Chapter 25

As they drove past the courthouse the next morning, Hope spotted reporters crowded around Jeff Beasley, who appeared to be feeding them soundbites. Jason Swann stood behind him looking like everyone's favorite grandson. Swann wore a suit today. His lank hair had been cut respectably short. He was clean-shaven, sober expression on his rat bastard face. Obviously, Beasley had taken advantage of what he knew would be sensational press coverage in the wake of Sylvie's and her husband's murder to work on his client's public image.

"Pull up out front."

"Hope—"

"My client is not losing this case because Beasley gets unlimited face time on the news. Stop the car." She went to pull the door handle.

"Pull over," Aaron instructed, grabbing onto her arm, and holding her firmly in place. When she tried to jerk away, his grip tightened. "We do this my way or not at all."

She should feel angry at being manhandled, but for some reason she didn't. There was an inherent physicality involved with such close proximity. These men took their job seriously. So did she.

"Hopper, with us. You're in the courtroom today."

Ryan Sullivan drove, and a man called Sebastian Black was the other operator in the car. She didn't know him as well as the others.

"Black, with us until Hope is all the way inside. Then meet Cowboy around the back of the building."

She went to move.

His hold never wavered. "Wait."

The strength in those fingers made her feel strangely exhilarated.

Seth Hopper and Sebastian Black both exited and came around to stand in front of her door as Aaron finally allowed her to get out. He followed close as a shadow. The SUV sat at the curb, presumably waiting until she was safely inside the building. But the chances of Leech coming here were minuscule. She was in more danger of slipping on the ice.

"Find me a place slightly above and to the right of Beasley. I want to talk to the press."

"Yes, ma'am." Hopper arrowed through the crowd like a snowplow.

Hope tucked herself into his and Black's slipstream, which also protected her from the brutal wind as they climbed the steps and headed to the front entrance.

The men cleared a space for her and even though Beasley was still talking, reporters began to turn toward her and jostle for position. Then they began firing questions.

"What can you tell us about the deaths of Sylvie Pomerol and her husband, Bart Tranter. Is it Leech?"

"Have there been any sightings? Do you know? Are the marshals telling you anything? Anything at all?"

"Have any of the escaped convicts been sighted since yesterday morning?"

"Did you hear the body of the second guard had been pulled out of the water?"

She exchanged a look with Aaron, but he shook his head. He hadn't known either.

"Did Leech throw blood on your husband and daughter's gravestone?"

"Is he in Boston?"

She looked up and spotted Ella Gibson hovering at the back of the crowd standing beside Colin. The young woman looked terrified, and her intern looked as if he was doing his best to calm her.

Hope raised her finger for quiet. "I am deeply saddened to hear about the deaths of the prison guard, and of Sylvie and her husband, Bart. Dr. Pomerol was a respected Forensic Psychologist and a great asset in any courtroom. More than that, she was a kind and decent human being, and I think we can all agree that the person who killed her is not."

She could feel Aaron's disapproval of what he'd see as baiting and what she saw as telling the truth.

More questions were fired at her, and she watched Beasley out of the corner of her eye. He had an arm on Swann's back and started to harp on about his client's battle to prove his innocence in the aftermath of the "Me Too" movement.

So sad. Too bad.

"But Leech isn't the only monster on the streets." She shot Beasley and Swann a pointed look.

"Any idea where Leech might be hiding out?" A reporter from the Globe yelled out.

Stupid question but a great segue.

"I do not." Hope gave a wide smile and swept her hand toward Beasley. "But perhaps Jeff might know where his client is currently residing. Presumably he's still on retainer, Jeff?"

She muttered "blood money" under her breath as she turned and left him to deal with the media outcry. She hoped they ate him alive.

Inside the building, Aaron led her to one side of the metal detectors, and they quickly bypassed security and strode toward the courtroom where she could see Aisha waiting outside the doors. The paralegal had called earlier and told Hope to meet her here instead of the DA's office. Hope was sure the woman had anticipated the media scrum and wanted no part in it.

Colin caught up, breathing hard.

"Where's Ella?" asked Hope.

"She went home."

"Good. She's not needed today. May as well save her sanity, and, no, you don't get that luxury in this job, I'm afraid."

"I for one am ready to help kick some defense attorney ass," Aisha said when Hope reached her. She leaned closer. "Don't let the bastard get you down."

Hope nodded and found herself searching for Aaron before she headed inside. He caught her gaze and gave her a smile that knocked the breath out of her lungs.

"That is one fine-looking man," Aisha muttered under her breath.

You should see him in his underwear.

Aisha smiled dreamily. "First time in twenty years when I wish I wasn't happily married."

Hope shot her an amused glance.

The light in Aisha's eyes was pure kindness as she whispered, "He's not looking at you like that because he's in charge of your security, you know."

Hope's mouth went dry as she looked over her shoulder again to find that dark intelligent gaze had turned quizzical, probably wondering why she kept staring at him like she'd never seen him before.

Seth Hopper stepped behind and blocked her view, so she turned to look where she was going.

Even the idea of being attracted to Aaron was preposterous.

Wasn't it?

It had been seven long years since she'd been with a man and that man had been her husband and only lover. She wasn't even sure the parts were in working order anymore. She really wasn't sure she wanted them to be.

She forced her mind off the puzzling concept of sexual attraction. She had a court case to argue, and there was a serial killer on the loose.

But she knew better than anyone that life was short. Just as she also knew that as soon as Leech was captured, Aaron would be gone and that would be the end of that. For the longest time, that would have suited her perfectly. But suddenly, she found herself wondering what it might be like to kiss a man like Aaron Nash. What it might be like to have sex with a man like Aaron Nash.

The idea was intriguing. Tempting. Terrifying.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Erica Penton."

Hope pushed all the other thoughts that swirled around her aside and suppressed a smirk as Beasley arrived late, looking disheveled. He apologized to the judge before taking a seat with his entourage.

He sent her a glare.

Seth Hopper leaned forward and murmured, "Want me to take care of him for you later? Back alley? Me and Cowboy can make the guy disappear like that." He quietly snapped his fingers. "No one will ever know."

The gleam in his eyes told her he was joking.

"Oh, baby," Aisha murmured. "You sure know how to sweet talk a woman."

Hopper grinned. Colin smirked.

Hope suppressed a laugh. "I'll bear the offer in mind."

Then she got down to work. She looked at her legal pad and saw the numbers Aisha had circled, the ones she'd put a cross through, and the others who remained neutral.

She considered the list, stood. "Your Honor, I'd like to question juror number eighteen." A young man in his early twenties. No radical opinions on social media, in fact he seemed pretty inclusive and tolerant. Aisha had gone back further and dug up a few comments on posts after the exoneration of a quarterback in upper New York State last year for a series of brutal rapes. His overwhelming sympathy for Drew Hawke's wrongful conviction could bias his opinion in this case. Research didn't always tell the full story. Voir dire would help ascertain which side he was really on.

They settled in for another long day.