Page 60 of Committed
“I know,” she mumbled and eventually lifted her head. Wiping her face was taking energy she didn’t have, but she had to pull herself together.
Laz didn’t move from in front of her while she jerked open one of her desk drawers. She always kept a makeup kit in her office, just in case. Right now, she was glad she did. Pulling out the pack of makeup remover cloths, a small mirror, and her makeup compact, she quickly fixed her face. There wasn’t much she could do about her red eyes, but hopefully, they’d clear up soon.
“Better?” she asked, looking up at Laz.
He smiled, and his gorgeous hazel-green eyes held so much love. What had she ever done to deserve this man?
“You’re beautiful. Now, are you ready to get down to business?”
She nodded and thought back to the telephone call. “They said…they said that what happened to my husband was only a warning. I either drop the case or else.”
“Or else what?” Laz questioned. “What else did they say?”
“That was it. Hell, that was enough!” She stood abruptly, unable to sit still any longer, and her chair rolled back, bumping into the cabinet.
Her mind raced as she paced the length of her office and back.
Why would someone go to such extremes to force her to drop the case? All that did was make her want to dig deeper and put away everyone involved.
“Was it a man or a woman who called?”
She stopped moving. “I don’t know. It was some type of mechanical voice. I couldn’t tell; I could barely understand what they were saying.”
Journey met Laz’s gaze before her eyes went to the black sling holding his arm in place. A cold shiver slid down her spine and seeped into her bones. That shooting could’ve been so much worse. He could’ve been killed.
The thought had run through her mind more than once over the last couple of days, but the full force of knowing that it was because of her made her knees buckle. She grabbed onto the back of the guest chair.
“Come on, sit down,” Laz said, his hand on her hip, forcing her into the seat.
“Oh, dear God,” she murmured more to herself than to him. “You and Ari…could’ve been killed because of some stupid case!” Journey bit out. Anger suddenly replaced the heartache that swirled inside her, and she banged the side of her fist on her desk. “Some bastard almost took out my family over some stupid case.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Let’s calm down,” Laz said, his voice eerily quiet.
“Calm down? Laz, it’s all my fault. Prentice told me I should let you know, but I didn’t listen to him.”
“I don’t always agree with him, but on this, I agree. Don’t ever not tell me when someone threatens you.”
“I won’t, but why aren’t you angrier? It’s all my fault, Laz.”
“No, it’s not. I don’t blame you for this shit. I blame the motherfucker who set this in motion, and I promise you, we’ll get to the bottom of this. At least now we have something we can go on.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now I know this is attached to the case you’re working on. All we have to do is figure out who’s behind this and why.”
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Journey said, her voice a little hoarse.
Casey walked in. “I’m sorry to bother you, but the jury has a verdict. It’ll be announced in forty-five minutes.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll head out shortly.
Casey nodded and backed out of the office, closing the door behind her.
Journey rubbed her eyes. The lack of sleep from the night before was starting to catch up to her. She was pretty sure they’d won the arson murder case, and she should be excited to get to the courthouse to hear the verdict. Yet, her heart was too heavy to care. Right now, all she could think about was the Stratton and Leverage Construction case.
“Laz, I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep working on this case if it means putting you in danger.”