Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,8

island in the kitchen, where Donna already had a glass of wine poured for me. “Thanks.” I took a deep gulp of the fragrant Chianti and let the warmth hit my stomach and spread out.

Donna perched on a stool and reclaimed her glass of wine. She’d dressed down in faded yoga pants with a matching top, and her dark hair was piled high on her head. Her usual realtor outfit was a snappy suit. “How bad is it?” Worry cut into the sides of her generous mouth.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, leaning on the marble island. “It definitely didn’t look good seeing Tessa with a gun in her hand over a dead body, but I think Detective Pierce wants Aiden to be the killer.” I wanted them both free and clear.

Donna shook her head and nudged a bowl of apples toward me. “You hungry?”

“No.” I still felt like throwing up.

Donna finished her glass and reached for the bottle to refill. “Do you think Aiden is the killer?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I doubt it. If Aiden killed Danny, why would he have done it in Tessa’s apartment? And if he’d shot Danny, then how did Tess get the gun? None of it makes sense.”

Donna rubbed her left eye. “I don’t know anything about the criminal process. What happens now?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Tess will have a first appearance tomorrow morning, plead not guilty, and probably have bail set. Since she’s been arrested on suspicion of murder, the bail will be a lot, and we’ll probably have to hire a bond company.” It seemed like the judges in Elk County liked really high bail these days. “I think Judge Williams is the most reasonable, so let’s hope she’s working tomorrow. Also, there’s a chance Nick won’t argue for a high bail.” I hoped.

Donna swirled her wine around in her glass. “Then what?”

My temples ached. “Then the State will try and put together a case, we’ll work on a defense, and we’ll see. For now, we need to talk to her to see what really happened.” I hated that I couldn’t get to her. Or to Aiden. There were too many darn questions.

Donna frowned. “You work for the state.”

“I don’t care. If I have to quit my job to help Tessa, I will.” Although, I was still a witness.

Donna patted my hand, back into big sister mode, even though I was the lawyer in the room. “Let’s not do anything hasty until we talk to Tessa and her lawyer, okay? Maybe there’s a simple answer to all of this.”

The simple answer was that Aiden killed Danny, and Tessa somehow got the gun from him. Then Aiden would go away forever, and that thought was like another punch to the solar plexus. Oh, I knew Aiden was a dangerous guy, but I couldn’t imagine him being a cold-blooded killer any more than I could Tess. I looked at the partially empty bottle. “Please tell me you have more bottles than that.”

“My wine cellar is stocked,” Donna said.

“Can I stay the night?” I didn’t want to be alone, and I was sure Donna felt the same way. Besides, when I became really anxious, the nightmares returned, and I just couldn’t deal with more right now.

She nodded. “All of the clothes you left here are clean and in your drawer. Your duck pajamas are in there.”

I wanted to smile, but my face wouldn’t work. I told her all about Aiden and Pierce’s interview. When we were finished, she reached down into the cupboard.

“We’re gonna need more wine,” she said.

Chapter 4

I’d headed into work early and waited in my office as long as I could the next morning, hoping to catch Nick before the hearing. He never showed up. Our offices were rather quiet, considering he’d fired almost everybody. Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I stood and hustled out of my office to the door, nodding at the receptionist as I hurried outside into the morning.

Donna had lent me a red suit with skirt and jacket to match my red shoes from the day before. The shell was a soft white that I might not return to her.

The heels clip-clopped on the sidewalk around the park to the courthouse, and I climbed the marble steps, stopping short at seeing my cousin standing near a pillar. “Pauley?”

He looked up and then back down, his brown hair smoothed back. At sixteen, he was tall and handsome with startling brown eyes. “Anna. Hi.”