Page 77 of Declan

The judge eyes the prosecutor suspiciously but then sighs and asks, “Ms. Wolf, I don’t suppose you have any issue with this motion?”

Penny stands and replies, “No, Your Honor. The defense has no objection to this motion at all.”

The judge looks around, his gaze settling on me as he says, “This has certainly been an unusual case,” he turns his focus back to the prosecution and continues, “And though I have some misgivings about the reasoning behind the State’s sudden change of heart on going to trial, I will grant the motion to dismiss,” he pauses again, his expression turning grim as he adds, “But let me be very clear here, Counselors. If there is an underlying issue that led to this change of heart, I had better not ever find out about it.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor responds.

The judge speaks briefly, then he dismisses the court, and his gavel goes down with a thud. He sits there for a moment with his eyes on me, and I nod my head slightly, and his lip twitches as if he’s forcing himself not to respond. Then he shakes his head, and we’re all rising as he stands and leaves the room.

I rise from my seat and take a final look around. The prosecutors are packing up their stuff, speaking to each other quite pissily, while Declan and his team shake hands and pat each other on the back.

Declan looks up, meeting my eyes with a smile that I return, but I don’t go to him, nor do I wait for him to come to me.

Instead, I give him a wink, then I spin on my heel and disappear out the door.

29

With a Trace

Declan

Iturnedmybackfor one second to let Dare know I was going to go see Issa, and when I looked back to where Issa was standing, she was gone.

I frown, then turn back to Dare and say, “I need to find Issa.”

Dare raises his brows in surprise. “She left?”

“Apparently, though I have no idea why.”

A commotion by the door draws my attention, and Jessica comes into view, looking frantic, so I step away from the group and meet her in the aisle. “What is it?”

“Have you seen Issa?”

I shake my head. “No, she was here, but she left the room when I wasn’t looking, and she isn’t answering her phone. I was just going to go look for her.”

Jessica curses and pulls out her phone, then shakes her head at the screen before stuffing it back in her purse. She looks up at me with concerned eyes and says, “We need to find her.”

Dare interjects from behind me, “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” I reply. “Jessica was just getting to that.”

“So, she really did publicly rat on some bigwigs on the stand?” Jessica asks.

“I guess you could say that, assuming her accusations were true,” Matt responds from beside Dare.

Jessica levels him with a serious look as she replies, “Oh, they’re fucking true. And that’s only the tip of the scandal iceberg.”

Tony and I share a look, and then I ask, “So, you’re telling me that Issa made a public statement against some very powerful, well-connected douchebags?”

She nods, her expression pained as she replies, “She sure fucking did. This is probably why she’s been avoiding me since you were arrested. She knew she was going to pull this shit, and I would’ve strongly advised against it.”

“How much trouble is she in?” Tony asks.

Jessica yanks her phone out of her purse again and shoves it at Tony. She replies, “Infinite at this point. I’ve been getting threats ever since it happened.”

Tony glances at the phone, swiping the screen a few times before handing it to Matt. Then he turns to me and says, “We need to find her now. Those fuckers won’t mess around if they’re feeling threatened.”

Matt looks up from Jessica’s phone, concern on his face as he asks, “Anyone know where she might have gone?”

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