Will of Steel by Diana Palmer Page A

conviction.”
    She felt a little relieved. “Thanks, Mr. Chaney.”
    He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. You might talk to Jack, though.”
    â€œYes, I might.” She hesitated. “You won’t, well, fire me?”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous. And you be careful out there inthe snow. If it gets worse, stay home. I can get old Mrs. Barry to sub for you in the morning, okay?”
    â€œOkay,” she said. “Thanks.”
    â€œWe don’t want to lose you in an accident,” he replied.
    She smiled back.
    Â 
    Jack Haynes had his office in the county courthouse, in Hollister. She walked in, hesitantly, and asked the clerk if he was there and could she see him.
    â€œSure,” he said. “He’s just going over case files.” He grimaced. “Not a fun thing to do. Court’s next week.”
    â€œI can imagine.”
    He announced her and she walked in. Jack Haynes smiled, shook hands with her and offered her a chair.
    â€œDavy Harris is out of prison,” she blurted out. “I walked right into him at the restaurant this morning.”
    He scowled. “Who’s out?”
    She repeated the man’s name.
    He pushed the intercom button. “Did we receive notification that they’d released Davy Harris in that attempted rape case?”
    â€œJust a minute, sir, I’ll check.”
    The prosecutor cursed under his breath. “I had no idea! You saw him?”
    She nodded. “He told everybody in earshot that I had him put in prison for trying to kiss me.” She flushed.
    â€œWhat a whitewash job!”
    â€œTell me about it.”
    The intercom blared. “Sir, they sent a notification, but it wasn’t on the server. I’m sorry. I don’t know how it got lost.”
    â€œElectronic mail,” Haynes scoffed. “In my day, we went to the post office to get mail!”
    â€œAnd even there it gets lost sometimes, sir,” his clerk said soothingly. “Sorry.”
    â€œSo am I. How did Harris get out?”
    â€œOn a technicality, pertaining to the judge’s instructions to the jury being prejudicial to his case,” came the reply. “He’s only out until the retrial.”
    â€œYes, well, that could take a year or two,” Haynes said coldly.
    â€œYes,” his clerk said quietly.
    â€œThanks, Chet,” he replied, and closed the circuit.
    He turned his attention back to Jillian. “That’s the second piece of unsettling news I’ve had from the court system this week,” he said curtly. “They’ve released Smitty Jones, the bank robber, who threatened our police chief, also on a technicality. He’s out pending retrial, too.” His face hardened. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they have the same lawyer, some hotshot from Denver.”
    Jillian clenched her teeth. “He said he’d kill Ted.”
    Haynes smiled reassuringly. “Better men than him have tried to kill Ted,” he pointed out. “He’s got good instincts and he’s a veteran law enforcement officer. He can take care of himself, believe me.”
    â€œI know that, but anybody can be ambushed. Look at Chief Barnes. He was a cautious, capable law enforcement officer, too.”
    He grimaced. “I knew him. He was such a good man. Shame, what happened.”
    â€œYes.”
    He gave her a long look. “Jillian, we can’t do anything about Harris while he’s out on bond,” he told her. “But you can take precautions, and you should. Don’t go anywhere alone.”
    â€œI live alone,” she pointed out, worriedly.
    He drew in a sharp breath. He’d seen cases like this before, where stalkers had vowed revenge and killed or raped their accusers when they were released from prison. He hated the thought of having something bad happen to this poor woman, who’d seen more than her share of the dark side of