Free Dangerous to Her by Virna Depaul Page A

away, Linda right beside her.
    Linda clung to Mattie’s arm. “Oh my gosh, did you see—”
    “Of course I saw,” Mattie hissed.
    “Poor Mrs. Butler.”
    Poor us, Mattie thought. Poor me . She would probably carry the picture of Judge Butler and his court clerk to her grave.
    “Or maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to give Mrs. Butler my sympathy. He seemed pretty skilled at what he was doing. Granted, he was using his skill on another woman. Brenda didn’t look too disappointed—”
    “You’re babbling, Linda.”
    “My eyes are still burning.”
    They barreled through the outer doors and froze. Mattie suddenly burst out laughing at the way Linda’s thoughts echoed her own. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but her hysterical laughter burst through her fingers. She doubled over as Linda dragged her to the parking lot.
    A minute later, Linda leaned against Mattie’s car, gripping her aching side. “Do you think he saw us?”
    “Brenda looked straight at me. Even if he didn’t see us, she’ll tell him.” But she knew he’d seen them. Seen her. And he hadn’t looked embarrassed either. He’d looked satisfied. Almost as if he’d wanted her to see him.
    They looked at one another and burst out laughing again. “Do you think she calls him ‘Your Honor’ in bed?” Linda whispered.
    Mattie groaned and slid down the side of the car until she was sitting on the ground, her skirt flared out next to her. “I can’t believe I’m laughing about the fact that a man—Judge Butler, one of the county’s most respected judges—is cheating on his wife.” Her laughter had vanished and tears pricked her eyes. “What is wrong with people? Doesn’t anyone keep their promises anymore?”
    Linda just shrugged.
    It might be different if Mattie didn’t know Judge Butler’s wife, but she was a kind, loving woman who adored her husband and had made brownies with Jordan. She was going to be devastated when she found out.
    Mattie gasped as the ramifications of what she’d seen sank in. “Oh, God. What are we going to do?”
    Linda reached out her hand to help Mattie to her feet. “We do nothing.”
    “But don’t we have some kind of duty to report him? He’s a public servant. Aren’t there rules about judicial ethics?”
    “Mattie, you’re a single mother trying to make it on your own. I’m just starting to make headway on my career. What do you think reporting the judge’s little indiscretion is going to do to either one of us? That’s even assuming anyone believes us. No,” she said, “We pretend like it never happened. We didn’t see a thing.”
    “But there are two of us. You’re a prosecutor. Why would you lie?”
    “Why would a judge be stupid enough to get caught in such a compromising position? Look, let’s just get out of here, okay? I don’t want him following us and trying to explain, do you?”
    “No. No, I don’t want to hear anything he has to say about it.”
    Mattie moved to open her car door, then groaned. “My keys. They’re still in my purse.” She bit her lip. “Should we see if they’ve left?”
    “No way. I’ll drive you home and pick you up in the morning.”
    They looked at each other, their nervous amusement gone, the tense reality of what they’d witnessed bearing down on them. “Hey, Linda?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Lay off about Deputy Jeffries, okay?”
    Linda glanced behind her, back at the building where a little bit more of their dwindling idealism had been left behind. She tightened her lips and nodded. “You bet. And I’ll even do you one better. I’ll do my best to keep him distracted and away from you.”
    The thought of Linda “distracting” Dom didn’t sit well with Mattie, which was ridiculous, she told herself. All the more reason to have Linda do it. Still, even as Mattie smiled and nodded, she imagined how hurt she’d be if the distraction actually worked.

Chapter 8

    “D amn him!” Two minutes after Linda dropped her off at home, her hands