DEFENSE

by Glenna Sinclair

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Katie

  I could hardly believe what Harrison and I had gotten up to, almost right under the nose of the prison guard. I hadn’t gone into that meeting planning on doing it, but as soon as he’d explained the Catherine-Shantelle coincidence I hadn’t been able to help myself. The relief had been too great. The instant I’d looked into his eyes I’d known I’d been an idiot to ever doubt him. Then seeing the bruises on his face, realizing how alone he was in that place, it had all culminated in an overwhelming urge to make him come. I just wished I hadn’t spoiled the moment by mentioning prison. I’d have left the meeting feeling far happier if I’d known I’d given him just one second of blissful abandon.

  I’d agreed with Galiema to return to the office after my meeting with Harrison. As far as she was concerned, I’d visited Harrison in order to get his side of the story on the resemblance of the victims. It was at least half true. But she had no idea I’d really gone because of my irresistible, primal urge to be with him, because of that magnetism that pulled me towards him and wouldn’t let go.

  As I walked into the office for the first time that week, I was struck by how chaotic everything seemed. Newland & Rook was always pretty crazy, with people buzzing around all over the place, but today it was even more so. I could almost feel the electricity in the air. Something had happened. Something big.

  As I headed towards Galiema’s office, I could hear shouting. One voice was recognizable as Galiema, though it was bizarre hearing her raise her voice with anger. The other voice was male. Older. I briefly entertained the thought that Galiema was having a lover’s tiff, that she wasn’t as much of an old maid as I’d assumed. But then another, more sobering thought hit me. Could it be John?

  I froze on the spot. The rape case. Of course. John must have found out about it. The shit was hitting the fan, just as Galiema had predicted.

  A second later, Galiema’s office door was hauled open. Sure enough, John Newland came thundering out, his face red with rage. He shoved past me before striding into his own office. Then he slammed the door so hard the walls rattled.

  I recovered from his shove, then went up to Galiema’s office.

  “Is everything okay?” I said, peering round the half-open door.

  Galiema was standing with her hands on her hips, frowning. “Katie. Come in. Close the door.”

  I did as she asked.

  “Newland & Rook are splitting,” she said, in her matter-of-fact, emotionless way.

  “What?” I cried. “Just like that?”

  “Don’t act so surprised,” she added. “We knew John wouldn’t be capable of separating his business from his personal affairs.”

  “But you’ve been in partnership for a decade,” I said, not quite able to get my head round the abruptness of it all.

  “So?” Galiema replied, her tone becoming impatient. “Things change. Ten years ago Seb wasn’t a rapist. Now he is.” She walked over to her desk and started stacking papers into an empty archive box. “Now, we don’t have much time,” she continued without looking up. “He’ll be in there poaching clients and staff as we speak. I need you to break the news to the juniors and find out who’s coming with us.”

  “Wait,” I said, stammering. “What do you mean, ‘us’?”

  “Us,” Galiema said as though I were a child slow on the uptake. “You and me. We’ll start a new firm. Rook & Scott. Was that your plan?”

  I stared at her, my mouth slightly open. Was I really hearing this? Of course I’d dreamed of becoming partner at a law firm one day, but I hadn’t expected it to happen like this, and with my mentor. I looked up to Galiema, I didn’t see her as my equal.

  “Well, yes,” I stammered. “Of course. But what’s in it for you?”

  I couldn’t understand why Galiema Rook would want to go into partnership with me of all people. There were plenty more experienced lawyers around.

  “Don’t act so dumb,” she said with a frown. “Don’t you know you became a media darling overnight? Your name is worth something now, Katie. So you may as well use it to your advantage.” She held her hand out to me to shake. “What do you say?”

  I hesitated for a second, then took her hand and shook it. Rook & Scott. It did have a nice ring to it.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Katie

  “Are you actually kidding me?” Jessica said, her eyes wide and twinkling. She was sitting crossed-legged on the couch with a huge bowl of salad in her lap and a beer in her hand, her culinary tastes about as contradictory as she was.

  “I know,” I replied. “It’s like a dream come true.”

  I’d just told Jessica about becoming partner with Galiema, about how we’d managed to take a good bunch of lawyers with us to the new firm, along with some mega high-paying clients. We’d drawn up the papers and signed them already. I’d started the day as a lawyer and ended it as a business owner.

  “Does that mean you can pay rent for all of us now?” Tim asked. “I haven’t sold any of my art in a long time.”

  I laughed. “I don’t know about that. We’ll see.”

  Just then there was a noise from the street outside. Jessica leapt up, startled, and almost spilled her beer. She rushed over to the window. I exchanged a look with Tim.

  Jumpy, he mouthed.

  I nodded.

  From the window, Jessica called out. “It’s that guy again!”

  I jumped up and went to look. Sure enough, the cigarette-smoking man was lingering in the street beside our apartment block, bathed in the light from the streetlamp. He was still too far away for me to work out any distinguishing features, but I’d already made up my mind by that point that it was one of those lowlife reporters like Jim Larson.

  “I’m fed up with this,” I said, stomping to the front door.

  “What are you doing?” Jessica squealed.

  “I’m confronting him.”

  “You don’t confront a stalker!”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s not a stalker. He’s a damn journalist. I’m going to remind him how quickly I’ll sue his ass if he doesn’t stop harassing me.”

  I pulled my coat on and went outside.

  The man was a little way down the street. Thanks to my new status as a businesswoman, I was feeling pretty empowered, and I strode right up to him confidently.

  “Hey!” I shouted when I knew I was in earshot. “Stalker dude! What do you want?”

  The man swirled round abruptly, as though shocked to find me approaching him. I realized then that I knew this man.

  “Nick?” I stammered. “What are you doing here? How did you find out where I lived?”

  Immediately my confidence faltered, replaced with fear. Were Nick and Seb some sick double act? One a perverted rapist, the other a crazy stalker?

  “Katie. I…” Nick look flustered.

  “Wasn’t supposed to get caught lurking around outside my flat?” I finished for him.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” he replied.

  I folded my arms. “What is it then?”

  Nick rubbed the back of his neck. The last time I’d seen him after our encounter I’d been struck by how much younger he appeared to me since I’d been with Harrison. Harrison had turned all men into boys in my eyes. No one could match up to him.

  “It’s Seb,” Nick said. “I think he knows Jessica is in touch with a lawyer about what happened that night. I’m just keeping an eye on your place in case he decides to show up here.”

  Of course. If John had found out about Galiema, it stood to reason that he’d vented his frustration to Seb. And Nick showing up to look out for us made some kind of sense, too. I remembered the way Nick had told me he thought Seb was a jerk, just before we fucked on his kitchen table.

  “You think he’s going to come over to get revenge or something?” I asked.

  Nick shoved his hands in his pockets, looking very much like a naughty schoolboy caught cheating on his test. “Yeah...something.”
r />   “Jesus,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “This is the last thing Jessica needs.”

  She’d had every right to be paranoid. I should have realized how dangerous a situation she was getting herself into by agreeing to testify against Seb. She’d known; that’s why she’d refused to testify, but I’d pressured her into it on the basis that she’d be protecting other women. Maybe I’d made a mistake.

  “Oh shit,” Nick said suddenly.

  “What?” I said, turning on the spot and looking over my shoulder.

  “It’s him,” Nick replied. “He’s actually here.”

  Sure enough, there was Seb, waltzing brazenly up to our apartment doors.

  “Hey!” I shouted, running towards him before he got a chance to press our buzzer.

  Seb swirled on the spot, coming face to face with me. He frowned, confused by my presence.

  “Leave Jessica the fuck alone!” I warned him, bringing my pointer finger right up to his face.

  Seb glared at me. “That frigid little bitch is trying to get me sent to prison!”

  I grabbed my phone from my pocket and held it up. “I’ll film you,” I warned him. “Intimidating a witness. Do you really want another charge?”

  Seb knocked the cell from my hand. It went flying through the air and smashed onto the sidewalk. Fear gripped me. I turned round, looking for Nick. All I saw was his silhouette as he skulked in the shadows. The coward. So much for protecting us.

  Seb stalked forward and grabbed me by the shoulders, pinning me back against the wall. My back collided with the bricks, winding me.

  “You asshole,” I snarled. “Get your hands off me.”

  “Get your bitch of a friend to drop the charges,” he snapped back, his fingers digging into my flesh, “or I’ll do to you what I did to her.”

  “You’re a pig,” I said, trying to jerk out of his grasp.

  Just then, I noticed someone else standing in the darkness, lurking behind Seb and watching the whole scene. My first thought was that he’d brought some guys as backup. My whole body turned ice cold at the thought. But then I realized that I recognized the person standing in the shadows. It was Jim Larson, the reporter who’d become my own personal shadow.

  “Call the police!” I cried at him.

  I saw Jim fumbling with something, then saw the flash of a camera. He wasn’t calling the police at all. He was taking goddamn pictures.

  I was about to give him a piece of my mind, when Seb let go of me and ran off down the street. The flash had startled him.

  I pressed my head back against the wall and took deep breaths to try to calm my racing heartbeat.

  “Are you okay?” Jim said, coming over to me.

  “I can’t believe I just got saved by the paps,” I said, exhaling loudly. “But yes, I’m okay. That was a pretty smart move, taking a photo of him like that. He clearly didn’t want there to be photographic evidence of him behaving violently towards a woman. But do me a favor, yeah? Send that picture to the police. That man’s currently on bail charged with rape. Once they see that, they’ll be sending him straight to prison where he belongs.”

  Jim nodded, and stashed his camera back in his bag. Then he went and picked up my smashed cell phone from the sidewalk. “We’re not all scum, you know?” he said as he handed it back to me.

  I took my phone from him.

  “I’ll believe that when you stop lurking around outside my apartment,” I said, then paced away and went back inside.

  ***

  “Well?” Jessica said once I returned to the living room. “What happened? You were gone for ages. I was so close to calling 911.”

  I glanced at Tim. He pulled a face and nodded.

  “It was just a reporter,” I said, bending the truth, trying to sound chill about it. I didn’t want Jessica knowing Seb had shown up on our doorstep. And anyway, once the police got hold of the photo, they’d be arresting him.

  “I thought I could hear shouting,” Jessica added. She was trembling all over. It made me so mad to see what Seb had done to my vibrant, confident friend, how his selfish actions had turned her into someone timid and fearful.

  “Well, I used some pretty colorful language,” I said. “Which he didn’t like. But it’s okay.” I went over and stroked her shoulders. “It’s all sorted. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  I hugged Jessica and looked over at Tim. By the expression on his face, I could tell he was as worried as me.

  ***

  Later that evening, I took Harrison’s advice and Googled pictures of him with Catherine. In every photo she was sporting the same haircut, a short pixie crop, and her hair was dyed various shades of blond. They looked so happy together and I couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy. There were no great lovers in my past for Harrison to think about, but I had the shadow of Catherine hovering over me every minute. She was stunningly beautiful and she had a smile that made her glow with vitality. I didn’t measure up to her, not even slightly. I couldn’t help but wonder what, exactly, Harrison saw in me. Had he been drawn to me just because I was there and available when he needed comfort the most? Had our two blissful days in the Newland & Rook offices been about a desperate man trying to connect with a woman one last time before he was sent down for life? Or was it something more?

  I went to close my browser when I noticed another more recent page flagged with Harrison Wrexler’s name. I clicked on it. My screen filled with pictures of me and Seb arguing. They were Jim Larson’s photos. He’d sold them to some trashy website within hours of my run-in with Seb. Of course he had. He’d had no intention of helping me when he took that photo instead of calling for help. Scaring Seb off had just been a handy side effect.

  I couldn’t believe I’d been dumb enough to trust a journalist to do me a favor. I should have demanded the pictures on the spot. If my mind hadn’t been whirling with fear, maybe I’d have thought to.

  There was no way Seb would get arrested anytime soon now. Which meant he was still out there, still a threat to women, and still a threat to Jessica.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Harrison

  The days leading up to the trial passed in a blur. My mornings were filled with beatings from Kyle and his cronies. My evenings were filled with rereading Katie’s letters and slipping into that meditative mindset where I could dream about making love to her. I counted down every day that passed by, consoling myself that, at the very least, the day the trial arrived I would get to see Katie again.

  I awoke that morning to a gray, miserable day. A film of fog and rain covered everything. I couldn’t help but think how typical it was that the weather was so dire on my first day outside the confines of prison in almost a month.

  After a trip to the prison barber to get my hair styled, I was delivered one of my suits that I was allowed to wear to court. Dressing up smartly made me feel almost human again.

  Mack didn’t say a word as I was taken from my cell. He’d said very little since that first time when he’d encouraged me to take Katie’s call. But he watched me knowingly whenever I took Katie’s letters out of my drawer. He must have known he’d had a hand in reconciling us.

  Derek led me out my cell and along the corridor.

  “Good luck, Wrexler. You know all the guys here are behind you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, feeling my stomach swirl with anguish.

  “If you’re still going by the time my shift ends here, I’ll come watch the verdict.”

  I appreciated his support.

  He opened the doors of the prison and walked beside me across the yard to where the prison van was waiting to take me to court. The rain had turned the world a miserable, steel-gray color. It was the color of defeat.

  ***

  When we pulled up to the courthouse, the first thing that struck me was the noise. There were rows of people outside, holding banners proclaiming my guilt and shouting rude things at me. I hunkered down in my seat, feeling vulnerable.

  Once in
side I was taken to another room where I was to wait until my court session was ready to begin.

  I picked my fingernails nervously. I’d been informed my mother was in court, as were Shantelle’s and Catherine’s family. I decided to calm my frantic mind by breathing slowly and slipping into my dreamlike state.

  Just like before, Katie’s face materialized before me. Her beauty took my breath away. Without saying a word, I cupped her face gently in my hands and brought her face to mine, touching my lips lightly against hers. It felt so real. A bolt of electricity raced through from the place where our lips met, spreading through every fiber in my body. I lost myself in the sensation, tasting her, breathing in her scent, feeling tingles running up and down my spine.

  Then I pulled away and gazed into her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed pink.

  “Harrison…” she said breathlessly. “We shouldn’t be doing this here.”

  All at once I realized that the Katie who had materialized before me had been real. I had not imagined the kiss. She was really standing before me.

  I looked around, suddenly aware of our surroundings. But the room was empty.

  “Galiema’s setting up,” she explained. “It’s just us.”

  Just us...

  Before she had a chance to say anything more, I wrapped my arms tightly around her, pulling her body close to mine. She threw her arms around my neck. Our lips met, moving against one another’s with a fierce passion. My mind blanked as I gave way to the sensation, the real sensation of being with Katie. Her mouth was so soft and warm, so inviting.

  We pulled apart and her eyes roved from my shiny leather brogues up my crisp gray pants, then over the fitted white shirt and matching gray jacket, and finally up to me neat, styled hair. I realized then it was the first time Katie had seen me in anything other than a prison jumpsuit or jogging pants. That and stark naked, of course.

  “You look amazing,” she said.