Lyndee's Saviors [Men of Montana] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (37 page)

The prosecutor stood and began his opening arguments, listing all the crimes against Alexander Markova and the manipulation of political figures along with officers of the law and businessmen. He offered insight to the criminal behavior that the foreign man had brought to the State of Colorado and the illicit dealings the man had worldwide, especially in countries cowering in drug wars. The promise of evidence into such despicable acts caught the jurist’s attention as they all looked over at the distinguished man sitting at the defense table. When the prosecutor was finished, Judge Scott called for recess for lunch and announced that court would resume in two hours.

After everyone rose while the judge exited the room and the dismissal was granted, the row of Lyndee’s entourage made their way out of the courtroom. As quickly as possible, John, Lyndee, Trey, and Lawrence retrieved their weapons from lockup and holstered, giving them a sense of security. Exiting the building they came face-to-face with the media again and they pushed their way around people to get to the truck.

With all six of them piling into the dual-cab, the four officers assigned to them got into their patrol car and followed them away. Lunch was eaten at the hotel, giving Lyndee a little time to rest before they had to head out. She was to be the first witness when court reconvened. After they had dined and Lyndee had napped while the men talked quietly, they headed back to the courthouse. After they ran through security, they took their places on the back bench again.

When Lyndee’s name was called, Markova and his lawyer looked back at her as if challenging her to remain seated. Her men all smiled at her and touched her hands as she made her way to the aisle. With her head held high, she walked up to the swinging gate and let the prosecutor hold it open for her before she made her way to the witness stand. Raising her right hand, she swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the whole time glaring at the beautiful mobster sitting off to her right. She sat down.

The prosecutor asked her to start at the beginning when she first went undercover. Explaining all the ins and outs and details of her undercover work, she outlined the five years she had been working within Markova’s organization and the heavy hand Philip used to keep his girls in line. Objections from the defense attorney flew repeatedly until Judge Scott finally told the man to sit down until it was his turn to cross-examine the witness. The beady little man sat down in a huff, pouting as he did so.

Lyndee explained in detail about the party she and the other girls were expected to work that night and provided names of men, very influential men throughout the state, who were in attendance at the party, and how the bust went down. She detailed the events leading up to her kidnapping and how she was rescued by the Goodall brothers and their cousin and then how Markova’s men showed up to kill them all so there wouldn’t be any witnesses.

By the time she had finished, it was late in the day. Court was convened for the day and she would be drilled by the defense the next day. Stepping down from the witness stand, she was visibly shaking as she made her way back to her men, Storm gathering her in his arms. Markova and his attorney were walking by at that point and the men glared at Storm who didn’t back down at the visible showdown. Finally the two criminals walked out. Lyndee was led out by her men and taken back to the hotel where she went to bed without any supper, saying her head hurt.

* * * *

The next morning the process started all over again. This time Lyndee wore a pair of slacks with a blazer that again seemed too small for her over a dark-blue blouse. The men wore their ever-present dark jeans, dark shirts and boots. The Stetsons were black also, causing them to stand out in any crowd, and not just because of their size. Trey of course wore his uniform but donned a Stetson also, which Connor didn’t care that he wore.

Upon arriving at the courthouse, they were surprised to see Connor and Angela there to greet them when they got out of the truck. Connor wore his Sheriff’s uniform while Angela wore blue jeans and a red shirt with western stitching on the chest. She was shy when she stepped up to Lyndee, who opened her arms to her and welcomed her openly, proving that the woman was her friend. The men shook hands and each took their turn at hugging Angela in a sisterly fashion, which earned them a smile from their woman. Connor hugged Lyndee before being introduced to John and Lawrence. As they headed toward the front doors of the courthouse, Connor spread his arm wide. “Quite a circus going on here.”

The men chuckled before bowling their way through the crowd, leading Lyndee and Angela to the safety of the lobby. After going through the harassment of security, they made their way into the courtroom, taking up their spot they had the previous day. All the men gave her words of encouragement.
Don’t let him goad you. Don’t make eye contact with Markova. We love you. Be strong.

As the court was called to order and Lyndee resumed her seat on the stand, she was reminded she was still under oath. After acknowledging that she understood, she took a deep breath when the defense attorney stood and approached her. She had to stifle a giggle for she knew the kind of money that Markova was throwing toward the lawyer to defend him, and yet here he was again, wearing a threadbare, shabby, wrinkled suit. Some people have no class, she thought.

The attorney started on her, not even dishing out any pleasantries that some defense attorneys partake of to trip up the witness. Lyndee answered all the questions quickly and honestly, and when the questions became too personal, she struggled a bit. She knew what this was leading up to.

The question finally came and she looked at the prosecutor for reassurance. He nodded to her, letting her know she had to tell the truth, no matter how embarrassing it would be for her. The defense attorney smirked as he approached the witness stand, though looked at the jury.

“Miss Dwyer, you state that you worked as a prostitute undercover, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And can you tell me how many men you have slept with throughout this supposed undercover operation?”

“None.”

Still smirking, he said, “So you are telling this court that you posed as a prostitute for nearly five years and had a known client base and yet you didn’t have sex with any of these men?”

“That is correct,” she said, looking straight at the shifty man.

“Don’t you think that the men that supposedly paid you for your ‘services’”—the man chuckled as he used air quotations around the last word—“would really have paid you for not having sexual relations with them?”

Smiling sweetly at the man, she said confidently, “No, sir. They wouldn’t and you would know about that since you didn’t pay me for my services. You paid the woman that worked as my double. You remember her, long blonde hair like mine? She said you have a mole shaped like Mickey Mouse on your left hip.”

Gasps erupted in the gallery as the beady little eyes widened at the statement before changing back to being beady. The gesture wasn’t missed on Lyndee and she hoped it wasn’t missed by the judge either as the lawyer was facing her at the time.

“I have no idea what you are babbling about, Miss Dwyer. I have never used a prostitute before.”

Snidely, Lyndee smirked. “Of course not.”

The unruly man was flustered as the crowd snickered behind him.

“So, Miss Dwyer, you are saying under oath that you never had sexual relations with any of your clients?”

The deep voice from the back of the room soothed Lyndee’s spirits, though caused a flush to spread through her. “She just said she didn’t have sex with any of the men!”

The attorney, surprised at the outburst, turned to the man standing in the back in a peace officer’s uniform. Knowing it was totally out of the line of questioning, the stout man asked the man anyways, “And how would you know that, sir?”

“Because after we found her unconscious in the woods we took her home with us and as she recovered I took her virginity from her.” Trey proudly made the announcement as gasps traveled like wildfire through the expansive room and people turned to stare at the Sheriff’s Deputy. He smiled at Lyndee to give her comfort even though her cheeks flamed red.

The gavel hit the podium several times as the judge called out “Order!” several times. When he finally had what he was seeking he looked at Trey, who had remained standing. “Another outburst like that, young man, and you will find yourself in a holding cell!”

Smiling, Trey nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The attorney turned to Lyndee, anger flaring his nostrils and his eyes even darker and beadier than before. They reminded her of beads on a stuffed animal. “I have no further questions at this time. I would like to reserve the right to question the witness again if needed.”

“So be it,” the judge said.

The attorney sat down and quietly held a discussion with his client, who seemed to be just as furious. Markova glared at Lyndee as she began to step down from the witness stand until the prosecutor stopped her.

“I have another question for the witness, your Honor,” he said as he stood. Walking around the table, he leaned back on it. “Miss Dwyer, would you elaborate on this new development please?”

Lyndee explained how Philip had kidnapped her and that the brothers Goodall and their cousin Austin had rescued her when she escaped. She did explain about the misconception of her belief she was a prostitute because of her memory loss and subsequently how she had lost her virginity to Trey, though she did leave out the tidbits of Storm and Austin joining in. The prosecutor thanked her and dismissed her.

Steel gray eyes bore into Lyndee as she walked back to her seat. She knew he was furious with her as she had just blown his defense sky-high. A chill shot through her as he sneered at her and she hurried to return to her seat surrounded by her men.

Lunch was the same as the previous day. Lyndee slept, though Storm insisted she eat more than she had. The cross-examination was stressful on her as was the whole ordeal, and she hoped it would end soon so she could go home. She wanted to be able to have sex with her men without worrying what the neighbors or guards on duty would think of them. She was anxious to start her new life.

Walking back into the courtroom sent chills up Lyndee’s spine again. Something was going to happen and she was anticipating it. Looking around at the guys, she knew they felt it too. Even John and Lawrence seemed edgy.

One by one, Storm, Austin, Trey, and then Wolf were called to the stand. They gave their versions of finding Lyndee and the shootout at the ranch when Markova’s men stormed the place. Also, Wolf and Austin gave their versions of the shootout at the apartment. The defense attorney tried to discredit their testimony by trying to trick them, but it didn’t work. By the end of the day, the attorney was frustrated and Markova looked ready to kill, and Lyndee knew who he had in his crosshairs.

After retrieving their weapons from the lockup, they stepped out into the sunshine amongst the media that wanted a statement from the key witness. The men tried surrounding her as best they could for this time the reporters were pressing forward to get any kind of a statement or picture, especially after Trey’s outburst. As they reached the end of the steps and the media mob had thinned out, the groupings shifted as Connor and his sister headed for their car while the four officers headed for their squad car. As the six remaining people reached the pickup, a flash struck the driver’s side window.

Trey instinctively pulled his gun and tried to push Lyndee to the ground. “Gun!”

Austin and Storm tried to cover her, Storm reaching in Lyndee’s blazer and pulling out her Sig. “Where?” he asked his brother.

“Flashed from the rooftop across the street.”

The men stayed crouched down, aiming at the roofline, waiting. The sun struck a piece of metal as it edged over the center of the roof and a shot was fired, breaking the glass on the driver’s side front window. The gun retreated from the roofline but the men knew danger was still present. People in the vicinity were screaming and scrambling for cover, chaos ensuing.

The high-powered rifle barrel appeared again, this time further to the right of where it had been before. Another shot rang out and Trey tried to shoot right above the end of the gun itself hoping it might strike part of the maniac shooting at them. The gun retreated again. Storm saw Wolf stand and Lawrence help him into the truck bed where the injured man quickly unlocked the large metal toolbox that spanned the back of the pickup under the window.

Opening it up, he began to pull out weapons. A shotgun went to Austin, who preferred it to a rifle. Storm took the Winchester rifle with the scope on it and he handed the Sig back to its rightful owner, though they weren’t going to give her much of a chance to use it, while Wolf chose his own handgun.

The priceless look on John’s face at the firepower emptying out from the truck would have been amusing if it wasn’t for the situation. “Is there an army in there also?” he asked jokingly. “After he shoots next, cover me, I’m going over there. I’ll take a couple of the uniforms with me.”

“Got it, boss,” Trey said, crouching down next to Lyndee. “You okay there, baby?”

“Yes,” she said tensely. “I would appreciate it if I could get up though.”

“No!” was shouted in unison from seven men. Seven, where had he come from? Connor had run over and grabbed a Winchester from Wolf and stood next to John. “I’m coming with you.”