Legal Heat

by Sarah Castille

  “Had he ever had an allergic reaction before?”

  Patricia shook her head. “Never. Healthy as a horse, except a bit overweight, but we were working on that. I didn’t want him to have a heart attack and leave me early.” Tears welled up in her eyes. Katy offered her a tissue but she shook her head.

  “I stayed with him all night and the next day too. They gave him lots of drugs but the swelling didn’t go down. He improved, though, and he could talk and make jokes like usual. He wasn’t the only one involved. There were three others. One of them had a wife, Julia. I talked to her in the coffee room, but I never saw any of them after we left.”

  Katy nodded. “Strange they didn’t send him to the hospital when he began to recover.”

  “I thought the same thing but they said, as a private facility, they could provide him with better care and they were concerned about cross-contamination from the chemicals. They did look after him very well. He had his own nurse, three-course gourmet meals, fancy bedding and a big screen TV. When I pushed for him to go to the hospital, he said he was happy in their facility. After a couple of days a man came to see us. Said he was a lawyer for Hi-Tech. Offered Robert two million dollars compensation if he kept quiet.”

  “That’s a lot of money.”

  “Especially for us. I’m a secretary so we had a steady income, but it wasn’t much, and we were worried about retirement. Anyway I wanted to take the document to a lawyer but he said Robert had to sign there and then or not at all.”

  “Duress.”

  Patricia frowned. “What’s that?”

  “An agreement isn’t binding if it’s signed when you are under pressure or if you are being threatened.”

  “That’s exactly how it was. Anyway, Robert signed it and they sent us home. The money appeared in our account the next day, which was a good thing because Robert couldn’t go back to work. He had trouble walking and although the swelling went down, his face was never quite the same. Then we found out he had cancer.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Katy put down her cup. “Why did you change your mind about talking to me?”

  “Well I was going to call you and then Hi-Tech sent another lawyer. Nice fellow. Decent. He said the other agreement had problems and explained what they were. Robert didn’t care. He just signed the new one. He wants to make sure I’m looked after when he dies. The lawyer had one for me too. But I didn’t sign it or accept the money he offered. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that company. He said that was fine but he asked us not to speak about the settlement or the accident.”

  “Did he threaten you or blackmail you to keep quiet?” Katy held her breath. Please don’t tell me Mark crossed the line.

  “No not at all.” Patricia smiled. “He was very nice. He was concerned we were treated fairly and didn’t lose the money.”

  Katy let out her breath with a whoosh. Nice. Honest. Compassionate. How could she reconcile the different aspects of the man she had thought she loved?

  Patricia brushed a few loose, gray strands of hair behind her ears. How old was she? Maybe fifty-five or sixty? Too young to be contemplating a life alone.

  “Hi-Tech wants to kill you, don’t they?” Patricia asked in a hushed whisper.

  Katy startled at the abrupt change of topic. “The police haven’t caught the shooter and if they have any theories about who it was, they haven’t shared them with me.”

  “But the newspaper said your witness was going to testify against them and I saw the police are still protecting you.”

  Katy swallowed. “I think the shooter was just after my witness but the police don’t believe me.”

  “That’s why I want nothing to do with Hi-Tech,” Patricia said. “I thought after the last lawyer’s visit, I’d just keep quiet, but now Robert has taken a turn for the worse and…” her eyes flooded with tears, “…I don’t really care what happens to me after he’s gone. He’s been my whole world since I was a girl.”

  Sympathetic tears spilled from Katy’s eyes. She envied Patricia the deep love she shared with her husband—the kind of love that could have lasted a lifetime. The kind of love Katy had only tasted and lost.

  “What really happened?” she asked, after they had both dried their eyes. “You said you told the story you were given. What’s the real story?”

  Patricia tensed. “It wasn’t an accident; it was an experiment. They offered my Robert and three of his co-workers three thousand dollars to try a new drug. They told him it had already been tested and it had only minimal side effects. So he agreed. But right after he took it, he began to swell up and he was in so much pain. When I got there, he was crying in agony. They all were. My poor Robert.” Her eyes flooded with tears again. “I hate them. They must have suspected what would happen. They treated Robert like some kind of lab rat.”

  “Do you know if he signed anything at Hi-Tech? A consent form or something like that?”

  Patricia shook her head. “If he did, he didn’t tell me.”

  “Did they tell him what the drug was supposed to do?”

  “No,” she sniffed. “He was going to use the money to take me on a holiday. We were going to go abroad. He always wanted to see France.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Now he never will.”

  “We didn’t get the warrant to search Hi-Tech.”

  James froze. “Say again, Joanna?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. The judge denied our application. He said we didn’t have enough evidence to tie the bodies or the cleaners to Hi-Tech.”

  “Is he crazy?” James threw his pen across the room. “I can understand Garcia and Wood alone. That was a shot in the dark. But we have four men, all who work for the same company on the same contract to Hi-Tech. We now have bank records showing they each received a transfer of two million dollars. We have copies of their settlement agreements with the company. We have established they all suffered from similar injuries, and contracted the same rare form of cancer. It doesn’t take a genius to do the math. What more does he want?”

  Joanna took a step back, her eyes wide. Ah…she had never seen him lose control. Usually he managed to keep the pens on his desk.

  “The judge agreed there may be a link between them, but we don’t have enough evidence to establish Hi-Tech has done anything wrong.” She stared at the pen on the floor and her voice wavered. “He said it is plausible the four men were injured at work and settled out of court. Or that all six people had similar symptoms but different causes. He wants something concrete. He’ll reconsider on an expedited basis if we can give him one hard piece of evidence. I have a feeling the judge wouldn’t be as cautious if Hi-Tech wasn’t such a high-profile company.”

  “Fuck.” James slammed his hand down on his desk. “We need a connection between Garcia, Wood and the four cleaners. Saunders is the key but she’s afraid to talk.”

  “How do you think she’s involved?”

  James sighed. “I think she took drugs from Hi-Tech and gave them to Jimmy Rider to sell on the street. If she was being honest in the interview, then I suspect the drug was highly successful and Rider started blackmailing her for more. If she had given him even one sample, he would have had something to hold over her head.”

  “Makes sense.” Joanna nodded. “Maybe he sold something to Garcia, who unfortunately had a fatal reaction, but for the most part everyone was fine. But when Martha got caught sneaking into the building to replenish his supply, he would have been cut off.”

  James picked up her train of thought. “He might have had an extra stash at Wood’s place but before he could get to it, he was arrested. Wood might have found it and tried it out.”

  “And had a fatal reaction as well,” Joanna said.

  “Yes.” James punched the air as more pieces fell into place. “That ties in nicely with the assault on her lawyer. He must have thought she took the drugs when she went to Wood’s apartment.”

  Joanna picked up the phone. “So can we bring Saunders in for theft, dealing and obstruction? W
e should have enough leverage to get her to talk.”

  “We’re still missing a few pieces of the puzzle.” James drummed his fingers on his desk. “Did Wood take all the drugs or did someone get to her apartment first and empty the bag? The break-in suggests she had a visitor before the lawyers found her. Jimmy was in jail, so it wasn’t him.”

  “What about the same people who scared Saunders away?” Joanna’s face brightened. “Maybe they’re the ones who also shot at Sinclair to scare her, thinking she had the stash.”

  James sighed. “But that means someone else took it, and I find it hard to believe that we have another player involved in the whole mess. I still think Kowalski was the primary target of the shooting.”

  Joanna’s shoulders slumped. “We still haven’t established a connection to the cleaners.” Exhaustion lined her face. The team had been working round the clock and the stress and late nights were beginning to take their toll.

  Time for a little outside intervention.

  James grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his chair. “Bring Saunders back in. Make sure she understands her right to have a lawyer present. But not Katherine Sinclair. I can just see the case being thrown out on the basis of a conflict of interest.”

  “Where are you going?”

  James slung his jacket over his back. “To see my fairy godmother.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The door opened. Just a crack at first, and then wider.

  Katy looked up.

  Impeccably tailored suit, Italian leather shoes and blue silk tie. Mark. Carrying a lunch tray.

  The scent of soap and sandalwood filled the small storage room, one of many in the basement of the office tower housing Hi-Tech’s headquarters. A deliciously familiar scent. Ruined by the smell of chicken broth.

  Bastard.

  She scowled and flipped through the file she had just pulled from one of the dozens of boxes stacked against the wall. She couldn’t believe how many files Steele had suddenly managed to produce. Mark must have had a talk with him before he withdrew as counsel. But of course, no one had warned her about the volume of disclosure. There was no way she could get through all the documents by herself. Even though her meeting with Patricia had helped her focus the search, it would still take weeks. She only had an afternoon.

  Mark sat down across from her and placed the tray on the table.

  “You are still recovering, sugar. You need to eat. You’ve been here since seven and I know you didn’t have breakfast so I took the liberty of visiting the cafeteria.”

  “I’m quite capable of feeding myself.”

  Typical male. No greeting. No apology. Sauntering in here like he owned the place. Like he owned her. He could go to hell.

  “If you don’t eat this, I’ll feed you myself.” A hint of warning sharpened the smooth tenor of his voice.

  She caught her breath. There was no doubt in her mind he would do exactly that. But she was too angry for caution. Too hurt to care about the consequences.

  “I’d like to see you try,” she growled. She glanced up to see his reaction.

  Damn.

  His steady, heated gaze made her shudder. Possessive. Dominant. Unyielding.

  “Would you really?” His dark eyes glittered at the challenge.

  Katy sighed. “Mark, please just go. Leave me alone. I have work to do.” She scribbled on her page. Nonsense words. Pretending to be busy as her heart turned back flips.

  Stupid heart. You’re supposed to be broken.

  “You won’t make it through all the documents if you don’t have the energy.” He pushed the tray towards her.

  She jerked back and slid her chair away from the table. “I asked you to leave. For once, try to make an effort to respect what I want.”

  Whispers in her ear. Soft lips on her neck. Promises. Secrets. The memories hurt.

  “You aren’t safe. I’ve been watching the door all morning. There are several businesses in the building with storage rooms down here. A lot of people have access to the basement. Steele should have let you review the documents in his office. I think he put you down here for a reason.”

  “You’re overreacting,” she snapped. “The police are watching the elevator and the stairwell.”

  He rested his elbow on the table, his finger brushing over his bottom lip, drawing her eyes to the mouth that had kissed her with such tenderness and spoken the words that had broken her heart.

  “How did I get in then?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t care how you got in, but for the record, it was a supremely stupid thing to do. If you’re caught down here, Steele will have a hands down case of conflict of interest against you, not to mention all the other ethical breaches involved in breaking into a former client’s storage room and talking to former opposing counsel.”

  His gaze locked on hers. Beautiful eyes. So familiar. She didn’t know how long they simply stared at each other. Why was he really here? To torment her further? To distract her? She didn’t want to consider the other option.

  “I’m willing to take that risk to keep you safe. I care about you, Katy.”

  She left the table and headed over to the wall of boxes. “If you cared, you wouldn’t have interfered.” She had opened herself up. Trusted him. Now she knew she’d done it for nothing. In the end, men always betrayed her.

  Lesson learned. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  She stood in front of a precariously stacked pile and searched for the next one in the series. She could feel his eyes on her body, as if he were touching her with his hands.

  Well let him look. He would never touch her again.

  His chair scraped the floor. Italian leather heels thudded softly towards her.

  She froze. Closed her eyes. Breathed in his scent. Steeled herself against him.

  “Look at me,” he commanded.

  A shudder rocked her. Unable to resist, she turned her head, looking back at him over her shoulder. His tie glimmered under the soft florescent lighting. Another memory. Another event she wanted to forget.

  Gently, slowly, he turned her around to face him.

  “I understand how important your career is to you but I knew, between your stubbornness and Ted’s ambition, you would continue to pursue the case. Even after what happened. You just can’t let things go. Someone needed to look out for you.”

  She took a step back and folded her arms. “How unbelievably arrogant.” A quiver of anger worked over her body. “How many times have I told you? I don’t need you to take care of me.”

  Her elbow hit one of the boxes and the stack tilted forward. Mark reacted before she even sensed he had moved. One minute, she was standing in front of the avalanche and the next, she was cradled under his arm as his other hand shot forward and slammed the tumbling boxes into place.

  She closed her eyes. Every inch of her skin came alive, her temperature soared. Her body leading her mind. Again.

  “Stop protecting me,” she muttered into his chest.

  He laughed with a deep rumble, his breath warm and moist in her ear. “Not a chance.”

  He crushed her to him and banded his arms around her waist. “I love you, Katy. I don’t want to lose you.”

  Her heart pounded. Her thoughts slowed down. The stacks of boxes receded until there was only Mark.

  She missed him.

  She hated him.

  She loved him.

  He kissed the top of her head and leaned forward to nuzzle her neck. “This is when you’re supposed to run away.”

  She moaned. Needing him. Despising him.

  “I love that sound,” he rasped. He cupped her face with both hands and slanted his mouth over hers.

  A creak startled them both.

  “I always trust my instincts.” Steele’s voice, dark and dangerous, echoed through the small room. The door closed behind him with a loud bang.

  Mark pushed Katy behind him, an instinctual move and totally ineffective. Katy immediately
stepped away and into Steele’s line of vision.

  “As usual, they never let me down.” He leaned against the door, arms folded, blocking their only means of escape. His hooded gaze raked over Katy, and then flicked over to Mark. “I thought something was going on during the discovery. After the seminar at the Fairmont, I was almost convinced. But I knew for certain when I discovered where your little kitty went to recover after her terrible accident.”

  “I’m not his kitty,” Katy snapped.

  Steele snorted. “The label doesn’t matter. You’re his. It’s written all over his face. Now I understand why he was so eager to drop my case.”

  “You asked me to do something unethical,” Mark said. “It had nothing to do with her.”

  “You’re a hypocrite as well as a coward.” Steele toyed with the Rolex on his wrist. “You’ve had a conflict, possibly since the day of the discovery. Whether you acted responsibly is neither here nor there. I have to assume you compromised my case. I think the video footage of this afternoon’s activities will prove to be quite informative to the Law Society.”

  “What do you want?” Mark growled. Steele would have reported them already if that had been his intent.

  A sensual, carnal smile tipped Steele’s lips. “I think that’s obvious.”

  “Humor us,” Katy said, her words laced with venom. “Spell it out, or is the word blackmail too hard for you?”

  “Katy.” Mark cut her off with a bark. Attacking Steele would only lead to disaster. Had she not learned that lesson before?

  Steele’s lips curved into a smile. “The question is, kitty, will it be too hard for you? Looks to me like you need someone to tell you what hard really means.”

  Katy wrinkled her nose. “You’re disgusting. If you think for even a moment that I would sleep with you—”