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“Ex-boyfriend,” Quinn corrected swiftly.

She removed her hat and handed the other woman the camera before reaching up under her shirt and yanking the taped wire free. In an awkward move, she then reached around to the small of her back and pulled the tiny recorder free.

Quinn handed the items to Manning, who already had an evidence bag waiting. Gathering the thin wire into a ball, she slid it, the camera, and the recorder inside.

“Good choice.” The agent smiled. “You can do a whole lot better than that guy.”

There was no choice. Not really.

She’d literally been losing sleep over her part in the takedown. Had sold her soul to a three-piece with her future clasped tightly in her fist in exchange for their promise to go easy on Justin.

Sorry, babe. I don’t have a choice.

Quinn rubbed the spot over her heart, desperate to ease the ache there as she pictured his emotionless expression when he’d said those words to her. She’d given him all she had to offer. It wasn’t much, she knew. But to her, it had meant everything.

And the big jerk had tossed her aside without so much as a second’s hesitation.

Should’ve known better, Quinn. You’re a jinx when it comes to love, remember?

That’s what her addict of a mom had told her on countless occasions, and it was true. The people in her life who’d claimed to love her had all been pretending.

Her mom. Her dad. The handful of men who’d come in and out of her adult life… They’d all “loved” her until she’d outlived her usefulness. Then they left.

Why Quinn thought Justin was any different was beyond her.

See? Jinx.

“We did you a favor, you know.” Agent Manning’s blue gaze locked onto hers. “You’re far too smart to get mixed up with a guy like that. So smart, in fact, my boss wanted me to give you this.” She reached into her jacket pocket before offering Quinn a simple white business card.

Quinn made no move to take it. “What’s that?”

“See for yourself.”

Begrudgingly, she took the card and scanned it. Her breath stuttered when she saw the name printed in black lettering…

Quinn Wilder, Technical Analyst

Cybe Crimes Unit

Federal Bureau of Investigations

2111 W. Roosevelt Road

Chicago, IL 60608

Her eyes flew upto the other woman’s. “So this is real.”

It was a statement, rather than a question.

“Oh, yeah.” The pretty blonde smiled. “It’s real. It’s also a one-time offer. Flip it over.”

When she did, Quinn found a date and time scribbled in blue ink across the heavy paper.

“That’s when you report for work. If you’re so much as a minute late, the deal’s off. Boss’s terms, not mine. And he means it.”

Quinn licked her lips but said nothing. For the next several seconds, she found herself unable to doanythingother than stare at the handwritten date.

Two days. That’s how long she was being given. Two days from now, she was to report for duty as the Federal Cyber Crime Unit’s newest tech analyst.

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