“No!” Michael reached for the pictures.
Will held them out of reach and shook his head. “Uh-uh.”
Good for Will and his mile-long arms, Karen thought.
Michael took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“What do I want? What are you offering?”
“Will, just spit it out. Whatever you want, I’ll see what I can do.”
“First off, I want to not go to jail.”
Michael shook his head. “I assure you I will do everything within my power to –”
“Cut the crap. You are the power behind this, we all know it.”
Michael held his hands out. “I’m not saying I’m behind anything –”
“Did you know Bill Morgan is handling the Roosevelt Alumni web page now? I’ll be he’d enjoy getting an update on the class president –”
“Okay! I did it. I set you up. Because you beat the shit out of me, you asshole.”
Will drew his head back. “What? I never touched you.”
“Lying jackass. You caught me in the parking lot and hit me with a baseball bat.”
“You did that?” Karen looked at Will.
Will shook his head. “Sorry, wasn’t me. Must have been someone else who wants to see you suffer.”
“That was me.”
Well holy shit. Brad stood in the closet doorway.
“Okay!” Denise spun around the closet, her arms out. “How many more freaks want to come into my closet? Anybody else? Maybe we drag some people in off the street?”
“Calm down.” Karen shoved past Denise. “Ummm…Brad? What are you doing here?”
“I saw you come in and then she got out her gun and I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“How did you see me get my gun? I was inside the house by then.”
Brad flushed and kept his eyes steady on Karen. “You come with me now. I can take care of you a lot better than he can.” He glared at Will.
“Well, thanks, but…I don’t really need you to take care of me.” Did she? Things were so bizarre, Karen wasn’t sure if she was in danger or not. Will stepped in front of Karen. “Have you been following her?”
“I've been looking out for her. Someone has to.” Brad cast a glare between Michael and Will. “A woman like Karen needs to be taken care of.”
“Brad, I'm okay. Really.”
“No, you're not. No offense, Karen, but you don't know the kind of people you're dealing with. You don't know that your ex-husband likes to wear your clothes, and this hippie is only with you because he's writing a book about Mr. Way.”
“Will's not writing a book about…” She trailed off when she saw the look on Will's face.
Caught.
“You are writing a book about Michael?” Of course he was writing a book about Michael. In an instant everything became painfully, brilliantly clear. His interest in her from the very beginning had been because of Michael, because of Will’s need for revenge. Yes, they’d worked together to try and save their respective asses from jail time, but he didn’t need her for that. He was the champion of the wrongfully accused, after all. He’d come into her home, into her life – she’d just included him in a very emotional family crisis! – because he was looking for ways to destroy Michael.
And here she thought he was with her because of…her. How naive.
“I – I haven’t decided yet.” Will frowned at Brad. “You’re the one who was in my apartment?”
“You're writing a book about me?” Michael swayed on his feet.
Will patted the envelope. “This could make an interesting cover.”
Michael collapsed onto the bench. “What do you want? Whatever you want, Will.”
Will raised his eyebrows. “Whatever I want? Besides dropping the charges?” He tapped his upper lip with the envelope. “Let's see…your resignation.”
Michael blinked. “You’re kidding.”
“Oh, I don't kid. You ought to know that about me, at least.”
“But I can't –”
Will opened the envelope and drew out the stack of color photographs. “Oh yeah. Nice shot. You’re very photogenic, you know. I'm seeing a nice full color hardback, with my name on the spine and your picture on the cover. Maybe even a screenplay.” He sifted through the stack, nodding occasionally. “I doubt it would make it to the big screen, but a story like this would make a good movie of the week.”
Michael rubbed his hands hard over his face. “You can't do this.”
Will leaned forward, a nose away from Michael. “You took the congressional internship from me. You stole law school from me. You took the future I'd worked for, and never batted an eye. And you want to know something? I don't even care anymore. Things have worked out well for me, despite your best efforts. But you tried to take Karen's freedom, and I'm willing to bet you've stolen the freedom of many others.”
He was right. Karen wrapped her arms tight around her waist and watched as Will laid into Michael like a holy avenging angel. Everything he said was true, and he had every right to do what he was doing.
But he’d used her. He’d used her to get to Michael and she’d actually let herself believe that he cared about her.
Will took a deep breath and stepped back. “My best advice would be to spend your last few weeks in office reviewing your cases and making sure everything you've ever touched is so pure it'll float. I'd go through every file with a fine-toothed comb and if there's something out of line, I would do whatever I could to fix it. Because there will be an investigation. That's what I do, you know. That's the legacy you left me. And that's the legacy that's going to come back to bite you on the ass.”
“But – but if I reopen a bunch of cases – I'll look guilty.”
“Uh-oh.” Will folded his arms across his chest. “Then you'd better hurry up and figure out how you're going to spin it. And not by hanging someone else.” Will cocked his head. “I'll just keep this envelope as insurance. And it goes without saying that you're dropping the custody fight for Cait.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Denise said. She laid the gun on the floor and stood, her hand on her hip. “It was a token battle anyway. Michael couldn’t very well leave his impressionable young daughter with a crack head. Once you’d finished rehab you would have gotten the little brat back.”
“Talk about my daughter that way again and I will slap you,” Karen said. She turned to Michael. “It’s all true, isn’t it? You framed Will all those years ago so you could get the internship in Haney’s office. And you tried to frame him this time because you thought he was the one who attacked you.” She watched as Michael’s expression grew stony and closed. “My being there at the time just helped you out. You needed a good story behind our divorce and I handed it to you.”
“I told you to call Dan Hanover. He would have taken good care of you. Everything would have worked out just fine.”
Karen shook her head. “Will kept telling me you were behind it but I really didn’t believe until just now. You are really that low.” She backed up and bit her lip. “And you actually wore my clothes?”
“Honey, he wore everybody’s clothes. Your clothes and my clothes and some slutty stuff I’ve never seen before.”
“It must be bad if you think it’s slutty,” Karen mumbled. She reached for the pictures and Will let her have them. Ugh. She’d been married to a drag queen and didn’t even know it.
“Hey.” She just remembered something. “Were you at He’s Not Here last night? I saw someone wearing this skirt.”
Denise shoved her way over to look at the picture. “That’s my skirt. You wore my skirt to a gay bar?”
Michael just closed his eyes let his shoulders sag.
“He goes there every Friday night with Kitty. Standing date,” Will said happily.
“Who the hell is Kitty?” Denise demanded. “Isn’t she the one you hired to plant the drugs?”
Will tapped her on the shoulder. “She’s also the one he gave your Jagua
r to.”
“You what?!?”
Brad and Will winced and Karen put her hands over her ears. Denise’s shriek could have broken glass.
“You told me you were giving her a bus ticket and a few hundred dollars!”
“I did. But she accused me of ripping her off and she – and she tricked me into getting out of the car on the side of a dirt road.”
Will raised his eyebrows. He must also be speculating as to what Kitty used to trick him into getting out of the car, Karen thought.
“She left me there and drove off. I had to walk two miles back into town. But I promise I’ll take care of it. I have connections.”
“You have serious issues, that’s what you have.”
“Well, it looks as if our work here is done,” Will announced, rubbing his hands together. “The charges will be dropped, you will announce your resignation, Cait will stay home where she belongs. And I will be able to drive down the street without being harassed by your fabulous men in blue. I think that’s about it.” He looked at Karen and cocked his head. “Ready to call it a day?”
Karen could have slapped him for his smug expression. But since she was reeling from revelation-overload, she settled for shoving past him, kicking Denise’s gun so hard it spun and sailed out the door and under the bed – without going off, thank goodness – and storming out the door.
She heard both Will and Brad scramble after her.
Denise’s strident voice carried after them. “What about Washington? Does this mean it’s off? What are you going to do? You’re going to quit your job and have nothing to fall back on, aren’t you? Well, don't think I'm going to keep your broke ass in Liz Claiborne stockings.”
Despite the fact that Michael had brought this on himself, Karen almost felt sorry for him. She didn't think this was the best time to tell him she'd brought Pam home with her, but she did go back into the closet to tap Michael on the shoulder. “Don't worry about the girls,” she said. “I won't tell them anything.”
Denise stopped pacing and rolled her eyes at Karen. Michael simply stared. Apparently his daughters weren’t on his list of concerns at the moment. But she felt better for having said it.
As Karen left, she heard Denise say, “So, did you put that peach scarf with the Ann Taylor suit?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Michael sounded preoccupied.
“It looked good.”
“Thanks. I thought the peach would be a good complement to the lime green in the…”
Will waited for Karen on the landing. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t think straight right now. She needed time to think. She concentrated on keeping her chin up and not saying anything ridiculous. To that end, she thought it best not to say anything at all.
Will followed her silently out to where her car was parked at the curb. “I can’t believe it’s all over that easily. But boy, when you have the upper hand, you have the upper hand.”
Karen gritted her teeth and pulled her keys out of her jeans pocket.
Brad reached for her. “I’ll follow you home. Just to make sure you’re okay.”
“You will leave her alone,” Will said. “You’re a stalker and if you don’t back off now you will be served with a restraining order.”
“You’re the one who needs a restraining order! You have no business spending the night at her house.”
“You are a sick man. You need professional help. If I were you –”
“Both of you shut up!” Karen screamed. Screeched, more like it. She glared from one to the other. “I don’t want to hear another word from either of you. Will, if you want a ride, you’d better get your ass in the car this second because I am leaving whether you’re ready or not. And Brad…” She took a deep breath and looked at Brad, then threw her hands up. “You know what? I have no idea what to do about you. I have too much to think about right now. Be in my office at ten o’clock Monday morning. We’ll talk then.” She turned away, then spun back, her finger jabbing at his chest. “And if I see you anywhere near me or my house between now and then, I will shoot you. I swear.” She’d have to get a gun, but that was a very minor detail at the moment.
Will must have decided she was serious, because he got in on the passenger side and kept his mouth shut while she drove back toward his shop. They were a block away when he reached over and touched her arm.
“Hey. I know you must be upset.”
Karen shook her head and made a half-hysterical bark of laughter. “Yes, that’s it. I’m upset.” You've only known him a week. What did you expect, that you had his undying loyalty?
“I know it must be a shock, finding out about Michael –”
“Finding out about Michael? Who the hell cares about Michael?”
“Then what are you so upset about? The book? I told you I haven’t even decided yet if I would do a book or not.”
“Of course you’ve decided.” She pulled into the parking lot behind Under the Inkfluence and slammed the gearshift into park. “You knew from the beginning that your main objective was to hurt Michael. I can’t say I blame you. After the past week I can imagine how that would make a person want revenge.”
“If you think this past week has been all about Michael –”
“Just shut up,” Karen said. She congratulated herself on sounding quite calm. “I was an idiot for a while, I have to admit it. But I’m not that stupid. I should have known what you were after. You told me as much that first night, but I was…” I was pathetic and needy and a man paid attention to me so I fell all over myself making things as easy as I possibly could for him. To hell with reality. To hell with my pride.” I should have known a man like you…”
She closed her mouth because if she kept it open she was going to start to cry and God forbid she humiliate herself further. She rubbed her forefingers hard over her eyes. She was embarrassed, heartbroken, and furious. She latched on to the last one because it was a lot easier to deal with than the other two. The bastard had used her. Never mind right now how easy she’d made it for him. Never mind how stupidly she’d actually entertained the idea that they had something special between them.
“What do you mean, a man like me?”
She looked up. Will turned toward her, his jaw set and his blue eyes blazing.
“I should have known you weren’t really interested in me.”
“What do you mean, a man like me?”
“You know what I mean!” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I took you to Roosevelt. What a great chapter for your book. The respected DA’s family falls apart. One daughter stealing, lying, running away from home. The other drunk at a frat party. That’ll make it poignant.”
“Wait just a damned minute.” Will glared at her. “I never for one second –”
“Why should I be so surprised you used me? You told me from the very beginning and I didn’t want to believe it.”
His jaw twitched. “I used you? What about you? You used me.”
“How do you figure that?”
“You used me to make yourself feel better after your husband left you. You used me to make him jealous. Don’t give me that look, it’s true and you know it. You used me to get that first time with someone else out of the way. Didn’t you? You were never serious about me, Karen. I was your something wild and crazy. At least I’m honest enough to admit it.”
“Get out of the car.” Karen glared back.
“Not before you admit –”
“Get the fuck out of my goddamned Volvo!” she screamed.
Will sat for five full seconds, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing. Then he yanked open the door and got out.
She squealed the tires out of the parking lot, then slammed on the brakes and rolled down the window. “And don’t forget to mention all the boinking! Your readers will love that.”
Will slammed into his apartment and stomped around for a while, wanting to throw something, hit someone. He jerked open the refrigerator. Still s
wearing, he reached for a beer and spun the top off. He threw the top in the general direction of the wastebasket and heard it ping off the wall.
He drained half the beer in one gulp. He'd never been one to turn to alcohol – or anything else, for that matter – when he was mad. But then again, he'd never been so furious before. Not twenty years ago, when he'd watched helplessly as his entire world turned its back on him, not when the door slammed forever on his future. Nothing had ever cut him as deeply as the look of disgust in Karen's eyes.
“I should have known a man like you...”
A man like him. A man so far beneath her. A man who couldn't be trusted.
A man who shouldn't have been trusted, a voice inside him said.
He told that voice to fuck off. He hadn't done anything wrong. All he'd done was think about taking revenge he completely deserved. He had every right to take those pictures and do whatever the hell he wanted to do with them. Take out an ad in the Piedmont Courier-Times. Rent a billboard overlooking the fucking interstate if he chose. He had the right. He'd earned the right.
He took another long pull on the beer and stared out the window to the street below. While he watched two cars left and four more pulled up. Bear might need help. And he might as well be down there helping out as up here making himself crazy.
He checked his messages and heard the cop from New Orleans leave basically the same message he had earlier this morning on his cell phone. He needed to follow up on it before the guy changed his mind or developed amnesia. He should be on a plane to Louisiana tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest.
Instead he stomped downstairs and dropped onto the stool inside Bear’s station, listening with half an ear as Bear swapped war stories with a bald guy while he drew a skull with a snake slithering out of the eye socket on the guy's back.
Karen believed he'd driven her to Roosevelt so he could get the scoop for a book. After the week they'd had, after the night they'd shared. After this morning standing in her shower while he practically admitted that he worshipped her, couldn’t possibly live without her.
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