She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not to be charmed, Mr. O’Shannon. I’m here to defend you. Let’s get down to business and see if I truly want to take you on as a client.”
Holden laughed, letting go of her hand. “Got it.”
She put down her briefcase then settled in the only other chair in the room. Crossing her legs while composing herself, she leaned forward slightly. “So what do we have?”
“Circumstantial evidence tying me to the crime scene,” Holden said.
She looked him over. “I wasn’t directing that question to you.”
He nodded, but the grin never left his face. It was the grin of a man used to getting his way. Her gut told her that he was bad news. Why hadn’t her gut told her that about her last case? Holden waved a hand as if directing her to go on. She directed her gaze at Carl. “Well?”
“He isn’t wrong. The evidence is circumstantial. A hat of his was found at the scene.”
“A hat?”
“I lent it to a friend that day,” Holden said.
Colleen frowned at the client then turned back to Carl. “Does he have any prior convictions?”
“No,” Holden answered.
“And how many times have you been ton trial, Mr. O’Shannon?” Colleen kept her voice steady.
If her client had no credibility, she couldn’t put him on the stand. Not that she wanted to. She doubted that his arrogance could be tempered. He wore a designer suits. He was out on bail only because he could afford it and he’d surrendered his passport. Otherwise he would go to court in a prison jumpsuit.
His father, if rumors were to be believed, controlled all of the drugs that went in and out of most of Pennsylvania. This man had been born in privilege and that was hard for jurors to overcome.
“A few. Never convicted,” he said.
She nodded. A conviction didn’t matter. The defense could bring it up and she’d object, but they would have heard about it by then. The case was already a minefield. “Can you excuse us, Mr. O’Shannon?”
The man rose again and left them alone. When he closed the door, Colleen stared at her boss. “You want me to defend him?”
“He did ask for you.”
“Why?”
“He hasn’t given a reason, but the partners have suggested it would be good for your future at the firm if you took on this case.”
“And it would be bad if I didn’t,” she said.
Carl just shrugged.
“Can I at least review the file before I answer?” Colleen said.
“No.”
“I have to make this decision without knowing anything about that ginger asshole out there?”
Carl nodded. “You can handle this, Colleen.”
“I’m trying to figure out why suddenly everyone is so sure of me again.”
***
Having checked out Colleen’s firm and knew the goblin wasn’t working there, Sean met his new roommate. He lived in Colleen’s building which was convenient and Tex knew about gargoyles. Donal had introduced them and Tex had offered Sean a place to live. He said something about owing Donal.
Now Sean was meeting Donal at his work at the Jenkins Security at the Navy Yard. He’d driven in with Tex who worked there, too.
“Are there any more of you?” Tex said.
“Gargoyles or Foleys?” Sean said.
“Either.”
“I don’t know if there are any gargoyles, but there is one more Foley.”
“So he’s in stone in Ireland?” Tex ventured, parking in a spot near the office.
“Aye. I’m hoping to bring him here when I’m done with whatever my purpose is.”
Tex turned off the car. “Donal told me about having to protect Meg.”
“You seemed to handle all of this stuff that must be crazy to you,” Sean said.
Tex didn’t answer until they were out of the car. “I was homeless for a year. I have seen some odd things. I also saw your brother fly onto a building.”
“I guess that would make you a believer,” Sean said, chuckling.
Jenkins Security was in a non-descript five storied building. Only a small sign which indicated the firm inside. Sean was eager to see his brother again as he hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since his first night here.
“Donal should be in the office on the second floor,” Tex said. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
Sean shook Tex’s hand then walked up the steps to the second floor. Donal was in an office two doors down from the steps. He was on the phone, but motioned for Sean to come in. He wandered around his brother’s office. He had various pictures of Meg, his wife, and their dogs. Their father had impregnated a fairy so he knew fairies and gargoyles could have children. Sean just had no idea what power those offspring could have.
The view out Donal’s window wasn’t exciting, just a green space behind the building. Finally Donal hung up. He rose and the two brothers embraced.
“Good to see you, Sean. Sit.”
Sean sat on the chair on the other side of the desk from his brother.
“You’ve made contact with your fairy?” Donal said.
“I’ve seen her. I know where she works and lives.”
“Things are done differently here. It’s harder to keep track in this city.”
Sean rubbed his chin. “This place is busy and noisy.”
“You’ll get used to it. It’s a little shocking at first after where we’ve been for the last millennia.”
Sean nodded. “Okay. So what am I doing here?”
“I’m getting you a job. And an identity, but we’ll talk about that later.”
“That doesn’t sound above board.”
“Well, we don’t exist in normal terms so Tex manufactured me an identity. Same name, but I was born thirty years ago instead of how long ago I was actually born. It’ll be simpler if you have identification and what they call a social security number. Trust me on this.” Donal opened a folder. “Tex is working on yours and will give that to you. Today you have to impress my boss, Jeremy.”
“What will I be doing?”
“Security. It could be for a famous person or someone who has been threatened. We’ll see what he has going on.”
Sean nodded. He knew how to fight even if he never truly liked it. There were often better solutions than violence, but if someone was going to pay him, which he’d learned from Tex, was important.
“You’ll need a phone.”
“Phone?”
“That thing that everyone stares at as they are walking around.”
Sean nodded. This was all overwhelming. Just a few days ago he’d been a stone statue that had been staring out at the ocean. Donal rose and came around the desk. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You will adapt. That’s what we gargoyles are best at.”
“Okay. If you say so.” He looked up at his brother. “I promised Declan I’d go back for him.”
“Not yet. You have to figure out where the goblin is that is putting Colleen in danger.”
“Aye. You are right. I have an obligation to her first.”
“Remember that. It isn’t going to be easy to convince her that she is a fairy, but the sooner you do the safer she’ll be. I hate to think what will happen if the goblin strikes before she understands what she is.”
Sean felt the weight of his task, but he was up for it. He’d been bred to do this. His family had protected fairies for years. Centuries. He could keep this one safe.
“Come on, let’s go talk to Jeremy. He’ll overlook your lack of papers. He accepted me off the street.”
“Good to know.”
“Say as little as possible, Sean, and everything will be fine.”
“I don’t want to lie.”
Donal stopped in the doorway to the office. “You aren’t lying except by omission. If I could have gotten your credentials before the interview I would have, but Tex was swamped with a project. He’ll have a license and passport for you soon.”
Sean rose and followed his brother. They walked down the two flights of steps he’d just walked up. The office was where Tex had left him, but Sean wasn’t nervous. If he could keep his mouth shut for most of this interview as Donal had told him it was called, he’d be fine. Doing the job would be easy.
It was what he’d been born to do. Hopefully he’d be able to keep Colleen safe while doing this job.
“Wait here,” Donal said when they reached the doorway.
His brother went in and Sean looked around, but no one else was in the lobby. Donal came out. “Good luck, brother.”
Sean steeled himself then strode into the office as if he owned it.
Chapter Six
Colleen had decided to drive to work that next morning, parking in the lot under the building. She spent the day going over the case files for her new client.
Her assistant, Delilah, came into her office. “I’m heading home. You look wiped.”
“I never got on the time zone in Ireland, but I’m still jet-lagged coming back,” Colleen said.
Delilah rested her hip against the door frame and sighed. “Go home. All this stuff will be here tomorrow.”
“I don’t have as much time as I’d like with this trial. I hope this doesn’t work out the same as my last one. I might be on a permanent vacation.” She flipped closed the paper file.
Delilah shook her head. “They’d never fire you. You’re too high profile.” She settled on a chair. “Besides, some other law firm would snap you up.”
Colleen could always count on Delilah to cheer her up. “Do I pay you enough? If not I’ll make sure that you do get paid enough.”
Her assistant laughed. “You pay me an obscene salary already, but I won’t turn down more.”
Colleen eyed her. “I do appreciate your perkiness.”
Delilah was fresh out of college, but a whiz at keeping Colleen on track with her cases. If Colleen left the firm, she’d have to bring Delilah with her. An assistant this good was worth her weight in gold. Colleen felt she’d never find anyone as competent.
“You would be lost without me.”
Colleen laughed. Delilah knew where she stood and she knew how to get what she wanted. Colleen could only admire that about her assistant. Sometimes she felt as if she’d been swept up in someone else’s dream. Her advisors in school had pegged her as lawyer material from the moment she stepped into high school. When those same advisors told her what a lawyer made Colleen was on board. The idea of never being poor again made her work very hard towards the goal.
She liked what she did, but she often thought there was more to life. That she should do more pro bono work. It might be more satisfying than defending spoiled rich kids.
“Don’t fret, Colleen.” Her voice softened and a wry smile curled her lips.
“Am I?”
“Yes,” Delilah said. “I know you’ve been questioning what you are doing, but you’ll figure out what you truly want.”
“You are wise for someone so young.”
Delilah waved a hand. “Oh, there was a package left earlier. I didn’t open it because it said ‘Confidential’ on it.”
“Bring it in.”
Delilah retrieved the package.
“Stay. I’m sure it isn’t anything,” Colleen said.
Her assistant leaned up against the doorframe as Colleen opened the box to find a note on crisp onion skin. The letters looked to have been typed instead of been printed on the paper.
“Stop defending O’Shannon or you die.”
Colleen gasped and dropped the note back into the box. “Call Security.”
Colleen stared at the piece of paper until Carl and a security guard came in. Carl took one look at the note. “Call the cops. Don’t touch anything.”
She didn’t have any desire to touch the paper again. The police arrived ten minutes later and took possession of the note.
“Do you know anyone who might have it in for you?” the officer asked.
“I guess anyone who doesn’t want O’Shannon to get off,” Colleen said.
She held a mug of tea and sat in Carl’s office for the interview. Her heart had finally stopped racing. In all the years as a defense attorney, no one had ever threatened her. She’d defended some high ranking people in many criminal organizations. Anger slowly tempered her resolve. This stupid threat cemented the idea that she didn’t want to keep doing this, but part of her was stubborn enough to see this case through. She wasn’t going to be scared off that easily.
The officer wrapped up this questions then left. Carl came back in. “You okay?”
“I will be. Just a little spooked,” she said. “Did Delilah go home?”
“I sent her home and the security guard walked her to her car. I’d have him do the same for you, but I think we’re hiring you a bodyguard.”
“A bodyguard? Are you kidding?”
Carl sat down on the couch next to her putting a hand on her arm. His other hand ran through is white hair. “We have to take this threat seriously. Unless you want off the case.”
Colleen shook her head. “I’m Irish enough to be stubborn. I won’t be forced off this case.”
“Okay, but no one would blame you. I know you weren’t keen to be on this case in the first place.”
“I wasn’t, but now I’m pissed,” she said.
“Okay. I’ve called Jenkins Security and they are sending over someone to take you home and to stay with you.”
“Stay with me? I have great security in my building. No one can get up to me unless they can fly,” Colleen said.
“Still. I’d feel better.”
Carl wasn’t an alarmist and if he thought she needed a bodyguard, maybe she should think about it. She liked her independence, but she liked being alive, too. “Okay. If you insist.”
“If you weren’t defending a mobster then I’d back off, but I’m sure O’Shannon has some enemies.”
Collen only nodded. “So I have to wait for this guy?”
“Yes, but stay here.”
She set down the mug. “No, I need to pack up for the day. I was about to do that when the package came.”
“The cops are looking at security footage from the lobby. I’m sure they’ll figure out who it was.”
Colleen shuddered as she walked to her office. The hit O’Shannon was on trial for wasn’t another mobster. It was someone who might have owed him money. He hadn’t said it, but she’d figured that out from the background on the victim. She’d have to ask her client about his enemies. Maybe he could enlighten her as to who might want her off the case.
She was packing her briefcase when her phone rang. She answered it. “Connelly.”
“Your bodyguard is here,” the receptionist at the front of the office said. She lowered her voice. “And he’s hot.”
Colleen laughed. “Okay. Send him back.”
“Right away.”
The receptionist hung up. Colleen was ready to go home before the guard reached her office. What she wasn’t ready for was who the bodyguard was. Her mouth went dry.
The hot man who had been in the lobby the other morning.
***
Sean didn’t know what twist of fate had brought him to Colleen’s doorstep, but he saw it as a good twist. He stood outside her office for a moment, just observing her. She had her red hair twisted onto the top of her head. She wore glasses and red lipstick. Her suit had clearly been made for her.
He shook himself. He shouldn’t be admiring her, but she was still as beautiful as he’d thought she was in Ireland. Clearing his throat he strode into her office. “I’m Sean. Your bodyguard.”
She looked up at him then her gaze slid down his body and he had the distinct feeling that she as undressing him with her eyes. He found the sensation unnerving. No one had ever looked at him that way. She rose and extended her hand. “I’m Colleen.”
He squeezed her hand then dropped it. Yep. She was his fairy. He knew it from the tingle in his hands wh
en they touched. “Nice to meet you Colleen. Are you ready to go home?”
“Yes. I am. Let me turn off my computer and then we can go.”
He waited on the other side of the desk. She packed up her things then looked at him. “I drove today so we have to go down the elevator.”
He nodded, relieved she would be operating the automobile. Donal promised to teach him to drive even though he already had a license from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania saying he could drive. They rode down in the elevator in silence and he put a hand on her arm before she left the car. “Let me look.”
“There is a lot of security here,” she said.
“So I’m adding one more layer.”
Protecting anyone was the same anywhere and in any time period. Always know what you were going into and always have an escape route. They could go back into the elevator. They could run up the stairwell and as Sean glanced out, he saw an exit. Three ways out.
He didn’t see anyone lurking around. “Which one is your car?”
“The gray Mercedes.”
He looked around for a gray car and hoped that was the one. “To the left?”
“Yes.”
He glanced around again then ushered her out of the elevator. The car beeped then unlocked. He held open the driver’s door for her. She glanced at him. “I’m driving?”
“Yes. I can keep any eye on the surroundings better that way.”
She paused as if she was going to question him, then climbed into the car. He closed the door, looked around again then rushed around the car. He hopped into it.
“Are we good to go?” she said.
“Aye. Let’s go.”
She started the car then pulled out of the space. They were into traffic in a few minutes. Sean looked around the whole time. He didn’t see any threats, but his mind was always working to see escape routes. This was much more complicated than the last time he’d protected anyone.
He could hear things when traversing through woods. The city made too much noise for that.
“How long have you been a bodyguard?” Colleen said, breaking the silence.
“Uh, a lot of years.”
He couldn’t tell her how old he truly was. He’d lost count so he didn’t know his accurate age. It would be a number higher than she could comprehend someone being. He didn’t know the life expectancy of a human, but gargoyles lived to be two hundred. Fairies a little less than that which always meant that unless the gargoyle was killed, he or she lived longer than the fairy under protection.
When Garogyles Love Trilogy Page 11
