Lynette Eason - Protective Custody

He closed his eyes, picturing the children’s nanny. Debbie had been a blessing in one of his greatest times of need. When his mother had decided to leave for California, the daughter of his best friend and fellow judge, Wayne Thomas, had volunteered to fill in as caretaker for Lindsey and Christopher until he could find someone on a permanent basis. “Yes, I’m fine.” He’d tell her about the shooting later. “I’m just going to be a bit delayed in getting home, all right?”

“Sure, Nick. No problem.”

“Thanks, Deb.” The fact that he’d been threatened wouldn’t freak her out, but she’d be on high alert. Her father, Wayne Thomas, was also a judge, so she knew about threats and protective details. However, the fact that Nicholas had been present when a shooter actually killed someone might be a bit much for her.

He hung up and watched Carly walk toward him, holstering her weapon. His heart flipped into a weird beat at the sight of her, face flushed, dark curls escaping her ponytail. Mirrored sunglasses covered her eyes, so he couldn’t read her expression. He swallowed hard. Was he attracted to her? Surely not. He had appreciated her friendship two years ago. But he’d been a married man then—and no matter how troubled his marriage had been, he would never have jeopardized it by allowing himself to get close to another woman. Still, Carly had been easy to talk to, a true friend.

Focusing on her words, he pushed his thoughts away. “The shooter got away.”

Nicholas narrowed his eyes and determined to pull his own gun from the wall safe just as soon as he got home. The door opened behind him as he questioned Carly. “Why Harrison Frasier?”

“I have no idea.”

“I do.”

Nicholas turned to see Mason step inside.

A quick glimpse behind Mason as the door shut showed authorities swarming the area. The press had arrived in record time, since they were already on the premises for the trial.

Harrison had already been transported from the scene. Yellow tape marked the area where the crime-scene unit now worked. The door clicked shut, and the deputy marshal held something in his left hand that he offered to Carly. She took it.

“What is it?” Nick asked.

“Apparently, our guy is fond of letters. Two in one day.”

“So, the shooter isn’t the father of the victim.” Nick stated the thought that had been in his head ever since he’d seen Harrison go down.

“No, I’m going to say not.”

Nicholas leaned over Carly’s shoulder to read. Her scent swirled around him and, against his better judgment, he breathed in deep. Then the typed words pulled the air from his lungs.

“Do you understand our power now, Judge Nicholas Floyd?” he read aloud. “Mr. Frasier was guilty. You know it and we know it. But we wanted a not-guilty verdict. So we got it. Drop the de Lugo case or you will die and leave poor Lindsey and Christopher true orphans.”

His back teeth ground against each other. Through tight lips, he muttered, “I knew someone got to that jury as soon as I saw the verdict.”

“What do you mean?” Carly asked.

“The evidence was too clear-cut—and Harrison was too cocky. It should have been an open-and-shut case. The de Lugos got to the jury and swayed the judgment—just to prove to me they could.”

“How many jurors do you think they got to?” Mason asked.

He shrugged. “It would only take one if he or she had the right personality. But I’m guessing it was probably more than one. All you have to find is a juror with a kid. Threaten the kid, and get the juror to do anything you want.”

“Then we need to talk to the jurors,” Carly stated.

He shot her a wry look. “If you think it would do any good. We already know who was doing the threatening, but yeah, we’ll send a report in and let the proper authorities take care of it.” His jaw hardened. “Can’t hurt to have one more charge to bring against the de Lugos.”

“All right, we need to get you into a secured area.” Mason shoved his gun in his shoulder holster. “Right now, that’s going to be your home. How many people live there?”

“There’s six of us right now. My housekeeper, Stella, and her husband, Carl, a nanny, Debbie, myself and the children.”

“Two marshals will stay on the children as they go to and from school. You might want to consider letting the nanny go for her own safety.”

“Fine. What about Stella? She’s trained to defend herself.”

Carly remembered the woman from the last time she’d been in his home. “She’s an ex-police officer. Her husband is the groundskeeper, right?”

“Right. She’s the niece of my mother’s best friend. She was wounded in the line of duty and took an early retirement. By the time she’d recovered, Mom decided she couldn’t handle the housework anymore and asked Stella if she’d be interested in doing it. She wanted someone she knew and trusted and didn’t want to go to all the trouble of interviews, etcetera. I didn’t think Stella’d be interested, but fortunately for us, she jumped on it. She said she needed something to keep her busy, but I think she enjoyed being around us and the children since she couldn’t have any of her own. She and her husband, Carl, live in the mother-in-law suite attached to the house. To ask them to leave would really put them out.”

“They can stay as long as they understand the dangers.”

Nicholas rubbed his eyes. “I’ll give them the option of moving into a hotel at my expense, although I don’t know what they would do with their two dogs.”

Mason raised a brow. “Dogs are good. They bark.”

“True. In this new house, I had the security system upgraded with motion sensors and security cameras. Plus, I had a wrought-iron fence installed. And all of this in a gated community.”

“What else?” Carly urged.

“It’s an electric fence. If anyone tries to go over it, they’ll get a pretty nasty shock. That’s about it.”

“It’s better than a lot we’ve worked with in the past.” Thank goodness. The thought of Nicholas or one of the children ending up dead sent shivers of fear all over her. The thought of being around Nick 24/7 made her stomach clench, too, although she wasn’t sure if it was from dread or the pull of attraction she couldn’t deny feeling.

She shrugged off her feelings. Time to do her job. “All right, let’s get going.” Carly held up the paper bag with the second letter. “I’m just going to turn this over to the crime-scene guys. Then we can get out of here.”

Two minutes later, they were on the road. Carly drove the unmarked police car and Mason followed behind in Nicholas’s car. He watched Carly’s slender fingers grip the wheel.

When she’d invaded his home two years ago, just a few months before his wife’s death, they’d butted heads on the protection issue yet Carly in his home brought a certain peace to the household that had been distinctly absent before her arrival.

His wife, Miriam, had basically closed herself in their bedroom and become a hermit for the duration of Carly and her partner’s stay. It had been a relief, he remembered with guilt. Miriam had changed in their six years of marriage, depression stealing her sweet, happy-go-lucky personality away from him.

She’d wanted a baby, and they hadn’t been able to have one. The fact that no doctor could tell them why just compounded the problem. His home life had started to unravel and quickly became unbearable. And while Nick never thought he would consider divorce, he had to admit it had crossed his mind in the weeks before Miriam had been killed.

Then the marshals had arrived. He smiled at the irony. He hadn’t wanted the marshals at that point in time any more than he wanted them this time.