Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,79

Pucci. “You want cooperation, right?”

Pucci paused. “Uh. I appreciate the help, honey, but I don’t think guns in ribs was necessary here.”

“Oh.” She sounded like a disappointed toddler. “I was just trying to help.”

I grit my teeth together. “Then get the gun out of my side, would you?” A quick glance down proved that the safety was on. What a ditz.

She faltered but didn’t move very fast.

Two motorcycles roared into the parking lot, and I recognized Saber on one of them. The other guy was new, had several scars across his face, and a tattoo of what looked like a gun on his neck. They both wore T-shirts with the Lordes logo on them.

Aiden exhaled quietly.

Pucci looked them over. “Your men can come, Devlin. Let’s get this done.”

“She doesn’t come,” Aiden said, reaching quickly and snagging the gun from Krissy.

“Hey,” Krissy protested in almost a whine.

Aiden handed me the gun. “I’m not supposed to have weapons, and neither is Pucci,” he said quietly. “At least not in front of a police station.”

Pucci moved forward and patted Krissy’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Thanks for trying to help.”

She preened. I swear to God, she preened.

Pucci tucked an arm over her shoulder and tugged her close. “Listen. We got off to a bad start today, and I apologize. I’d like to finish up our business, and we need to be at the compound to get the ball finally rolling. I have trial tomorrow, and my witnesses are all at the campground, so it makes sense for my new lawyer to come with us. I guarantee her safety.”

Saber cut his engine. “That sounds good to me.”

Aiden gave him a look.

The other guy looked at me, then at Pucci, and then at Aiden. “We can cover her. This is business, Devlin, and we need the money. It’s up to you, but her safety was just guaranteed in front of witnesses.”

Aiden’s expression didn’t change, and now I was so curious about this mysterious compound that I could barely stand it. Plus, since Pucci needed me for trial the next day, it did seem like I was pretty safe. “It’s up to you, Anna,” Aiden said. “Whatever you decide goes.”

I wanted to ask what he wanted, but obviously whatever this business was he thought he needed to get done. “It’ll be easier to prepare for trial if I can speak to the witnesses beforehand.” That was the understatement of the century.

“There we go,” Pucci said. “All right. I hope you’re a good lawyer.” He turned toward the black truck.

I looked up at Aiden. “Does he know I’ve never been to trial?”

After all the tension, it felt good to hear Aiden laugh.

The compound was more than an hour away up in a thickly forested area in the next northern county. For some reason, leaving Elk County made me feel nervous. Aiden and I sat in the back seat of Pucci’s truck with Krissy in front with him, and nobody spoke. So I read through the file on the ride. Pucci had been charged with violating Idaho Code §18-3316, which prohibited felons from possessing a firearm. I flipped through papers. “What were the felony convictions?”

Pucci turned the vehicle down yet another dirt road through more trees. “Robbery in California, felony assault in Wyoming, and felony domestic violence in Texas.” He smiled at Krissy. “It was a bogus charge, and she was sleeping with the judge, I’m pretty sure.”

Krissy nodded. “I’m sure.”

My stomach lurched. “All right.” I read through the complaint. “You were in Dunphey’s bar, there was an altercation, and you took it outside for a fight.” Three witnesses saw Pucci take a gun from an ankle holster and wave it in the guy’s face. By the time the police had arrived, Pucci and his guys had taken off, but people knew who they were. “Were the witnesses all from the bar? Had they been drinking?”

“Yep, and one of them has left the state.” Pucci grinned. “Guess it got too cold in Idaho.”

I so did not like this guy. Suddenly, I missed my job as a prosecutor. I would’ve loved to have put him in prison. “Witness intimidation is an even more serious charge, Rich. Just a caution from your very temporary lawyer.” I’d go to court the next day, but that was it. Plus, I wasn’t feeling a lot of pressure right now. Losing this one wouldn’t hurt at all. Although, I’d do my job.

A galvanized steel single swing barrier gate arm came into view. It wasn’t unusual to