Chapter Twenty-Six

After another night of tossing and turning, Olivia, dressed in her court suit and tennis shoes, moved quickly down the road behind an exuberant Henrietta.

"I'm up because my kid can't sleep once the neighbor"s rooster starts crowing." Jaylen yawned. "Why are you up? Did you have trouble sleeping from everything that went on yesterday? I'd be having nightmares."

"I'm walking Henrietta. Then, I need to get to the courthouse early enough to find a parking spot. I'll tell you, my whole nervous system has been way off since yesterday. I need a reset. Thank god for Nutsbe and Beowolf. Just immense heart-full gratitude. They at least knew what they were doing. I think my best metaphor is that I was a stick just riding the current, swept past any rocks or obstacles."

"Poetic. Picturesque. Go with the flow."

"Exactly. And that flow kept me from any harm. I trusted it. Was it consistently bad?" Olivia asked. "Absolutely. Did anything bad happen to me?"

"Scraped knees."

"The ache didn't start until bed last night, and, if I'm being honest, that whole bandaging scene was well worth the pain."

"Sort of a reverse sexy-nurse scene. So now you can understand the appeal."

"Absolutely. But I will tell you, my mind raced all night." Olivia sent a glance over her shoulder when a car door slammed. "Not about yesterday, but about Mickey and my cases. I'm worried about my aunt and that she'll stay safe. Just wrung out. Going this long without sleep is breaking my brain."

"I'm sorry. I remember the days when Tilly was new, and she didn't sleep but for two hours at a stretch. I thought my brain was melting inside my skull. A very uncomfortable sensation."

Olivia stopped as Henrietta sniffed the stop sign and crouched for a ladylike pee. "Yeah, just have a lot on my mind. Nothing as precious as a sweet Tilly to care for."

"So, how's Nutsbe?" Jaylen's voice was a teasing lilt.

"Fine, I guess." Olivia whipped her head around as a car passed by. Granny-aged driver, nothing dangerous there. She realized she'd expected it to be the boogeyman.

"What's that in your tone?"

Olivia let Henrietta pull her lead to get them walking again. "Nothing."

"Olivia! You kissed him, didn't you?"

Olivia didn't answer. The emotions from yesterday were humming through her system.

"Boo, he had terrible breath?" Jaylen whispered.

"No."

"He sucked on your tongue like a vacuum cleaner? Remember that guy in the frat, the pre-med guy that made your tongue ache for days after?" Jaylen asked.

"I remember, and no."

"It was like kissing your brother, just a no-go?"

Olivia sighed. She knew Jaylen wasn't going to stop. "I don't have a brother to reference, but in my imagination, eww."

"Yeah, pretty much. I kissed a guy once, and it was like kissing a brother. And to be honest, you never know—Tilly, no, ma'am! Tilly, we do not stick our fingers up the goat's nose. Leave Zygoat's boogers alone, please." With a heavy exhale, Jaylen focused back on Olivia. "To the whole date your brother thing, did you know Iceland has an app to keep you from doing the nasty with a first cousin?"

"They need an app for that?"

"The country's so small—three hundred thousand people or so—and almost all of them pool near the capital. There were so many accidental familial hookups that they made an app. In English, it translates to ‘incest protector,' or something like that."

"How can the app tell? I mean, photo identity wouldn't work, right?" Olivia asked.

"You bump phones together. ‘Tap the app before you tap that.'"

"Gross."

"Yeah, well, worse if you found out that guy you've been screwing around with is cousin Olaf or something. Can you imagine?" Jaylen asked.

"Wouldn't their family names clue them in?" Olivia saw the neighborhood gossip walking her schnauzer, waving a hello hand in the air. Olivia pretended not to notice and turned around, dragging Henrietta away from the delicious smell she was snorting. "Sorry, Hen. I'll let you sniff that tomorrow." Once they'd picked up their pace, Olivia said. "I'm assuming you looked up Icelandic naming conventions. And for anyone else, I'd think they were bored out of their mind to have done that."

"I am bored out of my mind. Thank you for noticing. Your calls throughout the day are my touchstones of sanity." Jaylen laughed. "My gladstones. Get it?"

"Cute. Yeah, but Jaylen, this is something you'd do anyway, chase a detail down the rabbit hole."

"Guilty. Okay, in Iceland, there are traditionally no family names. It's usually the dad's first name plus son or daughter added to the end. So I'd be Jaylen Geraldsdottir, and you'd be Olivia Darensdottir."

"Yeah, I like Gladstone better. By the way, you were right. Nutsbe's last name was changed at Ellis Island. It was some Nordic name meaning protector."

"He told you that?"

"Yes, but I looked it up, and he was right."

"See? You do the rabbit thing, too. In the end—Tilly, don't lick that frog, please. Put it down. We look, don't touch—you tried to throw me off the subject of Nutsbe, yet here you are circling around."

"He"s too good," Olivia said, starting up her drive. "I don"t trust it."

"Teeth pulling it is. Prior to this kiss, did Nutsbe make any advances on you something besides being neighborly that makes you think he's not too trustworthy? Love bombing you? Gaslighting you? Telling you how great he is?"

"No. Nothing." Olivia fished her keys from her pocket.

"Do you think he likes you?"

She slid the key into the lock and opened the door, letting Henrietta in first before she turned to scan the neighborhood. She still had bogeyman vibes, which made sense, given how her week went. "Hard to tell."

"Why?"

"Cause he"s not love bombing, gaslighting, or trying to convince me he"s the best thing that ever walked into my life," Olivia chuckled as she shut the door behind her.

"Okay, get to the juicy stuff. Who kissed whom?

"I kissed him," Olivia admitted.

"The cad!"

"Stop." She felt guilty about it.

"Did he reciprocate?"

"It was a nice kiss." Olivia unhooked Henrietta and put the lead on its peg. "Right track, wrong timing." Damn the timing. "But very nice. Too nice."

"How can a kiss be too nice? I hear a tad bit of regret in your voice. Get it? Tad bit—"

"Yeah, I got it. Well shoot," Olivia moaned. "I've been doing that to him all along."

"What?"

"The tad thing," Olivia said. "A tad bit this, tad bit of that, it's embarrassingly obvious."

"Low-hanging fruit."

"I thought it was kind of intimate, private jokey." Olivia slid into her heels, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door to court. "But no, it's got to be everyone and every day. And he just smiled and acted like I was a clever girl."

"‘Cause you are. And you're tired," Jaylen said sympathetically. "You've had motorcycles."

Olivia's phone vibrated.

"Yeah, and I have Steph ringing in. Let me grab that. I'll call you later. Love you."

Fobbing her car unlocked, Olivia climbed in as she swiped the call with her boss. "Hey, Steph. Good morning." She slammed the door shut and quickly locked it.

"Good morning. Heading to court?"

"I am." Olivia pressed the button, and her engine hummed. She'd be driving on four safe wheels, thanks to Nutsbe. It had been considerate of him to step in and handle it. That wasn't something Olivia had experienced with a man before, generosity of time and skill. She kind of liked it.

"So I'm calling with bad news," Steph said.

Olivia stalled, her heart racing. She said on an exhale, "Crap. Is it?"

"They found his body. The police are, of course, treating it like a crime scene. I'll get an autopsy report when it"s completed. Reminder, you're on a cellphone."

"I'll be careful And also, crap! Crap! Crap!" Olivia banged her fist on the steering wheel. "To be clear, this is—was the person who hasn't attended our appointments these last few days?"

"I'm sorry, yes."

"Okay. Well, that's horrific." Beyond that, Olivia didn't have time to process. She had to put her emotions on a shelf until later. Right now, Candace needed her to focus on keeping Offsed in jail. Putting her car in reverse, Olivia asked, "Are the others okay?"

"I checked on them this morning. They're scared and regretful that they're cooperating."

"But it was cooperate or go to prison until they were decrepit old men. This is the find-out stage of FAFO." Olivia shifted to drive and started down the road before she remembered her to-go cup of coffee on the table next to her breakfast burrito. She could really use the boost of caffeine. Too late now. "Do you think they need to be in protective custody? Do you think we need them in the witness protection program?"

"Very good questions. I'd like to talk to you about that when you're in the office, and we can be specific." Steph paused and then changed her tone from business to personal. "So what's going on? You sound nervous."

"I'm off balance from the string of violent events. I was in the parking lot when the sniper shot Judge Greenway."

"Are you kidding me, Olivia? Yu were there? I assumed you were in court during all that. Are you okay?"

"Scraped knees from when the court support dog team dragged me to the ground. They probably saved my life, Steph." Olivia stopped and blinked. Yeah, they almost certainly saved my life. Whew! That's a lot to take in. Olivia cleared her throat. "And then, on the way to the Iniquus Security campus, our car was ambushed. Nutsbe, that's the dog handler, was like a movie stunt guy, getting us through that. It was a scene straight out of Hollywood."

"Ambushed?" Steph's voice sounded lost.

"The police say it's a new carjacking tactic where they stop in the middle of the underpass and pull guns on the driver."

"Guns, Olivia?" Steph exhaled. "Again? Same day?"

"Same hour. We went from one crime scene straight into the next. The police arrived within a few minutes of our escape. They found the attacker"s abandoned car, making a traffic jam. That car was undrivable—Nutsbe ripped their doors off when he got us out of there. The five criminals got away. The police said the car they were using had been carjacked earlier in the day. That victim is in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. They'll recover. It's probably on the news or in the papers."

"I don't know what to say."

"The police towed the other car back to headquarters for their CSI to go over," Olivia added. "Hopefully, that will come up with fingerprints to identify the crew, and they can be found and taken off the streets before they teach others this tactic."

"How do you know all this?" Steph asked. "I'm on the Internet, and the story isn't readily found."

"I was at Iniquus Headquarters to answer some questions about the sniper. It seems their organization has contacts everywhere. Nutsbe was working the phones and then shared what he found out."

"Wait, you were on the grounds of the secretive Iniquus Security Headquarters?" Steph said with a bit of excitement, a bit of jealousy, and a bit of curiosity in her voice. "Who gets to see that? No one. What was it like?"

"Interesting. The exterior is very country club, with southern charm. Inside, it's modern, with clean lines and no clutter. There's a solid hum of good guys doing good things—that's the best I can do right now to describe it. Anyway, the Alexandria detectives said that this attack fits a known M.O."

"You've said that twice. Did you think that someone was coming after you?"

"I have a bunch of targets on my back, and we lost our witness, so that's not paranoia."

"No. You've had one hell of a week," concern colored Steph's voice, "personally and professionally."

"I think I'm full. Though I will say, I'm getting a better perspective of what it is to have life disrupted by criminals—most certainly to a lesser extent than how my witnesses are typically affected," Olivia said. "Right now, I'm focused. I'm going to go hold this trial together with my one witness who, unfortunately, but understandably, has wobbly knees."

"The dog is going to be there?"

"I sure hope so." Olivia pulled to a stop at the light, and her phone pinged. She looked down to a window that said: Unknown tracking device detected. She blinked at it.

"Okay. Did they serve Mickey-shit-for-brain's yet?" Steph asked.

"Nope. They can't find him."

"Maybe he went on vacation?"

Olivia lifted her phone and looked at the warning. What did that mean? "I checked when I woke up this morning, and there's nothing in the police system." She squeezed the buttons to take a screenshot, then settled the phone back in her cup holder as she followed traffic through the green light. "Would be weird for him to go on vacation just before our court case and without telling work. He's missed his second day without a call in."

"How worried are you about what he could be up to?"

"Worried enough. On the way home from Iniquus yesterday, I bought a burner phone and called my Aunt Jo from the parking lot well away from my car. Paranoid or not, I don't want her traced, and I don't know who Mickey is friendly with and what skills they have—putting secret apps on my phone or what have you." Obviously, Olivia was right to have taken that extra step. Unknown tracking device?

Mickey knew where she lived and worked. He could easily look up her court schedule. He might have an app on her phone to find her if he found Aunt Jo first. Or maybe to trace her to her aunt. That could be what that warning was about.

Another possibility was that last night, while he was driving her car, Nutsbe had put something on her vehicle to protect her—so he could watch out over her and forgot to mention it at dinner. That would be an out-of-character thing to do. Nutsbe had seemed forthright in every interaction. Still, she'd met him Monday, and here it was Wednesday. Could that be right? She'd known him for about forty-eight hours? That was a mind-blowing realization.

All the same, she'd ask him at some point that day.

"Sorry for your crappy week," Steph said.

"Yup. And you, sorry for your crappy week, too." Olivia said with a sigh. "I'll be by the office after court to discuss that. Thank you for letting me know about our witness."

Parked, Olivia glanced in the mirror and deemed her appearance acceptable. Then, she stuck her phone in her pocket and slid her briefcase along as she exited the car.

There was no line at security, and she breezed through with a flash of her court paperwork, allowing her phone. And right now, Olivia clung to it like a lifeline. Yesterday's sniper hell went so much better than it might have because of that approval. At least Nutsbe was able to communicate with help. Olivia sent a thank you thought to Judge Madison, and hoped that his quick return meant his personal emergency was easily handled.

Arriving at the waiting room door, Olivia tapped before entering; she didn't want to startle Candace.

"No one's in there," the bailiff said.

"Man with a dog?"

"From yesterday?" he asked. "No, ma'am, they're not here yet."

Olivia walked to the security hall, waiting as long as possible.

With five minutes until the case started, Olivia returned to the courtroom, sending a pressed lip acknowledgement to her paralegal, saving the front seat for a missing-in-action Nutsbe.

The jury filed in.

The bailiff stood in front of the bench. "All rise for the Honorable Judge Madison."

Olivia lifted from her chair with a furtive glance at the closed doors.

The judge took his seat and waved his hand to seat the courtroom.

"Ms. Gladstone, you may call your next witness."

Olivia stood. "Sir, my final witness has not yet arrived."

Defense rose to his feet, trying to suppress a smile and look stern. "Your Honor, the prosecutor throughout this trial has been leaning entirely on what we deem to be circumstantial evidence and has wasted everyone's time with the smoke and mirrors of the so-called experts who have come in to testify. And now her eyewitness has failed to show up, possibly to prevent herself from committing perjury." He pressed the tips of his fingers onto the defense table. "To preserve judicial economy and federal resources, Defense asks for a dismissal with prejudice and an expunction of these charges from Kyle Offsed's records."

"Counsels will approach the bench," the judge said.

Kyle might go free?

"Your Honor," Olivia began, "the witness bravely came to court yesterday and was ready to testify. As you know, the afternoon session was postponed. I hope everything is well for you and your family, sir. Perhaps something outside of the witness's control is making her late. If the court would—"

Defense jumped in, "The court should consider the pain and stress that my client has endured, exposed to this entire trial of—and I will repeat—nothing but circumstantial evidence and an assault on my client's character and good name. Ms. Gladstone wishes to send my innocent client to prison for life and yet cannot produce a single eyewitness? This is not to be borne."

The judge turned to Olivia, "Ms. Gladstone, I—"

The door at the back of the courtroom opened. Holding onto Beowolf's ears like reins, Candace walked in, making her quivering way down the aisle with Nutsbe supporting her by the elbow.

"I believe the motion is moot, your honor," Olivia said. "My witness has arrived."

"Proceed."

"State calls Candace Hockman to the stand." Olivia sent a glance toward the jury. They edged forward in their seats to watch the procession. Normally, facility dogs needed to be in place before the jury came in. The dogs should remain out of their sight throughout. Olivia mentally crossed her fingers that this visible entrance wouldn't get Beowolf banned from the procedure. "Judge Madison," Olivia tried to prevent any friction as defense counsel rose with a finger stabbing the air, "a reminder that permission has been granted to allow Ms. Hockman to have a court support K9 with her today."

"K9, not horse," the defense counsel protested.

Candace's face was splotchy red, and her eyes were swollen nearly shut. She must have been crying long and hard. Olivia imagined that Nutsbe had accomplished a miracle in getting Candace here at all, let alone only fifteen minutes late.

In contrast to Candace's face, Nutsbe's expression was rigid. He looked like he was going through his own personal hell. As bad as she should feel, it still twitched the corners of Olivia's mouth as she tried not to smile at him.

Candace moved into the witness box.

When the bailiff came forward to administer the oath, Candace placed her hand on the Bible, said, "I do," and sank into the chair.

Beowolf sat to her side, his head draped over her lap, his jowls spreading wide.

Nutsbe handed Candace a drool rag, then went to the seat that Olivia's paralegal vacated when she saw who was coming through the door.

A movement from over at the defense table pulled Olivia's attention around.

"You told me this would work." Offsed was on his feet. He was using his barrel of a belly as a battering ram, bumping his lawyer's face. "You said, ‘Watch this, you're about to walk out of here a free man."

The bailiff was talking into his radio; his hand rested on the butt of his gun.

"You said," Offsed spat out, "if that chick didn't show up, I'd walk out of here a free man. Free." He bounced his belly into the lawyer again, and the defense had to grab at the table to stop himself from tipping backward. As soon as the feet of the chair were back on the ground, the defense jumped up. "Judge, I seek permission to withdraw from this case immediately."

Was this planned? Were they going for a mistrial?

Kyle Offsed's skin had changed to a reddish-purple. He was an overripe plum of seething anger. Veins throbbed at his temples. He gripped his hair and pulled it until it stood out wildly.

This was what Candace had described to Olivia—a transformation from something recognizable into something demonic.

Offsed planted his foot on his chair and climbed onto the table. There he stood with legs wide.

Candace's wails of horror, accompanied by the judge's pounding gavel and insistent command, "The court will come to order!" became the soundtrack for this terrifying scene.

Olivia moved around her table, dragging her chair to get some physical impediment into the aisle, separating them from this devil.

She glanced around, focusing only long enough to find Candace curled on the ground of the witness box. Nutsbe stood at the judge's desk like a lineman, knees bent, arms ready for a tackle. He had visibly expanded himself. His gaze was razor sharp.

Nutsbe was intimidating as hell in his warrior mode.

Olivia blinked, then forced her attention back to Offsed, obviously in the throes of a psychotic break.

Spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed, "The little shit will say I committed a crime. I committed no crime!" He grabbed the front of his shirt and tore it open, ripped it down his arms, and off. He whipped the cloth, making cracking sounds as he smacked the table.

The bailiff had his gun in his hand and stood between the defendant and the jury box. The courtroom was full of crouching, horrified spectators. If the guard shot Offsed and missed, an innocent might take the bullet.

The jury was out of their chairs, huddling together against the wall, inching toward the door.

"I follow The Decree. If he desires blood, I will make it so! If he demands the screams of the sacrificial lambs, then I will make them scream into the night. Guilty? No!" Offsed balled his fists and shook them in the air. "I am righteous in my actions! And The Decree now says to destroy anything that will stop me from serving his majesty."

Offsed leaped.

Bending his knees like a swimmer at the starting block, throwing his arms out, he dove over the open space to the judge's bench, sliding across the surface to grab Judge Madison's robe in fat fists.

The judge screamed in surprised horror.