Star Witness by Mallory Kane Page B

sandals and grabbed her purse before going into the living room. She clutched the bag to her chest as she waited for Michele to return.
    When the front doorknob turned Dani stiffened, but of course it was the detective.
    “I didn’t see anything,” she said. “Not even cats. There were no footprints on that side of the house, and I think there would be, because it’s been raining a little.”
    Dani nodded.
    Michele eyed her. Her mouth twitched. “I see you’re all ready to go, with your purse and your sandals.”
    Dani’s face burned. She probably looked ridiculous, but she wasn’t about to tell Michele she was hanging on to the bag because of the gun inside. She shrugged 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.