Page 75 of Deadly Conflicts

“That’s what I told her before butthead Vince showed up,” Mandy said. “Before he showed up, though, she let it slip that he’s the one who put that idea in her head.”

Jake stilled, anger sweeping through him. “What do you mean?”

“It was the day he found her at the office,” Mandy explained. “He told her that if you really loved her you would’ve already proposed. She was fine waiting before then. He just stoked her insecurities, making it seem as if she wasn’t enough for you.”

“I’m going to kill that … .” Jake pressed his lips together and tugged a restless hand through his hair. “What did you tell her?”

“That Vince wasn’t to be trusted and you love her more than anything.”

“I do love her more than anything,” Jake said. “I should propose now.”

Mandy immediately started shaking her head. “You can’t. You can’t propose until this is over with. Don’t do it out of a place of fear. Do it out of a place of love.”

“She has to know.”

“She knows in her heart,” Mandy said. “She just wants what she wants. She’s ready for the next step. Her worry is that you’re not ready. You have the same fear when it comes to her. It’s going to be okay.”

“You sound like James.”

“Yes, well, I’m starting to think he’s wiser than I give him credit for,” Mandy said. “Go with whatever plan you had before. You know in your heart it’s right. Don’t let Vince screw things up. He’s already screwing up my afternoon. Don’t let him screw up your future, too.”

Jake knit his eyebrows together. “How is he screwing up your afternoon?”

Mandy told Jake about the favor James asked and then admitted to curiosity getting the better of her and not being able to let it go. “He has three sealed files from California and it’s driving me crazy to know what’s in them.”

“Can’t you open them?”

Mandy rubbed the heel of her hand against her cheek. “That’s technically illegal.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know,” Jake said. “I thought any court employee could legally do that.”

“Only a judge.”

“Can’t you ask your judge to do it?”

“I would never do that,” Mandy said, shaking her head. “That’s unethical.”

“What’s unethical?”

Mandy froze when she heard Judge MacIntosh’s voice, waiting a beat before swiveling her head so she could look around Jake and plastering a smile on her face. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We were just talking in hypotheticals. No one is doing anything illegal or unethical.”

“Uh-huh.” MacIntosh didn’t look convinced. “Mr. Harrison, it’s good to see you here. I hope nothing is wrong.”

“No, I just owed Mandy an apology and wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible.”

“I see,” MacIntosh said, shifting his eyes to Mandy. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“I swear we weren’t doing anything,” Mandy said. “Well, that’s not technically true. I used work time to run a background check for James. I stopped when I found the guy had three sealed files, though. I didn’t open them or anything.”

“Even though we really want to,” Jake muttered under his breath.

Instead of reprimanding her like she expected, the judge moved behind Mandy’s desk and glanced at her computer screen. “Who is Vince Dawkins?”

“He’s this guy Ally used to date,” Mandy explained. “He moved back to town and has been following her. He’s the guy who had the car stolen at the fireworks last weekend. James found the car, but he thinks there’s something weird going on. I swear I didn’t open the files.”

“Why not?” MacIntosh asked.

“Because it’s illegal.”