Free Fight For Me by Hayden Braeburn Page B

of a trial at all?”
    “That's just it. It wasn't a trial, not
really. I presented my case, and their defense was to assert that
Penny wanted a gang bang and changed her mind after the fact.” She
rubbed her arms as Dylan made a disgusted sound behind her. “Who
knows what Penny thought she wanted. She said no, and they ignored
her.”
    “Blaming the victim never gets old,”
Rochelle muttered before handing Cassidy a stack of notes. “You are
a popular woman today.”
    She glanced through the pile of pink paper.
Both her parents, the brother not on his honeymoon, Detective
Monroe, Officer Morgan, and Detective Delmonico. Just another day
at the office. “Why did half my family call?”
    Rochelle's eyes focused on the man behind
her, and Cassidy laughed. “They were not worried about me and
Dylan, were they?”
    The other woman chuckled. “No, honey, they
were worried about you with Dylan, there.
We were all at the wedding. Then y'all disappeared until this
morning.”
    She blew out a breath that would've sent
bangs flying if she'd had any. “We didn't disappear. We retreated.
My townhouse was ransacked, our computers were stolen, and then
Judge Simmons was killed. Dylan's house is much safer than
mine.”
    “ All of that may be true,
but I can't help but think something else is going on.”
    She felt her cheeks heat. Something else was
certainly going on, and she was having a hard time
compartmentalizing it as something quick and casual. She had to say
something, and Dylan was staying quiet, just as he had in the
hallway earlier. “Even so, his house is safer,” she answered.
    “ Maybe,” Rochelle conceded
before scrunching her face in laughter. “You be good to her, ya
hear?” she directed over Cassidy's shoulder.
    “ Always,” came Dylan's
answer and she hated that her heart clutched with wanting to
believe him.
     
     

Chapter
Six

    Dylan was grateful Cassie was finally
compiling this list, but awed by the sheer number of people she
came up with who might have it out for her. “Fifty-seven people,
Cassie?”
    She shrugged. “I'm good. I've only lost two
cases.”
    “Out of those fifty-seven, how many were in
Judge Simmons' courtroom?”
    She took a highlighter to the list of names
for a moment and he held his breath. She kept highlighting and he
felt himself slump. “How many is that?”
    She counted. “Twenty-three.”
    Still a lot, but not fifty-seven. “Okay. Any
of those twenty-three have family members who threatened you?”
    She tapped the highlighter against her lips.
“I don't remember anything big.” She turned to Rochelle. “Am I
forgetting something?”
    Rochelle's big brown eyes stared into space
for a few beats until she slammed a hand on her desk when something
came to mind. “Didn't one of your defendants die at Lee last
year?”
    Cassidy's breath caught before she made an
affirmative noise.
    He knew the US Penitentiary, Lee was a high
security federal prison. “Tell me about that case.”
    “Nicholas Rossi was a drug dealer and human
trafficker,” Cassidy answered succinctly.
    “His father swore up and down he was
innocent, that someone was setting him up,” Rochelle added.
    He thought about that. “How could someone be
framed for heading up a cartel?”
    “They can't,” Cassidy answered, her tone
brittle. “There was a mountain of evidence from Tyler PD. I never
did figure out why he was running his cartel out of Tyler, but
maybe it was easier to stay close to home, or maybe he didn't want
to deal with someone else's turf.” She sucked on her teeth. “He was
far from innocent, that's for sure.”
    “Tell me about his father.”
    “Vincent Rossi is a blow hard,” Rochelle
stated. “He came in here ranting and raving about his son being a
good boy caught up in a bad situation, but I wouldn't let him near
Cassidy. A good boy my ass.”
    “He was convicted and sentenced to life two
years ago, and was killed in a riot less than a year after
that.”
    “Anyone else