Material Witness by Lisa Mondello, L. A. Mondello Read Free Book Online

the man standing
in her living room was suddenly serious and professional again. “You're going
to be fine. For starters, I'm bringing you down to the station to work out the
details of what to do until things settle down.”
    She snapped her gaze at him and
huffed. “Don't patronize me. A crime boss has just been murdered and the one
person who can finger his murderer is me. I may have been a little naive last
night, but my mind is pretty clear right now, and I know what trouble I'm in.”
    “You'll be safe.”
    A wry laugh escaped her that sounded
almost hysterical to her ears. “You saw how easy it was for you to waltz right
into a secure building. Are you going to have someone stand guard
outside my door twenty-four hours a day?”
    “If we have to, yes.”
    “And what will that accomplish? These
people don’t ring doorbells. They don’t pick and choose who to hurt. And they
don’t care who gets killed in the process. A spray of bullets, a bomb and
broken brake line to make it look like an accident? Hell, they don’t even care
of it looks like an accident.”
    “You’re going to be fine.”
    Cassie looked at Jake in disbelief.
He was totally serious. “What about you? You were there, too. Aren't you afraid
someone in Ritchie's family will come after you because of your connection with
Angel Fagnelio? And Fagnelio knew you were there. He didn’t care.”
    He hesitated. “That’s a problem.”
    “You think?”
    “I thought I’d gained Angel’s
confidence these last few months. Perhaps I was wrong. Or perhaps his desire to
get back at Ritchie was worth wasting me too. I don’t know. This group isn’t
exactly the warm and fuzzy type. Since Fagnelio made the hit on Rory's, none of
the other informants are talking. They’re all nervous. I’m pretty sure Ritchie
Trumbella was the target and everyone else was just in the way. But that’s just
a guess.”
    “And now I’m in the way.” She dropped
her face into her hands, not wanting to think about how differently last night
could have played out. Within seconds, she felt Jake's wide hand stroking her
back. Heat enveloped her where his touch made contact and slowly spread
outward.
    “There’s a lot riding on this. But
the most important part of all of it is that someone leaked your name to the
press. That shouldn’t have happened. But since it did, you need protection. You
say it wasn't Maureen—”
    “It wasn't. I’ll admit Maureen has
had some wild ideas in her time. She had me dress up as a clown and deliver
singing telegrams once so I could think about ways to get into highly secure
buildings. But all that stuff was harmless. She would never put me in danger
just to sell some books.”
    “How famous is Cassie Lang?”
    She shrugged. “I have some fans. I
don’t get recognized at the market or anything. People aren’t running after me
to get my picture, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    “Maybe one of them saw you and called
the press.”
    “You flatter me. I've had a good
sales record, but I don't think someone would turn their head twice if they
recognized me.”
    “You're wrong there, Cassie.”
    She forced air into her lungs. She
tried to convince herself it was to calm her down after learning the disturbing
news she was a target. Certainly not because of the way Jake Santos held her
gaze as if he were balancing a fragile piece of crystal.
    The coffee maker cut into the sudden
silence with a loud burping noise as the pot filled. Normally Cassie couldn't
function without at least two or three cups in her. The fear she had racing
through her veins now rivaled anything caffeine could give her.
    Jake eased off the sofa. “Why don't
you go pack an overnight bag while I pour us some coffee?”
    “A suitcase?”
    “We'll probably be moving you to
another location.”
    “That won't be enough,” she said, not
moving or looking up at him as he strode toward the kitchen.
    Jake turned back, resting his hand on
the doorjamb as he looked at