Poison

by Leanne Davis

  Cassie was five years older than him, a fact that had made their long ago relationship taboo. He hadn’t cared in the least, but she’d been adamant that no one could know about them. Today however, Cassie looked ten years older than her thirty-three years. She didn’t smile. She didn’t seem to even comb her hair. The change in her looks and style was drastic and dismal.

  Almost as drastic was her strange need to be a receptionist at his clinic. Why was she so desperate to keep this job? Why had she not turned and fled all on her own, at the sight of him?

  He shook his head. If only he could shake out Cassie and the memories she stirred up. He grabbed the phone to call Sarah. He had to do something other than think about Cassie. Sarah answered, her sexy, low voice perking up when she recognized his. His gut started to untwist as Sarah chatted, and finally some of the stress from Cassie’s presence eased. Sarah asked to come over. John agreed, because anything was better than being alone with memories of a girl he’d spent too many years getting over.

  ****

  John swore under his breath the next morning when he arrived at work and realized Cassie had beaten him there. She said a pleasant hello and asked if he wanted coffee as she flashed him a syrupy smile. He didn’t say a word of response, nor did he glance at her as he walked by and slammed the door to his office. He’d be damned if he’d be civil to her.

  The rest of the day, he ignored her. She simply wasn’t there to him. If she spoke, he didn’t answer. If she was in a room, he left it. If she came into a room he was in, he turned and walked out no matter what he was doing. He frowned at her, scowled at her, and only spoke directly to her when he was forced to by the proximity of patients or other employees. She was barely tolerated, and he made sure she knew it.

  It was a small office. The chill would get to her sooner or later.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t utter a word in protest but went about her work quickly and efficiently. In reaction to his rudeness, Cassie simply avoided him.

  John spent a week with her in the office and managed to almost completely avoid speaking to her. Until he looked up one afternoon and his brother was standing at Cassie’s desk.

  ****

  “Cassie Reeves?”

  Cassie turned in her chair, startled to hear her name. Her heart froze for a second, until she realized who was addressing her; Luke Tyler. He smiled at Nurse Bishop, then returned his gaze to her, his eyebrows furrowed.

  “Hello Luke,” she said, smiling. “My name is Cassie Reynolds now.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  She straightened. “I work here.”

  “Really? John didn’t mention that. I wonder why he didn’t let me know you were in town and working for him.”

  Cassie opened her mouth to answer just as John come out of one of the exam rooms. He was with a young couple who were holding their infant. He smiled and nodded at them, until he noticed Luke. His gaze sharpened, and his mouth turned down. He finished speaking to the couple then came toward them.

  Cassie sighed. She recognized John’s angry walk. He managed to look as if he wanted to punch the floor when he stepped.

  Cassie noted with annoyance that his navy slacks were perfectly creased and that they contrasted sharply with the white of his doctor’s coat. Dammit. He looked good. As always. Even though he looked at her like he hoped she’d swallow a jug of anti-freeze, it was impossible to deny how handsome the good doctor John was.

  “John, why didn’t you mention that Cassie was in town? That she was working with you, for Gods sakes?” Luke asked without preamble.

  “She works for the office, not me, and I didn’t realize you’d care.” John waved goodbye to the couple and set their file on Cassie’s desk. He wrote on the folder, then clicked the pen shut and put it into his pocket, pushing the file toward Cassie without looking at her. She took it and sighed. His cold dismissal of her was painstakingly obvious.

  Cassie looked up at Luke and smiled sweetly. “John’s trying to get Harry to fire me so he was hoping I wouldn’t be around long enough for anyone to actually know that I was here.”

  Luke looked to his brother, brows drawn together. “Why would you do that?”

  John sent Cassie a chilly look and said to his brother, “Let’s go into my office.”

  “I’ll talk to you later,” Luke said to Cassie. “We should get together and catch up.”

  Cassie smiled brightly, ignoring John’s angry scowl. “That would be nice.”

  What would John tell him? Cassie took Luke’s cheerful demeanor toward her to mean that he knew nothing of the events of a decade ago. He would have no idea just how close she’d been to his younger brother. While she and Luke had been casual friends in high school, there had never been anything strained or important about their relationship. What Luke had never guessed was that he’d inadvertently introduced her to his younger brother, who she’d had a strained and much too important relationship with. That was of course, before she’d betrayed him.

  ****

  “What was that about out there?” Luke asked once they were alone in the office.

  “Nothing. I just don’t like old friends working for me.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I’m busy. What did you want?”

  “What do I want? I have to have an appointment to stop by now?”

  “Not as long as you mind your own business. And don’t even think of trying to hit on her.”

  John felt like a shithead when Luke flinched. Like Luke ever came onto women these days, not since his pregnant wife had died in a car wreck. John cursed under his breath. Damn Cassie. Having her around was making him be a prick to his own brother.

  “I wasn’t trying to hit on her. I was trying to figure out why she worked for you and why you hadn’t mentioned it to me. So why are you so bent out of shape over my talking to her?”

  “I’m not. I just don’t like her.”

  “Why would you dislike her?”

  “I have to get back to work.” Turning his back to his brother, John moved behind his desk.

  Luke’s silence spoke volumes. Finally he said, “You do realize you’re being an asshole don’t you?”

  John let out a long breath. “She’s just annoying as hell.”

  “Cassie looks like hell. It took me a moment to place who she is. Any idea why she looks like that?”

  “No. I don’t even know why she works here.”

  A fact that stuck in John’s gut and it was damn time he found out why. It made no sense. Any of it. John glanced at his watch. Harry was gone tonight. Maybe tomorrow it was time to revisit the reason Cassie Reeves worked for them.

  Chapter Two

  Cassie came into work early and was surprised to see the lights on under Harry’s door and to hear the quiet murmur of voices. Two voices. As in John’s and Harry’s voices. She plunked down in her chair, frowning at the closed door. Something was up.

  She was sure by the early hour, and that no one else was there, that John was using this time to try and get her fired. She tapped her fingers against her desk for several moments, before she finally pushed back her chair and stood. She was not going to let John get her fired. She straightened her back and held her head up; there was no use in letting either of them see how desperate she was. John would be sure to pounce on that. Cassie stomped over to Harry’s door and opened it before they could answer her knock.

  John turned at her entrance, his mouth tightened in dismay. Harry looked up at her, his face carefully blank. Cassie shut the door behind her.

  She looked directly at John. “I need this job.”

  “There are dozens of other jobs out there, you don’t need this one.”

  “Yes I do.” She turned to Harry. “Please Harry, you know why I need to work here.”

  John glared at her. “What is so damn important about you being here?”

  Harry stood up, his unexpected movements silencing Cassie’s sarcastic retort. “Here’s the thing, Cassie, John says he
’ll quit if you stay. I don’t want that. So now I’m asking you to explain to him why you have to be here.”

  Cassie’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t expected John to take that drastic of a stance against her. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It won’t make a difference. He’ll tell you to throw me out anyways.”

  Harry looked first at her, then at John who stood with his arms crossed on the other side of the room. “Look Cassie, you both have my hands tied. I trust John with your situation more than I would anyone else. But we can’t keep working like this. You two need to talk and figure out some way to tolerate each other.”

  “Or what?”

  “Or I’m afraid one of you will have to leave.”

  Cassie’s shoulders dropped.

  Harry glanced at John. “Please hear her out.”

  “Nothing she has to say is going to change my decision about her working here.”

  Cassie winced. Triumph gleamed in John’s eyes. He had Harry’s permission to fire her. She couldn’t believe Harry was doing this to her. Or to Tim. Didn’t Harry care that her son needed the protection this job provided? For God sakes Harry’s own wife babysat Tim while she was at work. How could he even contemplate letting John have control over her?

  Harry left the office, leaving them staring at each other in total silence. Cassie’s stomach tightened, and her breathing hitched. This wasn’t good. John stepped closer to her and suddenly clasped her arm, pulling her close to him. In a deadly voice he whispered, “You killed our child. How could you think I’d forget that?”

  Cassie jerked her arm out of his tight grasp. Rubbing absently at where his fingers pressed into her skin she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you dare. It wasn’t like that, and you damn well know it. I had an abortion, but—“

  “You had an abortion without even telling me you were pregnant. What kind of woman does that?”

  She licked her lips and straightened her shoulders. “Me. I’m the kind of woman who does that. I get it; I know how you feel about me—”

  “You really have no idea.”

  “Actually I do. But please hear me out, and why I need this job. It has nothing what so ever to do with our history. If you could remember that and give me a chance to explain, you might react different to me.”

  He stared long and hard at her. Finally he stepped back, walked around Harry’s desk and sat down with a heavy sigh. “So you’ve said too many times for me to count. Okay, I’ll bite. Why Cassie? Why here with me?”

  “Not here because of you, that part was an awful coincidence.”

  “Just imagine how I feel.”

  She shut her eyes and silently counted to five before she continued. She could not lose her cool with John. Not when her livelihood and therefore Tim’s security was at stake. When she opened her eyes she started again. “You remember my mother?”

  “Yeah, I remember Heather. She’s hard to forget, I just didn’t know at the time you were so much like her. What does she have to do with this?”

  “Harry and Heather were friends when I was young. That’s how I know Harry. He was the only one of my mother’s boyfriends who ever had even the slightest interest in me and Kelly.”

  John shook his head. “No. That’s enough. I don’t want to know about Harry’s personal life. I will not work with you. Get out Cassie, you’ve already wasted too much of my time, and of my life.” John stood and headed toward the door, dismissing her.

  Cassie panicked. John was going to walk out, essentially firing her by Harry’s ultimatum. She rushed forward and grabbed his arm. “John please, I’ll do anything. You can say anything you want to me, just let me work here.”

  He turned to look her in the eye. He smiled. “Really? You’ll do anything? Now why am I not surprised?”

  She dropped her hand. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I’m in trouble.”

  “How does that have anything to do with this job?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. If you would just sit down and listen to me for five minutes you might understand.”

  He stared at her, but finally sat down.

  She nodded in silent satisfaction. Score one for her; she’d gotten him to concede to at least listening. “Reynolds isn’t my married name, it’s a fake name. I know nothing about hiding so I’m sure I’ve done a thousand things wrong, but I’m hiding from someone. Harry gave me this job without filing the proper paperwork and without using my real name. That’s why I’m so desperate to work here.”

  John tipped his head at her, eyebrows raised. “What the hell do you mean you’re hiding?”

  “My ex-husband is…violent.” She drew in a deep breath, willing the courage to continue. “He was in prison, but got out before Christmas.”

  “And?”

  She dropped her gaze to the ground. “And he has threatened my life on more than one occasion. Instead of waiting around for him to finally finish his threats, I ran.”

  John was silent for a full thirty seconds. She could feel his eyes burning over her. She could not make herself lift her head to meet his gaze. “You’re being serious about this?”

  She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Yes.”

  “Why not go to the police?”

  “What are they going to protect me from? I’ve no real proof he has plans to harm me. I have a restraining order against him, but what good is that if he intends to break it?”

  “So you don’t know if you’re in actual danger?”

  “I do know I’m in actual danger.”

  “Then go to your sister. Doesn’t she live in California or something?”

  “She lives in L.A. She’s a famous model. Everyone knows who Kelly Reeves is. She has paparazzi following her every move for God’s sake. And that’s exactly why I didn’t go to her and why she has no idea any of this is going on. Please just let me keep this job. If you’ll let me stay here I’ll do everything I can to stay out of your way.”

  He stared at her. His fingers drummed the desk top. Finally he answered, “Fine, you can stay. But if this turns out to be a lie, I’ll be more of a threat than your supposed ex-husband.”

  Her body sagged with relief. She nearly fell to her knees. Instead she said softly, “Thank you John. You’re a decent person.”

  “Too bad you’re not.” He stood and walked out of the office.

  Sarah rose and saunter over to the fridge to get a Diet Coke. She had legs that seemed to never end, and he hadn’t yet tired of watching her. Sarah came back over and sat next to him folding up her long, slinky body. They had been dating for almost a year, and he was starting to think he might actually be serious about her.

  The phone rang, interrupting the show Sarah had started to put on as her tongue darted out to nip at her pop can.

  “Hello?” It was nine o’clock on a Wednesday night, who could be bothering them? He didn’t recognize the number on the screen.

  “John?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s Cassie. I—”

  Cassie? Calling his home? He glanced at Sarah, his heart rate speeding up. Why did Cassie’s voice always cause a physical reaction in him? He turned away from his girlfriend and said quietly, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk right now.”

  He hung the phone up, pausing to slow his breathing.

  When he turned, Sarah was watching him, her eye brows raised. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Just another telemarketer. You know how annoying they are.”

  He stood and stalked into the kitchen. Cassie must have gotten his number from the files at work. How dare she call him here? The phone rang again; he ignored it.

  “Are you going to grab that?” Sarah called from the other room.

  He rubbed a finger to his pounding temple. With a sigh he yelled to Sarah, “It’s the same number.”

  At least he wasn’t lying to Sarah about that.

  Why would Cassie call him? Could that strange story of hers be true? He doubted it. But if there was a small ch
ance she could be in physical danger, she had no one around since Harry was away at a conference. He cursed his conscience for letting the doctor in him care.

  Sarah walked into the kitchen. She leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed. “Want to go grab dinner?”

  “Not really.”

  “Order in?”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  She sighed. “What’s the matter?”

  He shrugged. “Long day. I’m tired.”

  She eyed him. “You said your day was fine. Now it’s not?”

  “I guess now it’s not.”

  “Did I do something?”

  He let out a sigh. “No. You didn’t do anything. It’s something from work.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  She stood there silent. Then she nodded. “I think I’ll go home.”

  “Okay.” He held the door for her after she grabbed her coat and purse. He touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m not real fun tonight.”

  She smiled. “It’s okay John. Call me later.” Then she was out the door. She’d only be mad for tonight. She hardly ever threw a stink about anything. One of the reasons he’d managed to stay with her for nearly a year.

  John muted the TV with a sigh when someone knocked on his front door ten minutes later. Had Sarah come back? He opened the door to find Cassie standing there.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He started to shut the door when her foot shot out to wedge the door open.

  “John, wait! Please. I need your help. It’s an emergency.”

  “Go to the hospital.”

  “It’s my son. He needs a doctor.” She looked him straight in the eye, no explanation, no excuses.

  He went still, the blood froze in his veins, and he was both hot and cold all at once. Cassie had a son? How old? There couldn’t be any possibility that he had a son too could there?

  “Where is he?”

  “My car.”

  “Take him to the emergency room.”

  “I don’t want to risk using our names.”