office, but then Reed offered a different opportunity.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot,” she said with a scowl. “That stunt was breaking so many goddamn rules?—”

“Language,” Mr. Isaiah chided gently, speaking for the first time.

She rolled her eyes. “So manydamnrules, and incredibly dangerous.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told her,” I said with a shrug. “Making people desperate can push them to do stupid, impulsive things to survive.”

“Or perhaps I’m just surrounded by stupid, impulsive people who endanger themselves unnecessarily,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Unnecessarily?” Reed asked, mirroring my confusion. “It wasn’t like we knew the culprit was going to show up and attack us because we were getting too close to the truth.”

“I…yes, well, sometimes things do tend to get out of control,” she said, then frowned. “Especially around here, it seems.”

I watched her for a moment, something nagging at me. “Mona?”

There! A moment of hesitation before she looked up and asked, “Yes?”

“Just how much did you believe Reed was responsible? And how much did you suspect Dr. Greenway?” I asked, taking a shot in the dark. I watched her jaw tense and the way Mr. Isaiah glanced at her quickly.

“Wait, what?” Reed wondered, glancing at me and then at Mona, eyes wide. “Hello?”

“God…” She paused, rolling her eyes again. “Excuse me, damn you, Leon.”

Mr. Isaiah sighed. “Might as well. From what we’ve seen, these two will dig until they end up in hot water. So you might as well spare everyone the trouble.”

“And the paperwork,” Mona agreed. “If you would, Garrett?”

“Of course,” he said, standing up. “You boys want something?”

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