“Isabella, in my office please.” Ms. Duncan led the way down the hall to her office. Sam and Bella fell in line behind her.
“Have a seat, ladies.” Ms. Duncan shut the door and took her seat. “Isabella, would you like to explain to us why you pulled the alarm?”
Sam turned her full attention to her sister and waited for her response.
Bella looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. “I don’t know.”
Sam narrowed her eyes at her sister. “A—Isabella! What do you mean you don’t know?”
Bella didn’t bother to look up from her hands. “I don’t know.”
“‘I don’t know’ isn’t an answer,” Sam ground out. Of all the people in the world to pull the fire alarm, it had to be the sister of a firefighter. “There’s an explanation, and I want it now.”
Bella just shrugged.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell us anything about what happened?” Ms. Duncan prodded.
Sam glanced at Ms. Duncan, who had a knowing look on her face. There was more to this than she had told Sam in the hall. The other girl sitting outside the office was probably the real troublemaker.
“I pulled the fire alarm. That’s all.” Bella looked up and met Ms. Duncan’s gaze.
“Very well, then. Please have a seat in the lobby while I talk with your sister.”
Bella stood and left the room. The door clicked behind her.
“I’m sorry about this. Bella knows better than to pull the alarm.”
“It is my belief that Bella was coerced into pulling the alarm.” Ms. Duncan folded her hands on her desk.
Sam sat back in the seat. Was Bella covering for the girl sitting next to her? Was this the same friend that had gotten her into trouble yesterday?
Sam closed her eyes and sighed. It was time for the “be careful who you surround yourself with” talk again.
Liam stood by the wall to the left of the defense table in the Renegade Federal Courtroom, close enough to lunchtime that his stomach was rumbling. But that’s what happened when breakfast got skipped because a certain teen forgot to get more cream cheese for the bagels.
It had only been three hours since he’d clocked in, but it felt like he’d already pulled an eight-hour shift. Time was passing slowly. That was the difference between high-stakes, adrenaline-filled fugitive apprehension. What was it Albright had said yesterday? They were government-funded stalkers? He had crossed the bridge to government-funded babysitter.
The defendant, dressed in prison garb, hands attached to the chain circling his waist, sat next to his attorney.
As court security, Liam divided his attention between the defendant and the gallery, watching for anything suspicious. Like signs the defendant was going to try to escape or a spectator was going to do something dangerous.
The hearing droned on, sounds whomping together around him until it all washed into one mass. Liam didn’t spend too much time trying to understand the legal jargon that was thrown around by the attorneys.
One of the double doors to the courtroom opened. He tensed and waited for whoever it was to enter.
Henry “Hank” Green, another older marshal assigned to Renegade, stepped in and took a seat at the back of the gallery.
Liam reached up and tapped the coiled earpiece. The courthouse radio traffic had continued throughout the hearing, so he wasn’t in here because of a threat, or Liam would know about it.
Maybe he had a personal stake in this hearing or the one that was going to come up next.
Liam focused back on the defendant and others in the room. Judge Mullinax banged the gavel on his desk, ending the hearing.
The defendant and his attorney turned to speak with each other. Hank made his way over.
Liam stepped forward, preparing to take the defendant out of the courtroom and back to holding.
“Deputy Marshal Roberts,” Hank said. “Supervisor Howard sent me to take your place.”
