Adrienne Giordano - The Defender

The pattern on the wall behind Russ looped and swirled and Penny swayed. Massive head rush.

Grasping her arms, he held her steady. “Uh-oh.”

She leaned forward, rested her head against his shoulder. She needed a minute. Not even. Just a few seconds to let the dizziness pass and consider facing such a catastrophic situation.

Russ ran his hands up and down her arms, a gentle reassurance that allowed her to close her eyes—only for a minute—and get herself together.

Finally, she backed away, met Russ’s gaze. “You know he’s insane.”

* * *

“I DO KNOW THAT.” He squeezed her arms. “If I let go, you’re not going to face-plant, are you?”

Penny scoffed. “On this floor? Not on your life.”

A few minutes ago, her skin had turned that ashy-gray that preceded going lights out, and he’d take no chances on her smacking her head against the john and getting a concussion.

Slowly, he lifted his hands from her arms and held them out.

Only slightly annoyed at her own weakness, Penny waved him off. “He ordered that shooting yesterday. To scare me.”

“He said that?”

She nodded.

He snatched his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. When he’d entered the shop, he’d had every intention of tearing into Penny for walking across the street alone. He’d told her the night before they were looking into the idea of either her or her father being targets and clearly she’d blown that off. She was damned lucky the receptionist squealed on her whereabouts or she’d be dealing with this Heath garbage on her own. In the middle of a crowded coffee shop, no less!

Crazy woman.

“Who are you calling?”

“My office. I want marshals on you ASAP. We’ll get Elizabeth protection also. How the hell did he find out she wants a deal? And why the hell are you walking around alone when you almost got shot yesterday?”

Penny’s face stretched into an appalled openmouthed gape. “You have lost your mind, Russell. I’ll go wherever I want. And I have no idea how Heath knows about Elizabeth. Aside from my coworkers, you’re the only one I spoke to about it. And I’m sure Elizabeth hasn’t told anyone. At least, no one outside her immediate family. And she’s so nervous, I’m not sure she’d have done even that. He said he’s watching her, though. Maybe he took a shot and got lucky.”

“Yeah, well, that lucky shot just earned him extortion and obstruction charges to go with his landslide of financial-fraud issues. And if I can prove it, murder. The reporter died this morning.” Penny reeled back and he held up a finger when Guy Hawkins, one of his squad mates on the CID—Criminal Investigation Division—answered. “Voight here. Where are we on those marshals for Penny and Gerald Hennings?”

“They’re on their way over. Should be there anytime.”

At his hip, the door lever moved. Someone trying to use the john. “One second,” he said to the person on the other side. He went back to Hawkins. “Good. Thanks. Put me through to Everly.” Russ looked back at Penny, who stared at him with dead eyes. The reporter thing rattled her. Rightly so. “Trying to reach my ASAC. Voice mail.”

Not a break to be had. He left a message. Only thing to do.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of this bathroom. I’m not taking you out the front door. Who the hell knows where Heath is, but he had a view of the entrance. We know that.”

“And what? We’re going out the back?”

“I’ll have one of the marshals pick us up in the alley. Wherever Heath is, he won’t see you leave.”

“Where are we going?”

“To find Elizabeth. We’ll stash her away somewhere. This guy is soiling himself over whatever she knows. And if he orchestrated that shooting, she knows enough to put him away.”

The person in the hallway knocked. “Only one bathroom, chief,” a man said.

Russ turned, yanked open the door and flipped his badge up. The young guy, the one he’d spotted reading a Sports Illustrated when he’d walked in, stared at the giant letters that read F-B-I and his eyes widened. “Oh, wow.”

“Yeah,” Russ said. “Give us a second.”

The kid nodded and Russ shut the door again. Sometimes his love of flashing his badge was borderline perverse.

“I totally need an FBI badge,” Penny cracked.

“It’s handy. You ready?”

She nodded and Russ opened the door. Sports Illustrated guy looked at Penny, then to Russ and back to Penny again. His mouth curved into a sarcastic grin that Russ would have liked to pound away at, but hell, two people spending extended time in a single bathroom conjured all sorts of thoughts. Nothing he could do about that.

Penny stepped into the hallway and jerked her head at the young guy. “All yours. Chief.”

Nice. Why he was surprised at her sarcasm, he’d never know. Despite being followed, threatened and shot at, Penny Hennings still had fight in her.

If he could get over the fact that she put criminals back on the street, she might be the love of his life.

Penny stopped in the hallway and turned to him. She bit her top lip, then blew out a breath, and that was so not good.

Ushering her out of the path, he leaned one shoulder against the wall. “You’re thinking. What about?”

“My family. He could go after them.” Her voice squeaked like the last neglected wheel.

No, no, no. She was not turning tail on him. Not Killer Cupcake, who never shied away from conflict. At least, not that he knew of. He’d worked too long and hard to nail this guy. Between the fraud charges and conspiracy to commit murder, this guy was toast. All they had to do was prove it. The widow’s testimony would help them win this. And he wasn’t about to let Penny—the defense attorney—wreck it.

“You’re not backing down on me, Penny. This case is too important. We’ll get all of you protection.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You think I’m backing down? That’s what you think? I happen to be tired. Doesn’t mean I’m letting that nutcase dictate how I should live, but I need my family safe. That’s what I’m thinking.”

Could be he blew that call. Could be? With the cremating stare she gave him? Yeah, he’d definitely blown it.

Sports Illustrated guy came out of the john, spotted them and averted his gaze. At least he’d learned his lesson about the beautiful blonde and her sharp tongue. He didn’t want any piece of her now.

Neither did Russ. By his estimation, he needed damage control here. He nodded toward the guy. “I think you scared the hell out of him.”

Penny rolled her eyes and boosted off the wall. “Don’t even try it, Russell. Admit you screwed up. Feeding my ego won’t replace that.”

Sick bastard that he was, this could definitely be love. “I screwed up. Shouldn’t have assumed. And you know what else?”

A noise from the café drew her attention for a second and her ponytail flew over her shoulder when she came back to him. “What?”

Gently, he swept the blond strands over her shoulder, let the backs of his fingers linger a second. Maybe two.

She shifted and he smiled at the punch of physical attraction. Or maybe he needed sex. Hot, sweaty, knock-him-sideways sex that he hadn’t had in way too long. Getting busy with a woman had never been a problem. Getting busy with the right woman proved to be a challenge.

Penny Hennings—defense lawyer or not—might be the right woman.

She shifted again, made snoring noises, and he ducked his head closer. Slowly, she lifted her chin, and if he pushed it, if he nudged a little farther, he’d be close enough to kiss her. “Yeah, you might be the right one.”

Drifting closer, she blinked up at him, those big blue eyes questioning. “I’m sorry?”