by Desiree Holt
He ran his hands over every inch of her, every crevice, every bit of skin, then forced himself to rinse her off lest he find the need to have her again. God. At this rate he’d kill himself before the weekend was over.
“I think I worked off that dinner,” she told him with a grin as he dried her off. “What about you?”
He chuckled. “Oh yeah.”
She took his hand and led him back into the bedroom. When she’d pulled back the covers, she slid in and moved over to make room for him. He stretched out beside her, inhaling her scent, so sweet now from the floral shower gel. Her breath fanned his cheeks like a wisp of a breeze. She settled her head on his shoulder, the line of her body fitting itself perfectly to his.
Slade closed his eyes, the glow of satisfaction from the orgasm still surrounding him. And one thought kept running through his brain.
I can’t let her go.
Chapter Ten
Kari watched the jury file into the courtroom, their faces solemn, and take their seats in the jury box. She tried to read their expressions, but they gave away nothing. The trial had been long and arduous, one that had required hours and hours of preparation. A woman and her lover had systematically looted her husband’s corporation, siphoning money to offshore accounts until some person with a passion for numbers had caught the situation. In a panic, they’d killed both her and the woman’s husband. They had appeared remorseful and sad and pleaded their innocence with desperation, but Kari thought that was mostly because they’d been caught. She’d given her closing argument that morning. Then it was sit and wait. The afternoon had felt two weeks long. Then, just before closing time, she was finishing up a brief in her office when she got the call from the judge’s clerk. The verdict was in.
The banging of the judge’s gavel brought her back to awareness and she straightened in her seat. Next to her she could feel Jerry Broder, her second chair, vibrating with controlled anticipation. They’d worked hard on this and had presented a solid case. But you couldn’t control the human factor and sometimes it did you in.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.” Judge Swimmer’s heavy voice boomed at her. “Have you reached a verdict?”
The foreman, a thin, gray-haired man who’d shown no reaction to either testimony or evidence during the weeks of the trial, rose from his seat.
“We have, Your Honor.” He unfolded the sheet of paper in his hands. “In the manner of The People versus Harold Webster, we The People find the defendant”—he paused for maximum effect—“guilty of first-degree murder.”
Kari forced herself to breathe as the courtroom erupted. Jerry pounded her on the back, the murder victim’s family was crying in the row behind her, reporters were clamoring for sound bites. Judge Swimmer pounded his gavel again.
“Silence. All of you. I will have order in here or the bailiff will clear the courtroom. Officers, please remove the prisoner at once.”
Then, finally, nearly everyone had filed out and the place was blessedly quiet.
Beside her, Jerry stuffed folders into his briefcase. “You rocked it, Kari.”
“With your help.” She could afford to be gracious. He really had been a huge help, with his research and witness interviews. She shook hands with him. “Good job. Go take your wife out for a fancy dinner.”
“I just might do that.” He waved as he walked up the center aisle.
Kari was glad to have this finally over with. The trial had dragged on for a week longer than she’d expected, but in the end she’d gotten the verdict she wanted, that she knew was the right one.
Rod Ciruli wasn’t an easy defense attorney to beat. Although still in his mid-thirties, he had already built a strong reputation for himself as a shark for his clients and she respected him. He didn’t cut corners and, if his client was blatantly guilty, he did his best to work out the most advantageous deal for him.
She’d heard the other prosecutors in her office talk about him, people who’d lost to him and griped about him all the time. Kari usually just smiled to herself, loath to point out to them that they needed to prepare their cases better. Kip Reyes had warned her about him when he’d handed her that case.
“I don’t like facing him myself,” he’d said, only halfway joking. “This office doesn’t have a real great track record against him. Your old boss gave you high marks against people like him, and I think we need a fresh face.”
But she’d done her research, not just on the case but the attorney himself, and went into court confident of a win.
“Nice job, Kari. Even if I did lose.”
She looked up to see him standing beside the prosecution table.
“Thanks.” She laughed. “But your client made it easy for me. Too many things pointed to him.” She zipped her briefcase shut. “But I’ll take the compliment.”
He grinned. “Got time for a drink? Maybe you can give me some pointers.”
“Thanks, but I really just want to get home, take a hot shower and pour myself a shot of fine Tennessee whiskey.”
“Most women I know usually crack open a bottle of wine. But I guess a tough prosecutor has some strong tastes in alcohol.” He walked with her to the doors leading from the courtroom out into the corridor.
“We all have our own tastes, Rod,” she joked. “Have a good night.” She turned and nearly bumped into her boss. She hadn’t even been aware of him approaching.
“Good job, Kari.” Kip held out his hand. “Excellent job.”
“You were here? I didn’t see you?”
He chuckled. “I don’t think you saw anything, you were so focused on what you were doing. I saw the closing arguments this morning. When we got word the jury had already reached a verdict, I wanted to be here to give you some well-deserved praise.”
“But what if I didn’t get the verdict we wanted?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “After this morning there wasn’t a doubt in my mind. So. Big celebration tonight?”
She shook her head. “No, just some time to unwind.”
When she’d driven Slade home Sunday afternoon, he’d hugged her, given her a hot kiss and wished her luck. He hadn’t said when he’d see her again and she’d wondered if he was pulling back, not interested in getting too intensely involved. She’d bitten down on her disappointment. If she heard from him, she heard from him. She was getting very good at shutting herself away.
By the time she got to the lobby, she was sure a hundred people had shaken her hand or pounded her on the back. Invited her out for drinks. Dinner. Whatever. She waited at the elevator, anxious to get to her office, unload everything and head for home. When the door opened, Sasha was swept out with the crowd and she threw her arms around Kari.
“Congrats, girlfriend! The word is all over the office that you hit a home run.”
“Thanks.” Kari managed to loosen herself from the bear hug. “I’m feeling really good about it.”
Sasha stepped back and studied her friend carefully. “You look beat. Wrung out. I prescribe a session at Frankie’s to pep you up.”
Kari shook her head. “Thanks, but not tonight. I’m going home and crawl into a hot bathtub with a shot of bourbon on the rocks.” And wait for a phone call.
“Jeez, Kari. You’re no fun.” The woman pretended to pout then grinned. “I’ll have an extra drink for you. But maybe this weekend we can do something to celebrate.”
“I think she might have plans for tonight.” The deep voice came from behind her.
Kari turned, pulse fluttering and heat coursing through her body from her breasts to that oh so sensitive place between her thighs. The place still recovering from the most erotic weekend she’d ever spent.
Sasha stared up at Slade, eyes wide. “Oh, hey. I’d take him over Frankie’s any day, girlfriend. Are there any more like him at home?”
Slade laughed, a warm sound that accelerated the throbbing in her body.
“I think they might all be taken, but I’ll be sure to check.” He looked back at Kari, effectivel
y shutting out Sasha and everyone else. “That hot bath with a shot of bourbon sounds real good. Is there room in the tub for two?”
Kari looked around her to see if anyone besides Sasha might be listening to the conversation. Fortunately they all seemed more focused on getting the hell out of there. Which, at the moment, was exactly what she wanted to do.
“Let’s get out of the mob scene.” Slade closed his fingers over her upper arm and guided her away from the elevator and out of the stream of traffic, moving them off to the side. “What do you have left to do?”
“Actually, I’m good. I just need to get my purse and I can leave. Where did you park?”
“I had Trey drop me off earlier. He’s hanging out with the woman he met at the Huttons’.” He grinned. “And spent the weekend with. By the way, she’s an attorney, too. You think we’re having an epidemic in our team?”
“I don’t know about that, but at least you’ll have good legal support if you get into trouble. Let’s get out of here. I need a shower and a drink and not necessarily in that order. And food. I was too nervous to eat today.”
“I think I can handle all that for you.”
“So how did you know I’d won my case?” She was curious as to where he’d got his information.
“I didn’t. But I figured if you lost—slim chance—I could console you and if you won, we could have a hell of a celebration. Your office told me you’d gone to court for the verdict. I was there when it was read, but I ducked out and waited for you upstairs.”
“That’s— I’m floored. You even remembered about the case.”
“Of course I remembered.” He stopped, turned her to face him and touched his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. “There’s more where that came from, but I need to get you alone first.” He winked then nudged her toward the car.
They had just walked up to her car in the underground parking garage when her cell phone rang. She glanced at the screen and every muscle in her body clenched.
“Bad news?” Slade asked. “You look like someone just punched you.”
“It’s my old boss in Chicago. Probably just checking up on me. He still does that every now and then.”
But she had to work hard to keep her hands from shaking. There could be only one reason why Ross was calling her. She walked a few steps away from Slade to take the call, aware that he was watching her.
“Ross!” She forced a smile. “I hope you’re just calling to see how I am.”
“Well, that too.” His tone of voice gave nothing away. “I hear you knocked one out of the park today.”
She relaxed a fraction. Kip Reyes had apparently called to tell him about her win.
“Kip give you a call?”
“He did. Said thanks for sending you his way and he has no intention of ever giving you back.”
She actually managed a smile. “You know I miss you, but thanks for arranging this opportunity for me.”
“Gave away one of my best prosecutors.” Silence hummed across the connection. “Listen, Kari, this may be nothing, but I feel compelled to pass it along.”
The tension returned, sharper than before. “Something’s happened.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
“So spit it out. What’s the situation?” Yes. Ross, what the hell happened?
“Our office has had three or four calls in the last couple of weeks asking for you. When my admin told them you were no longer with us, whoever it was tried to get her to tell them where you went.”
“Did—? Did whoever it was leave a name? Or say why he wanted to get in touch with me? I’m assuming it was a he.”
“Yes. It was.” He cleared his throat. “Janine told him she didn’t have that information, but if they’d leave a name she’d try to get in touch with you.”
“So whoever it is hasn’t given up, have they.” Nausea bubbled up in her throat.
“That’s not all.” Another pause. “Remember how we decided that you should close all your accounts everywhere at your address here and open new ones in San Antonio with a post office box? And the forwarding address we gave the post office was here? So Janine could send it along every couple of weeks?”
“Yes, yes, yes. And every couple of weeks Janine puts it in a big envelope and mails it to me.” She nibbled her lip. “I haven’t changed all the addresses I need to yet. Is that a problem?”
“Not in the way you mean. We had a few that had dribbled in over the past couple of weeks. Janine had them on her desk getting ready to address a big envelope to you, and it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Her hand tightened on her phone. “How could it just disappear? Did it get thrown out or something?”
“No.” She could hear his sigh across the connection. “This is my fault as much as anyone’s. Todd Barber won his first case as first chair and we were doing a bit of celebrating. A bunch of people came by to congratulate him and it got a little crazy in here for a while.
“A little crazy,” she repeated. Now she really did want to throw up. “So tell me how it disappeared?”
“Well, Kari, that’s the thing.” There was a second of silence. “When Janine went back to her desk, it was gone.”
“Gone?” Oh, God. “What do you mean gone?”
“Just that.” She could hear the note of apology edged with anger in his voice. “Someone had swiped it. All of it. Listen, I chewed her ass out good for that, but it doesn’t help the situation.”
“They’d have had to go into her office to get it. Did anyone see who wandered in there?”
“I wish I could say yes, or that I’d kept a better eye on things, but no.” Ross sounded more upset than she’d ever heard him. He hated screw-ups like this. “And the truth is, Kari, embarrassed as I am to say this, I was so caught up in the success celebration I totally forgot the mail was even there.”
“But it all has my old address on it, right?” She had to be sure of that. “That’s the one?”
“Right. It does. And the chances that they can use that to follow a trail to you are practically nonexistent. Not with the way you set things up.”
“Practically,” she repeated.
“However,” he added, “they could take the return addresses on each envelope and, if it’s someone who’s smart and has connections, check with those places to see if they have new information on you.”
“Nobody’s going to give that out just like that,” she reminded him.
“If this guy is sharp—and I have a feeling he is—he can figure out a way around that. Unfortunately shit like that happens all the time. If he’s desperate. He’s going to tug on this thread like it’s a lifeline.
“Kari, I am just fucking pissed that this happened.” She could hear the edge of anger in his voice. “We worked so hard to wipe away any trail to you. But I do believe it won’t be a problem. I think you’d need the FBI to track you from the mail that was left.”
“I hope you’re right, Ross. Uh, who all was at the celebration?”
“A real mixture. Attorneys, some judges, of course everyone in our office.” He cleared his throat again. “I’ve asked everyone to try to reconstruct a list from memory, just in case. Told ’em we need it for future events.”
“So now what?” She felt suddenly weak.
“Now you spend tonight celebrating your big win and tomorrow morning you go back to work.” She could hear his sigh across the connection. “There were no real strangers here. I’d sure hate to think one of those people is your stalker.”
“Me too.” She swallowed, hard, and willed her hand not to shake. “I don’t want to have to leave here, Ross. Start over somewhere else. I’m just getting to where I don’t jump at every shadow here. I can’t do this again.”
“I don’t expect you’ll have to.” She wished his voice sounded more reassuring. “I’m putting out a full court press to check again on everyone who was here. Someone had to see something. Believe me, I’m keeping my eye out now on al
l these people. I’ll see if any of them does something hinky.”
“Keep me up to date, please.”
“Count on it.”
Kari disconnected the call but couldn’t move. What she’d heard had frozen her in place.
“Kari?”
Slade’s voice tapped her consciousness, kicking her brain into gear. She had almost forgotten he was standing there.
Oh, God! It was bad enough that she’d gotten this news from Ross. But to get the call while she was with Slade? He’d know something was wrong and he’d want to know what it was. One of the last things she wanted was for him to get dragged into her problems. Would she never be free of this person, whoever it was?
“You look like you’re about to faint.” Slade was suddenly right next to her, his strong arm around her, guiding her toward her car. “Give me your keys. I’ll drive.”
She wanted to tell him she was okay, but that was so far from the truth. She had to agree she probably shouldn’t get behind the wheel, so she handed over the keys, glad to see her hands only had a slight tremor. Slade unlocked the passenger side and helped her into the car, putting her purse in her lap and her briefcase in the back seat. She sat there, still trying to absorb what Ross had said, while Slade buckled her seat belt. Then he crouched down next to her, tilted her chin and gave her a warm kiss.
“We’ll talk about this.”
But what could she say? She certainly didn’t want to dump the whole mess in his lap. He’d run as fast and as far as he could and she couldn’t blame him. Who wanted a woman who dragged this kind of problem around with her? He dealt with things far worse than this on his missions. He didn’t need her trouble spoiling his downtime.
God! Would she never get away from this nightmare? And who the hell could this be? Who was so obsessed with her? She shuddered as a chill raced over her skin.
