Star Witness Read Online Free PDF Page B

damnable smile appeared on his lips. “Ah,” he said, his tone lightening. “Okay, I’ll go. But you meet me at the door in five seconds flat or I’ll come in and get you.” He gave her a brief nod. “Nice robe.”
    She glared at him, but she still didn’t dare to move a muscle.
    “Go to hell,” she said.
    He waved a hand and headed around back.
    Dani baby-stepped backward until she’d made it through the door. Then she sprinted into her bedroom to get dressed, marveling at the fact that he really had slept in his car in her driveway. The idea that he’d actually followed through with it, in some sort of quixotic effort to protect her, gave her a sense of security she hadn’t felt since the night her grandfather had died.
    As Harte waited at the back door for Dani to let him in, he chuckled. Once he’d been sure she wasn’t going any closer to the rickety front edge of the porch, he’d paused for a second to admire those amazing legs. As he enjoyed them, she’d squirmed and turned red. When she begged him to go around to the back door while nervously tugging at the bottom of the short robe, it dawned on him why she was so reluctant for him to leap to her rescue.
    She had nothing on under the robe. That thought had sent urgent, almost painful signals to his groin, signals that hadn’t faded yet. He clamped his jaw against the sharp, pleasurable thrumming and forced himself to think about something miserable, like hiking in a freezing rain—or sleeping in his car. It helped a little.
    He pushed his fingers through his hair and rubbed his stubbled jaw, as if that would help wipe away the sight of those forever legs. He busied himself with smoothing out the wrinkles in his T-shirt. Just as he tugged the tail down, Dani opened the door.
    She’d thrown on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, along with a don’t you dare mention my robe glare. “Don’t you have a home to go to?” she groused.
    “Morning,” he said cheerily, then pointed vaguely toward the front of the house. “Mind if I...?”
    She stepped back from the door. “Down the hall on the right.”
    By the time he got back to the kitchen, he felt a whole lot better. He’d found a glass and some mouthwash in the hall bathroom, as well as a comb.
    Dani was sitting at the kitchen table with a fresh mug of coffee in front of her. She nodded toward the coffeepot. “Mugs are in the cabinet above. Sugar’s in the white canister. Cream is—”
    “Let me guess,” he broke in. “In the refrigerator. That’s okay. I take it black.” He retrieved a mug and filled it with the dark, strong brew.
    “Of course you do,” she muttered. When he sat, she looked pointedly at his wrinkled T-shirt. “Don’t let me keep you. It’s obvious you need to go home and get ready for work. I do.”
    “No,” Harte replied, setting down his mug. “You’ve got to get ready to go to the bed-and-breakfast. Pack enough for at least two weeks.”
    Her mug stopped an inch from her lips. “I told you last night. I can’t be away from work that long. I’ve got my own cases, people depending on me.”
    He drew in a frustrated breath. “Listen, Dani. This is your grandfather’s murder trial. Your testimony is vital to link Ernest Yeoman directly to your granddad’s murder. Do you have any idea how long the D.A.’s office has been trying to get something concrete on him?”
    “You’ve got fingerprints from that night, right?”
    “Not Yeoman’s. He’s got more sense than to show up at a crime scene.” He looked at her quizzically. “Didn’t anyone tell you about the fingerprinting results? There was one good set. They belong to a small-time burglar and general no-count named Chester Kirkle. He’s got two convictions and he’s on parole now. He’s not going to make the most reliable witness. Our best bet is to talk him into giving up Yeoman. Then his testimony, boosted by yours about what they said, should put Yeoman away for conspiracy to commit assault with