Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Collection: ZaneCanyonStern

by Brenda Jackson

  Render smiled and then looked back to Keisha. “Why did the Texas Bar and justice department shut down the law firm where you worked?”

  Keisha sighed. “It was discovered that several attorneys in the firm—all five partners—abused their power by encouraging their clients to agree to foreclosures and then charging those homeowners exorbitant processing fees. It was later found out that the attorneys were defrauding those clients when the attorneys were receiving kickbacks from the banks, who were reselling the homes at a higher price and making a profit.”

  “Who turned them in?” Render inquired.

  “There were speculations, but the person who exposed them was never identified.”

  “Was anyone indicted?” Render asked.

  “Yes. All five were indicted. My former boss heard about the scandal and knew any law firm in Austin...or Texas for that matter...would be reluctant to hire me on after that.”

  “Why?” Render asked.

  “Although I had nothing to do with what happened and was quickly cleared of any involvement, another firm wouldn’t want to bring on an attorney connected to lawyers who were convicted of defrauding clients. So, my former boss offered me my job back.”

  Canyon said nothing. He’d wondered why she had returned. He knew it hadn’t been because she felt Beau needed to be close to his father.

  “How long ago did all this happen?” Render asked.

  “Ten months ago.” Keisha paused. Tilting her head, she stared at Render. “Surely you’re not thinking there’s a connection between that and what’s going on with me now.”

  With an unreadable expression on his face, Render asked, “Any reason I shouldn’t?”

  “Of course there is. In fact, there are several,” she said, leaning toward him.

  Holding her gaze, Render said, “Name them.”

  Keisha pulled back and nodded. “Okay. First of all, those fraudulent activities were going on before I was even hired there and I never worked any of the cases. I was one of three relatively new attorneys. Second, those who were indicted were all partners. The other two attorneys, like me, were freshmen attorneys, considered to be peons. We were clueless as to what the top brass was doing. Third, why would anyone connected with that incident want to scare me? Scare me away from what? Why me? And who would be orchestrating such a thing?”

  Render smiled. “First of all, I never said I had made a connection. You’re the one who offered reasons why there is no connection, and I just asked you to name them. My job is to gather the facts, Ms. Ashford. All of them. And I agree that the chances of what happened yesterday being connected to what happened with that law firm in Texas is farfetched. But like I told you, I’m leaving no stone unturned.” He paused. “But before you completely discount the possibility of a connection, let me give you this to consider. The attorneys were indicted, but I assume they haven’t gone to trial?”

  Keisha lifted a brow. “How would you know that?”

  He chuckled. “We’re talking about attorneys.” Then, as if he remembered both Canyon and Keisha were attorneys, he smiled and said, “No offense, but I’m convinced these particular attorneys would use their knowledge of the law to delay serving time for as long as they can. They would also use their knowledge of the law to build a defense...while they’re putting the fear of God in the whistle-blower.”

  Puzzlement appeared on her features. “But I wasn’t the whistle-blower.”

  Render smiled. “Would they know that? Which makes me wonder if the other two freshmen attorneys not involved in the crimes have experienced scare tactics, too? Do the three of you keep in touch?”

  She shook her head. “No. I never developed any close relationships with them. They were single and partiers and I was a mother with a newborn at home.”

  “Give me their names. It would be worth checking to see if they’re being harassed, as well.”

  She gave him the man’s and woman’s names. Render then leaned back in his chair. “And just in case that’s a theory leading nowhere, let’s talk about the cases you’ve handled since returning to Denver?”

  Keisha’s eyes widened. “All of them?”

  “As many as you can remember that might have resulted in ill feelings with clients or plaintiffs.”

  * * *

  Three hours later, Ervin Render stood and stretched his body. “Well, I think I have a lot of information to go on.”

  Keisha frowned. She thought he had more than enough. He had picked her brain dry while almost making her suspect that any of her clients could be the culprit. Beau had wakened a couple of hours ago and she now glanced over to where he was on the floor staring at all the species of fish in the huge tank.

  “If I have any more questions, I’ll reach you here,” Render added.

  “You can try my mobile number because I won’t be here,” she said, standing as well when Canyon came to stand beside her.

  Render lifted a brow. “Where will you be?”

  “Probably at a hotel until I get my house back in order. Is there a problem?”

  He shrugged and glanced from her to Canyon and back again. “Not for me, but it might be for you.”

  “In what way?” It was Canyon who spoke up with the question.

  Render shoved his hands into his pockets. “We still don’t know who hired Ingram to scare Ms. Ashford or who was responsible for trashing her house. If I were her, I wouldn’t go anywhere alone.”

  That was not what Keisha wanted to hear. Nor was that what she wanted Canyon to hear. “I have a life, Detective Render,” she said. “I can’t give in to scare tactics.”

  “No, and you shouldn’t,” the man said easily. “But then you shouldn’t make yourself a target either, Ms. Ashford. Until we know who’s behind this, you should stay low for a while.”

  “That’s not possible,” she said, lifting her chin. “I work and have a job to do.”

  Render didn’t say anything. Instead he glanced at Beau and then moved his gaze back to her. “You also have a son to raise, and I’m sure you want to be around to do so. I suggest you take a week off from work and don’t go anywhere by yourself.”

  Keisha slowly drew in a breath. “Surely you’re not suggesting that someone would—”

  “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just letting you know the possibilities. Someone wanted to scare you off. The reason why is still a mystery. Until you know what or who you’re dealing with, you should hang around people you know, ones who have your back. Think about it. No need to bother showing me out. I know my way.”

  Canyon walked the man to the door anyway, while a frustrated Keisha worked the kinks out of her neck. She had to go to a hotel. There was no way she could stay under Canyon’s roof another night.

  She glanced up when he reentered the room. She opened her mouth to tell him she was going to a hotel in spite of what Render had said when he stopped her.

  “I heard what Render said, Keisha, and there’s nothing to think about. You’re staying.”

  He then turned and walked out of the room.

  * * *

  An angry Keisha followed Canyon to the kitchen but hung back to stand in the doorway so she could also keep an eye on Beau, who was still lying on the living room floor staring at the huge fish tank.

  “You don’t tell me what to do,” she said in a near whisper. “And I’m leaving.”

  Canyon walked back to her. “No, you’re not. Did you not hear what Render said? Why are you being so damn stubborn?” he asked in a low, infuriated tone.

  She lifted her chin. “I am not being stubborn, just practical. I can’t stay here.”

  “Can you give me one good reason why you can’t?”

  There was no way she would tell him the real reason, mainly that being around him did crazy things to her hormones and made h
er remember feelings she just couldn’t shake.

  “Well?”

  She frowned. He was standing there with his arms over his chest, facing her down like she was an unruly child. “For all I know, you might be involved with someone who might resent my being here.”

  He stared at her as if she’d lost her mind and then he said, “I’m not involved with anyone, and even if I was, do you think I’d let that person sway me to put my son’s life in danger? Or to put the mother of my child in danger?”

  Keisha swallowed. In a way, it hurt that all she was to him now was the mother of his child. There once was a time when she had been more. But that was before he’d allowed another woman to come between them.

  “I can’t stay here, Canyon. And you can’t force me to stay. Nor can you threaten to take Beau from me if I leave with him.”

  Instead of addressing anything she’d said, he informed her in a low tone, “You still haven’t given me a good reason why you can’t stay here, Keisha. I told you I wasn’t involved with anyone. I live in this big house by myself. I’ll have my side and you’ll have yours. What are you afraid of?”

  She bristled at his question. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  He ran a frustrated hand over his face and sighed. “Then think sensibly for a moment. Sure you can go to a hotel, but Beau will have more space here. He has family here. Why are you so determined to keep him away from me? Do you hate me that much?”

  Something twisted inside of her. There wasn’t a grain of truth in his assumption, and there was no way she could allow him to think that there was. “No. I don’t hate you at all, Canyon. I admit when I left here I was angry and hurt. I felt betrayed. And I kept feeling that way with all those emotions festering inside of me. Then one day something happened,” she said softly.

  He lifted a brow. “What?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “I felt my baby move. The baby you had put inside of me. I realized it was a real life, and I knew I couldn’t feel so angry with you anymore because, at that moment, regardless of how things ended between us, you’d given me something you could never take away.”

  Canyon dropped his arms. “Is that why you don’t want to include me in your and Beau’s world...because you think I’d take him away from you?”

  She took a long, shuddering breath before narrowing her gaze at him. “You said as much just last night.”

  “We said a lot of things last night, Keisha. I’m sure today there are regrets on both our parts. I don’t want to take Beau from you. I want to share him with you. But first I want to keep you both safe. Please let me do that. Stay here for at least a week to see how things work out. Hopefully by then Detective Render’s investigation will provide more answers. Then, who knows, it might be safe for you to go home.”

  “And if it’s not?”

  “We will reevaluate your options then.”

  Keisha knew she shouldn’t consider his offer. There was no way she could remain a week under his roof without fear of losing her sanity. But would it be fair to place Beau in danger just because she couldn’t keep her hormones in check?

  She switched her gaze from Canyon’s intense features to Beau. He had finally grown tired of lying on his stomach staring at the fish tank and was now on his back playing with the toy Denver—by way of Denver’s parents—had loaned Beau.

  She loved her child more than life, and she had to keep him safe until she knew what she was up against. And there was only one way to do that.

  Canyon.

  She might not be his favorite person right now, but he would do anything to protect his son.

  She looked back at Canyon and met his dark, penetrating gaze. “All right,” she said softly. “Beau and I will stay for a week.”

  Eight

  Keisha eased out of bed. No matter how tired she was, she just couldn’t seem to fall asleep and now she had one of those headaches she often got when she was stressed about something. All she could think about was how Detective Render had cast suspicions that now stirred in her mind, from her last job to every case she’d worked since returning to Denver.

  What if one of the attorney’s at that law firm in Texas had actually thought she was the whistle-blower and was trying to get back at her? Or what if the harassment had something to do with the case she’d won last year when she’d proved her client was the owner of land that a huge car dealership sat on?

  Her client hadn’t accepted the dealership owner’s offer to lease the property. Instead her client had wanted the property vacated immediately, which could have caused hardship to the owner of the dealership. Bryant Knowles hadn’t been happy with her and had accused her of intentionally advising her client not to negotiate with opposing counsel. That hadn’t been true, but nothing she said could convince Knowles otherwise. The two finally reached an agreement that was satisfactory to both in the end, but what if Knowles still harbored ill feelings?

  Keisha glanced over at Beau. At least one of them had no problem sleeping tonight.

  After she’d made her decision about staying, Canyon had gone to the store to purchase a safety gate for the stairs as well as cabinet locks, corner protectors, electrical outlet covers and a number of other items. While he was doing that, she had placed a call to Pam, letting her know she would need to go shopping tomorrow after all since she and Beau would be down to their last outfits.

  When Canyon returned, he immediately went to work childproofing his house. And he’d purchased toys that had kept Beau entertained for the rest of the day. While he was out, Canyon had picked up carryout from McKays, a popular restaurant in town, which had taken the guesswork out of what they would have for dinner.

  Grabbing her robe off a chair, she left the bedroom, securing the safety gate in place before going down the stairs. Except for the night-lights Canyon had installed, the rooms were completely dark, but Keisha had no problem finding her way to the kitchen. Canyon had left the curtains open, which gave her a full view of the moonlit sky.

  The first time Canyon had brought her to visit this piece of land it had been at night and except for a few grassy areas the land had been wooded. They had parked and talked under the huge sky dotted with beautiful stars. And later they had made out in the car under that same sky. That night they had initiated their own private lover’s lane.

  Now Canyon had built a home here, possibly on the same spot because it sure as heck looked like the same sky. She knew that sounded crazy, but she was convinced this portion of sky belonged only to Canyon’s Bluff.

  “Couldn’t sleep either?”

  Keisha swung around when Canyon walked into the kitchen. She was immediately slammed with an overabundance of lust when she saw what he was...not wearing. He was in his bare feet, shirtless with his drawstring pajama bottoms riding low on his hips and clinging to a pair of powerful thighs.

  The moonlight coming through the window encased him in a sensuous glow. Tingling sensations bombarded the area between her legs. Heated lust flared through her bloodstream and instinctively she pressed her thighs together.

  Drawing in a shaky breath, she said, “No, having one of those headaches.”

  “Oh.”

  He knew about her headaches since she’d had them in the past when things hadn’t gone quite like she’d wanted at work and she’d gotten stressed out about it.

  “Come and sit down,” he said, pulling out a chair from the table.

  She glanced at the chair and then back at him. She knew what he wanted to do. Whenever she’d had a headache, Canyon used to rub her temples and ease the nagging pain away. She didn’t know how he did it, but he would do it every time.

  “Keisha?”

  She swallowed. At the moment, headache or no headache, the last thing she could handle was Canyon’s hands on her. But even as she had that thought, a fierce, agonizing th
rob pierced through her head, propelling her to move toward the chair. As soon as she sat down, she inhaled his masculine scent and instinctively breathed in deeper to pull in the heady aroma.

  “Now close your eyes and relax,” he said in a low, throaty tone that sent a ripple through her. She released a low groan when she felt his fingers slowly rake through her hair. She closed her eyes when she felt the heat of him behind her, gently massaging her scalp and placing light pressure at her temples. He kept up the kneading, working out the pain and soothing the ache.

  He leaned down. “Feeling better?” he asked in an incredibly sexy voice, while the warmth of his breath fanned the side of her face.

  Unable to respond, she nodded. The gentle scalp massage sent delicious shivers through her, replacing one kind of ache with another. She recalled the last time he’d done this. It had been a little more than three years ago. She had been stuck in litigation with what she thought was the case from hell. The opposing counsel had tried more than once to belittle her in front of the jury and she’d fought to retain her cool, which had resulted in an overpowering headache.

  When she’d gotten home, Canyon had sat her down at the kitchen table and massaged her scalp and temples. By the time it was over, he had gotten rid of her headache but had left her wanting him...like he was doing now. Back then, he’d pulled her out of the chair, stripped her naked, laid her out on the table and made mind-blowing love to her.

  “You can open your eyes now. And if you follow this up with an aspirin, you’ll feel good as new in the morning.”

  Drawing in a shaky breath she slowly opened her eyes. What about tonight? Would she feel as good as new tonight, too? She didn’t think so...not as long as the tingling between her legs continued.

  “Thanks, Canyon.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Keisha eased up from her chair and he slid it back under the table. She turned toward him. “You have a special touch,” she said and then wished she could bite off her tongue for saying so.

  His lips slowly spread into a smile, revealing a dimple that was normally kept hidden. “You think so?”