Page 9 of A Shot at Love
“Barly?”
“Yeah. Davison ‘I’m-an-asshole’ Barly. Jerk had the nerve to accuse us of sabotaging the case, of leaking Calafano’s whereabouts to Ritandi. He’s calling for yours and Winters’s heads on a platter, so don’t be surprised if you get a call. Prick.”
Department of Justice lawyer, Davison Barly, was, in Ky’s opinion, one of the most unpleasant, rude people he’d ever had the misfortune to work with. Over the year since he’d been assigned to the Ritandi task force as the attorney general’s assistant, the politically ambitious lawyer had tried to push the case forward at every turn, whether they had enough evidence or not. When Mario Calafano had been arrested, Barly was the only one who’d balked against making a deal with the bookkeeper, insisting instead on sending him to trial as a warning to Ritandi.
Ultimately it had been the attorney general’s call to offer a deal and witness protection.
None of which mattered now, though, with the bookkeeper’s execution.
“What are your plans for the witness you do have?”
Ky blew out a breath and swiped his free hand around his neck to massage the tightening muscles. “Her brother-in-law’s in private security. He can keep her under wraps.”
“Not a good idea, Papps. I don’t want any more civilians involved in this.”
“The guy owns his own business, boss. Protection is what he does.”
“I don’t care. You and Winters take care of it. Put her in a secure place and have her guarded. What happened today shouldn’t have been possible. No one was supposed to know where Calafano was being kept. The fact someone did has me wondering if there’s a leak somewhere down the chain.”
Ky rubbed his eyes with the pads of his fingers. “Yeah, I was wondering that as well. Okay. We’ll take care of it.”
He ended the call and went back to a waiting Josh.
“From the look on your face,” Josh said, “I can tell that wasn’t pleasant.”
Ky shook his head. “My superior.” He slid the phone back into his pants pocket. “He wants your sister-in-law secured.”
Josh nodded. “I can do that.”
“No. He doesn’t want any non-agency people involved in this. We’ll be providing her with protection and some place safe to stay until this is resolved. She can’t go back to her condo now, since they know where she lives.”
Josh blew out a breath. “Good luck getting her to agree. Gemma’s not known for taking orders well. You’ll have a fight on your hands for sure.”
“Can’t be helped, Mr. Keane. I’ve got my orders.”
“It’s Josh, and I know. I just want you to be prepared for what she’s going to do when you tell her.”
*
“No frigging way!” Gemma jumped up from the bed with a lopsided jerk, causing the IV pole to tumble to the floor. “There’s no way in hell I’m going into hiding.”
Ky reached for the pole and righted it. “I’m afraid there really is no other alternative, Miss Laine. They’ll come after you again, try to find out what you know, what you saw.”
“But I don’t know anything. All I did was take some pictures. That’s it. I don’t even know who the dead men are.”
“Gemma, lower your voice,” Kandy said. “We can all hear you.”
“I’m sorry, Kan, but this is ridiculous.” Gemma crossed her arms over her chest. “Why do I have to go into hiding? I didn’t do anything.”
“It’s for your own safety,” Ky told her.
“Can’t I just go with them?” she asked, pointing to her sister and brother-in-law. “Josh can keep me safe.”
“Think that one through, Miss Laine. You’d be putting them in potential danger as well as yourself. No, we need to put you in a safe house for a few days until this situation is resolved.”
“A few days? I’ve got work to do, photographic commitments to honor. I’m booked for two shoots this week alone. I can’t afford a few days away from all that.”
“Gem, calm down,” Josh said, his voice soft, but firm. “Agent Pappandreos is right. The FBI can do a better job of protecting you than I can. It’s that simple. They have better resources, more manpower.”
