Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,79

of the room, where Raleigh heard Pax and his father arguing in one of the closed offices, their words muffled. Except for the last few: “You warned him!” Both men stopped when they looked up to see Raleigh being led past. Damn, Pax must have been caught coming from the cottage.

Pax reached for the door handle, aiming a hard look at his father. “What you’re doing here is wrong.” He threw open the door and stalked off in the other direction, his face a mask of anger.

Hours later, Raleigh walked out of jail on bail, accompanied by Grace. He hadn’t seen Rose at all. He didn’t want her dragged in and questioned. They’d try to push her into admitting something that would corroborate their suspicions about Raleigh. And Rose knew something that could bury him.

As he and Grace walked out of the building, Raleigh asked, “There’s a lot of animosity between you and the sheriff. Which is weird, considering you successfully represented his son on the rape charges a few years ago.”

The shadow crossed her face again. “The sheriff and I go way back, unfortunately. I had a rough past, and he likes to use it against me. He coerced me into taking his son’s case, though I did believe he was innocent. Sullivan harbors no warm feelings toward me, because he figures the charges would have been dropped anyway.”

Raleigh suspected there was more to the story, but it wasn’t his business, and he doubted that she’d tell him anyway. “I need to write you a check. For your representation,” he added at her questioning look.

“Mia already did.”

“From the house’s account,” he muttered. “Rip it up. I’ll write you one from my account. How much is your retainer?” He would pay for his defense from his savings.

“Twenty thousand dollars.”

He couldn’t breathe for a moment. “I don’t have that much in my account.”

“Let the check stand. She wanted to do it. You can work it out with her later.”

The moment they reached the parking lot, Mia threw herself into his arms. He embraced her, needing to feel her. She was here. She believed in him. The relief of that overwhelmed him.

Grace cleared her throat. “We’ll meet later and talk strategies. Hopefully, they’ll find the weapon, and evidence that points to the killer.”

Raleigh reached out. “Thank you.”

She accepted his handshake. “Don’t thank me yet. We have a ways to go, I’m afraid.”

Mia shook her hand, too. “At least we have a champion on our side.”

They set up an appointment for midmorning and parted ways.

“You rest, I’ll drive,” Mia said as they approached her car. “You look exhausted.”

He dropped into the passenger seat and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sullivan’s going to pin this on me. Grace said he’s coerced witnesses into testifying to seal the deal in other cases. And he already has someone who overheard me and my dad arguing. Or who’s making it sound like an argument.”

Mia gripped his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. “There were times, like when the doctor told us the tumor had returned, that I wanted to give up. I was so tired, of fighting, of being afraid. Then I’d shore myself up and realize how much I loved life. Don’t give up.”

He covered her hands with his. “Mia, I don’t want you dragged into this with me. You have a job far away. Get out while you can.”

“Are you kidding me? You think I’d leave you now?”

He loved her outrage, but he wasn’t going to let her devotion be her downfall. “I want you to leave me now. I know you’ll support me, and you can do that from Minneapolis. You can’t postpone your job, and this is going to take a while. People are going to think I’m a—”

“You’re not a monster.”

“My arrest, along with the rage-stabbing details, is going to hit the newspapers tomorrow. It’ll be worse than after the crash. Mia, don’t you get it? My life is about to go to shit. If you’re standing by me, yours will, too. People are going to treat you the same way. I won’t let you put yourself through that. Write, call, email. I need your support. But stay away from me.”

“You really want that?”

“Yes.” He had to force the word out. “I do.”

She clearly fought words that wanted to burst out. “You’re trying to protect me.”

“I didn’t do a good job of that seven years ago. I’m going to this time, whether you like it