Lynette Eason - Protective Custody

Carly glanced at Mason, who shrugged. To Nick, she said, “Yes. The children weren’t threatened. That’s a good thing. But it’s obvious the de Lugos are trying to hit you where you’re vulnerable. They mention the kids, but there’s no overt threat to them. However, if you ask me, that’s still a threat, no matter how subtle. We’ll take extra precautions with the children, of course, but your safety is our main concern right now, since you were the one threatened.”

She wondered if she would believe those words one day, but they seemed to ease Nick’s mind a little. For her, though, just the fact that there were children involved would keep her up nights until this assignment came to an end.

Nick nodded. “Then pack your bags. I’ll tell my housekeeper you guys are moving in for a while.”

Carly watched Nicholas walk up the steps and settle himself into the judge’s chair. The bailiff took up residence off to the side. As the jury filed in, she noted their serious expressions. Several looked at the door through which the defendant would enter. Others watched their feet, never lifting their eyes from the floor even as they settled into their chairs.

Interesting and odd, she noted, picking up on the undercurrents flowing around the group.

The prosecutor already sat at his table.

The door opened, and Seth and his partner led an orange-suited, leg-shackled prisoner through it.

Harrison Frasier. On trial for the murder of a local stockbroker. He claimed he was innocent, but the security video captured him in the office at the time of the murder even though it didn’t actually show him pulling the trigger. The murder weapon was never found. However, a witness and DNA, along with the video, almost assured a guilty verdict.

Harrison Frasier. Carly tapped her lip as she studied the man. Good-looking, athletic build, early twenties. Looked like the boy next door you’d hire to mow your grass.

The jury foreman rose. Judge Floyd nodded to the man. “Has the jury reached a verdict, sir?”

“We have, Your Honor.” He carried it to the bench and handed it over.

Nicholas read it and handed it back without blinking an eye or changing expression, although Carly wondered if she was the only one who noticed the muscle jumping along his jawline.

The foreman returned to his chair and stood in front of it.

Harrison Frasier stood.

Nicholas cleared his throat and asked, “Would you please read the verdict?”

“We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty on all charges.”

Pandemonium broke loose.

“No!” A woman in her forties stood, tears streaming down her cheeks. Carly recognized her from the news. She was the wife of the victim. An older gentleman who looked to be her father wrapped an arm around her shoulder and simply stared at Nicholas, then at the foreman.

Carly had to strain to hear the man’s words over the chaos. “How could you let this happen?”

Nicholas stood and headed down the steps.

“Why didn’t you do something, Judge? You should have done something.” This time she heard the man loud and clear.

Nick stopped and looked out at the man who’d hollered. Sadness covered his features, and he shook his head.

“You’ll pay for this!”

Carly’s attention meter stood at full alert as she and Mason hurried to Nick’s side. A threat? She glanced at the officer nearest the door. He had his eyes on the individual who’d issued the threat. Carly relaxed a tad as she realized the man had directed his last comment to the defendant, who now stood a free man. Harrison Frasier laughed and turned his back on the elderly man.

Eyes blazing, cheeks still wet, the victim’s wife grabbed her father’s hand and pulled him toward the double rear doors of the courtroom, pushing her way through the throng of reporters and flashing cameras.

At Nicholas’s side, Carly looked at Harrison and saw him hug his lawyer and another young woman. A sister? A wife? Girlfriend?

Escorting the judge back to his chambers adjacent to the courtroom, Carly opened the door. Mason entered, weapon drawn.

Nicholas stood just inside the door next to Carly. “Come on. Isn’t this a bit extreme?”

She just looked at him, trying not to admire his handsome features. Right now, they were hard, as though chiseled in stone. The only imperfection was on his jawline where he’d sliced himself with the razor.

Distracting herself from that line of thought, she asked, “Haven’t you heard, ‘Better safe than sorry’?”

She thought she heard his teeth click together but was glad when he said nothing else. She really didn’t want to argue with him. Mason came out of the bathroom. “All clear.”

Carly heard the rasp of the zipper on Nicholas’ robe. He tossed it over the back of the chair. “Let’s get out of here. I want to check on my family.”

Gladly.

Carly led the way out the door, checking the hallway as she listened to his footfalls behind her. She shivered as she felt his gaze touch her back. What was he thinking? Was he wondering what she thought of him? That it was because of him that her friend and mentor had been killed? Did he even know?

Mason brought up the rear as they approached the back door of the building. Shoving ahead of Carly and Nicholas, he pushed open the door. Carly laid a restraining hand on Nicholas. “Wait a minute.”

An impatient sigh hissed from him, but he held his tongue and stood still.

Mason’s head popped back in. “We’re clear.”

Carly stepped out, looked both ways then motioned for Nicholas to follow. “Give Mason your keys. He’ll drive your car.”

“That’s not necessary. I’ll be…”

“Hey, Judge!”

The trio turned as one to see Harrison Frasier reveling in his newly declared freedom. One hand on the passenger door of a minivan, the man offered Nicholas a salute with his free hand. “Great job in there, my friend.”

“I’m not your friend, you—”

A loud pop cut off Nicholas’s outraged growl.

Carly reacted by giving Nicholas a hard shove behind the nearest parked car and throwing herself on top of him. If a bullet was headed his way, it was going through her first. But when she looked back, it was Harrison who lay on the ground, a dark red stain growing across his chest.

“Get inside,” she ordered as she scrambled into a crouched position beside him, “just in case our shooter is still somewhere nearby.”

Without comment, pulse pounding with adrenaline, Nicholas pulled himself to his feet and pushed the door open for Carly, then followed her through it. Mason headed over to the scene.

Nicholas’s brain processed Carly’s words as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. His heart pounded in his chest as his mind replayed the image of Harrison being hit with the bullet.

Shock quickly followed the surprise on the man’s arrogant features. Then he’d almost looked pleading as he’d dropped to the ground.

Absently, Nicholas heard Carly talking to someone on her radio. Calling for help? His mind went to Lindsey and Christopher. He glanced at his watch. They’d be home from school by now, and he had to make sure they were safe. Carly had assured him they weren’t in any danger, but he wanted to hear that for himself from someone who had eyes on them.

Even as he subconsciously waited for the sound of another bullet, he yanked out his cell phone and pressed the speed-dial number. “Hello?”

Forcing a calmness into his voice he didn’t feel, he asked, “Debbie, is everything all right at the house?”

“Hi, Nick. Everything’s fine. Two U.S. Marshals showed up at the children’s school saying you’d been threatened and they were just there to keep an eye on things. They followed me home and are still here. Are you okay?”