Free Home Is Where the Heat Is by Amelia James Page B

going to court.
    His cell phone rang, and he fished through his jacket pocket to answer it. “Hello?”
    Linda’s voice crackled with static. “Sorry to call you so early, but I wanted to catch you before you went to court.”
    That doesn’t sound good. “What’s up?”
    “You got a registered letter from an attorney.”
    “I don’t have time to stop by. Open it.” He heard paper rip.
    “Dear Mr. Luck, I am writing to you on behalf of my client, Rodney Mitchell….” Her words faded as JT recalled his last communication with Mitchell. He’d made multiple threats when JT fired him, including legal action.
    “…You must reply within thirty days. If no reply is received, this lawsuit will be filed in the Denver County Circuit Court.”
    JT interrupted. “So he hasn’t actually sued yet.”
    “No, he’s just trying to scare you.”
    “Write up a reply. I’ll review it when I get back to the office.”
    A second threat from an employee he’d terminated. He’d dismissed Perkins’ grade-school taunt. You’ll be sorry . That punk would never carry it out—but Mitchell had contacted a lawyer, and JT believed he would file the lawsuit. The ex-foreman had taken concrete action, made good on one of his threats. Perkins’ bad wiring had started the first fire, but Mitchell’s inspection should’ve caught it.
    I’ll ruin you and your company . The angry foreman’s last words echoed in JT’s head. Could he have set the other fires?
    JT shoved those questions to the back of his mind and focused on the present. He ran a couple of yellow lights and rolled through a stop sign in his neighborhood, dashed inside to grab a cold bagel from the pantry, and ran back to his truck.
    With just minutes to spare, he pulled into the parking garage and sprinted toward the elevators, wearing a shirt of questionable cleanliness he’d found on the closet floor, and jeans without holes. His jacket still smelled like Claire though.
    Shit! Will anyone notice?
    He doubted anyone except her boss got that close to her, and the prosecutor never got near JT. No one could match her scent to his clothes without a chemistry experiment.
    Damn it, Claire! We could’ve pulled this off.
    The jurors were waiting outside the courtroom for him. He apologized as he took his place, and they filed into the jury box. JT had picked up on court procedure pretty quickly. The jury was always the last party to be seated after the defense and the prosecution took their places, but today, the prosecutor’s table lacked an assistant.
    Where the hell is Claire? Had she called in sick? Had her boss found out about them and removed her from the case? Had the judge found out and thrown her in jail?
    Cold sweat coated his skin, and his heartbeat pounded in his ears. He clutched the rail in front of him, forcing his breathing to slow. He closed his eyes until the room stopped spinning, then he scanned the courtroom—no sign of her.
    Alex called a witness to the stand and began questioning her. The defense attorney objected. The judge overruled. Everyone acted normal.
    JT pulled the arrowhead from under his shirt and wrapped his fist around it. She’s okay. She has to be okay.
    An endless hour later, Claire slipped in the back door and crept to her seat. She handed a document to her boss, and he studied it and smiled. JT read his lips: ‘Good work.’ Research—that explained her absence.
    Sweet relief knocked him back in his seat. Even the fact that Claire ignored him completely couldn’t taint the knowledge that their secret appeared to be safe.
    Alex used the document she’d given him and recalled a previous witness, much to the defense’s dismay. JT and the jury had heard this evidence yesterday, but the information Claire provided made it even more compelling.
    This guy’s gonna hang.
    “Your Honor,” Alex said, straightening his tie with a smug smile on his face, “the state rests its case.”
    “Defense, are you ready to proceed?”
    The