Star Witness - By Mallory Kane Page 0,8

whiskey-colored eyes.

She was undeniably Freeman Canto’s granddaughter. Canto and Con Delancey, Harte’s grandfather, had both been fixtures in the Louisiana state legislature. And they’d clashed on every single issue, most notably the security and tariffs on the Port of New Orleans. Canto was fiscally conservative, while Con Delancey fought to keep both security and tariffs at a minimum to help the working people. And, as Dani had said, they’d conducted themselves as gentlemen. There had been a kind of honor among politicians back then. An unspoken agreement that while the politics might occasionally get dirty, the politicians would not.

The first time he’d faced Dani across the courtroom, Harte hadn’t been completely surprised that she’d shown up prepared for battle, ready to continue the feud between the Cantos and the Delanceys. Her client, the defendant, had been a woman who’d killed her husband, claiming self-defense and fear for her life. But there were no witnesses, no evidence of spousal abuse and the woman had shot the man point-blank.

As Harte fought to win his case, he’d discovered what a great defense attorney Dani was. She was passionate, a dedicated knight battling for her client.

Ultimately, Harte won the verdict, but he’d lost the respect of his opposing counsel. Later he’d found out that Dani had appealed and gotten her client acquitted.

Once he’d gotten more experience under his belt, he’d had to admit she was right. That first case had been a win for him, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. It had taken him a few years and more than a few cases to live down convicting a battered wife.

Their paths hadn’t crossed but a couple of times since then, which had helped keep the instantaneous attraction he’d felt for her the first time he’d seen her at bay. But he’d never forgotten how she’d looked when she’d walked into the courtroom that first day. She’d had on a short skirt and high-heeled shoes that made her legs look a mile long. He’d never forgotten her face, her body or the unconsciously sexy, confident way she moved.

But her body wasn’t all that he’d found sexy about her. She was smart and quick. Across from her in court, he’d quickly found out that as a public defender, she was as tenacious and focused as a terrier.

A cramp in his thigh interrupted his thoughts and he realized he’d been nearly asleep. Rubbing the tight muscle, he considered the irony that he and Dani were on the same side this time. Well, sort of on the same side. She still thought of him as the enemy.

His cell phone rang. It was Lucas.

“How’s your girl?” his oldest brother asked.

“My witness is all right,” Harte responded. “How were the steaks?”

“Great, as usual. We just got home.”

“Really?” He glanced at the time on the display. “Late night for you, at the folks’ house.”

“Not my idea. Ange and Mom were exchanging recipes. I watched a ball game with him.” Lucas never referred to their father as Dad. “I’d planned to talk to you about the info you asked me about.”

Harte sat up. “What’d you find out?”

“Not much. Nothing on the record. Yeoman’s got a fairly clean file. Some small-time stuff early on, but he’s managed to keep his record clean for the last twenty years.”

“His record. What about what’s not on the record?”

“Now, that’s a different story. Every detective has an anecdote about Yeoman getting away clean while one of his goons took the rap.”

“Yeah, that’s basically what I got from Mahoney. There’s got to be somebody out there that Yeoman cheated or framed, who’d jump at the chance to get back at him.”

“I called Dawson the other day and asked him what he knew. I figured he might have run into Yeoman when he was chasing down Tito Vega.”

“And had he?”

“Nope, but he made a couple of calls for me.”

“I hope he’s careful. This is the best chance the D.A.’s ever had to put Yeoman away. We’ve got to be careful about where information comes from.”

“Our cousin’s a good investigator, kid. He knows what he’s doing.”

“I know,” Harte said. “I’m just worried. Yeoman’s hired Felix Drury as his attorney. He’s a shark. He’ll eat us alive if we can’t vet every tidbit of evidence we present.”

“You’re still not sure about Dani, are you?”

With a sigh, Harte rubbed a hand down his face. “I believe she’s telling the truth about what she heard. It’s just hard to take in and it’s going to be harder to convince a jury. She’s