Abby laughed, short and harsh.“You thought Scott was the leader?”
“We traced the payoff funds to his accounts.”
“Becca let him front as the lead to protect her own ass, but she called the shots.As for Mike, B&E guys are a dime a dozen.She’s probably already found a replacement and muscle to replace Scott.”
Maybe the two rip-off guys who’d helped her escape.
“Why didn’t you tell us Becca was the real lead?”Nic asked.
She shrugged, eyes downcast.“I hardly knew you.If you turned on me, all I had left was her.And she’s the one holding a felony over my little sister’s head.”
Nic couldn’t trust Abby completely, especially after she’d held back this crucial information, but he understood why she’d done it.Yes, Abby was a criminal—he had no delusions there—but from everything he’d seen and heard since Abby had sought him out, including today, she’d gotten into this for love, not for the money or to harm anyone, and now she was stuck, a victim of Becca’s emotional manipulation.And actual blackmail.
“All that’s left is for her to come for me,” Abby said, fear making her voice tremble.“Then she’ll make another run at the artifacts.”
“Which are now locked up tight in the museum’s vault.”
Abby tapped a nail on the table, the repetitiveknock-knock-knockloud in the otherwise quiet room.“Nothing is as secure as you think.”
Nic reached across the table, stilling her hand.“We’ve got eyes on your sister and we’ve got a safe house ready for you.”
Sliding her hand out from under his, she patted the back of his as if he were a child.“Which I guarantee she’ll case.The courthouse too.”
“You think she’ll make a move there?”
She gave him aduhface, and Nic conceded the point.Abby was invaluable, not just for this job but for others too as voice recognition technology continued to grow in popularity for high-end safes.
He drummed his thumbs on the table, contemplating alternatives.“I can’t move the arraignment from the courthouse, but I can talk to the clerk about keeping the exact time and courtroom under wraps.We’ll change it at the last minute if we need to.Throw her off a bit.”
“And the safe house?”
“We’ll move you each night.I’ll also coordinate with the feds to add more guards to Tony’s protection team.”
Abby lifted the tablet.“Could use some more audiobooks too.Good distraction.”
“I think we can arrange that.”
Worries seemingly allayed, Abby braced her forearms on the table and tilted toward him, flashing her cleavage.“You single, Attorney Price?”
“Yes, but this”—he gestured between them—“would be a clear violation of attorney ethics rules.”
She flapped a hand like she was swatting a fly.“Rules.”
“You’re also not my type.”
She twirled an errant ringlet of her hair again.“Blondes instead?”
He leaned forward and lowered his voice like he was about to tell her a secret.Building a sense of trust with his witness.“Men instead.”
Her eyes rounded and her mouth dropped open in a silentOh.He laughed out loud as he pushed to his feet.
“That’s cool,” she said, recovering.“Good for you.”
“Good for you too.I’m a terrible boyfriend.”
She reclined back in her chair, tucking an earbud back in.“I don’t believe that for a second.”
He didn’t correct her, choosing instead to be amused at the end of this long, terrible day.He was still grinning when he walked back into his war room and found Lauren at the head of the table, face hidden behind her laptop screen, long brown hair escaping from the wobbly pencil bun atop her head.
