An Extraordinary Match (The Match Series Book 3) by Barbara Dunlop

Edwards of the Mirror Falls Police Department.”
    Jade stopped. The police? Was something wrong? Had something happened to Logan?
    She quickly pulled the locks off the door. “I’m here.” She swung it open wide to reveal the sheriff flanked by two deputies. “What happened?”
    The sheriff stepped forward. “Ms. Korrigan, you are under arrest.” He grasped her upper arm.
    “What?” she squeaked.
    He spun her around. “On suspicion of electronic theft.”
    “ What ?” she repeated. “What are you talking about?”
    “You have the right to remain silent.”
    The cold steel of a handcuff closed around her right wrist. Her first instinct was to struggle, but she quickly restrained the impulse.
    “You have the right to an attorney.”
    “I don’t need an attorney. And I don’t need to remain silent.”
    “Ma’am, I need to read you your rights.”
    “But—”
    “Ma’am.”
    She clamped her jaw shut while he finished his recitation and secured the handcuffs. She told herself not to panic. It would all make sense in a few minutes. They’d tell her what was going on. Then they’d realize they’d made a mistake and let her go, likely before they even left the room.
    “What do you think I did?” she asked, struggling to keep the tremor from her voice.
    “Attempted electronic theft of personal information, including credit card information.”
    “No, no.” They had to be confused. “I protect information. I don’t steal it.”
    “If you say so, ma’am.” He guided her through the doorway and into the hall.
    “There’s been a mistake.”
    “You can explain to the judge.”
    “The judge? What judge?”
    “Surely you’re aware of how the American judicial system works.”
    The situation suddenly felt frighteningly real. “But I didn’t do anything. How can this happen? How can you just take me away?” She strained to look behind her. “Did you lock the door? Did somebody lock the door? My tablet is—”
    “We’re bringing your tablet along as evidence.”
    “Evidence of what ?”
    They came to the elevator, and she realized a lobby full of people were about to see her marched out of the hotel in handcuffs. Embarrassment shouldn’t be her biggest concern right now, but somehow it was. What could she say? What could she do? How could she demonstrate to her fellow hotel guests that she was completely innocent?
    “You hacked into the Twin Peaks Resort computer system.”
    Everything inside her froze. Her throat closed over, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “Only to check my e-mail.”
    “Uh huh.”
    She twisted her head to look up at the sheriff. “Seriously. I only wanted to check my e-mail. The guest wireless was down, and I needed—”
    The elevator door slid open in front of them, and Jade swallowed hard. She was going to jail. She was being arrested, and she was going to jail, and she had committed a crime.
    They turned inside the elevator car.
    “I’m a software developer,” she tried to explain.
    “No kidding,” said one of the deputies.
    “That’s my job. A legitimate job. I protect people’s security. I don’t compromise it.”
    “You just admitted to hacking into the hotel’s computer,” the sheriff pointed out.
    “That was only a matter of convenience. I didn’t want to cost anybody—” She clamped her mouth shut.
    It was probably time to call a lawyer. She wondered if Mirror Falls had lawyers. Should she call Virgil? He was the one who’d put her in this ridiculous town. Should she call her family? Did any of them have a lawyer? Did they know a lawyer? Maybe Jillian would have an idea.
    Jade battled the panic that was threatening to swamp her thought processes. She firmly assured herself it would all get straightened out. It had to…eventually.
    But in the meantime, she’d be locked up in jail. She’d be sitting in a jail cell instead of a restaurant. Her fear turned to frustration.
    “This isn’t relaxing, Virgil,” she muttered through clenched