Habeas Corpus

Chapter One

by

Rebecca Zanetti

Diamonds sparkled magically beneath the old-fashioned lights, turning me all gooey and happy.

“Oh, Nick,” I murmured. “This is absolutely beautiful.”

Nick Basanelli leaned over my shoulder and looked at the ring resting in the black velvet box.

“Are you sure, Anna? Do you think she’ll like it?”

My sister would be insane not to love it. “Of course, she’ll love it.”

“It was my grandmother’s,” he said. “I did show the engagement ring to Tessa on New Year’s, but I hadn’t purchased the wedding bands yet.”

It truly was gorgeous. It was a split halo, the center stone at least three carats and cushion-cut, with diamonds around the main stone that cascaded down in two bands. In addition, Nick had purchased two more bands—one for each side.

“I mean, it’s just stunning,” I said, unable to take my eyes off the diamond.

“I agree,” Duke Walls said from the other side of his jewelry store’s counter.

Duke’s had been a permanent fixture in Timber City for as long as I could remember, and my new law firm was right next door. I just couldn’t believe that Tessa and Nick were getting married. If she said yes—which, of course, she would. They’d dated for a fairly short time, which would probably concern most people, but knowing both Nick and Tessa, I was fully on board. They made a great couple.

“How are you going to ask her?” I turned to stare at him.

He straightened his shoulders. “I’m meeting her in an hour for a candlelit dinner. Don’t want to wait on this.”

I clapped my hands together once. “You could wait for Valentine’s Day.”

“Nope. Taking care of it now. It’s the perfect idea.”

“Yes, perfect,” Duke agreed.

In his sixties at least, Duke was as wide as he was tall and had the most cheerful smile I’d ever seen.

“Do you want help with planning what to say?” I held my breath as hope crashed through me.

Nick rolled his tawny brown eyes. “I’ll take suggestions.”

Seriously good-looking, Nick Basanelli stood over six feet tall with thick black hair and Italian features. He was also broad and brilliant. I could not have found a better mate for my sister, who was free-spirited yet oddly responsible. I’d always liked the contradictions in Tessa and loved that Nick did, as well.

“After dinner, maybe you could create a scene with red roses and the snow down by the lake. I can put it together while you two eat.”

Nick turned and looked at the blizzard swirling madly outside the glass doors. “Are you kidding? It’s early February. It’s freezing.”

True. Yet there was something romantic about Lilac Lake, which fronted most of Timber City, and I knew my sister loved the water.

“We don’t have to be married to anything right now,” I said, enjoying the pun.

Nick rolled his eyes. “I’ll ask her after dessert. Inside where it’s warm.”

His phone buzzed, and he looked down to read a text while I returned to staring at the absolutely incredible rings.

I even liked that they were rose gold, which you just didn’t see very often. I was no expert, but the main diamond appeared colorless and clean and was probably an excellent cut. My sister would love it.

Nick frowned and shoved his phone into his back pocket.

We’d met up near Duke’s closing time to pick up the rings. He’d wanted my approval, which, considering he was going to be my brother-in-law, I thought was very sweet.

Today, Nick wore a white button-down shirt and dark slacks, in contrast to the suit he normally wore in court as our prosecuting attorney.

I didn’t have court today either, so I was just wearing black slacks with a pink sweater in tribute to February. Valentine’s Day was only two weeks away.

I looked around the wide jewelry store, taking in all the glass counters with their stunning baubles. Maybe I should find Aiden something in there. He was a tough guy to buy for, and I nailed it at Christmas time, but it had taken some serious effort.

We’d dated for less than a year.

I bit my lip. “What are you getting Devlin for Valentine’s Day?” Nick asked, as if reading my mind.

I shook my head. “I have no clue.”

I concentrated on him. “Isn’t Valentine’s Day more of a woman’s holiday?”

Yeah, I wanted an easy out.

“Nope. Get on board, Albertini. I don’t know. Buy him something for his truck or motorcycle.”

Like what? His motorcycle was in storage for the winter, and his truck seemed fine.

“Maybe he could use a new gun.”

As an ATF agent, he probably had more guns than I knew about.

Nick looked up at the ceiling. “The holiday is easy for women. Buy a sexy pink outfit, put a bow on top of your head, and there you go.”

Practical. Very good advice.

I slapped his arm. “You’re going to make a great brother.”

Did he pale at that? I thought he did. Amusement filtered through me.

“If you marry Tessa, you’ll become a brother to Donna and me.” I was the youngest.

He gulped. “I can handle Donna, but you get shot at a lot.”

I frowned. “Not anymore.”

He looked toward the door, his gaze intense.

I secured my purse farther up on my shoulder. “Do you have to go back to the office before you meet Tessa for dinner? I recognized the expression you just wore.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I have a desk full of cases, and Friday night is usually pretty quiet at the office. I have a couple of phone calls to make before I meet your sister.”

I had worked for Nick for a while until he fired me, which, frankly, I’d probably deserved. I’d never really been one to hold a grudge, and since I’d opened my own practice with my partner, Clark, everything had turned out fine.

“Is everything good?”

Nick and I didn’t have any cases against each other right now, so he had no reason to hide anything.

Nick shook his head. “Did you read the newspaper article about the two bodies found last weekend?”

Definitely. Two deaths were big news in our neck of the woods. The paper had reported limited facts about the entire situation, and it was extremely rare for the rumor mill not to have filled in the details yet. The police department was never this locked down.

“Yes,” I said. “Have the bodies been identified?”

Nick’s frown darkened. “I don’t know. I’m getting the runaround from the police, which is rare and surprising—considering I’ll prosecute whoever murdered them.”

“It was murder for sure?” I asked, curious.

“That’s as much as I know,” he said.

“Wow, it’s kind of bizarre.”

The bodies had been found in the basement of the old Marsh place on the far east side of Lilac Lake. It had been a functioning mansion years ago and then fell into disrepair.

In fact, I remembered partying out there quite a bit in high school. We used to have large keggers in what we considered a haunted house.

Of course, now that all the property around the lake was in such high demand, some folks from California had purchased it to tear it down and build something more modern.

When they excavated, they’d found two bodies in a blocked-off cement room in the basement.

Rumors flew around town regarding who it could be, but so far, the police had been inexplicably quiet.

“Maybe they can’t identify the victims,” I said.

“Probably not.” Nick reached for the ring box. “I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough. It’s not like my docket isn’t full.”

No kidding. It’d already been a busy beginning to the year.

I took a deep breath. The smell of lemon oil and cookie-scented candle filled the air and just made me happy.

Okay, maybe all the gorgeous jewelry around me did. I was a girl who loved her sparkles.

A jingle of the bell above the door trilled, and Nick and I both ignored it as Duke handed over a credit card receipt for Nick to sign.

I angled closer to him, trying to see how much the bands had cost, but the print was too small to read. Darn it.

It was none of my business, but curiosity had always been my downfall. Well, I had several downfalls, but that was one of them.

I moved even closer just as something flew by my head to hit the wall.

I jumped back, my gaze catching on an arrow stuck into an older picture of the lake next to Duke’s ear.

An actual freaking golden arrow.

Nick swiveled around as I did, and then my mind went blank.

Three men stood in front of us, all dressed like…various Cupids

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