The Appearance of Impropriety [The Horsemen] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Skye Michaels

  “Thank you. It’s really more about competing with yourself to attain your personal best. There’s not as much politics involved as in some other equestrian sports. It’s hard for the average person, even some of the best riders, to compete in the show jumping classes against riders with famous last names who can afford the best horses in the world. By the way, I really appreciate your stopping to help me out this morning. I would probably still be stranded on the Turnpike if it wasn’t for you. Speaking of you, why don’t you tell me something about yourself. I could go on and on about dressage.”

  “Not much to tell. I have a ranch in Loxahatchee—northwest of here—out beyond Lion Country Safari. I run some Black Angus beef cattle and train my polo ponies. I’m semi-retired although I still oversee some other business interests.”

  “You look too young to be retired,” she exclaimed. Tori liked what she saw as Zack relaxed across from her. He was tall with a broad chest, lean hips, and muscular thighs. His handsome face was tanned, and he had laugh lines around his sparkling eyes and sensuous mouth.

  “Good living,” he quipped with a grin. “What else do you do besides horse ballet?” He had deftly put the ball back in her court. She could see he didn’t like talking about himself.

  “I practice law in Miami. It’s not easy to get away from the office though. I seem to carry it around on my back like a turtle wherever I go.” She frowned, looking at the cell phone on the table beside her. Tori explained about her high-profile position as a litigation partner at the prestigious Miami firm of Barlowe, Cannon, Alvarez & Robertson. “I have partners, and we have a raft of associates and support staff, but it really all boils down to the fact that with regard to my cases, the buck stops here.”

  As they were enjoying their eggs Benedict, the cell phone buzzed softly. “Oh damn. Excuse me please,” she said as she picked it up. “Yes?” Tori listened to the caller with a frown. “I scheduled that depo for Monday morning. Robert is going to cover it. I’ve already gone over everything with him.” She cocked her head to the side as the caller continued and said, “I can’t. I don’t care what the client wants. I’m on my first vacation in two years. If Robert isn’t available, one of the associates can handle an emergency hearing. Talk to Robert and call me back.” Tori looked at Zack and sighed. “I scheduled a deposition for Monday on an intellectual property case I’m defending. The plaintiff’s attorneys have filed an emergency motion for a protective order, and the hearing is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today. The judge is going on vacation, and there won’t be anyone else to hear the motion before the deposition—which is first thing Monday morning. Discovery is a bitch. They don’t want me pouring over their financials and proprietary material. They’re claiming my subpoena was overbroad and that I’m harassing the plaintiff.” She laughed delightedly. “Which I am, of course. That’s just part of the game.”

  The phone rang again. Zack could hear the buzz of an angry male voice. Tori listened and repeated part of the conversation to Zack. “I’m not paying for an ‘expletive deleted’ associate. My partner says, ‘I don’t care if you have to charter the Goodyear blimp. Get the hell back here by three o’clock.’”

  Before Tori could respond to that bit of nonsense, Zack put his hand on her arm and said, “I can get you down there and back if you decide you want to go. It’s up to you.”

  “Really? How?”

  “My helicopter can land near the courthouse. I have a friend who owns a vacant lot that we use to land when I fly into downtown. Can you have someone meet you there with whatever you’ll need?”

  Tori covered the speaker with her hand. “I’ll have to scratch my second class, and what about Rocky? I can’t leave him. And the truck? You said you have a helicopter?” What he had said just dawned on her.

  “Yeah. It’s a huge convenience.” He grinned. “I’ll take care of all that. I can have someone change the tire and drive the truck out to my ranch, and I’ll take Rocky and Rosebud out there as well. They’ll be fine. You’ll be back by dinner time.”

  Tori smiled her thanks and said into the phone, “Okay. Have Sharon meet me at two o’clock. What’s the address?”

  Zack relayed the address, and she continued. “Tell her to bring my peach suit, shoes, underthings, and the file. She has the code to my alarm system.” Tori disconnected the call. “Zack to the rescue again. I can’t believe it. This really is above and beyond the call of duty, et cetera.” This guy is unbelievable and too good to be true.

  “Think nothing of it. It’s a pleasure to be of assistance to a beautiful woman.”

  While they finished breakfast, Zack made arrangements to have the helicopter pick Tori up in the parking area outside the show grounds. Tori signed the check, and they left the restaurant arm in arm.

  Chapter Five

  The rush of wind from the whirling blades of the helicopter whipped tendrils of Tori’s honey-blonde hair across her face as she climbed down from the cockpit of the bright white-and-black Bell Jet Ranger helicopter with CZT Enterprises emblazoned on the side.

  Tori’s assistant of several years, Sharon Hill, was waiting holding a suit bag and cumbersome legal file. “This is too much! How did you manage this coup? I have a taxi waiting at the curb. You can change in the ladies’ room at the courthouse.”

  “It’s not what you know but who you know,” Tori quipped as they headed for the taxi. “Actually a very nice man did me a bunch of favors today. I hope I get the chance to reciprocate.”

  Tori changed into a peach-colored Chanel-style suit with a cropped jacket and trim short skirt. After quickly brushing out her hair and twisting it into a neat chignon, retouching her makeup, and spritzing some cologne, she was ready to go. She and Sharon settled down in the ladies’ lounge at the courthouse and quickly reviewed the file.

  Tori felt her client’s case was weak, and she was not thrilled with some of the legal aspects of this lawsuit. She would not have agreed to represent Alexander Green had the choice been hers. The law firm had been retained through one of the firm’s other partners, and the case had later been turned over to Tori to defend. While she was an aggressive advocate, Tori had the unswerving ethics and staunch honor sometimes sadly missing in the legal profession.

  The client was being sued for breach of contract, fraud, and copyright infringement by Z-Tech, a computer technology company for whom the defendant had previously worked under an exclusive employment contract containing a non-competition clause. The company claimed that Tori’s client had stolen a program for a revolutionary new mobile app for smartphones and tablets that had been under development during the term of her client’s employment and on which he had worked.

  Mr. Green was probably in the wrong, but Tori felt that everyone, no matter how unpleasant, was entitled to competent legal representation, and it was a civil matter after all, not a murder trial. So he was a cocky bastard. There were a lot of them out there. Tori was hoping the case could be settled out of court, but both parties were adamant and stubborn.

  Tori had filed a countersuit for damages against the plaintiff, Z-Tech, claiming that the non-compete clause in the contract was unconstitutional, and claiming interruption of business, right to work, and any other thing she could think of to throw into the stew. She had filed numerous discovery motions and subpoenas for production of financial and other documents as a delaying tactic, while she dug around for anything she could hang her hat on as a defense. She knew her case was garbage. When in doubt, attack.

  In her professional life as a litigator, Tori was tough, focused, and cunning. She used every means at her disposal to further her clients’ interests, as long as they were not unethical. It was sometimes a fine line. She gave the appearance of being soft and feminine, but could rip the heart out of an opponent’s case in a heartbeat.

  Just as she had chosen a soft peach suit and demure, feminine hair style for her appearance before the judge today, she would wear a black or gray pin-striped power suit with austere lines and little jewelry
for depositions or meetings with opposing counsel. Excellent strategy was one of the reasons she was so successful—confusion to the enemy.

  In the hallway outside the judge’s chambers in the Miami-Dade County Courthouse where the emergency hearing for protective order was to be held, Tori greeted the opposing counsel, Bob Grossman, with a wary smile, giving the impression of deference. Once in the hearing, however, Tori fought like a tigress to gain access to all of Z-Tech’s sensitive documents while giving up as little as possible herself. The plaintiff’s attorney attempted to have the Monday deposition canceled. When he was unable to accomplish that, he made an effort to narrow the scope of her inquiries, claiming harassment and infringement of proprietary interests. The outcome was a draw. The judge did not give her as much latitude in her request for production as she had hoped, but neither would he order the deposition to be canceled or rescheduled as Grossman had requested.

  Tori was exhausted as she made her way back to the vacant lot for her helicopter ride back to Palm Beach. She was a little down because she had not had a definitive win. Even after several years as a senior litigator, court appearances always made her nervous and left her a little drained. Once aboard the luxurious helicopter, she stretched out and enjoyed the view of blue water, green foliage, and skyscraper condominiums. The land was, of course, flat as a pancake. As Florida’s Gold Coast whipped past beneath her, she enjoyed the soothing classical music in her headset.

  As the helicopter made a banked turn and headed west into the setting sun, Tori thought about the evening ahead. What arrangements had Zack made for Rocky & Company? She was intrigued by this handsome stranger who had done so many nice things for her today. He had certainly fallen into her life out of the blue, and he certainly sent an unfamiliar sizzle through her blood stream. He was obviously much more than he had appeared to be when he had materialized at her truck window this morning. Very interesting, indeed.

  Tori had shut down the romantic part of her life after her divorce from Alberto Alvarez, a charming, handsome, wealthy, and patently unfaithful rogue. She wasn’t sure she was interested in opening the door to a new romantic relationship, but she often felt her life was lacking something vital. She acknowledged a loneliness that ran soul deep—the only respite being the love and attention she lavished on her animals and many friends. She dated occasionally, and always had a presentable escort for the client entertaining she was required to do, from opening nights at the Miami Opera Society and the Miami City Ballet, to Dolphins, Marlins, Heat, and Panther home games. Sometimes she would commandeer one of her single colleagues, and often spent time on a friends-only basis with her partner, Robert Barlowe. She sometimes thought Robert wanted something more from her, but she was not interested. The chemistry just wasn’t there. Talk about chemistry. Zack Talbot oozes chemistry. I think he has his own designation on the Periodic Table! That kiss was a little shocking to say the least.

  It seemed like no time at all before they were flying over the open green fields of western Palm Beach County. Of course, civilization was spreading ever more westward. The land below was divided like a patchwork quilt by housing developments, two-lane roads, drainage canals, and Australian pine wind breaks. They kept heading west. Zack had said the ranch was “west of Loxahatchee.” As far as Tori was concerned, the Everglades, known as the “river of grass,” a vast swampland of tall sawgrass, Florida panthers, and alligators, was all that was “west of Loxahatchee.”

  Finally, the pilot turned to Tori and gestured to the sight below them as he circled and prepared to set the helicopter down on a well-marked helipad. A modern, multilevel coral-rock and glass house situated on a shady oak hammock rose like an island surrounded by a sea of lush green pastures. It was the focal point of a complex which consisted of a tennis court, swimming pool, barns, and other agricultural-type storage buildings, including what appeared to be an aircraft hangar. There were neatly fenced pastures with grazing horses spread out around the immediate area and several professional, regulation size polo fields being irrigated by a mobile irrigation system. Beyond that stretched endless green fields dotted with black cows and divided by barbed-wire fences and rows of tall, feathery Australians pine trees. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were no neighbors. The only approach seemed to be a narrow, sandy, unpaved road.

  Tori got out of the helicopter with the wind tearing at her hair and skirt. “You look beat,” Zack shouted as he took her arm and helped her from beneath the whipping helicopter blades. “How about a glass of wine and a thick steak?”

  “That sounds wonderful,” she replied, taking in her surroundings with interest. “Where are we?”

  “Welcome to ‘Ten Miles of Bad Road Ranch.’” He grinned. “Believe me, it’s very aptly named! My dad had a sense of humor.”

  “I can tell.” She smiled. “Which way is civilization?”

  “Come on, it’s not that bad. I’ll show you to the guest wing, and you can shower and change for dinner. I had your bags brought in from the truck.”

  “Wonderful. Thanks. I really owe you one—or several.” She laughed.

  Chapter Six

  After a quick shower, Tori brushed out her hair, freshened her minimal makeup, and changed into leggings and a loose mint-green tunic sweater. She wandered out to the great room, which incorporated an ultra-modern kitchen with an intricately tiled island and a spacious living area. It was spectacular. Hanging pots and pans, a large family room with a vaulted ceiling, glass walls overlooking the green pastures, Mexican tile floors, and a warm peachy tinted coral-rock fireplace completed the space. Zack was busy preparing a salad. “Find everything you needed?” he inquired as he handed Tori a glass of wine.

  “Yes. I can’t thank you enough for all of your help today.”

  “Think nothing of it. How did the hearing go?”

  “About as I expected. They weren’t able to quash my subpoena or cancel the depo, but I didn’t get as much access to their documents as I wanted. I really am not fond of this case. Discovery is a nightmare. The plaintiff’s subsidiaries have subsidiaries! It’s a maze—a paper trail leading nowhere. And on top of that, I don’t particularly like my client. Unfortunately, you can’t like them all or win them all.”

  “While I get dinner ready, why don’t you go check on Rocky and Rosebud? I put them in the main barn and tossed them some hay. They didn’t seem to mind the accommodations. Rocky nuzzled Rosebud into a corner of the stall, and then he laid down to roll. As soon as he had everything rearranged to his satisfaction they started to munch and didn’t raise their heads again.”

  “That’s par for the course. Did they make any grand escapes? I usually have to fashion some kind of security measures or they’ll figure out how to open the stall door. Not only that, Rocky will go and open the doors for all his friends.”

  “You’d better go check on them pronto then. I haven’t seen any suspicious characters tiptoeing past the window, but with desperados that clever, you never know.”

  As Tori walked into the barn, she admired the neatly raked aisle bordering twenty spacious stalls fronted by wooden half doors. She whistled, and Rocky’s head popped out of a stall halfway down the aisle. He nickered a greeting which was echoed enthusiastically by a bleat from Rosebud. She walked over to the stall and patted Rocky’s neck. Rosebud, not to be ignored, stood up against the stall door to have his head scratched as well.

  “Hi, you two turkeys! Everything up to snuff? I see you can’t break out.” There was a kick bolt securing the bottom of the door that was well out of reach. Rocky-1, Zack-1.

  She bent her head down even with Rocky’s nostrils and breathed in the sweet smell of his breath. She loved the smell of the horses and the barn. She found being in the barn and with Rocky and Rosebud soothing. They relaxed her.

  As she stood there in the darkening barn, she thought about what an extraordinary day it had been. And Zack…it was as if she had always known him. She shook her head and headed back to the house.

&nb
sp; Dinner was excellent. Tori and Zack stretched out on the cushy, tan leather sofa and relaxed over snifters of brandy in front of a cozy fire. “Tell me about yourself,” he urged.

  “As you said earlier, there’s not that much to tell. You know I was divorced several years ago. That was a bad time. Things hadn’t been going well between us, and then one night Alberto’s girlfriend called me in the middle of the night to tell me he was breaking her heart and that he was being unfair to ‘both of us.’ She actually expected me to sympathize! I’m not proud of it, but I just hung up on her. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. Alberto couldn’t understand why I objected as long as I was his wife. He had no conception of the word ‘fidelity.’ It was simply not in his vocabulary. Eventually I just gave up. There was no changing him, and finally I didn’t care enough to try.”

  “That must have been rough,” Zack sympathized. “I’ve been divorced for so long now that any pain there might have been is barely a memory. We were much too young. I’m just glad there were no children to suffer the consequences.”

  “We didn’t have any kids either. I guess it was a blessing in disguise—but sometimes I wonder. At least I had Rocky. He got me through my divorce.” She winced. “I remember the night of that phone call. I ran out of the house and drove to the barn in tears. I don’t remember how I got there. I went into Rocky’s stall to hug him and laid down in the back of the stall and cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, the sun was coming up, and Alberto was yelling at me from the aisle and trying to come into the stall. Rocky was blocking the doorway and wouldn’t let him past. He’s very protective. Rocky never liked Alberto. Horses are usually good judges of character. I just refused to talk to him or come out of the stall, and he finally left.”

  “Rocky! What a guy. He’s something else. I don’t know what, but something else.” Zack grinned as Tori laughed and hit him with a throw pillow. After they had stopped laughing, he said, “I didn’t recognize the music for your ride. Who’s the composer?”