Free Protective Custody by Lynette Eason Page A

snake.
    â€œGive me the tongs.” Brad snatched them from his partner and turned to Carly. “You ready?”
    â€œJust get this thing away from me. Now!” she hissed.
    Brad nodded and copied Joe’s earlier move, holding the tongs over the head of the snake. Once again, the reptile bobbed close, tongue flicking at the motion.
    Then in one lightning-fast move, Brad clamped the tongs around the base of the snake’s head. She felt it try to lunge briefly toward her leg, but before she could even think about reacting, he had the reptile in the bag he’d brought with him.
    Carly’s knees weakened, but she couldn’t collapse yet.
    There might be more where those came from.
    Â 
    Fortunately, there weren’t.
    Thirty minutes later, the office was declared reptile-free. Now came the process of figuring out who had placed them there—and how.
    Nicholas watched the surveillance video from the safety of the security room located in the back of the courthouse. “A lot of activity. A lot of security. How did he get in with a bag of snakes?”
    Anger burned inside of him. Carly had almost been bitten. Granted, she might not have died, but she would have been dreadfully sick. Out of commission for a while. Because of him. Because of his job.
    Just like his wife and sister. Possibly dead because of his job. At least, that was what he told himself. Because in spite of the fact that the police investigator had ruled it an accident, Nick had never been completely convinced.
    He recalled the facts. A one-car accident on a rainy night. No evidence of foul play. The only skid marks had belonged to the Honda Pilot Miriam had been driving with his sister in the passenger seat.
    The car Nick usually drove.
    But why had she been going so fast, only to slam on the brakes and hydroplane off the road, colliding viciously with a telephone pole?
    Miriam hated to speed. He used to tease her about being a “grandma” driver.
    For her to have been going that fast… The only explanation he could come up with was that she was running from someone. She’d been scared. As a result, she’d wrecked and the two women had died.
    That was no accident in Nick’s book. That was murder.
    But he had no proof, just a gut feeling. That hadn’t been enough to convince the authorities. If he were honest, he couldn’t blame them.
    Finally, he’d called in a favor from a detective on the force. The man looked into it and declared he couldn’t find any evidence that indicated it was anything but an accident.
    â€œOf course, the physical evidence of the accident is gone, but after examining the photos and written reports… I’m sorry, Nick. It really looks like an accident.”
    But Nick knew in his gut it wasn’t.
    Just like the snakes in his office weren’t an accident. No, they were a message. One he got loud and clear. He shuddered. What if he’d had the kids with him? Or what if his secretary had entered for some reason?
    These people were ruthless.
    And it made him that much more determined to put them away for as long as possible.
    Quitting wasn’t in his vocabulary, and the sooner they realized that, the faster this would all be over.
    He prayed that was the case, anyway.
    A phone rang. The officer next to Nicholas snatched his cell phone from the clip on his belt. He listened. Then his face went pale. “We’ll be right there.”
    He hung up, his fingers fumbling with the device as he placed it back in the clip. “I think I know how the snakes got in.”

SIX
    C arly stared down at the body of the security guard. Anger filled her at the senseless killing. He’d been shot in the head, stripped of his uniform and tossed into the bathroom stall like yesterday’s garbage. Again, the thought crossed her mind. Why kill him and not leave something like a bomb in Nick’s office, since they had access to it? Why snakes? The snakes must