Above Temptation

by Karin Kallmaker

  Tam was almost asleep when Kip said her name.

  “We go back to the real world tomorrow.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  She shifted and Tam opened her eyes. The last of sunset painted Kip with orange and gold.

  “I want this—” Kip touched Tam’s lips with her fingertips, then brushed them tantalizingly over her nipple, drawing a gasp. “I want this to be the real world. The one that counts most.”

  “So do I. It’ll only be that way if we work at it.”

  Kip nodded and settled again. “I like the rocking.”

  Tam gathered her close. “I’ll take you sailing the next possible day. We’ll dine in the sunshine.”

  Kip murmured something else and Tam didn’t know which of them fell asleep first. It didn’t matter.

  Epilogue

  “They confirmed—the hamper will be delivered by four o’clock. I did that much. It’s up to you to get the boss off my back and onto the boat.” Mercedes’ tone indicated that she thought it an impossible task.

  Kip leaned against the wall in one of the less traveled corridors of the Federal courthouse. “Once sentencing is over I am kidnapping her. The weather is supposed to be spectacular—a genuine summer weekend in Seattle. Who would have thunk it?”

  “From what I hear, you’re the one who needs the break.”

  “Nah. It’s good to be fully occupied again. Oh, Tam’s waving. I think we’re going back into session.”

  Kip clicked her cell phone shut and turned it off. She wasn’t going to get caught by a bailiff with her phone on. It would earn her a dressing-down from Judge Warren, an experience anyone with sense would avoid.

  Tam took her hand with a tense smile. “What were you plotting? You had that look.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just chatting with Mercedes.”

  “Great. The two of you in league are too much to contemplate.”

  They found seats in the crowded courtroom. Kip felt a thrill of satisfaction when Nadia and Ted were brought in. Before their guilty verdict they’d been in carefully chosen, sober suits. Now that they were officially felons, she had to say that orange didn’t become either of them. Nadia was no longer perfectly tanned. It must have been the shock of her life when Judge Warren had agreed with the U.S. Attorney that they were a flight risk and denied them bail.

  It was the first of many shocks—poor Ted and Nadia. They’d not looked the least concerned during Kip’s testimony, nor Tam’s. The recording of their confessional conversation with Tam had been ruled inadmissible, so their own incriminating words couldn’t be used against them. They hadn’t been read any rights, or advised they were being recorded. But dear Robert Manna, who had given incredibly detailed testimony, had been challenged by the defense for his claim of exact recall. How could he possibly remember exactly what was said nearly nine months later? Why, to be fully prepared he’d requested a copy of a recording he knew had been made. It had, after all, been made on his employer’s premises in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and in the spirit of cooperation, the local embassy staff had provided it to him. So he’d listened to the recording to refresh his memory, he’d answered, an allowable rebuttal to the doubts raised about his memory.

  Neither of the defendants had looked quite as confident after that. Guilty on all counts, bank accounts drained by a series of attorneys of decreasing skill and the only bright spot was possible grounds for appeal over the recording, if only they could afford an attorney good enough to make their case.

  The recording had of course fallen into the hands of reporters as well. Their bald-faced decision to buy their way into celebrity had not endeared them to the very people they hoped to impress. The Langhorns were regarded as the type of wannabees that would crash a State dinner. Them that had weren’t sharing with grasping posers.

  Fortune was being awful slow to smile on them.

  Kip whispered in Tam’s ear. “I want Judge Warren to rule the world.”

  Tam nodded and whispered back, “I’m sorry, honey, but I fell for her hard when she gave Vernon Markoff fifteen years.”

  Kip gave her the look that remark deserved but didn’t say anything because the bailiff announced the judge’s entry into the courtroom. The charges were read and the judge finally spoke. Kip covered Tam’s hand with her own.

  “In considering the facts of this case,” Judge Warren read aloud from her prepared notes, “as well as the nature of the crimes and the motivation behind them, I have taken into account that no weapons were used in the course of the felony acts. Therefore the maximum sentence is proscribed by law. I have considered the statements of contrition by the defendants, which would suggest that a long rehabilitation would be unnecessary.”

  Kip felt Tam’s hand twitch. It wasn’t sounding like a heavy sentence so far—the Langhorns could get as little as seven years, with half that sentence served on probation.

  “Prison, however, serves more than one purpose. Rehabilitation is one. Punishment is another. In spite of the defendants’ belief that prison is little more than an intensive writing seminar, it is supposed to punish, as long as it’s not in cruel or unusual ways. In my years on the bench I have seen many defendants who were motivated by greed and ambition, and even a desire for notoriety. In most of those cases, the defendants perceived no other option when they chose a criminal act. What I find disturbing in this case is that the defendants had choices and opportunities of many legal kinds. From dozens of lawful options, they elected to commit their crimes as if choosing the right suit for a job interview.”

  Kip squeezed Tam’s hand and held her breath.

  “Having been found guilty of all charges against them, I hereby sentence both defendants to serve the maximum sentence of twelve years—”

  Pandemonium erupted. Bloggers rushed for the doors in a race to be the first to report on the outcome. Kip couldn’t hear what the judge was saying, but Nadia had put her head in her hands. Maybe she’d done the math. Even if they got out halfway through, with the rest to be served on probation, six years was twice what Nadia had counted on. Six years without Botox was a long time.

  She had moments of feeling sorry for Nadia, but they were brief. Her childhood had been a nightmare, but she’d put together a good life. There had been no reason to gamble that life to try for something more. Nadia didn’t have to be like Tam, after all, Tam was an exceptional woman, but she could have stayed Nadia Langhorn. Now she was nobody.

  Tam squeezed her hand hard. Stealing a glance at her face, Kip saw a triumphant relief. The system worked, at least in this case. Everything they’d done then and since mattered. Though it wasn’t always so, justice had been served this time.

  Poor Ted and Nadia. Kip thought bitterly that if she worked at it real hard she could shed a half a tear for their fate.

  * * *

  Finally finished giving reaction interviews and able to make their escape, Tam was still stunned as they got into Kip’s Camry. “Twelve years,” she repeated. “It’s more than I had hoped, even.”

  “I admit I was worried for a moment there. But it’s okay if you’re in love with the judge. I am too, now.”

  Tam’s mobile chimed. She checked the display. “It’s Hank. This won’t take long.”

  Even though she didn’t intend to gossip, it was impossible not to give Hank her impressions of the sentencing. The call took longer than she had intended. It was Friday evening, and she tried very hard not to work on Friday nights. They didn’t always get Date Night, but it was still a shared goal.

  After she hung up she beamed at Kip. “It’s been a great week.”

  “It has.”

  Tam prodded her gently in the side. “You got your last two clients.”

  Kip gave her a mega-watt smile. “I did. God bless rock and roll.”

  “Are you really happy?” Tam had meant it to sound like a joke, but it came out as a serious question.

  “Yes, silly. How many times do I have to say it?”
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br />   “One more, I guess.” She looked happy, Tam thought. Her lovely blue eyes were full of light and joy. She smiled all the time. The creases of worry and stress had all but gone. Still, Tam needed to be reassured from time to time that her wife had no regrets for the unexpected turn her career had taken.

  Kip took her eyes off the rush-hour traffic long enough to give Tam a serious look. “I have you and I have some really fun work that, at the moment at least, doesn’t involve numbering exhibits or filing reports for the court. Just a handful of highly strung recording artists who want to be sure their managers, agents and promoters aren’t ripping them blind.” She bounced in the driver’s seat. “I am expected to suspect everyone. They love it when I’m paranoid on their behalf. I get to put on my mirror sunglasses and ask people questions, and they have to answer me or risk losing their star client. I don’t even have to read people their rights. It’s a dream come true.”

  Tam laughed. “Your grandfather would approve?”

  “Well, I’m not looking out for POTUS. But there are shockingly large sums of money involved and I’m trying to keep people honest. I’m still floored that Jen’s boyfriend Luke, of all people, recommended me to that first band when they were complaining during a recording session.”

  Tam finally took in their surroundings. They weren’t anywhere near home and she’d been planning a memorable evening in front of the view with Kip that included, when they were exhausted by other things, watching the summer sun set over the sound. They were skirting the edge of Lake Union, which was shimmering under the cloudless sky. “Why are we headed this way?”

  “Part of our original deal was that you keep your promises, and you’ve been promising me a honeymoon for months.”

  A shiver of pleasure mixed with anticipatory butterflies left Tam breathless. “This is what you and Mercedes were concocting?”

  “Unlike you, I know when to ask for help. Besides, I ask for her help and that means your cell phone won’t ring for the next forty-eight hours.”

  Kip took one hand off the wheel to lace her fingers around the tie that held back her ponytail. She stripped it free and then shook her hair out around her shoulders. “You’ve also been promising me a night of lovemaking on the lake for months.”

  Speechless, Tam watched Kip unfasten the top two buttons of her blouse, revealing an undergarment that made Tam’s mouth water.

  How had she ever thought this woman straitlaced and humorless? She was grinning at Tam now, her eyes sparkling with mischief and delight.

  “I take it I have your full attention?”

  Tam nodded.

  “And your full cooperation?” She turned into the Gas Works Marina lot.

  “Indeed.”

  “Excellent.” She idled at the dock manager’s office. “There’s a hamper with your name on it inside.”

  Tam would have leapt out of the car but Kip undid another button. Then another.

  She wasn’t sure how she made her legs and arms work, but she did manage to fetch the hamper. It was large, heavy and awkward and she wondered what all Kip and Mercedes had deemed necessary for their weekend.

  Back in the car it took only one look at Kip, with her blouse open to reveal the delicious round curves of her breasts and her hair down around her shoulders, to make her feel faint.

  “What happened to the Kip Barrett who never broke the rules?”

  Both serious and flirtatious, Kip asked, “Is there a rule against this? I’ve seen swimsuits that cover less. And besides, do you we want to live in a world where there’s a rule against me driving you crazy?”

  “I see your point.”

  Kip parked near the Emerald Petral’s docking and Tam found the will to gather the hamper and—as instructed—an overnight bag from the trunk.

  Kip, however, didn’t immediately get out of the car. Tam gestured at her to roll down the window.

  “Aren’t you joining me? This weekend won’t be nearly so fun without you.”

  “Yes, I….”

  It was delightful to watch Kip blush. It wasn’t always easy to tell, but there was a definite red tinge to her cheeks. “What?”

  “Oh hell.” Kip hurriedly buttoned up her blouse. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”

  “I adore you,” Tam said, comparing the vision of Kip in front of her, blushing at her own boldness, overcome with shy propriety, to the incisive, unflappable witness with nerves of steel she’d been during the trial. “You are exactly my kind of femme fatale.”

  Blouse tidied, she gave Tam a sheepish smile and got out of the car. “Some femme fatale I am. I mean—what if someone saw me—”

  Delighted and laughing, Tam backed Kip up to the car and kissed her. Thoroughly.

  “We’re never going to set sail at this rate,” Kip finally murmured.

  “Sweetheart, I’ve been at sea since the moment I met you.”

  Kip grinned. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” She lifted one handle of the hamper Tam had abandoned.

  Tam happily took the other. It was an easy load to manage together.

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