Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,84

too long ago, it’d be smart to stay away from anything that wasn’t bottled. I winked at Kelsey and then accepted the bottle from Aiden to set back into the cooler. I rummaged around and drew out a hard cider.

“My bad,” he said, grinning.

I nudged him with my shoulder, feeling lighter for the first time that day. Until we sat around a campfire close to Krissy and Rich. Aiden sat on one side of me and Saber on the other, so I felt nicely bracketed.

The guy I’d learned was named Drag was on the other side of Krissy, already eating chicken. He reached behind his back and drew out a gun from his waist. “I beat your record of modifying by a second.” He tossed the black gun over to Aiden.

Aiden caught it and flipped it over. “Doesn’t count unless I see you do it.” He angled his head. “Looks good, though.”

Modified? I was pretty sure that was illegal, but I’d never had a gun case. Not yet, anyway. I looked over at the shiny part attached to the back of the slide. The gun was black, and the piece didn’t look natural. “Is that a Glock?” I already knew that it was.

“Yep.” Aiden tossed it back to Drag and dug into his food, his tone not inviting questions.

Fine. But we were talking later when we were away from other people. A walk after dinner sounded like a good idea. I sat back to relax and eat my dinner.

Until a smattering of more automatic gunfire pierced the peaceful evening. Nobody around me took notice.

Well. That wasn’t good. How were they so accustomed to automatic gunfire when there weren’t trainees around?

Chapter 30

We hadn’t gotten a chance to go for that walk. Aiden had matched beer for beer with Pucci, and by the time things got really wild at the fire, he’d been ready to turn in. By wild, I mean people making out, shooting guns, and stripteases. We’d gotten into bed and Aiden had kissed me, turned over, and started snoring.

Of course, if there were cameras in the cabin, it was the right move.

Morning had come too early, and we’d immediately driven to my cottage so I could change clothing before we all headed to the courthouse. I did so, and now I ran out to the truck dressed in a light green suit with yellow Naughty Monkey kitten heels. Nobody spoke as Pucci drove to the courthouse. Today he wore beige pants and a button-down shirt with no tie, while Krissy wore a pink sundress. I’d told Kelsey I wouldn’t need her until the next day.

Aiden wore jeans and a t-shirt and was grumpy with a possible hangover. Or for some other reason. But we hadn’t had a chance to talk privately, so I didn’t know anything.

Since Krissy was a witness for me later, she couldn’t be in the courtroom, so she went shopping.

We entered the courtroom as hearings were going on, so we took seats toward the back, and I ran through my voir dire questions in my head. I’d never done jury selection, and normally I would’ve had a more experienced attorney there to help. At least, back when I’d had a job.

I tried to remember what I’d learned in law school and caught sight of Alice at the prosecution table already in the middle of a hearing. She was arguing about jail time or something.

Judge Grizzio looked at the defendant, and something in the judge’s expression caught my eye. “Are you sure you want to plead guilty, young man?”

I leaned to the side to better see. The defendant was a tall kid with short hair and bright red ears. He nodded.

The judge frowned. “You’re entitled to a lawyer, you know.”

The kid looked toward the door. “I thought I had one, but maybe not. I don’t know. I just want to get all of this over with, okay?” From the back, he kind of reminded me of Pauley. The way he looked, anyway. Pauley would probably be arguing the law by now.

The judge sighed and looked down at his paperwork. “You’re charged with violation of Idaho Code §18-7001 for malicious injury to property that amounted to more than a thousand dollars.”

I sat up. Wait a minute.

“Yes, your Honor.” The kid sounded miserable.

Alice leaned over to read from her casefile. “The defendant destroyed private property with his dirt bike, your Honor. He said he’ll plead to the felony.”

A felony conviction would get the kid a mandatory year in prison