Star Witness - By Mallory Kane Page 0,65

meter of a second bag that was piggybacked into the first. “A nice little boost of morphine.”

“Not too much,” Harte murmured. He could already feel the drug doing its job.

“You aren’t getting too much. You’re getting just the right amount. You’d better sleep while you can. Tomorrow morning, your nurse is going to make you get up and walk.”

“How soon can I get out of here?” he asked.

“I’ll let you and the doctor talk about that.” She nodded toward the door. “So, I suppose that was your brother? Nice guy. You and he must be close. You look like twins.”

“He wishes he was as good-looking as me,” Harte muttered, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. He heard the nurse chuckle as she went out of the room.

Chapter Seventeen

Dani sat in the courtroom, waiting for the judge and jury to enter. The jury had reported about an hour ago that they had reached a verdict.

The judge entered and, in doing so, stopped the idle chatter in the courtroom. He stepped up behind the bench and spoke to the prosecution’s attorneys and then to the defense’s, ensuring that they were ready to proceed.

“Bailiff, you may bring in the jury,” the judge said.

“Your Honor?” asked Natalie Shallowford, the attorney the D.A. had assigned to take over for Harte. “May I approach?”

The judge nodded and so she did so, along with Felix Drury, the defense attorney. After a short, quiet conversation, the judge nodded and the two attorneys returned to their seats.

Dani heard the door to the courtroom open and saw the judge nod to whoever had come in. Most of the observers turned around, then started murmuring.

The judge pounded his gavel. “Quiet!” he demanded. “Welcome back, Mr. Delancey.”

Dani’s heart pounded. She half turned, but because she was just behind the prosecution’s table, she couldn’t see at first. Then she heard footsteps and a slight metallic creaking sound.

Natalie Shallowford opened the gate and a court officer wheeled Harte Delancey, in a wheelchair, through the gate and over to the prosecution’s table.

Dani looked at him for the first time since he’d been taken away by ambulance almost a week ago. He was pale and drawn, and his eyes had circles under them. His arm was in a dark blue sling. Her heart squeezed with compassion. He’d come very close to dying, she knew. Lucas had told her it had been a long surgery to remove the bullet that had clipped the upper edge of his lung, near his heart.

Once the bullet was out, Lucas had told her, everything was fine and he would recover quickly. But he didn’t look recovered yet. She wasn’t sure why Lucas had let him come to court. It would be exhausting for him.

The jury came in and the judge quickly ran through their duties and responsibilities. Then, finally, he asked for the verdict.

The foreman stood. “As to count one, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant, Ernest W. Yeoman—not guilty.”

Dani’s heart sank. Not guilty. She’d expected it, but the two words still cut like a knife.

Ernest Yeoman, standing behind the defense table, pumped a fist in the air. Felix Drury, his powerhouse attorney, laid a subtle hand on his arm. Yeoman straightened as the foreman continued.

“As to the second count, conspiracy to commit murder—”

Dani braced herself. Based on the way the trial had gone, she figured aggravated assault was the best they could hope for.

“We the jury find the defendant, Ernest W. Yeoman...” The foreman paused. “Guilty.”

The courtroom was suddenly abuzz with whisperings, mumblings and a few shouts, gasps and cheers.

The judge banged his gavel and the din quieted as the foreman went on to read guilty verdicts for conspiracy to commit aggravated assault on two public officials and conspiracy to kidnap a public official.

It took Dani a split second to process everything the foreman had said. They’d done it. Yeoman was going to prison. Based on the verdicts, it sounded as though he’d be in prison for a very long time.

She felt light-headed. Then she realized that quite a bit of the noise in the courtroom was coming from the defendant’s table.

Yeoman was up in his attorney’s face. “What the hell?” he shouted. “You incompetent son of—”

The judge pounded his gavel. “Silence!” he snapped. “Silence. Guards!”

The guards were already on Yeoman. They grabbed him and cuffed him. All the while Yeoman continued to curse Drury.

Felix Drury, on the other hand, had abandoned his attempt to quiet his client. “Your Honor! Your Honor! May