THE DEFENDER Read Free Page A

Heath’s number-two guy, a real leg-breaker who’d been dumb enough to get caught. Only the guy wasn’t talking and the FBI didn’t have enough to nail Heath.
    Nailing Heath was what Russ wanted. And apparently what Elizabeth Brooks, via Penny, could give him.
    “She’ll talk,” Penny said. “She needs immunity. And protection.”
    “Why is she suddenly willing to talk? Her husband’s been dead for months.”
    Penny hesitated. Already their deal crumbled. Russ stood, set the water bottle on Penny’s desk, more than ready to walk away. He wanted Colin Heath, but Penny wouldn’t play him.
    He took one step and she tugged on the back of his jacket. “Don’t go. I was thinking. That’s all.”
    Turning back, Russ stared down at her, took in those amazing blue eyes and decided he was cooked.
    * * *
    D AMNED R USSELL V OIGHT . Completely infuriating. Always brewing for a fight with her. At least, that was what it felt like. Still, Elizabeth Brooks was in trouble and had come to Penny hoping to make a deal with the FBI. It was Penny’s rotten luck that the lead agent on the Colin Heath case happened to be one she’d previously dismantled in court. Not that it had been his fault. During her research, she’d discovered an exemplary investigator and had prepared for him like no other witness.
    Now, from his side of this deal, special agent Russell Voight could create all sorts of chaos for Penny’s client.
    “I have a client to protect. As you know, Russell, Colin Heath is dangerous and Elizabeth has a son to raise.”
    He gave her the hard stare. He probably didn’t like being called Russell. Too bad, because calling men by their given names with just a hint of sarcasm had been a trick Penny used to maximum effect. She called it the Mommy Game and she hadn’t met a man yet who could withstand it.
    “Which is exactly why I won’t let you screw around. We’re either making a deal, Penny, or we’re not. No games. Are you in or out?”
    Huh. Maybe the Mommy Game wasn’t so surefire with this particular man.
    “Of course I’m in. You need to give me assurances, though. I won’t have the feds leaving my client—or her son—to face a murderer.”
    “What’s with the son? That’s the second time you’ve brought him up.”
    Because I’m terrified for him. Penny sighed. Blame it on the madman who’d opened fire on the courthouse today, but the plan she’d mapped out for this conversation had evaporated, simply imploded under the terror that came with watching those around her, including her father, drop to the ground. Standing on those steps, for a few brief seconds she’d thought her father was dead, shot down in front of her eyes. The panic from earlier whipped inside her, curling her stomach into tight knots, each one of them squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.
    She glanced back at Russ, hands on his lean hips, all chiseled face and alpha among alphas, and her stomach let up. She’d guessed his height to be around five-ten, but he carried enough power and presence to fill a giant. With Russ came a sense of strength. Control. She didn’t doubt he could be a hothead, but he also understood how to maneuver a conversation.
    She let out a breath. “I have to be able to trust you.”
    “Be straight with me and you can trust me. I’ve been working this case for over a year. Don’t waste my time. Don’t waste the bureau’s time. If my guess is right, Colin Heath is running this scam in multiple states. We’ve got agents all over the country chasing leads on this guy.”
    Penny held her hand to the chair, but he stared down at her, eyes a little squinty. “Please sit. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
    He sat. Woo-hoo! At least she’d kept him from leaving. Back to work here. “As you know, Elizabeth Brooks is a licensed stockbroker.”
    “Correct.”
    “After the husband’s murder, Colin Heath realized there was money unaccounted for.”
    “You’re telling me Sam Brooks was ripping off