Love's Verdict

by Carsen Taite

  But Landon wasn’t here, and that was a good thing. She had no desire for anyone to witness the aftermath of her humiliation, especially not Landon. Was it because she liked Landon or because they were rivals? She wasn’t sure, but she did know that she had some things to figure out, and until she did, she wasn’t going back to the office or to work on this case—partnership be damned.

  Carly made a pot of coffee, and while it was brewing, she dragged her briefcase open and pulled out the file Skye had brought to the courthouse. Jane would probably have a fit if she knew she’d taken it home, but she didn’t care. She was probably going to be booted off the case, but in the meantime, she’d figure out where she’d gone wrong.

  Jocelyn Aubrey, Trevor’s girlfriend during the time he played for the Houston Texans, was one of his least high-profile girlfriends. A flight attendant, she was often traveling, which meant their schedules didn’t always sync, and she rarely made personal appearances with Trevor and almost never showed up for his games. The entertainment press had speculated that her desire to remain out of the spotlight was the main factor in their breakup. When she’d asked Trevor about her, he said Jocelyn had told him she loved football when they met, but she seemed to have lost interest the longer they dated. He brushed it off, saying that a lot of women romanticized dating a pro player, but the reality was far from ideal since he spent the entire season consumed by practice, travel, and games, and in the off-season, he was doing photo shoots for sponsors and other marketing to enhance his income. According to Trevor, he had very little time for a girlfriend, and most women didn’t appreciate the lack of attention.

  She flipped the page. The police had found Jocelyn’s body yesterday and managed to keep the news under wraps so Donna could use it as her secret weapon at the grand jury hearing. She didn’t blame Donna for employing the tactic, but she did hate her a little for making her look bad. Would she have cared as much about being bested if Landon hadn’t been there to witness her downfall? She didn’t like the answer that surfaced, but she’d have to live with it.

  Carly fired up her laptop and signed onto the firm’s network. Something was bugging her, and she knew the only way to work it out was to review everything one more time. Jane might be about to kick her off the case, but Carly would have answers.

  Trevor had a habit of serial monogamy, selecting one lucky girl to be his arm candy in every major city where he’d played ball. None of those women had followed him when he was traded, and he’d usually taken a little while to get acclimated in the new place before finding his next girl. Were there any other surprises in Trevor’s past that Donna Wilhelm either had or was about to unearth?

  Her own notes were sketchy on the subject. While they’d talked to Trevor about his past relationships, their questions had been focused on whether there had been any reports of domestic violence. It had never occurred to her to ask if he was an experienced killer, and apparently, it hadn’t occurred to anyone else either. Or had it? Landon had pressed her about going easy on Trevor, but she’d brushed her off, insisting that she knew the guy after working with him for months on the NFL suspension and there was no way he’d killed Vanessa Meyers. She buried her head in her hands. Maybe she should just give up.

  A knock on the door roused her from her self-doubt. Mr. Jasper had probably found some of her mail mixed up with his again. She knew from experience it was better to answer since he wouldn’t give up if he’d seen her go inside. She tilted her laptop cover shut and walked to the door, swinging it wide, but it wasn’t Mr. Jasper on the other side.

  * * *

  “What do you mean she’s not here?” Landon said. “Skye’s text said they left the courthouse almost an hour ago.”

  Rhonda shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the urgency in Landon’s tone. “I don’t know where she is. I only know she’s not here, and Jane wants to see you both.”

  “Tell her I’ll be right there.” Landon didn’t wait for an answer before stalking off toward Carly’s office. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Rhonda’s word, but she wanted to see for herself that Carly had bailed when it was time to report to Jane about the shit storm that had just happened.

  Carly wasn’t in her office, and it looked exactly the way it had when they’d left together for the courthouse that morning, brimming with optimism about the direction of Trevor’s case. Damn, that had been misplaced. Landon sank into the chair opposite Carly’s desk and contemplated where they’d gone wrong.

  “Were you going to come see me anytime soon?” Jane stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

  Landon stood. “Sorry.” She motioned toward Carly’s desk. “I was checking on something first.”

  “Where is she?”

  She fished around for a good response, but came up lacking. “I don’t know, but she might be with Trevor. She left the courthouse with him.”

  “I know. I just got off the phone with Shelby. She gave me an earful about how I have the most incompetent lawyer working for me, and if I didn’t yank her off the case, she’d take Trevor’s business elsewhere. I don’t need to tell you how much we billed this year dealing with the suspension and this case. We have an opportunity to take on his transactional work as well, but all that is going to disappear because I signed off on this stupid grand jury idea.”

  Landon didn’t know what to say. She could say she’d been the first one to say it was a bad idea, but that verged on “I told you so,” and that wasn’t her style. Now was the perfect time to stick it to Carly, who was already teetering on the edge. All Landon had to do was push ever so slightly, and Carly would tumble right out of this partnership competition. But something was holding her back. She knew what it was, but if she acknowledged the thought it would make it too real. Don’t mix business and pleasure. She could adhere to that admonition without killing Carly’s career. Right?

  “You don’t have anything to say?” Jane asked.

  Landon had plenty to say, but not until she talked to Carly. She wasn’t going to win by ambush. They would talk it out, and then Carly could explain to Jane what had happened and make her case. Landon wasn’t sure it would do much good, but at least then she could win fair and square, not by backstabbing. “I know we have a lot of work to do, but I need to check on something. Give me the afternoon and we’ll start fresh in the morning.”

  Jane stood still for a moment before nodding curtly, but Landon was already on her way out the door. Her haste was more about keeping herself from changing her mind than about whether Jane would be angry that she was taking off. In the elevator she pulled up a file and plugged an address into her phone. Fifteen minutes later, she was standing in front of Carly’s door, now suddenly unsure of whether she’d made a hasty decision.

  “She’s home.”

  She looked over at an elderly man opening his door across the way. He smiled and pointed at Carly’s door. “She got home a little while ago. Not in a great mood. Could probably use some company.”

  Landon wondered if that was true, and even if it was, whether she was the kind of company Carly wanted right now. She nodded her thanks to the neighbor, and before she could think it through, she knocked firmly on the door. Seconds later, it swung open.

  Carly was standing in the doorframe wearing the same clothes she’d had on at the courthouse, but she was barefoot and her hair was down. The sight of her robbed Landon’s breath, and she stood silent, staring into Carly’s apartment.

  “What are you doing here?” Carly asked, frowning.

  “Can I come in?” Landon glanced back over her shoulder, certain the old man was staring out his peephole. “Please?”

  Carly’s answer was to turn and walk away, leaving the door standing ajar. Landon followed her in, shutting the door gently behind them. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to see right now.” She waited a few beats, but Carly didn’t respond, didn’t even look at her. She sat back down at the kitchen table and stared at her laptop while Landon fished around for something to say
. “You weren’t at the office, so I thought I’d come by and see—”

  “Either sit down or go, but quit towering over me,” Carly snapped.

  Landon wasn’t going anywhere until they had a conversation, so she walked over to the table and, on the way, took the opportunity to glance around the apartment. Small, tidy, absolutely nothing out of place. It resembled Carly’s office, reflected her personality, which made it all the more surprising that Carly had ever even brought up the idea of Trevor testifying. The risk wasn’t calculated or logical, but a crapshoot. Carly didn’t strike her as the type to ever engage in crapshoots.

  “Why did you do it?” she asked, more to herself than Carly, but too late she realized she’d spoken the words out loud. She decided to go all in. “Defendants almost never win at the grand jury. It would have been so much easier to just let them true bill the case and deal with the outcome. Save your strategy maneuvers for trial.”

  Carly looked up from her laptop. “Easier? I guess you don’t realize I want this partnership as much as you do, and playing it safe isn’t going to get me there. I don’t have your…your…” She pointed her finger in Landon’s direction and sputtered out the words. “Your charisma, your big personality, whatever it is that makes everyone think you have all the answers before you even open your mouth. I have to work harder and be smarter if I want to even the score, and if I want to win, I have to come up with something big.”

  Carly finished the diatribe with her hands waving in the air, and Landon wasn’t sure what to say. She could tell that Carly was frustrated, but she couldn’t quite tell if the angst was directed inward or at her. What she did know was that Carly was wrong. “I have to work hard too. Everyone I meet thinks because I’m a Holt, I have it made. This name opens doors, but the opportunities come with expectations that a connection to me is an automatic link to the Holt fortune and access to my father. I’ve never had anyone judge me on my merits alone. This case, this partnership, is my chance to shine, to show everyone that I can do something big all on my own.” She took a breath and noted her misstep. “And I don’t mean all on my own, but you know what I mean.”

  “I’m sure Jane knows who was behind today’s disaster.”

  “I just left the office. She wants to talk to both of us. I bought us some time, but you know Jane.”

  “You mean Jane ‘If I asked for it today, you should’ve known I was wanting it yesterday’ Sturges?”

  Carly laughed at her own assessment of their boss, and Landon joined her, thankful for the levity. She should warn Carly that Shelby was insisting on her removal from the case, but bringing it up now would dampen the mood even more. There would be time to talk when they got back to the office. “You ready to go see Jane?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No,” Carly said, more firmly this time. “If I go back to the office, Jane is going to tell me I made a stupid decision, ignore the fact she signed off on it, and the entire exercise will be a colossal waste of time.”

  Landon nodded slowly. “Okay, so you’re just going to hide out here until her anger fades?”

  “I’m not hiding. I’m working on Trevor’s case.”

  Landon looked at the contents of Trevor’s file spread around the table. From the looks of it, Carly wasn’t sitting around licking her wounds, she was working, which was exactly what she should be doing instead of checking on the personal well-being of her rival. Landon reached over and tapped a finger on the papers in front of Carly. “Found anything new?”

  Carly stared at her for a moment like she was trying to figure out if she should share or keep whatever she’d been doing to herself. Finally, she shoved a page of handwritten notes across the table. “We haven’t been looking deep enough. We’ve asked about and researched other domestic violence issues both in the prep for the suspension hearing and for the grand jury, but what we should be looking for is what no longer exists.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “Trevor has played for three different pro teams and then there’s his time in college. He’s the kind of guy who likes to have a steady girlfriend, someone on his arm at all of his public appearances. We know, because Skye checked, that the only ones who ever called the police were Vanessa and Jocelyn, but we assumed because there were no police reports with any of the others that nothing was ever wrong. Where are these other women, and what do they have to say about their relationship with Trevor? Two of them have turned up dead. Are the others alive? Have they given statements to the police? For all we know Donna plans to parade them or pictures of dead bodies at trial to show Trevor’s a serial offender.”

  Landon picked up Carly’s notes and skimmed the page. “And these are the women?”

  “Yes.”

  “We should call Skye and get her to start looking for them.”

  “I already emailed her when you were casing my apartment a few minutes ago.”

  “I wasn’t casing your apartment.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “Maybe I was just trying to get to know you better by being aware of your surroundings.” Landon grimaced as she spoke. “Okay, that sounded dumb, but you know this place looks just like your office.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing in particular. You apparently like to keep things very, uh, clean and organized.”

  “There’s something wrong with cleanliness and efficiency?”

  Landon stood and paced the room. “No, of course not, but if I were trying to get to know you, I’d get nothing from either here or your office.” She gestured at the walls. “No pictures, no knickknacks.” She pointed at the plain white mugs hanging in the glass-doored cabinet. “I can tell you like coffee, but none of those mugs have logos. It’s like this whole place jumped off the Pottery Barn catalog page into your apartment.”

  Carly’s face blushed red. “Maybe it did.”

  “Oh.” It was Landon’s turn to be embarrassed. “It’s nice. It just doesn’t have any personality.”

  “You’re saying I don’t have any personality.”

  Landon walked over and placed a hand on Carly’s arm. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I mean the room doesn’t reflect the personality of the occupant.” She bored her gaze into Carly’s until she couldn’t stand the heat sparking between them. “Besides, it’s just one room.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Carly said. “You probably shouldn’t go into any of the other rooms.” She ducked her head. “Pottery Barn might’ve been having a sale.”

  They both broke into laughter. “Well, I’m all about a sale,” Landon said, sitting back down at the table while her mind drifted to thoughts about what the rest of Carly’s place looked like.

  “You make fun, but seriously, I just wanted my place to look nice, but I don’t have the first clue about picking out furnishings and interior decorating.”

  “Your mom must not be like mine. She was constantly redecorating our house when I was growing up. I think it was her secret way of putting one over on my father. He’d come home from the office, always late, to trip over the new furniture arrangement.”

  “My parents weren’t really big on anything to do with home. They’re both workaholics who barely noticed they had a child at home, let alone things like drapes and furniture. I was raised by a string of academic interns who babysat for the chance to get a fellowship from the dynamic duo of professors who spawned me.”

  Landon heard the bitter tone in Carly’s voice. “Sounds like we both have plenty of parental baggage. Do you still keep in touch with your parents?”

  “It’s more a question of whether they keep in touch with me. I try to follow their travels, but it’s hard when they jet off around the world, often forgetting they have a child. I expect one day I’ll get a call from their lawyer, asking me what I want done with the bodies, but in the meantime, we talk a few times a year—major holidays mostly. But enough about them, it’s time to refocus on this case.”

 
; Now, Landon thought. Now was the time to warn Carly that Shelby wanted her off the case. But doing so would ruin this already tenuous connection, and she didn’t want to let go. Let Jane deliver the bad news. It was her job. Landon’s job was to work this case, and for as long as possible, she was going to do it with Carly.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Carly looked up from her desk at Keith Worthington leaning against her doorframe. “I’m busy,” she said, dropping her gaze back to her computer, hoping he would get the hint and go away.

  “That’s not what I hear. Word is you’re about to be taken off the Kincade case. I just stopped by to see if you want to go ahead and give me your files since I’m the natural choice to take your place. What can you tell me about Landon Holt? Is she single?”

  Carly’s stomach dropped at the mention of the case and Landon, but she faked nonchalance. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

  Keith started to say something else, but Jane’s clipped voice sounded through the intercom on her phone. “Carly, please come see me. Thanks.” Jane was off the line before she could respond. She looked back at Keith and wished she could reach him to claw the grin off his face, but he waved and walked off down the hall.

  Carly took a moment to breathe. She’d known this was coming and she’d spent the night preparing her response. If there was one thing she’d learned from Landon, it was that bravado opened doors. After all, she’d opened the door to Landon the day before when she’d planned to spend the entire day licking her wounds. She might not feel totally natural emulating Landon’s brash style, but she was attracted to it, just like she was drawn to her wit, easygoing manner, and the sexy confidence she exuded in everything she did. Landon’s confidence isn’t the only sexy thing about her. Carly shook away the thought for the distraction it was. No good could come of thinking about Landon that way.