Star Witness - By Mallory Kane Page 0,19

and smiled wryly. “I’m not used to being scared of anything. But I’m kind of spooked, since the prosecutor has got me guarded by police. I apologize for all the uproar over cats.”

“Don’t apologize. I need to know if you hear even the slightest noise. Now go on back to bed. Everything should be fine. Like I told you, I’ll make the rounds every hour or so. I’ll vary it in case someone’s watching, but I don’t think anyone is. This B-and-B is in a perfect location for hiding a witness. At the end of the street, with a vacant lot behind it. Not much traffic. I think I’ll talk to Mr. Delancey tomorrow about moving you to a more secure room, though—second floor maybe.”

Dani started to tell her that Harte had already dismissed the idea of a second-floor room, but she thought better of it. She wouldn’t mind seeing Harte tangle with Michele. Besides, she still liked the idea of being on a higher floor. Less chance that someone could crawl in her window.

Chapter Six

The next morning, Dani woke to the sound of voices. “Granddad?” she whispered, and grabbed the covers to toss them aside, but they didn’t feel right. She stared at the material. This wasn’t her bedspread. She squinted up at the filmy curtains hanging at the tall windows. Then she realized where she was, and why.

The voices were still talking, too low to distinguish. She frowned, listening more closely. There was a male voice. No, two male voices. And a female. The door muffled them so she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Holding her breath and concentrating, she placed the lower-pitched male voice. It was Harte.

She groaned. Why was he here? One thing she knew—it wasn’t going to be good news for her. Unless maybe they’d firmed up the trial date. She threw back the covers and got up, reaching for her cell phone to check the time. Ten-thirty? Wow. She hadn’t slept eight hours straight since her granddad had died.

She combed her hair and threw on jeans, a tank top and a red, long-sleeved shirt before going to the door. Harte, Officer Field and Detective Kaye all turned to look at her. Field was dressed casually today, but the paddle holster at the small of his back ruined his careful suburban image.

“Good morning,” Harte said, with that smile on his face. “We’ve been talking about you.” This morning he looked more like the man she was accustomed to seeing. He was dressed in a gray suit, a snowy white shirt and a multicolored designer tie. He was clean-shaven. Mr. Prosecutor was back.

She shot a glance at Michele, but she couldn’t read her expression. She looked back at Harte. “Should my ears be burning?”

“Michele brought up the obvious security issue with the windows in your room. We won’t be moving you, but I’m going to have a motion-activated floodlight installed just outside your windows. It might be inconvenient if a cat walks across the yard and triggers it, but you’ll know if there’s anyone outside your window at night.”

She winced at his reference to cats. Had Michele told him? “Great,” she said sarcastically. “I’ll have warning that someone is about to crash through the windows and kill me.”

Harte gave her a hard look, but Michele and Ronald exchanged a glance. Ronald’s eyes twinkled. Michele’s face remained immobile.

“It’s the best option,” Harte said dismissively.

Dani threw up her hands. “Fine. Fine. You obviously know best.” She looked toward the kitchen, sniffing the air. “I smell coffee, thank goodness. Is there anything to eat?”

“I saw bagels and sweet rolls in the refrigerator,” Michele said.

“The manager isn’t here this week,” Harte added. “Since we took over the entire house. He told me he’d left some breakfast items in the refrigerator. I feel sure you can make do.”

Dani groaned as she poured a cup of coffee. Harte Delancey might be easy on the eyes, but he was really hard on the patience. And the fact that she’d gotten a good night’s sleep hadn’t made him any less annoying.

Harte nodded to Michele as she left, then turned to Field. “How did things go yesterday? Any problem with Ms. Canto?” he asked, eliciting what sounded like a snort from the kitchen. He ignored it.

“No, sir. We went straight to the courthouse and back. We brought two boxes of files and papers back with us.”

Harte nodded. The rookie officer was impressively earnest. Harte had no doubt that he would defend Dani’s life