"Try me," he growls in my ear, and that's all it takes for me to give the people walking toward me a small smile before allowing him to escort me to the waiting car.
The guy behind the driver's seat doesn't even bother to look my way when the man with the scarred face opens the back passenger door.
"Scoot," he snaps, crawling in beside me when I make room for his massive form.
The car pulls out of the underground garage, and I tilt my face toward the sun, knowing it may be the last day I'll have the chance to see it.
I lift my hand to my throat nearly to the point of tears that I pulled the necklace off. I'd like to have something to hold on to, a token of someone's love when I die.
Chapter 31
Newton
"She planned the whole fucking thing," one of the stupid fucking attorneys says as the videotape rolls.
I watch the cameras as the tech follows her from the bathroom and into the elevator. The second she gets in the car, she turns her jacket inside out like a professional, definitely like someone who has had to do it before.
"Not a fucking chance," I argue, unconcerned at the way Kincaid looks at me.
"Explain that then," the guy snaps pointing at the monitor as the video plays out the scene of Brielle meeting up with a goon we have to assume is one of Nathans's men.
She looks over her shoulder before looking ahead, but the angle is wrong for me to see her face.
It takes all of ten seconds for her to climb into a waiting car.
"Wren's already trying to track the car through town," Kincaid says when I look at him.
"And add that to the list of shit you shouldn't say in front of a state prosecutor," one of the guys mutters as the tech turns to look at him, letting him know that's all he has. "Get all of that on one file for me, and I can see what can be done about getting a warrant issued."
"A warrant?" I growl. "Why the fuck would you have a warrant issued for her?"
The guy looks at me but doesn't say a word before walking out of the room.
"Come with us," Kincaid says as he follows the guy from the room. "The hearing can't wait."
The judge is already on the bench when we enter the courtroom, and he looks less than impressed with the state prosecutors taking their spot in front of him.
Nathan Adair sits in a wheelchair beside his team of attorneys but he doesn't have to look back at us to know that Brielle won't be taking the stand against him today. He has hurt her so badly, she'll never be able to face the man if given the choice. I know that's why she ran.
The guy outside just happened to be there in anticipation of her changing her mind.It wasn't a setup. I can't let myself believe it was.
The state's attorney begins to speak once the case has been opened, but I can't pay any attention to what he has to say. My thoughts are on Brielle and the danger she has to be in.
I know Nathan is vile enough to make whoever those men were that took her to keep her safe until he can get to her, and that's the only solace keeping my ass in the seat I'm in.
"I urge you to reconsider," one of the state's attorneys says, grabbing my attention.
"Do you?" the judge asks as he narrows his eyes at the man. "I'd urge you to actually have a case worth hearing the next time you step into my courtroom. I don't like having my time wasted, Mr. Silva. As a man who has worked in this very building for over fifteen years, you should know that."
Mr. Silva shifts his weight from one foot to the other as he remains standing in front of the judge.
"I order Mr. Adair to be released immediately as there is no case pending against him in Ohio."
"Judge," Mr. Silva says, having more balls than I originally thought he had. "There is a case still pending in New Mexico. We ask that he remain in custody in Columbus until arrangements can be made to return him to face those charges pending there."
The judge looks at the man as if he thinks he's a vile creature rather than seeing Nathan Adair that way.
"And risk violating even more of Mr. Adair's rights?" the judge says in a bored tone. "No thank you. New Mexico will have to work its own case. If they want him back, a judge there will need to order it. Do you have an order requesting him to come back?"