Larger Than Life by Alison Kent (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📕

heavy breath, dropped her forehead to her hands, relief rushing like rain from her pores. Dear Lord, how had he anticipated what she hadn't seen coming?

Why hadn't she thought to move Liberty out of the Barn instead of leaving the girl there like a sitting duck? If Mick hadn't had the foresight. .. Her head came up. "What are they going to find on my computer?"

He cocked a brow. "Not a bloody thing."

This time she couldn't take the deep breath she wanted. Her throat and chest constricted. Tears filled her eyes. "You did that, right? Blew it up somehow while we were walking to the Barn?"

Folding his fingers over hers, he nodded, his eyes glittering in the dim light from the bulb overhead.

Air whooshed from her lungs. "How did you manage—"

He cut her off. "It's what I do."

"Have I ever told you how much I like what you do?" she asked, wishing the light was brighter, wishing they were in some other place so that telling him again that she loved him didn't seem like a desperate claim.

He was too distracted; she was well aware of his clipped answers, concise replies. But she was able to catch a glimpse of the smile that flashed quickly over his face. "I seem to remember hearing something about what you liked when you were talking in your sleep."

"I do not talk in my sleep," she said, trying to tease, failing miserably, ending with a sigh. "How long do you think this will take?"

"Until they figure out they don't have squat on you? Till about now," he answered, his confidence comforting. He reached back, rubbed his hand over his nape. "How long till they let you out of here? You're the lawyer. You know what they can do legally."

"Legally, yeah." She released the bars, tucked her hands behind her, and turned to lean against the institutional-yellow cinderblock wall. "It's what they might do illegally that I'm not too happy about."

"I missed the necklace. I'm sorry."

Surely not. . . She frowned. "You don't think that's the only reason I'm here, do you?"

He wasn't ready to forgive himself. She saw it in the harsh set of his mouth. "It's the only thing connecting you to this case."

She pushed off the wall, schooled her expression carefully, gestured as she paced. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The fact that I employed Ms. Mitchell for a week guaranteed her full access to my property. It requires no stretch of the imagination to then conclude that she returned of her own accord to where she felt safe and hid in my private apartment without my knowledge."

"Nice," Mick said, nodding and applauding softly.

"Don't worry." She closed the distance between them. "Once I'm out, nothing's going to stick."

His gaze softened. "I have to worry."

"I know, Mick." She wanted to break through the bars and hold him, to feel his arms, his chest, his heat. "It's part of what you do."

This time he had a harder time meeting her eyes. "I also have to go."

That one took a bit longer to swallow. But she did. "I know that, too." Her breathing steady, she smiled. "You have mule deer calling your name."

He grunted. "I've also got a rabbit."

She frowned. "What?"

"Never mind. I'll explain later." He stepped back, his stance wide, his arms crossed over his chest. "I won't be gone any longer than I have to. I'll swing by when I get back and spring you if you're still here."

She wanted to ask where he was going to go, how he was healing, but she didn't ask him a thing. "Candy or Ed can pick me up. I'd ask Jeanne but I'd rather not put her in the hot seat between her husband and his prisoner. Besides, you might be gone longer than you think. I figure you have a girl in every port."

"Just one down the road a bit," he admitted with a wink. "I'm going to talk her into keeping my dog for a day or so."

Liberty. It had to be. Thank God. "Okay then. Be safe."

He lifted a hand and waved, and then he was gone.

Sixteen

It was the next morning when Yancey released her. He wasn't pleased to find her hard drive wiped. Neither did he like admitting to the fact that by itself, especially lacking proof she'd hidden away Liberty or any other girls, the safe room wasn't evidence enough with which to charge her. But it wasn't until she made her argument about the necklace, the same one she'd made to Mick, that he finally let her go.

First, she called Candy, who hadn't answered, requiring Neva to leave a message telling the other woman she'd go ahead and call Ed. He was closer, she didn't want to wait, and she could probably get him to stop at the grocery store before bringing her home.

Turned out Ed was just coming out of surgery; he rang her back while Yancey was asking one of the deputies to drive her home. Candy had called right after to complete the game of phone tag. Of course, the day would've started out a lot nicer if it had been Mick instead of the doctor picking her up. She missed her Mr. Savin already.

Climbing up into the crew cab's front seat, she sighed and flopped back. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem." Ed said, putting the truck into gear. "Yesterday must've been a hell of a day. You should've called me when the sheriff got there. You didn't need to go through that alone."

She wanted to roll her eyes but didn't. "There wasn't time. And truly, there wasn't anything you could have done. Besides, I wasn't alone." She took a deep breath. "Mick was there."

Ed pulled up to Pit Stop's one red light and they sat and idled in silence. A silence that was tense and uncomfortable, but one with which she could deal. After all, she'd just spent the night in a jail cell. There wasn't much that