Page 7 of Parker

“Sorry, babe.” He attempted to shrug a shoulder while being cuffed. “I have no choice.”

No choice?“Justin, what are you—”

“This whole thing was her idea!” His shouted voice cut her off. “I want to make a deal!”

The blatant lie left her momentarily speechless.

“You have the right to remain silent…” The agent who’d secured Justin’s wrists began reciting their Miranda rights, reading the words from a small white card in his hand. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I have just read to you?”

“Yeah, I understand, and I don’t need a lawyer.” Justin was pulled to his feet. “That’s what I was trying to tell you…I didn’t do anything wrong. It was her.” He nodded toward where she was being carefully guided to her feet. “Quinn planned the whole thing. If you don’t believe me, you can look at her notebook.” He tipped his head toward the table where her personal notebook lay. “It’s all in there. She did it all. The planning, the hacking… In fact, I was trying to get her to stop when you guys barged in here!”

Quinn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her lips parted, but the crushing betrayal spewing from Justin’s mouth stole her ability to formulate a single sound.

He said he loved me. How could he do this to me?

Time stood still, the bustling activity around her momentarily ceasing to exist. Quinn no longer saw the federal agents swarming about. She paid no attention to the equipment being seized and carried away.

All she could do was stand there, listening to the man who’d once claimed to be her soul mate spill lie after lie about her.

You were made for me, babe. Did you know that? We’re soul mates, you and me. And together…we’re going to do remarkable things.

Those were the words Justin spoke the night Quinn fell in love with him. He’d said others that same night, words that made her believe he loved her, too.

But now, as she was led out the door and into one of two awaiting vehicles, she realized all the guilt and indecision she’d been harboring the last few days had been for not.

Justin didn’t love her. Probably didn’t care about her at all. He’d simply used her.

He’s been using me this entire time.

The door to her right slammed shut, snapping her attention back to the moment at hand. While waiting for the agent who’d arrested her to make her way to the driver’s seat, Quinn watched through the tinted glass as Justin was put into the car in front of her.

His heartbreaking lies still littered the damp night air.

“I’m telling you; you’ve got the wrong guy! It was her! It was all Quinn!”

A tear fell from the corner of one eye as Justin disappeared inside the other SUV. Her arresting agent slid behind the wheel as Quinn used her shoulder to wipe the tear from her cheek.

The vehicle she was in rumbled to life but made no forward movement. Through the windshield, she watched as Justin’s transport drove away with him in it, its shining red taillights growing smaller and smaller with each second that passed.

The door to her left opened, and a familiar face slid onto the seat beside her.

“Good job in there, Quinn.” Special Agent Kimberly Manning looked pleased. “You got us exactly what we needed.”

“Great.” She didn’t bother faking a smile. “Now can you please take these off me?”

Shifting in her seat, she turned her back to the woman who’d approached her days earlier with an offer Quinn couldn’t refuse…

Get Justin to admit he got the equipment and cards from Monty Dunne—the FBI’s main target—and also, that the plan to hack the credit card company was his. She’d get immunity for her role in designing the code to make it happen.

How the Feds knew anything about any of it was still a mystery, the answer to which Agent Manning had continually refused to divulge. Until now.

The metal bracelets loosened, and her wrists were freed. Settling back into the seat, Quinn rubbed her reddened skin as she stared at the woman beside her. “You said once the sting operation was successfully completed you’d tell me how you knew about all of this.”

A set of pretty blue eyes stared back into hers, their shimmer the perfect complement to the long, blonde hair framing Agent Manning’s flawless face. “I did say that didn’t I?” Her sharp features softened. “Well, I suppose a deal’s a deal, so here it is. Like I told you before, we’ve suspected Monty of playing an active role in a lot of recent, high-stakes cybercrimes. But until now, we could never get close enough to prove it.”

“What changed?”

“We were able to turn one of Monty’s crew. He was low-man on the Totem pole, though, so he couldn’t get us any hard and fast evidence. But what he did do was feed us intel on jobs he heard whispers about. If it piqued our interest, we’d begin an investigation. Unfortunately, nothing ever panned out. That is, until your boyfriend ran his mouth to the wrong person…which also happened to be our source.”

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