Bodyguard

At that point, Liam got up and went to the door again. He held a murmured exchange with the bailiff, who did not look happy, but the bailiff let him out.

"Defense counsel, any questions for the witness?" the judge asked.

So far Kim had listened with a calm look on her face, not objecting to anything the prosecutor had said. Elizabeth had stood in front of judges before--sometimes as the defendant--and a good defense counsel would have been all over the prosecutor's overly leading questions.

"I have only one, Your Honor," Kim said. She turned to Elizabeth, her face expressionless, professional. "Ms. Chapman, tell me, at any time--before, during, or even after the scuffle--did Ronan's Collar go off?"

Liam reentered the room. Behind the bailiff's back, he gave Elizabeth a thumb's up, and Elizabeth somehow knew that Mabel was all right. Her legs nearly buckled in relief. But what had Liam done?

"Ms. Chapman?" Kim asked, waiting.

"Uh--go off? What does that mean?"

Kim said, "When a Shifter tries to attack someone, the Collar around his neck shocks him. It's very obvious--you'd see a white-blue arc running all the way around the Collar, sparking like those plasma balls. The Collar causes a lot of pain and stops the Shifter. They're programmed to suppress a Shifter's instinct to kill."

Elizabeth replayed the awful scene in her mind, remembering the swift silence with which Ronan had burst through her office door. She closed her eyes and made herself remember every detail. Ronan's huge face, the Collar clasping his big neck, the power in his gigantic body as he knocked Marquez to the ground.

She opened her eyes. "No. I didn't see anything like that. The gun went off and hit Ronan, but his Collar never sparked. I think Ronan was just trying to take the weapon away from Marquez."

Kim turned back to the judge, looking as professional as ever, but with a sparkle of triumph in her eyes. "There's a whole ream of scientific data on Shifters as to why they can't commit an act of violence while they wear Collars. If the Collar didn't go off in Ms. Chapman's store, that means my client had no malicious intent toward Marquez. My client saw the danger to Ms. Chapman and stepped in to make sure she wasn't hurt, and in the scuffle to keep the gun away from Marquez, Marquez was knocked unconscious. If my client had any intent to hurt or kill, the Collar would have had him in agony, even a big man like him." Kim walked to the judge's bench, rose on tiptoe, and laid a thick folder on it. "Here are a few of the many studies done on the Collars. I can produce more if Your Honor needs them."

The judge looked irritated. She flipped the file open, flipped it closed, gave Kim a dirty look, and sent a nastier one to Ronan.

"I'm going to let your client go," she said. "Not because you make a good point, Ms. Fraser. Partly it's because Marquez has previous arrests for armed robbery, and Ms. Chapman's story is plausible, but mostly because it's late and I want you all out of my courtroom. But I'm going to tell you, Mr. Ronan, to confine yourself to Shiftertown and not leave it for one month. I don't want you anywhere near humans, understand? If you leave Shiftertown, I will have your carcass hauled in front of me again, and then you won't walk out of here so easily."

"Begging Your Honor's pardon." Liam Morrissey shot her his charming grin. "Ronan's job lies outside Shiftertown, just outside the gates, in fact. He works for me, and he supports three kiddies with his salary. It would be a great hardship on his family if he couldn't go to his job."

"Fine." The judge scowled, but even she wasn't immune to Liam's smile. "He goes to work, then right back home. Consider him under house arrest. I'm holding you responsible for him." The judge pointed her gavel at Liam then banged it on the bench. She got up, robes swirling, and stalked out through the door behind the bench, which closed behind her with a bang.

Elizabeth was bursting to ask Liam what had happened at her house, but she had to wait for the bailiff to unlock Ronan from his shackles and then unlock the doors to let them out. Both Ronan and Kim had to sign things after that, and then they all had to walk out of the courthouse, back to the dark streets outside.

"What about my sister?" Elizabeth nearly shouted at Liam as soon as they cleared the front door.

Ronan put a large hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, but it was comforting, not heavy. Kim walked close to her other side.

"Mabel's fine, lass," Liam said. "My brother and dad got there in time. They and my trackers scared the bad guys away."

"What bad guys? Why were they trying to break into my house?"

They started down the street to the nearly deserted parking lot a half block away. Only two vehicles stood in the lot: Elizabeth's small pickup and a sweet-looking Harley.

"I don't know," Liam said. "Sean only told me that your sister was safe and that the trackers were sniffing around, seeing what they can find out."

"Trackers--you said that before. What trackers?"

"The trackers work for Liam," Ronan said. "They're guards, finders, warriors. Some of them can be complete ass**les, but they're the best at what they do."

"Nothing will happen to Mabel with my trackers looking out for her," Liam said. "I promise you that."

Elizabeth closed her eyes a brief moment in relief. "Thank you, Mr. Morrissey."

"Yeah, thanks, Liam," Ronan said. "And you, Kim. Especially you."