Star Witness by Mallory Kane Read Free Book Online

her cheeks begin to warm in embarrassment. “Nice to see you, Officer.”
    “Thank you, ma’am.”
    She smiled. “Please call me Dani.” She held out her hand and Field took it. He was nice, only a few years older than she.
    She listened as Harte laid out the ground rules to Field about taking Dani to the courthouse to retrieve her papers—nowhere but her office, only as many papers as fit in one box or briefcase, straight back to the B & B.
    “Take a different route each way and make sure you’re not followed,” he said. Then with a quick glance at her, he added, “And she’s not to leave the house again.”
    She met Field’s gaze over Harte’s shoulder and rolled her eyes. Field’s expression didn’t change from quiet respect.
    “Okay, then,” Harte said. “Dani, be a good girl and don’t give Officer Field a hard time, okay?”
    She raised her eyebrows, wishing her superpower was shooting daggers from her eyes. “Watch it, Mr. Prosecutor. I could file harassment charges against you for calling me girl. ”
    “You could,” he said, amusement tingeing his voice. “Anybody can file suit, but it would be dismissed as frivolous.”
    “I could make it stick,” she retorted.
    Harte’s face grew solemn. “Seriously, don’t give him any trouble. This is for your own safety.”
    Suddenly, the back of her throat quivered and she felt a twinge of fight-or-flight adrenaline course through her veins. “I understand,” she said evenly, silently willing him to go away and stop trying to scare her. Because it was working. The image of the mangled porch stairs rose in her mind’s eye. If the car had done that kind of damage to four-by-fours, what would it have done to her legs—or her body?

Chapter Four
    “I’ll call you,” Harte said. “Check to see how you’re doing. And tomorrow, I’ll start prepping you for your testimony.”
    Dani nodded.
    Harte headed out the door, pulling a key ring with two keys on it from his pocket. “Officer? Walk me out, will you?” he said as he passed Field. “These are duplicate keys to the front and back doors. I’m giving you one and keeping one myself. You and the second-shift officer will exchange keys. One of you will be here with Ms. Canto at all times.”
    “Yes, sir,” Field said, turning on his polished heel to follow him.
    Imperious. That was it. She’d been searching for just the right word to describe Harte Delancey. And imperious was perfect. He was arrogant too, and she didn’t like him at all. Forget how very nice he’d looked this morning in old worn jeans and a faded T-shirt with his hair tousled from sleeping in his car and his jaw shadowed by morning stubble. Forget how easy it was to imagine that he would look just like that after they spent the night...
    You are so not going there, she admonished herself, even as she pushed the curtains aside with two fingers and watched him fold his long, lean body into his car and drive away.
    She wondered why an attorney in New Orleans drove a Jeep. But it did suit him, like the jeans and T-shirt and, she had to admit, the stubble.
    “Ms. Canto?”
    She jumped and let the curtains drop into place. “What? Oh yes, Officer Field.” She hadn’t heard him come back inside.
    “Do you need anything?”
    She gave him her sweetest smile. “Only a ride to the courthouse.”
    “If you’re ready to go, my car is right out front.”
    “The Camry?” That was the only other car she’d seen parked in front of the B & B.
    “Yes. I’m driving my own car. It’s not a good idea to have a police car sitting out front all day and night.”
    Dani grabbed her purse, its extra weight reminding her of the gun and the lock-pick kit inside it. She glanced quickly at Field. Would he be able to tell she was carrying just by how the heavy bag swung against her side? Thank goodness Harte hadn’t noticed. She slung the long crisscrossed strap over her head so the bag lay diagonally across her torso and rested against her