by Sophie Moss
Looking up from his computer, Tom eyed the firm’s youngest investigator. Barely a year out of college, she had already managed to make a name for herself by uncovering valuable information on a number of cases that had led to several crucial verdicts coming out in their favor. Every lawyer at the firm fought over her time, not just because she was good at what she did, but because she was nice too look at, too.
“What’s up?” he asked, reluctantly lifting his gaze from the perky breasts straining against her tight sweater. He’d earned a right to look a few months ago when they’d celebrated one of her first big wins by downing a bottle of champagne in his office and then screwing each other’s brains out in the elevator on the way down to the parking garage.
“I did some digging into the claims Lydia made against Governor Foley, like you asked.” Jenna sauntered up to his desk and dropped a manila envelope on it. “Turns out, our client was bending the truth a bit.”
Tom frowned, reaching for the envelope. “What do you mean?”
Lowering herself to a chair across from him, she crossed her legs. Her short skirt rode up several inches, exposing a pair of long, toned thighs. Tom tried to focus on emptying the contents of the envelope but his gaze strayed helplessly back to her legs.
He knew what those legs felt like locked around his waist, what those breasts felt like pressed into his palms, what sounds she made when she came. They’d had a few more slip ups recently—two weeks ago in the copy room on the eleventh floor, a week ago in the supply closet down the hall, and the night before on the conference table in the boardroom after everyone else had left.
Who could blame him?
He had needs—needs a woman like Becca could never fulfill. It was unfortunate that Jenna was falling in love with him. He knew she was secretly hoping he’d leave his fiancé for her. But Jenna wasn’t the kind of woman a man like him married. She was the kind of woman he had sex with before going home to a wife like Becca.
Tom forced his gaze back to the contents of the envelope, flipping through what looked to be a new set of financial statements and a collection of photographs of a man and a woman on a beach wrapped up in each other’s arms. The woman in the photographs was obviously Lydia, about ten years younger, but he didn’t recognize the man. “Who’s that?”
“Henry Cooper.”
Tom’s eyes widened as all thoughts of a midday tryst with Jenna vanished. “What?”
“They were having an affair.”
“But…” Tom struggled to wrap his head around it. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Actually, it makes perfect sense.” Jenna leaned back in her chair. “Lydia said Henry invested in her charity in exchange for political favors once her husband got elected, but she never said who made those promises.”
Tom looked back down at the photos. It did make sense. In a twisted way, it made perfect sense. With Henry’s investment, Lydia would get the money she needed for her school in the Dominican Republic and, once her husband became governor, the Maryland school system she had worked in all her life would get a brand new stream of tax revenue that would flow in from the casinos.
A sinking feeling formed in his gut as he realized what he’d done. He’d handed this information to his boss to use publicly, against his opponent, before fact checking it. Richard had asked him specifically if he’d verified it, and he’d said that he had. But the truth was, he’d only done a quick Google search to make sure the school in the Dominican Republic existed, and as soon as he’d seen that it had, he’d simply assumed the rest was true.
If Richard found out about this, he’d lose his job. He looked back up at Jenna, racking his brain for a way to cover his ass. “Even if Lydia was the one who made the promises, the governor’s still liable. His name was on the statements when the donations came into the account. He had to have known what was going on.”
“Not necessarily. I managed to track down one of the original teachers at the school. She said Nick Foley never came down to the island, never even visited the school. It was entirely Lydia’s project. Besides,” she said, nodding to the rest of the papers in his hands. “He signed the entire account over to Lydia before the divorce, a year before he even announced he was running for governor. Any political favors he might have granted when he got into office would have gone to people who’d supported his campaign—not to a person who’d supported a charity that belonged to his ex-wife.”
Tom’s heart pounded as he flipped through the papers, desperate to find something that would excuse what he’d done. “So, what are you saying? That none of what Lydia said was true? What about the other contribution, the one Henry made to the veterans’ center?”
“It took me about five minutes on the phone with his secretary to find out that the reason Henry Cooper invested in Colin Foley’s wounded warrior charity was because his older brother was a Vietnam vet who lost both legs in the war.” She gave him a long, measuring look. “Three months after he came home, he killed himself because he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.”
Tom gaped at her, his head spinning. Why would Lydia bring this information to them if it would fall apart so easily in an investigation? Why would she risk ruining her own reputation when the truth was exposed? “She must have known that we’d look into the claims, that we’d find out about the affair, the promises, Henry’s brother…?”
“I think she was counting on Richard running with it before that, which is why she waited to bring it to us until the night before the announcement—so there wouldn’t be enough time to do a thorough investigation. Besides,” she said, nodding back to the pictures, “Lydia and Henry were very discreet. Those pictures weren’t easy to track down. It’ll take Nick Foley’s investigators weeks to find them, if they even find them at all. In the meantime, enough voters will turn against him, will question his integrity as a leader. Even when the truth comes out, it’ll seem like he’s making excuses. It’ll make him look weak.”
Tom stared at her. “You think she’s been sitting on this information all this time, just waiting to use it against her ex-husband when he ran for a second term?”
“Sure,” Jenna lifted a shoulder. “Why not? What does she have to lose? My best guess would be that since she’s not with either man now, things must have ended badly with Henry as well as with her ex-husband. Maybe she’s angry with both men and has been waiting for the right time to get some payback. What?” she asked, when he continued to stare at her. “Women who are pushed too far can do some real damage if they’re not treated right.”
Tom’s palms began to sweat. Was that a threat? Was she comparing her own situation to Lydia’s? “Jenna—”
“I think she got what she wanted,” Jenna said, standing. “Whether or not it was true, it’s out there now. It hurt him.”
“Wait,” Tom said, scrambling to his feet. “Where are you going?”
“To tell Richard.”
“No.” He grabbed the evidence before she could reach for it. “Let me at least talk to Lydia first. Maybe she has an explanation.”
Jenna looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “You have to be kidding.”
He stuffed the papers and photos into a drawer and locked it. “She’s one of our most important clients. She deserves the chance to explain herself first.”
Jenna shook her head. “We need to tell Richard now. If he finds out we were sitting on this—”
“He won’t find out.” He walked out from behind the desk and surprised her by taking her hands. He had never been affectionate with her before, unless he was also trying to take her clothes off. “Let me handle this.”
“Tom—”
“Trust me,” he said, and watched her eyes soften. Lowering his mouth to hers, he silenced her with a kiss.
“Hey, buddy,” Jake Haddaway said as he walked over to where Luke and Colin were standing outside the doors of the school at the end of the day. “Want to head over to the marina for a while? We could put a cou
ple rods in the water, try to catch a few perch?”
“Sure!” Luke said, grabbing his backpack off the ground and slipping his arms through the orange straps. He looked up at Colin. “Want to come?”
The kid’s expression was so hopeful, there was nothing Colin could do but nod and say yes. Courtney had arrived a little while ago to pick him up, but Shelley had caught her out in the parking lot and invited her in for a chat. Becca must have asked her father to keep Luke occupied so she and Shelley could have some time to talk to Courtney.
Crossing the street to the harbor, Colin felt a little better knowing that Shelley was handling the situation, at least on an administrative level. He was planning to handle the situation with Jimmy in a much less professional manner later this afternoon. But that could wait, at least for another hour. He wanted to talk to Will on the phone first, to find out exactly what had happened when his friend had located their contractor earlier that day.
“You like to fish?” Jake asked as they stepped onto the pier.
“I do,” Colin said.
Their footsteps echoed over the wooden planks as they passed the row of workboats. Jake nodded to a middle-aged man in one of the boats before stepping into the back of his own boat. He opened a salt-crusted storage bin and pulled three fishing rods out. “You like to hunt?” he asked, climbing back up to the pier.
“I do.”
Jake handed him one of the rods. “I hear you’re a pretty good shot.”
Colin smiled, taking the rod. “I am.”
“You should come out with me sometime.” Jake fell into step beside him as Luke ran ahead of them to the far end of the pier. “I wouldn’t mind picking up a few tips from a sniper.”
“I’d like that,” Colin said, and he meant it. He’d only met Jake eight hours ago, but he already felt completely at ease around him. He could tell he didn’t have to do anything or say anything to impress him. He could just be himself. It was incredibly refreshing.
Unhooking the lightweight lure from the circular guide in the rod, he cast the line out into the shallow water. Beside him, Jake patiently coached Luke on the best way to use the rod—casting underhanded to keep the hook away from the people on the dock, giving it enough time to let it sink to the bottom before slowly reeling it back in.
Leaning back against the piling, Colin took a moment to study Becca’s father. He thought he’d met almost everyone on the island by now, but he’d never even laid eyes on Jake before today. He’d have thought he would have at least run into him at the café or at Rusty’s from time to time. He must keep to himself.
Reeling his line in and casting it back out, Colin wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a father like Jake, one who wasn’t always chasing the limelight, one who wasn’t always pushing his children to exceed so he could look better, one who actually had time for his children—to teach them how to fish, to be there for them when they called, instead of always expecting them to be there for him.
“I got one!” Luke exclaimed when the tip of his rod twitched. He started to reel it in, but the line went slack again almost immediately. His face fell when he realized he’d lost it.
“You’ll get him next time,” Jake said patiently. “When you feel him bite, give the rod a good hard yank to hook him. Like this.” He demonstrated by flicking his wrist with the sharp, practiced movement of someone who’d been doing it all his life.
Within minutes, Jake got a nibble on his line. He hooked the fish easily, pulling up their first catch of the day. The white perch was barely six inches long, with shiny silver scales and fins that gleamed in the sunlight. It flailed and flopped at the end of the line until he caught it gently in his hand and removed the hook, showing Luke how to do it properly so as not to tear the fish’s mouth.
Luke grinned when Jake dropped it back into the water with a splash and it swam away. They fished in silence for a while, each of them catching several perch and tossing them back into the water. When one of the charter boat captains motored a fifty-foot powerboat into the harbor, Jake set his rod down and headed over to the largest slip to help the crew with the lines. Their voices echoed over the marina as they talked about the day’s catch, what they’d been using as bait, where they’d had the most luck, and who else had been out on the water that day.
Reeling in a clump of grass, Luke untangled it from the hook and then cast his line back out into the water.
“Have you ever been out on one of the big boats?” Colin asked, nodding toward the powerboat.
Luke nodded. “My dad used to take me.”
Of course, Colin thought. His dad. He’d only lost him a few months ago. It was probably strange for Luke to be out here with him and Jake now, instead of his father. “Did he like to fish?”
“He did,” Luke said. An osprey cawed, gliding toward a nest perched on top of a red channel marker a few hundred yards away. “But not like this. He only liked to go after the big fish. Out there.” He nodded toward the deeper water of the Bay. “There’s a contest in the fall. Lots of people come to the island for it. We used to go out on Captain Billy’s boat every year, help him with the lines and stuff for the tourists. He let me reel in a huge rockfish last year. My arms were so tired afterwards. It was huge. Like this.” He held out his arms about a foot and a half apart.
Colin smiled, knowing the size of the fish always got bigger with each retelling, but he couldn’t help thinking that it sounded like fun. Motoring out to the open Bay with a boat full of people, spending the day on the water, a bunch of guys ragging on each other as they tried to hook the massive rockfish that swam deep into the heart of the Chesapeake to spawn.
“Miss Haddaway caught the biggest fish last year,” Luke went on, happily reeling in another tiny perch and then releasing it the way Jake had taught him.
Impressed, Colin glanced over. “Did she?”
Luke nodded, wiping his wet hand on the hem of his shirt. “She didn’t enter the contest. Most of the locals don’t. But I saw the picture. Her fish was a lot bigger than the winner’s was.”
“Maybe she should be out here giving us some pointers.”
“She should,” Luke said with complete seriousness.
“I guess she’s a pretty good teacher, huh?” Colin asked, compelled to continue talking about her, even if it was only with one of her eight-year-old students.
“She’s my favorite teacher,” Luke said.
Colin looked back out at the water. He imagined she was a lot of her students’ favorite teacher. Not that he’d had any doubt that she’d be great in the classroom. He’d seen her around Taylor and some of the other kids on the island enough times to know she was a natural with children. It was clear that she’d put a tremendous amount of time and energy into the day, creating activities that would engage both the parents and the students. It was obvious that she took her job seriously and worked hard at creating an environment that was both fun and encouraging for all different learning styles.
It hadn’t been easy for him at first, knowing that he’d be in such close proximity to her all day and not be able to touch her. But with every hour that had ticked by, he’d grown to respect her more, to admire her more, to see her in a way that had gone way beyond mere physical attraction. He had found himself wondering what it would be like to come home to her every night, to hear about her day over dinner, to listen to her tell him stories about what had happened with each of the kids.
He’d been surprised to find her father in the classroom when he’d arrived that morning, and even more surprised at how much he’d wanted to be that person—the first person she’d called when she’d needed something. But it seemed like the more his feelings grew, the harder she tried to push him away.
They had spent six hours in the same room, but she had purposefully avoided looking at him, talking to him, even being near him. After her initial reaction to seeing him first thing that morning, she had managed to avoid him as much as possible.
He didn’t know
what to make of that.
He knew she was attracted to him. That much was obvious. But what if that was all it was? What if she regretted their kiss from the night before? What if she was just having cold feet about marrying Tom, and had only kissed him to have one last bit of fun before tying the knot?
What if, despite her misgivings, she decided to go through with the wedding anyway?
Spending the day with Luke and the other children had only reinforced his longing for a family of his own. All he wanted was to settle down, to start a family, and to raise a few kids on this island. But if he couldn’t have that life with Becca, did he still want to live here? Did he really want to stick around and see her married to another man? Even if she was moving to D.C., she and Tom would come back to the island to visit. He wouldn’t be able to avoid seeing them together.
“I think I’m stuck,” Luke said, tugging on the line. The rod bent as he tilted it up, but the line wouldn’t budge.
“Probably snagged something on the bottom,” Colin said, walking over to give the line a tug with his hand. When it still wouldn’t come loose, he stepped back. “Try jiggling it a little.”
Luke jiggled the rod, then twisted it from side to side. Colin started to reach for it, to take it from him and see if he could get it to unsnag, when the phone in his pocket began to buzz. Pausing, he slipped it out, checking the number on the screen in case it was Will returning his call. It wasn’t Will. And it wasn’t a contact he had saved in his phone, but he recognized the L.A. area code, and knew instantly that it was Austin Turner—the former SEAL who wanted to hire him as a consultant.
He was about to hit ignore and slip his phone back in his pocket. He still hadn’t decided what he wanted to do about that yet. But when Luke gave his rod a hard yank, the line snapped free.
“I got it!” he said triumphantly, reeling it in as fast as he could so it wouldn’t snag the bottom again.
The rod was still bent slightly and the line was still taut. There was definitely something attached to it, probably another clump of weeds or some eelgrass, but it was light enough that Luke could handle it on his own. Glancing over at Jake, Colin saw that he was still chatting with the guys unloading fish from the coolers in the charter boat. The phone continued to buzz in his hand, and he looked over at the school, spotting Courtney crossing the street and heading toward them.
