Killer Career

by Mandel, Morgan

  “I’ve won my share,” Dade said with a satisfied smile. “We’re running neck-and-neck in the wins derby.”

  “It’s been around six years, hasn’t it? Almost like a marriage.”

  “Yeah, too bad Julie’s divorcing me.”

  The words slipped out before he could stop them.

  “Let’s not go into that, Dade,” Julie said, shooting him a warning look.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Todd said, glancing back and forth between them.

  Julie sighed. “All right. You may as well know. Now that I’m financially situated, I’m leaving the firm so I can follow a lifetime dream. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’m going to do it.”

  “Yeah, she’s chucking everything away for a pipe dream.”

  Julie glared at him.

  The waiter took that moment to reappear and slide the appetizer trays onto the white tablecloth.

  Dade grabbed the closest thing, a piece of calamari, and bit into it. “This is great stuff, lots of garlic,” he said.

  Julie grabbed one also.

  Todd shook his head slowly. “You were meant for each other.”

  Dade frowned. “Lay off, Todd. It’s not like that.”

  Todd shook his head and turned to Julie. “So, how did you come by your decision?”

  “A few weeks ago, I met Tyler Jensen at a conference. Afterward, I got an opportunity to enroll in his workshop.”

  Todd whistled. “Wow, that’s amazing. The guy’s phenomenal.”

  “He’s taught me a lot about writing already.”

  “Julie won’t admit it, but the guy’s hot for her. You should see the autograph he signed.”

  “You can’t still be worried about that,” Julie said.

  “I’m intrigued. What did it say?”

  “Something about how he’d steal my partner away. Weird.”

  “What did you expect? He’s a mystery writer.”

  “That’s what Julie said.”

  “Dade old boy, I do believe you’re jealous.” Todd’s smile looked smug.

  “No, that’s not it. You know I’m right about my hunches. I’ve saved Julie from some real kooks.”

  “Good grief. Haven’t you played the protector long enough? Julie can take care of herself by now.”

  “I have a right to my opinions.”

  “I have to admit Dade did save me from some hairy horrors. It was sweet having a big brother look after me, but now I’m a big girl.”

  Dade frowned. Big brother. That’s all she thought of him. Well, what did he expect?

  “I’m sure you’re quite capable,” Todd said with a smile.

  This dinner wasn’t about dumping their problems on Todd. Dade launched into a joke to lighten the mood. “Did you hear the one about the baseball player and the pilot?”

  The atmosphere at the table relaxed, as the conversation switched to safer topics and they enjoyed their meal.

  Finally Julie pushed back her plate. “Well, I don’t know about you two, but I can’t eat another bite.”

  “Me neither. Why don’t we call it a night,” Todd said.

  Dade nodded, peeled off fifty in tens for the waiter and dropped the bills on the table. “Okay, we’re out of here.”

  On the way out, he spotted the owner again and stepped over to shake his hand. “Thanks, Dino. Great place.”

  The man beamed. “You’re always welcome, paisan. I couldn’t have made it without you.”

  It felt good to witness a client’s success. Despite massive injuries, Dino had never given up.

  As the valet pulled up to the curb with Todd’s Lexus, Todd turned to Dade. “Thanks for seeing me through the night, pal. You too, Julie.”

  Dade swallowed a lump in his throat. “Any time, old buddy. That’s what friends are for.”

  Watching Todd drive away, Dade turned to Julie. “I feel bad for him. To have it all one minute and have it swiped away, just like that. Man, that’s got to be hard.”

  She nodded. “You never know what’s around the corner. You’ve got to live each day to the fullest. That’s what I intend to do.”

  Chapter Six

  Thoughts of Todd’s sad situation kept Julie from falling asleep for a while. The peal of the telephone awakened her from a troubled dream. Glancing at the clock radio, she frowned. Why would anyone call at six-thirty on Saturday morning?

  “Bad news, Julie,” Dade said. “The office is wrecked. The hard drives are history. So are the CDs, DVDs, all kinds of stuff.”

  She sat upright. The movement made her dizzy for a moment, but then her head cleared. “What are you talking about?”

  “They’re trashed and in the sink, sopping wet.”

  “That’s strange. Well, don’t worry. Nora’s got the backups. I’ll bring down my laptop computer and we’ll sort it out.”

  “Not an option.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s screwed us. The backup tapes are in there, too, plus she left a crazy note.”

  “I can’t believe it. What does the note say?”

  ‘“You gave me no choice. You should have treated me better. By the time you read this, your precious backups, along with all your other records, will be history. Don’t look for anything at my house either. It won’t be there. Have a blast.’”

  “I don’t believe this,” Julie whispered. “All that hard work. It can’t be destroyed, just like that.”

  It was no consolation that her wariness of Dade’s assistant had been justified. For once Julie wished she’d been wrong.

  “Dade, what about your laptop? You’ve got lots of data on there. She didn’t get that too, did she?”

  His disgusted sigh told her the answer. “Thinking I’d come in early today, I left the damn thing at the office. It was locked, but that didn’t do any good. I found the computer in the toilet. Damn, she must have been at her devil-work all night.”

  “What about the Anderson brief? Isn’t it due Monday? We can’t let Sheila down.”

  Dade had been slaving over the contested case for months. Without proper representation, Sheila Anderson wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Slipping out of her nightshirt, Julie rushed to the closet. “Listen, I’ll be right over. Thank God, I’ve got my laptop here. I cleaned some of the extra files out of it last week, but it’s got the forms, plus some of my proposed decisions. I’m sure there’s other odds and ends you can use. We’ll manage.”

  Jensen’s class flew out of her mind, along with Dade’s prior cold treatment of her, as driving to the Loop, she cursed the bottleneck on the expressway. She’d rather ride in comfort on the train, but she had a feeling by the time Nora’s mess was straightened out, there wouldn’t be any trains running. Dade had worked extra hard on the Anderson case. She couldn’t let his efforts go to waste.

  She’d like to strangle Nora.

  * * *

  When Julie reached the office, Dade stood in front of her at the door, balancing two large plastic bags. She juggled her laptop, a grocery bag and her purse.

  Without speaking, they headed into his office. The bag rattled, as with a clatter, Dade unloaded five cardboard boxes onto the desk.

  “New hard drives,” he said. “I got them at CDW as soon as it opened.”

  He reached into the bottom desk drawer. “At least the bitch missed the tool kit,” he said. “Also, thank God, I brought the Anderson file home with me last night or that, too, would be history.”

  Julie rummaged in her bag. “I’ve got my tool kit, too. Also, some program discs and extra CDs. We’ll get this sorted out yet, partner.”

  “Damn, I wish I had that laptop. I should have taken it home with me.”

  “There’s no way you could have predicted this. Do you want to get started on my computer?”

  “No, that’s only a temporary fix. My brief’s not the only thing to get ready. The rest of the office has to be in working order or we’ll have bedlam.”

  “You’re right. An ordinary
Monday’s bad enough without this kind of chaos.”

  The buzzer rang by the front door. Dade sighed. “That’s got to be the cops. I’ll let them in.”

  Two gray haired officers appeared. One pulled out plastic gloves for picking up items. It took forty minutes for them to inspect the damage and write a report.

  “I’ll take this with, if you don’t mind,” the one said. He pocketed the note in a plastic bag.

  Dade nodded. “Be my guest.”

  “We’ll mosey on over to this little lady’s place and see what she has to say for herself. Don’t you be talking to her in the meantime.”

  Dade grimaced. “No problem there. We have enough to occupy our time.”

  After the officers had left, Julie and Dade retired to his office to begin their task. He lifted a hard drive out of the top box and held it up. “Have you ever installed one of these babies?”

  “No, but my fingers are smaller, so I’ll give it a try. You read the instructions.”

  He spread the paper and read aloud, as Julie, tiny screwdriver in hand, tackled the installation. The inner workings of the computer were so compact, she had to be extremely careful not to destroy anything on the mainframe and make matters worse.

  After an hour of concerted effort, she said, “Okay, one’s done. Let’s try it.”

  The machine started, but they had more work ahead of them before the hard drive could perform. Julie handed over her restore disc, which Dade inserted into the CD drive. Another hour later, the programs which had originally been loaded on Dade’s computer were installed and the familiar Windows logo and icons appeared. She shifted her weight as they waited for the printer drivers to finish installing.

  “Here, stick these in. It’s from my top cases,” Julie said, pulling out five rewrite disks from her bag.

  After the files were transferred, Dade said, “Well, my work’s cut out for me. I better get started.”

  “You mean we better get started. You’re not doing this alone. We’ve discussed this case often enough. I’ll use my laptop and get on Westlaw and research the citations. Then we’ll transfer the information.”

  They worked through the afternoon and into the evening without break, except for nibbling on a few apples, which Julie had thrown into her bag on the way out that morning.

  By two a.m., through their combined efforts, the thirty-page brief was finally done. Flipping over the pages, Dade scrutinized the finished product. When he got to the end, he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, it’s ready.”

  Julie let out a cheer. She was bone tired, yet happy at the same time. Through their combined efforts, they’d accomplished something monumental. They were true partners. At least for now.

  “Julie, I don’t know what I’d have done without you,” he said. The look he gave her was special and intimate. Mesmerized, she stared into Dade’s cobalt blue eyes.

  Her heart stopped, then raced. For a moment, their relationship shifted and they were something more than partners.

  She was imagining things because she was awfully tired and incredibly hungry.

  Ignoring the strange feelings washing over her, Julie said, “We need to get the other computers running before Monday, but I’m too beat to tackle anything else.”

  “I second that.”

  She groaned. “I hate the thought of driving all the way home and back again in a few hours.”

  “You don’t have to. I can finish it up tomorrow.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re still partners, Dade. We’re in this together.” She gazed at him as fiercely as she could, which was difficult with her eyelids drooping.

  “All right, then,” he said, mustering a tired smile. “I’ve got a spare bedroom. You can stay overnight at my condo, then we can tackle the job tomorrow -- or should I say, later today?”

  Who else had used that spare bedroom? A flash of jealousy seized her, followed by a dose of common sense. It didn’t matter. Besides, if he did invite a woman into his condo, she certainly wouldn’t use the spare bedroom instead of sharing his. She frowned at the thought.

  My, she was tired or she wouldn’t be dwelling on Dade’s sex life. Also, she wouldn’t even consider his suggestion of a sleep-over. Sex was a loaded gun and could kill the partnership.

  Did it matter? She was already killing it.

  She fought back a rising guilt. She had to think of herself. She couldn’t stay in her present situation if her heart wasn’t in it.

  “Come on partner. I’ll drive you over,” Dade said.

  Yawning, Julie nodded.

  * * *

  In no time at all, Dade turned into the basement garage of his Lake Shore Drive condominium and switched the engine off. He turned to find Julie sleeping. In the dim light, her hair shone like an angel’s. The worry lines had smoothed from her brows, leaving her face serene. Her body looked soft and cuddly, making him want to grab her caveman style and lug her upstairs to his bed, where he’d kiss every perfect inch of her. Hardening, he thought of what he’d do afterwards.

  Hold on there, where had that come from?

  He’d known Julie forever. Sure, she was hot, but he’d had no troubling overlooking that attribute before.

  “Damn, this is not happening.” He pressed his eyelids shut to clear his head.

  When he re-opened them, nothing had changed. Julie was still there, within easy reach. Hopefully, when she woke up, the fantasy would end and everything would shift back to where it belonged.

  “Julie, we’re here,” he said, keeping a safe distance behind the driver’s seat. She had to wake up of her own accord because he dare not risk touching her.

  She stirred slightly then fell asleep again. What should he do?

  Get a grip. It’s Julie, your partner. You see her every day. What’s the big deal?

  He reached out and tentatively placed his palm on the tip of her shoulder. A jolt shot through him so intense he jerked away.

  It had to be his imagination. The whole day was a supreme nightmare. How could he think straight when he was bushed and incoherent?

  With renewed purpose, Dade again placed his fingertips on Julie’s shoulder. Of their own accord, they settled there, touching, caressing. Her skin was soft, her bones delicate. A rush of protectiveness filled him. He was used to that feeling, which meant the aberration had passed.

  He gently shook her. “Julie, wake up. We’re here.”

  Her eyes opened groggily. “Wha-uh where are we?”

  “In my garage. Let’s go upstairs.”

  “What? Oh, now I remember.”

  He helped her out of the Saab. She stumbled and he caught her. “Are you okay?”

  “I got a little dizzy for a second. It’s nothing.”

  “Here, lean on me,” he said, putting his arm around her waist. She didn’t object, probably because she was half asleep.

  He realized his mistake as her soft flesh pressed against him. Damn, he wanted her bad. What had he gotten himself into?

  Dade guided her into the elevator, where he quickly dropped his hands away.

  The pulse in her neck beat fast. She bit her lip, as the elevator began its ascent.

  “Are you all right,” he asked.

  “Oh, it’s that elevator thing again. It’s such a nuisance. I try to ignore it. I was doing pretty good, but then the classes at Jensen’s penthouse set it off again.”

  “You missed one today, didn’t you?”

  He couldn’t help a feeling of victory at the thought of keeping Julie from seeing Jensen. He wouldn’t rub it in. Not after all she’d done for him.

  “Is he a good teacher?”

  “Actually, he’s great. I’ve learned lots of things I can put to use later.”

  The later she was referring to meant when she left the firm. Damn. Why was she so pigheaded? They’d grown up in the same neighborhood. They knew what it was like to do without. She was a damn good lawyer. Why throw away a good thing and tempt fate?

  The elevator pinged.
They’d reached the twenty-fifth floor. It was time to face the temptations he’d created. He should never have invited her up here.

  Once inside the condo, Dade steered Julie to the master bedroom suite.

  “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll use the guest room.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”

  “You’re my guest. Don’t argue.” He reached into the walk-in closet and grabbed an oxford shirt. “Here, you can wear this.”

  She looked at it as if she’d never seen a shirt before.

  Maybe she slept in the nude. No, not Julie. She wasn’t the type.

  “Hey, pretend you’re playing dress-up, like you and Avery used to do. You lost the toss and got stuck being the father.”

  She stuck out her tongue. “Don’t say that. I always hated being the father and you know it.”

  That tongue. It could do things to him he better not think about.

  “Don’t worry. You could never pass for a guy,” he said, tapping his index finger on the tip of Julie’s nose.

  Electricity shot through him. He snatched his finger away and almost ran to the side of the bed, where he turned back the covers. She’d look real good lying on top here without his shirt on. He’d better get out of here fast or he’d lose it for sure.

  “You’re set. Wash up and hop in. No more talk about Avery or neither of us will get any sleep. My sister, the newshound, has had enough wild adventures in her lifetime. I’d rather not think of them.”

  “That’s Avery, all right.” Julie smiled bleary-eyed, clutching his shirt.

  Dade nodded and turned toward the door.

  “If you need anything, I’ll be right down the hall.”

  He almost ran to the guest room.

  * * *

  Julie stirred, awakening from a deep sleep. She stretched lazily then sighed with pleasure at the tangy scent of Dade’s aftershave wafting from the pillow case. This was the bed he slept in every night. The thought made her all tingly, like she’d applied his aftershave all over herself.

  As sometimes happens in the waking-up period when reality and dreams blur, her mind pictured Dade entering the bedroom and leaning over the bed. Slowly and tantalizingly he unbuttoned the shirt he’d lent her, then pulled it back.