Page 27 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“This is your decision, Annabelle,” Rochelle said, earning a furious glare from the ADA.

Annabelle turned to Katrina. “Is my loft fixed? Can I move back in?”

“Are you insane?” Margaret demanded.

Annabelle bit her lip while keeping her attention on Katrina.

The woman consulted her iPad and answered as though the ADA hadn’t spoken. “There’s just some tidying left to do. We had to move some of your belongings to complete the work we needed to do. The last big thing was the mirrored glass shutters for the windows. We didn’t have time to replace your window glass with bulletproof panes, and Noah thought you’d hate it if you had to keep the shades pulled all the time, so we came up with a temporary solution. The mirrored glass will ensure privacy while allowing you to look outside.”

Annabelle blushed, oddly touched. “He’s right. I’d have hated it if my view was blocked.”

It worried her how easily she’d become dependent on a man she barely knew. Noah was a solid presence that seemed to anchor her in this scary new world.

“Mirrored glass won’t stop bullets.” Margaret sounded exasperated. “Or prevent another attack.”

“No, but that’s why she has us.” Violet continued to glare at the lawyer.

Menace practically vibrated from her. Enough to make even the ADA notice and put more distance between them.

“I realize we’re in Texas.” Margaret’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “But I don’t want a replay of the Alamo on my hands. If you recall,thatsiege didn’t end well for the good guys.”

Evan’s hand shot up as though he were still in school. Annabelle appreciated that he was easy to identify by his quirky, some might say bad, taste in clothing. Otherwise, she would never have known which triplet was talking.

“I know this,” he said, looking pleased with himself. “William Travis and the Bowie knife guy—not to be confused with David Bowie, the singer—died defending an old church from an attack by the Mexican army. They were outnumbered and hadn’t bothered to stockpile supplies beforehand. There’s also something about a cannon firing horseshoes and nails. And thena general called Houston—gonna go out on a limb here and say this city’s named after him—fought the Mexicans by rallying his troops with the battle cry:‘Remember the Alamo.’I think it’s a song too.”

“Well done.” Harris patted his brother on the head. “You get a gold star.”

Evan beamed.

Margaret Grant clearly wasn’t amused. “I can see I made a mistake by hiring Benson Security to keep my witness safe.” She turned to face Rochelle. “Please pack up your belongings. You’re no longer needed. My office will take over from here.”

Noah stepped up beside Annabelle, standing close enough for her to be aware of just how tense he’d become. “You mean the office with the leak that puts your client in danger?”

The ADA glared at him. “My office has been protecting witnesses for a very long time, Mr. Merchant. We know what we’re doing.” She focused on Annabelle. “I’m afraid you no longer have a choice in the matter. I’ll have a detail sent over to take you into protective custody while we await trial.”

Could she do that?Annabelle’s mouth went dry. And then Noah moved closer to her, offering his support and strength. The eyes of the room were on her. Waiting for her to say something. Clearly, they believed the next move was hers, not theirs.

Taking what little courage she had in hand, Annabelle wet her dry lips before speaking. “If you do that, I’ll refuse to testify,” she bluffed.

She held her breath, waiting to see if Margaret could tell she was lying.

The lawyer’s eyes were hard as she studied Annabelle. “All it would take is a subpoena to compel you to testify. And with a warrant, I can have you taken into protective custody until you do so.”

Annabelle sucked in a breath as Rochelle stepped forward, holding out her hands as if to break up a fight. “It would be better for everyone if we didn’t let our tempers get the best of us,” she said evenly before looking at Annabelle. “You want to testify, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she said in a rush, unable to look at the determined ADA.

Rochelle turned her attention to Margaret. “And you’d like to have a credible witness on the stand rather than one who’s medically unfit to testify, right?”

Margaret sniffed and nodded.

“Then it’s clear that the best plan of action is for Annabelle to stay in the place that ensures her mental well-being and makes it possible for you to get the result you need. If you force her out of here, you won’t get what you want. Weallhave to compromise so everyone gets what they need in this situation. Wouldn’t you agree?”

She sounded so reasonable that Annabelle found herself nodding.

Margaret, however, wasn’t as easily swayed. “I refuse to use my budget to finance a bunch of cowboys who’ve already put my witness in danger.”

“First,” Rochelle said, “we didn’t put her in danger. Your office did. Second, we kept her safe?—”