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weren’t having a casual conversation.
    “You’re up,” Zach said. “How’re you feeling?”
    “Better than I did before, but still sore.” She wasn’t going to let on to the group that her head still hurt pretty badly. “What’s going on here?”
    Ian looked at her. “Jessica, I was so worried about you when the FBI called and told me about the car accident. Which I understand now wasn’t an accident in the least bit.”
    “I’m fine, though. I’ll be okay, and I’m ready to move forward with my job.”
    “That’s what I’m here to talk about,” Ian said.
    She needed to try to get out ahead of this before Ian went all the way down a path that would be difficult to walk him back from. “Before you say anything, you need to know that I’m able to try this case, Ian. I’ve been working around the clock the past two months to prepare.”
    He nodded. “Jessica, I’m not questioning your abilities, but I am worried about your safety. We can’t have your body washing up on the beach.”
    She cringed, thinking about Denise. “I can finish preparing out of the safe house. Then we can have additional security for the trial. We can do this, Ian.” She changed to the word we to make sure he felt invested in this, as well. If she was able to get a conviction, he’d look good. And if not, he’d just say it was her fault. It was a low-risk proposition for him.
    “This is against my better judgment, Jessica,” Ian said. “Let’s proceed as if we are going to trial. I reserve the right to pull you if this thing gets out of control. As long as you think you can adequately prepare out of here, then I will try to give this another go. It’s important that we don’t let criminals think they can dictate how we prosecute people.”
    She nodded. “You’re right, Ian. I’ll just need to get access to a few paper files, and the rest I have electronically and can access from my laptop. One of the paralegals is working on the exhibit list, and that’s almost complete.” She looked over at Zach and Brodie, who had been incredibly quiet. “What do you guys think?”
    “We’re going to protect you,” Zach said. “I don’t like you being a direct target, but you two make a good point. We can’t let a criminal organization determine who is going to be prosecuted or not. The legal system has to continue to function.”
    “Zach’s right,” Brodie said. “You have the full support of the FBI. We’ll make sure security is airtight so you can push through and try this case.”
    “Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it.”
    The doorbell rang, and the three men shot up out of their seats.
    “Were you expecting someone?” Ian asked.
    “No,” Zach said.
    “I’ll go see who it is,” Brodie said. “Zach, you stay here with Jessica.”
    Jessica could feel the tension mounting in the room. Was the person at the door there to try to finish the job? How would anyone have found her?
    After a few moments she heard voices but couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying. A few more minutes passed, and then Brodie returned to the kitchen with a man in a gray suit by his side.
    He was tall and dark-haired—and looking directly at her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before, but she couldn’t place him.
    “Hello, Ms. Hughes. We haven’t met, but I needed to come here to talk to you.”
    “And you are?” she asked.
    “I’m Detective Luke Hernandez.”

FOUR
    Z ach couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Why was Luke Hernandez standing in the kitchen in the middle of the safe house? And how had he found out the location? His mind immediately went to a possible security breach and the implications that would have for Jessica’s safety.
    Zach didn’t trust Luke one bit. He protectively took a step closer to Jessica. “How did you find out about this location?”
    “I talked to Will Lang,” Luke responded calmly. As if it were perfectly normal for him to have received that