The Defender

Nice. Why he was surprised at her sarcasm, he’d never know. Despite being followed, threatened and shot at, Penny Hennings still had fight in her.

If he could get over the fact that she put criminals back on the street, she might be the love of his life.

Penny stopped in the hallway and turned to him. She bit her top lip, then blew out a breath, and that was so not good.

Ushering her out of the path, he leaned one shoulder against the wall. “You’re thinking. What about?”

“My family. He could go after them.” Her voice squeaked like the last neglected wheel.

No, no, no. She was not turning tail on him. Not Killer Cupcake, who never shied away from conflict. At least, not that he knew of. He’d worked too long and hard to nail this guy. Between the fraud charges and conspiracy to commit murder, this guy was toast. All they had to do was prove it. The widow’s testimony would help them win this. And he wasn’t about to let Penny—the defense attorney—wreck it.

“You’re not backing down on me, Penny. This case is too important. We’ll get all of you protection.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You think I’m backing down? That’s what you think? I happen to be tired. Doesn’t mean I’m letting that nutcase dictate how I should live, but I need my family safe. That’s what I’m thinking.”

Could be he blew that call. Could be? With the cremating stare she gave him? Yeah, he’d definitely blown it.

Sports Illustrated guy came out of the john, spotted them and averted his gaze. At least he’d learned his lesson about the beautiful blonde and her sharp tongue. He didn’t want any piece of her now.

Neither did Russ. By his estimation, he needed damage control here. He nodded toward the guy. “I think you scared the hell out of him.”

Penny rolled her eyes and boosted off the wall. “Don’t even try it, Russell. Admit you screwed up. Feeding my ego won’t replace that.”

Sick bastard that he was, this could definitely be love. “I screwed up. Shouldn’t have assumed. And you know what else?”

A noise from the café drew her attention for a second and her ponytail flew over her shoulder when she came back to him. “What?”

Gently, he swept the blond strands over her shoulder, let the backs of his fingers linger a second. Maybe two.

She shifted and he smiled at the punch of physical attraction. Or maybe he needed sex. Hot, sweaty, knock-him-sideways sex that he hadn’t had in way too long. Getting busy with a woman had never been a problem. Getting busy with the right woman proved to be a challenge.

Penny Hennings—defense lawyer or not—might be the right woman.

She shifted again, made snoring noises, and he ducked his head closer. Slowly, she lifted her chin, and if he pushed it, if he nudged a little farther, he’d be close enough to kiss her. “Yeah, you might be the right one.”

Drifting closer, she blinked up at him, those big blue eyes questioning. “I’m sorry?”

A shrill beeping filled the hallway. Phone. The boss returning his SOS call. He shook his head and let the annoying beep get him back in line before he did something beyond stupid.

Sex with Penny Hennings. He’d never survive.

Chapter Four

Once in the unmarked car driven by Brent Thompson, her newly assigned U.S. marshal, Penny and Russ were driven to an FBI safe house near New Buffalo, Michigan, for crying out loud. Hey, boys, I have nothing whatsoever going on today—let’s drive to Michigan. Anything happening at her office would have to wait. It wouldn’t make her clients happy, but her choices were limited.

They’d spent over an hour looping around the lake, and now, as they drove along this quiet road, miles and miles of sparkling Lake Michigan water laid a perfect path against a bright blue sky. It seemed all that water led straight to Heaven. She didn’t visit the beach often, but driving along this road, watching sunbathers and toddlers playing in the sand, the sunlight shimmering off the lake, all of it gave her a sense of calm she didn’t often feel. Maybe she should make more of an attempt to spend time at her parents’ lake house in Wisconsin.

“You’re too quiet back there,” Russ said from the front passenger seat. “That scares me.”

“Poor baby. Relax, Russell. I was thinking about going to the beach.”

“I didn’t peg you as a beach person.”

“I’m not. Might be time for that to change. Are we almost there?”

According to Russ, Elizabeth Brooks and her son would be meeting them at the safe house, where they’d stay under guard of the U.S. Marshals. At least she’d be safe while Penny tried to figure a way out of this mess.

She reached into her bag for her phone, then remembered Russ had taken it from her. Maddening, this man. He didn’t trust her to not make calls and literally confiscated the phone. Then he promptly removed the battery to ensure the phone couldn’t be tracked. Colin Heath had gone to great lengths to get her attention. After the brazen shooting on the courthouse steps, his being able to bribe someone at the phone company for her location didn’t seem like a stretch.

Penny sighed and Russ spun to her. “Problem?”

“I stink at being idle. All this doing nothing makes me twitchy.”

“We’re almost there. You need to call someone? You can use my phone.”

She’d already checked in with her dad before they left the city. Last he’d seen her, she’d walked across the street for a latte, one she never did get and still desperately needed. Her dad had promised to either move or cover her client meetings for the day, but still, she felt like a slacker.

“No. Thank you. You have people watching my family, right?”

He nodded. “I’m on it. Trust me on this, okay? You all have protection. If we find your family needs to be in a safe house, we’ll deal with it.”

Penny swung her gaze to the back of Marshal Thompson’s—Brent’s—head. Smart man that he was, he kept his eyes on the road, pretending he couldn’t hear any of this conversation. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

With that, Russ turned front again and didn’t speak for another twenty minutes until they pulled into the driveway of a white beach cottage with large, covered windows. The house didn’t look all that big, but she knew from her parents’ lake home there might be a ton of property behind it where the house cascaded onto the beachfront. Heck of a safe house. This baby had to have been seized during an investigation. She’d grill Russ about it later.

A curving brick walkway led to the porch, but Russ jumped out, punched in the garage-door code on the keypad and Brent pulled in.

This would be Elizabeth’s new home until the FBI figured out how to save her life. Or maybe Penny would figure it out first. Either way, Colin Heath would be brought down.

Brent killed the engine, and Penny, needing freedom, yanked on the handle. The door didn’t move. Seriously? They’d locked her in. As if she was the criminal.

“You boys think I’m going somewhere?”

“Nope. Waiting on Russ to close the garage door so no one sees you. Smart-mouth.”

Penny hooted and—wow—it felt so good to laugh. Even if Brent had struck her as a little pushy and overbearing with the way he’d ordered her into the car at the coffee shop. She preferred verbally sparring with someone who didn’t confuse her—the way Russ did. She didn’t know what she wanted from Russ. She liked bickering with him, but sometimes she wanted something else. Something quiet and calm and...and...protective. She squeezed her eyes shut. Protection from a man. When did that stop being the plague?

“Nothing to say?” Brent cracked.

“Oh, I have plenty to say. And you and I will get along just fine.”

Finally, Russ opened her door and she nearly knocked him over leaping out.

“Head inside and stay there while we check the perimeter. We had agents clear the inside already, but I want another look outside.”

Penny snapped to attention and saluted. “Sir, yes, sir. Why don’t I just wait here until you do your thing? Make it easier on all of us.”

He held a finger up. “Even better. Don’t move.”