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.Sickened him.She looked& broken.He d done that to her.Fuck, he hated himself. I am too.I am that good.I did it not him. Tara curled her hands into fists. Arrest me, not him.He had nothing to do with this.He s been clean for years.Cooper rubbed his jaw, frowning at them both. I don t know.He s been acting different lately.Itwould explain a lot of stuff.I never really believed that you could have gotten in so easily, when noone else has before.I have no idea how I could ve missed all the signs.It s clear he d been playingme all along.Tara shook her head frantically. No.I got in because I m that good.That s it.He s innocent.I takefull responsibility.Leave him out of it.Please.Jake swallowed hard at her plea, wanting to put her out of her misery.But he couldn t.There wasonly one way for this to end, and he had to see it through.He had to play his part.Snorting, he crossed his arms. Cooper.It was my idea and you know it.She was someone toblame, and a welcome distraction in my bed.But nothing else.She doesn t know how to get the code.I m the one who needs to be locked up. Hell no.This is not happening.Arrest me and ignore him. She held her wrists out to his boss. Let s go.Now.Lock me up.Cooper held his palms out. I can t.He s admitting his guilt, so he needs to go in.If you knew thecode, you would have given it to us.You re clearly being set up. No. Tara turned to Jake, shoving his shoulders hard.He could see tears swimming in her eyes,trying to escape.Fuck, she was crying.He reached out for her, knowing that he d hate himself morethan she would ever hate him, but she lurched backward. Tell him you re trying to protect me.Tellhim the truth.He shook his head. I already did.You re free, Tara.Be happy I didn t make you take the fall like Iplanned. I m calling this in. Cooper grabbed his phone.Next to the black office phone was a picture ofhim and Kayla in England.They were so happy.So in love.Jake would never get that in his life.Notafter this. Jake, I m disappointed in you.I trusted you.Gave you a second chance.This is how yourepay me?Tara slammed her hand over Cooper s.Cooper, for his part, seemed as if he wavered for a second.At least he wasn t the only one who felt like shit over this plan. No.Please.Jake s heart wrenched at the desperation in her tone.He was an ass of the worst sort, becausethough every instinct screamed at him to comfort her, he remained silent. I really am sorry. His boss cleared his throat, freed himself from Tara s grip, and dialed. Yes,Officer Davis? I have a suspect in my possession.His name is Don t do this. Tara shook her head, her gaze darting back and forth between Jake and Cooper. Please.I ll do anything you want.Cooper avoided her gaze, his knuckles white on the phone as he continued to talk.He looked as ifhe was ready to throw it across the room.Neither of them had liked this plan in the first place, but itwas working.Just as Jake had known it would. Yes.Jake I ll give you the code, Tara called out, leaning down and catching the other man s gaze. Please.Hang up, and I ll give you everything you want.I ll prove that I was the one who took the vase.You ll see the truth.I swear it on my parents graves; I ll give you the fix.This can all go away.Cooper covered the receiver, glanced at Jake, then asked, Are you giving me your word? Yes.Yes.And you know I ll keep it, too.You checked into my past. Tara gripped the edge of thedesk. Hang up the phone, and I ll give it all to you.Jake flinched. Tara, stop& Don t. She glowered at him, fury humming off her like a visible thing. I m not letting you go tojail in some lame attempt to save me.I won t let it happen.Cooper stared at her for a good long moment. Yes, yes.I m sorry. He cleared his throat, andaddressed the person on the other line.The person who was most definitely not a cop. I wasmistaken.Forget this call came through.Cooper hung up and handed a pen to Tara.She took it with trembling fingers, and quickly scribbledsomething down.Jake watched, feeling like the lowest of scum as she wrote.By the time she wasfinished, he thought he might hurl.This wasn t right.None of this was right.Tara set the ballpoint down and handed the fix over. This is everything you need to know to get ridof the issue.You address that, and I won t be able to get in.Cooper took the paper. Thank you for your cooperation.I m sorry it had to go down like this.Tara nodded, her mouth pinched tight. May I go now? Or am I still going to jail? Yes, of course.The deal was if you helped us, you d be free to go. Cooper sat back down. Jakecan see you out.Jake grabbed her and escorted her to the door, not saying a word.He didn t trust himself to speak.Not until he figured out how to tell her what had really happened here.They were halfway across the office when Tara stopped, her arm stiff under his fingers.She turnedslowly, looking first at Jake, then at Cooper. Sorry it had to go like what? What s that supposed tomean?Cooper shoved the code into his safe and closed it.He looked at Jake, his cheeks flushing. It wasthe only way we could think of to get you to Oh my God. Tara pulled free from Jake s grip, her cheeks flushed. I m such a fool.This was allsome elaborate plan to get me to confess, wasn t it?Jake s heart dropped to the floor at his feet.He d hoped to think of a way to break it to her gently.He d hoped& too damn much. Tara, it s Don t. She gave him her back, focusing on his boss. Who was really on the phone? Gordon.One of my detectives out there, Cooper admitted, his shoulders tense. I m sorry, but weknew you wouldn t give in.Jake didn t want to send you to jail, and frankly, neither did I.So we usedthe one thing we could think of against you.Tara spun on her heel, her head held high despite the tremble in her lower lip.She focused on Jake. You.His stomach rolled. Not me, exactly.More so your compassion for others.I m sorry.Tara shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. There s nothing you can say to meright now that ll make this okay. I needed to keep you safe.I did what I had to do, he said.She laughed bitterly. I m such an idiot. I m sorry, but I Jake tried to grab her arms, but she shoved free.He stepped closer to her, butshe backed up.Making himself stand still, he thrust his hands into his pockets to avoid touching herwhen she so obviously didn t want him to. I did the only thing I could, under the circumstances.She trembled with rage. You don t get to excuse your behavior to me.I m done here, and I neverwant to see either of you ever again.When she spun on her heel and left, Jake watched her go, clueless about what to do next.What tosay.What to feel.He d won, but he d really lost. Shit.Cooper, who sat behind his desk looking awkward and out of place, cleared his throat. I m sorry,man.I could have tried to make this work in another way, maybe. No.It had to be this way
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