Page 70 of Fatal Witness

“Especially if the parishioners are buying expensive gifts for you.” Dani nodded her head and yawned.

“You must be tired,” Mark said. “Why don’t you take a little nap?”

“I might just do that,” Dani said.

She was surprised she actually dozed off, and awakened when they crossed the bridge that led into Pearl Springs. She remained still, pretty sure he knew she was awake, but he didn’t offer to intrude into her solitude. That was one of the many things she liked about him.

Mark had turned out to be different from what she’d first expected. It’d been her experience that a man as fine-looking as he was often traded on that fineness. Mark was different—it was like he had no clue that women found him handsome, from the barista at the coffee shop in Clifton to the sixtyish secretary at the attorney’s office when he accompanied her.

He’d been a perfect gentleman all week, not that she hadn’t expected that—Mark Lassiter was an honorable man, and he’d been assigned to protect her.

But ... she was certain he was aware of an undercurrent of chemistry between them that neither seemed willing to address. Dani knew it was there. She just didn’t know what to do about it. One thing she’d learned this week—she could trust Mark. Right now, he was turning out to be a good friend, and maybe that’s all he should be right now.

Dani sat up. “What’s next?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where do we go from here to find Keith’s murderer?”

“We don’t—that’s not our jurisdiction. We’ll be focusing on who fired at you, and then at me when I was in your SUV. And who killed your parents.”

“Isn’t it the same thing?”

“Only time will tell that.”

“I want to go to my parents’ house tomorrow. It might help me to remember.”

He turned his blinker on. “I’ll talk to Alex about it.”

She recognized the street that the Stones lived on. They were almost home. She smiled when they turned into the drive that circled around to the back of the Stones’ house and she saw that lights were on. “Looks like somebody waited up for us.”

Lizi shot out the back door that Mae opened before they had time to grab their bags. The Puli dropped her pull toy and launched herself at Dani, almost knocking her over. “I’ve missed you too, girl.” She patted Lizi’s side and picked up the toy, then played with the dog for a minute. “Was she good?” Dani asked as she rose to her feet.

Her grandmother nodded. “Perfect angel.” Then she wrapped her arms around Dani in a tight squeeze. “You’re home, safe and sound!”

“It’s good to be here.”

Her grandmother released her and hugged Mark as well. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

His face colored and he ducked his head. “No problem. I’m going to give Gem a potty break and then I’ll be in.”

She followed her grandmother inside the house and nodded a greeting to Alex before pointing to her luggage. “I’ll be right back.”

By the time she returned to the kitchen, Mark was pouring a cup of coffee. “Anybody else?” he asked, holding the carafe up.

“Is it decaf?” Dani asked. When Alex nodded, she grabbed a cup.

“I don’t guess it’ll kill me to drink unleaded,” Mark said and filled her cup.

“How were the flights?” Alex asked as they all took a seat around the table.

“Good.” Dani sipped her coffee. “You two didn’t have to wait up.”

Her grandmother and Alex exchanged glances, and Dani’s insides squeezed. “Is something wrong?”

Alex smiled. “Not at all. The DNA test results came back.”

“And you are officially my granddaughter, Danielle.”

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