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“He did.”
“And the entire time she’s in there,” Nutsbe said, “she’s going to be sobbing. Rightfully so.”
“That’s why she needs Beowolf to hug. To give her some support.”
“Yeah, man,” Nutsbe shook his head, “it’s like this, I would take that piece of shit out into the alley and beat the living crap out of him. I would dive through fire to get to her while she was being hurt and pull her to safety while my skin melted. I would do a lot of hero shit, willingly. But there is one thing I cannot stomach, a woman in tears. I cannot. Just can’t. It just kills me. It’s kryptonite.”
“Okay, I hear you. I feel the same. Except—"
“Shit,” Nutsbe said on the exhale.
“You’re the only one that’s certified to go. If it’s not you, that poor woman’s going to go alone. She’ll maybe have a bailiff in the room to make her feel a little safer from this devil.”
“Guilt trip much? What about Didit? You said this was her outreach baby.”
“Didit is in the field. All of Cerberus is in the field except for the kennel hands and me. I can’t leave the K9s.”
“Lynx would do it.” Nutsbe swiped his hand along his jaw. “Yeah, but she’s on her honeymoon.”
“On Panther Force, Margot is certified. Is she coming in with the rest of the team?” Bob asked.
“She’s still testing positive for Covid. She’s in Helsinki.”
“Okay.” Bob held out his hand. “Thank you for considering.”
Nutsbe took Bob’s hand and held the shake. Looking down at his sneakers, he frowned. “She’ll face that guy all alone?”
“All alone.”
“Yeah, I can’t have that.” Nutsbe shook, then slowly nodded his head. “I guess I’ll have to do it.” He looked up and caught Bob’s eye. “What time is this?”
“The witness is scheduled to testify in the afternoon session tomorrow. You’d probably need to be at the witness’s house around noon. You’ll escort her to the courthouse.”
“And you’ll bring me up to speed before that?”
“We can talk about it in the car this evening. If you’re going to court, you need to hang out with Beowolf a bit, so you get to be buds. We also need to go over and introduce you and Beowolf to the witness and the prosecutor.”
“Olivia.”
“Right. Olivia Gladstone.”
Nutsbe let out a whistle. “I know her by reputation. She’s no wilting flower. This is her case, huh? And she doesn’t know Beowolf yet?”
“I looked it up. Beowolf has been working in the courts for about two years. But Olivia’s witnesses usually end up with Valor.”
Nutsbe smiled. “Such a sweet mama. I bet she’s great at giving support in the courtroom. I can see her doing that job.”
“Yeah, well, Beowolf isn’t really the sweet mama type. He’s more of a blob of protective honey.”
“Interesting.” Nutsbe quirked a single brow. “Not sure what to do with that picture you just painted.”
“So you can get away from whatever you’ve got on your plate this evening and also do the trial support duties tomorrow?”
“I’ll figure it out.” Nutsbe glanced down at his watch. He had ten minutes to make himself look professional. He turned and started down the hall. “Text me the times. I’ll do what I have to to make it a go. But right now,” he reached out for the door handle on Panther Force War Room. “I understand that I might have inadvertently sparked World War III. So I need to go in and figure that out.”
Chapter Four
Nutsbe