Star Witness. Mallory Kane

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      “Speaking of which,” Harte said, “the court date in the Freeman Canto murder case has been moved up. The judge will hear opening arguments on Tuesday.”

      “Tuesday?” Lucas said. “Five days from now? That seems sudden. Didn’t you just take over the case a couple of months ago?”

      “And they were talking about putting it on the docket for June. But now defense counsel Felix Drury has to have open-heart surgery, and the judge didn’t want to put off the case another three or four months while he recuperates.”

      “Maybe you’ll get lucky and Drury will plead his client, or at least try to wrap up the case early,” Ethan said. “I’ve testified in a case or two where Jury Drury was defense counsel. He treats the jury like his own personal fan club. Plays to them and draws out his arguments. Plus, doesn’t he love to file motions for acquittal?”

      “Yes, he does. The D.A. got the notification about the new trial date around one-thirty today, and before three there were two defense motions on his desk.” Harte speared a bite of steak. “So that means I probably won’t have time to breathe until the trial is over, starting tonight.” Just as he finished speaking, his cell phone rang.

      His dad grunted. “Dang things,” he mumbled.

      Harte glanced at the display and excused himself from the table. “Got to take this,” he apologized as he walked to the other end of the patio.

      “Delancey? It’s Mahoney,” Detective Tom Mahoney said unnecessarily. The gruff detective didn’t like cell phones any more than Harte’s dad did. “Got a problem.”

      “What kind of problem?” Harte asked, smothering a sigh. Mahoney was an excellent detective, but he had a very broad definition of problem.

      “Your witness in the Canto case was almost run down a little while ago.”

      Harte’s scalp burned. “Dani? What happened? Is she all right?” He blinked away a disturbing vision of Public Defender Danielle Canto’s exquisite body crumpled on the highway.

      “Yep. A vehicle nearly sideswiped her on the sidewalk leading up to her house. Doubt it was an accident. The damn car left tracks in the grass—and skid marks—looks like it didn’t even try to slow down—”

      “Tom! What about Dani?” Harte broke in.

      “She’s okay. But real shaken up. Has a few scrapes and bruises from throwing herself up onto the porch, though,” Mahoney assured him. “That saved her. The front steps are nothing but toothpicks now.”

      “I’ll be right there.”

      “No need to rush,” Mahoney said. “The excitement’s over now.”

      “Well, it may not be the last of it. Did you hear that the Canto case has been moved up? It’s due to start Tuesday.”

      “Hmph. That explains a lot. That car had to be sent by Yeoman. He doesn’t want Ms. Canto testifying against him.”

      Harte agreed. Ernest Yeoman was an importer and distributor who supplied goods to all the Hasty Marts in the Southeast. He had long been suspected of dealing in contraband, specifically drugs, through his import business. “Please tell me you’ve got evidence that ties him to this.”

      Mahoney cleared his throat. “Can’t say. We picked up some headlight glass fragments and paint chips where the vehicle sideswiped the porch. We’ll see if the lab can match it up with a make and model.”

      “Where’s Dani now?” Harte asked. “Did she have to go to the hospital? I want to talk to her. Find out what happened.”

      “She’s at home. We’ve got her statement. You can read it as soon as it’s typed up.”

      Harte was already fishing in his jeans for his car keys. “You left her by herself?”

      “I told her to go to a hotel or a friend’s house until we could arrange something, but she’s about as stubborn as her granddaddy always was. I’ve arranged for a cruiser to drive by hourly through the night.”

      “Good. I’ll head over there as soon as I find a judge. The hourly drive-by is great for tonight. But I’m getting an order of protection. I’m not taking any chances with my star witness.”

      THE BOTTLE RATTLED against the glass shelf of the refrigerator as Danielle Canto pulled it out. Her hands were shaking. She tightened her fist around the cold green glass with a disgusted huff. Her hands never shook.

      But today was a special occasion, she thought wryly. She’d felt the brush of hot steel and the prickle of splintered wood against the backs of her calves just before she’d managed to leap up onto the front porch of her grandfather’s home. She barely remembered doing it, but it had to be a new high-jump record. The wooden porch was at least four feet off the ground.

      She’d hit the porch hard and rolled, bruising her thigh, scraping her knees and elbows and hurting her wrist. She’d rolled up to her haunches immediately, but between her aching muscles and the panic that had hitched her breath, she hadn’t gotten the license plate. By the time she’d taken a deep breath and managed to focus, all she’d been able to see was the car’s back fender as it screamed away in a shower of stones and mud.

      She’d grabbed her phone and called 911, and waited without moving until they got there. She hadn’t even considered inspecting the damage to the steps and the four-by-fours that supported the porch. Maybe she should check now, but that would involve getting a flashlight and going around from the back door to the front, not to mention the trauma of seeing how much damage the car had done to the porch. No. She didn’t want to know—not tonight.

      After grilling her for twenty minutes to squeeze out every detail she could give him about the incident, Detective Mahoney had guessed that the car had been sent by Ernest Yeoman. She shuddered. Could Yeoman be that stupid, or maybe that arrogant, to think that he could scare her into refusing to testify? A horrible thought occurred to her. What if whoever was driving that car had been sent, not to scare her, but to kill her?

      She squared her shoulders. Whatever the reason for the attack, it was time for her to take action. She wasn’t her grandfather’s granddaughter for nothing. Freeman Canto had taught her to take care of herself. She looked at the bottle of Chardonnay still clutched in her fist, then set it carefully on the granite countertop. Right now she needed a means of self-defense more than a drink. She held up her hand. It would not be shaky long.

      Stalking to the bedroom closet, she took down the metal box from the top shelf and unlocked it. Inside was the lock-pick kit her granddad had given her for her tenth birthday.

      “Never know when you might need to get through a door,” he’d said.

      The small leather case felt familiar in her hand and reminded her of the hours she’d spent picking every lock in the house, again and again. She didn’t remember when she’d stopped carrying the small kit. Probably about the same time she started wearing lipstick and noticing boys. Well, she’d be carrying it now.

      With a sad little smile, she set the case on СКАЧАТЬ