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“Isabelle,” he called.
Telling herself not to look too pleased, she turned to see him walking toward her.
“I figured you were too busy to talk,” she said.
“I am, but there’s been a delay in the defense counsel getting here, so we’re in a holding pattern. A cattle truck jackknifed on the highway.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Sounds like a setup to me.”
He smiled, and the way the shades hid his eyes made him look dangerous. “Believe me, if it was the prosecutor’s car, I’d be on my way out there with lights flashing. But the defense is on their own.”
“Cruel. And the cows?”
“I gather they’re fine. Regardless, we don’t have the manpower to offer them protection.”
His head rose, and he seemed to give a quick scan to the area before smiling down at her again, his attention tipping a little lower this time. This was a different Tom. He was...almost flirty. And totally confident. “I hope you locked up before you left last night.”
Ah. So he’d noticed she was wearing the same thing. Good. Let him wonder if she’d gone home with someone. Let him wonder what she was like in bed. “I locked the door. I’ll let you know if there’s any trouble when I get home.”
“All right.”
“I’d better let you get back to work,” she said, stepping away with a little wave. “Nice suit, by the way.”
He looked down, brows twitching up in surprise. “Thanks.”
She couldn’t resist drawing it out a little more. She’d fought off her panic, and now she felt powerful. Maybe a little reckless. “Are you going to stop by tonight and check on me?”
He’d been sweeping the area again, but his face tipped back to her. “If you’d like me to.”
She shrugged. “You’re probably busy,” she said casually before walking on. “Good luck with this circus.”
He didn’t reply, but she could feel his gaze on her as she left. Isabelle barely even noticed the loud drone of the crowd around her as she moved through them. She was too busy swinging her ass.
* * *
“K-9 SAYS THE parking lot is clean.”
Tom wiped the frown from his face and immediately spun to follow Mary as she moved through the crowd. She parted groups of people with just a look.
“They’re stationed at the door?” he asked.
She nodded. The K-9 unit had cleared the judge’s home first as a precaution, and they’d been working over the entire courthouse since six this morning, the two dogs taking turns so they weren’t overwhelmed.
“Forensics?” Tom asked.
“Fingerprints confirm it’s him.”
Saul Stevenson hadn’t bothered disguising his handwriting or keeping his prints off the paper last time, either. He wanted them to know who he was.
Mary glanced over her shoulder as they neared the building. “Postmark is Helena, three days ago.”
They both flashed their badges at the security team, despite that they knew every member. It was important that no one get lax.
Tom had gone over the schedule for the day four times already. He trusted his team, and he’d briefed local law enforcement himself. There wasn’t much to do now except watch and wait. The threat was likely just a scare tactic. If Saul Stevenson meant to actually plant a bomb, he’d be stupid to give them a heads-up. Then again, maybe he was stupid.
But it was more likely that the bomb threat was a diversion, meant to draw attention away from his true intentions. “Hannity is sweeping rooftops now?” he asked Mary as they entered the meeting room.
“He’s almost done.”
