Legal Heat (19 page)

James sipped his whiskey, his blue eyes cool and calm. “Probably a good thing since you have a conflict and all.” He paused and lowered his glass. “Trixie said she was pretty upset.”

Mark took a sip of his whiskey. The bitter liquid suffused his taste buds before it burned its way down to his stomach. “Things got…complicated.”

“Complicated?” James leaned forward. “I’m hoping complicated isn’t the reason for the bruises Trixie saw around her neck.”

“Bruises?” Mark pushed back his chair. “Where is she? What happened?”

James held up a hand. “Calm down. Trixie looked after her. Any idea who might have hurt her?”

“Why are you asking me?”

James shrugged. “I thought she might have confided in you. I checked the system and she hasn’t filed a police report. If someone is assaulting women, he needs to be caught.”

Mark rubbed his hand over his head and took his seat. “She has an acrimonious relationship with her ex-husband and there was a guy at the banquet, a court reporter, who wasn’t too happy when I stopped him from pawing her on the dance floor. When I find out who hurt her—”

“Don’t even think about it.” James cut him off. “If she reports it, the police will handle it. If she doesn’t, she’ll have a reason. You know you can’t get involved.”

Mark shot back the last sip of whiskey. “I am involved.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Mark shrugged. “I’ve got a plan to resolve the conflict. But even then…I keep thinking about Claire. I pushed too hard, and look what happened.”

“You know what I think about Claire,” James grumbled. “Yes, you pushed her. You made her look at herself and realize what she needed. And what she needed you couldn’t give. You didn’t love her. She got that. She moved on. What happened afterward was the result of her choices. It had nothing to do with you. I have never understood why you can’t let her go.”

“She reminds me of who I am and why I can’t get seriously involved with anyone ever again.” A life on the streets with a drug addict for a mother had not prepared him for the give and take needed to sustain a relationship. How could someone who had never known love have anything to offer? He hadn’t been enough for Claire. He wouldn’t be enough for Katy.

“If you really believe that, then you’ll back off before it’s too late.”

Mark gave a bitter laugh. “It’s already too late.”

Dear Mark

Dear Mr. Richards

Mark

Katy deleted the email and checked her watch. Fifteen minutes until her next court hearing. With Mark. No time to run out for a coffee. She put her laptop on the seat beside her and leaned against the wall. A flurry of lawyers raced down the corridor, their robes fluttering behind them. Late for court. She knew the signs.

Palm fronds rustled in their wake and leafy shadows danced across the carpet. A beam of sunshine flooded through the atrium, catching the tips of her shiny, black Manolo Blahniks. She didn’t bother much about her suits, but she always bought nice shoes.

She flipped again through the document list Mark had sent over and snorted. Ten documents. What a joke. Hi-Tech had to have more than ten documents relating to Martha’s dismissal. Her performance reviews should have filled a file folder. What about board minutes, HR files, internal emails? Where were the security tapes? Even if they’d been erased, they should have been listed. He wasn’t even claiming the missing documents were privileged. Apparently they just didn’t exist.

She should call him and demand further disclosure. If he had been any other lawyer on any other case, she wouldn’t have hesitated to pick up the phone. But how could she call him after the banquet? What would she say? Would she tell him she regretted the risk they had taken or that she regretted they had not taken things further? Email would have to do.

She flipped through the amended pleadings he had sent over this morning, and her eyes narrowed. What the hell? She read quickly through the outrageous counterclaim and her mind clouded with anger. How could he do this to Martha? Why now?

“Am I interrupting something?”

Katy’s head jerked up at the familiar sound of her managing partner’s voice. “Ted! What are you doing here?”

As always, Ted was impeccably dressed in a starched white shirt, pressed black wool suit and a crisp red tie. He was rail thin, with sharp, hard features and silver-gray hair that matched his eyes. He had earned his court nickname, the Silver Fox, not because of his looks—he had been young and dark-haired when he was awarded the moniker—but because he was sly, cunning and an unabashed opportunist.

“I just wanted to check in and see how my favorite associate is handling her seminal case. I have to report back to the partnership committee on your courtroom performance, so I thought I’d sit in on today’s hearing.” He squeezed Katy’s shoulder. “I’m also worried about you after that incident with Jimmy Rider. I want to make sure you’re still able to do your job.”

Katy swallowed hard. No way would she tell Ted just how much Jimmy had shaken her. She hadn’t slept in two days nor had she been able to focus on preparing for today’s hearing. She had even contemplated asking Steven to sleep over after he brought the kids home on Sunday. Ted couldn’t have picked a worse time to assess her.

She heard voices in the corridor and recognized the timbre of Mark’s deep voice. She spotted him outside one of the nearby courtrooms, talking to a client. His perfectly tailored gray suit highlighted his broad shoulders and slim waist. She couldn’t decide if he looked better in a suit or in his tux. Or maybe he would look best without any clothing at all…

No. Look away
. But the warning came too late. When she glanced up again, dark eyes drew her in. Katy flushed under Mark’s scrutiny and managed a faint smile when he walked toward them.

“Ms. Sinclair. A pleasure to see you again.” The formality in his tone gave her the strength she needed to reach out and shake his hand.

“Mr. Richards.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Not about the weekend. Not about the case. Not even about the weather. The memory of their kiss lingered on her lips even as her blood boiled.

He shifted his gaze to Ted who stood fuming beside her, unused to being ignored. “Knight.”

Ted nodded. “Richards. Haven’t seen you for ages.” The two men shook hands but their movements were stiff and forced. Katy frowned. They clearly knew each other, but what was the reason for their animosity? A heated case? Professional discourtesy? Or was it personal?

“I hope you’re not being too hard on my associate.” Ted’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“She’s definitely giving me a run for my money.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing that.” Ted winked at Katy. “I’ll see you inside.”

They watched him pull open the heavy oak door and disappear into the courtroom.

“Very nice shoes, but I think I preferred the boots,” Mark murmured. He stood so close, she could feel the heat radiating off his body and smell the familiar, spicy tang of his cologne. She gripped her bag so her hands wouldn’t be tempted to wind their way around his neck and pull him toward her.

Two men in gray suits walked past them and a group of court watchers stopped beside the courtroom door to check the court schedule. Katy waited until the hallway cleared before thrusting the amended pleadings at Mark’s chest.

“How could you do this? Your client is suing Martha for theft, libel and interference with contract? She has no job thanks to Steele. She’s mortgaged her house to pay my fees. If she loses, she’ll be totally destroyed.”

Mark shrugged. “I’m sure you advised her about the risks of suing a company with unlimited financial resources, especially after the regulators dismissed her allegations. Hi-Tech only wants to protect its reputation and to send a message to other wannabe whistle-blowers.”

“Maybe Hi-Tech isn’t the shining beacon of corporate responsibility you make them out to be,” she snapped.

“Maybe your client isn’t as innocent as you would like to believe.”

Katy sucked in a sharp breath and tightened her jaw. “She has nothing to hide. She was trying to do the right thing.”

“It’s not personal, sugar. It’s business.” He ran his fingers along the edge of the silk scarf Katy had tied around her neck to hide the bruises Jimmy had left behind.

“It’s bad business,” she mumbled, pulling away. She didn’t want him to see the state of her neck. Even Steven had been shocked.

“Why the scarf, sugar? It isn’t something you normally wear.” The steel threading his voice sent a chill up her spine.

Katy batted his hand away. “I wanted to try something different.”

“You wanted to hide something.” He yanked on the scarf and it slid off her neck with a violent hiss.

“No.” Katy grabbed hold too late.

Mark studied her neck and his voice dropped to a low growl. “Was it Steven? Tim? I promise you, whoever did this will never touch you again.”

Katy grabbed her scarf and wound it back around her neck. “It’s a law firm matter. Ted is handling it. There’s no reason to get involved.”

“Ted?” Mark barked out a laugh. “He doesn’t give a damn about your safety. All he cares about are his fees and his reputation. Did he tell you not to report it? I’ll bet he did. That means whoever did it is still out on the street. Give me a name, sugar.”

Katy blushed and looked away. Ted had been adamant she keep the incident quiet. Not only that, he had been reluctant to take her off Jimmy’s case. Only her threat to talk to one of the other partners had finally changed his mind.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

Mark’s lips thinned into a tight line. “Then, I’ll guess. Firm matter, which means he’s a client. Violent, which suggests criminal tendencies. I know one of your criminal clients. I also know he likes to throttle women who don’t give him what he wants. I saw the same bruises on Valerie’s neck. Tony and I had several discussions with him.”

Katy swallowed hard and gave him a worried glance. “Please, don’t do anything. He’s dangerous.”

Mark clenched his jaw. “So am I.”

Chapter Eleven

“So what do you think of the Forensics Lab?” Trixie waved her arm in a sweeping gesture meant to encompass the entire restaurant and narrowly missed a potted plant on the ledge behind her.

“I keep expecting someone to give us a box with evidence samples or ask us to solve a murder.” Katy swirled the last of the Caymus Conundrum around her glass. Mark would have appreciated the slightly sweet wine she had chosen to complement their Asian meal.

Stop it.
But she couldn’t get him out of her mind.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know this restaurant existed,” she said. “I don’t really get out much.” And after tonight, she wouldn’t be going out any time soon. Hi-Tech’s application to amend the pleadings had been approved. She and Mark were in for one hell of a long, drawn out fight.

But more than that, she and Mark were done. After the hearing, he had apologized for what happened on the terrace and assured her it wouldn’t happen again.
Keep it professional
, he had said.
Steer clear of conflict
. She couldn’t understand why he had backtracked after he had been so adamant he was going to turn the case over to another partner in the firm. But of course she had agreed. Although his rejection had stung, it was best to end it before anyone got hurt.

Too bad her heart didn’t agree.

Trixie laughed. “I know every restaurant and bar in town. Gotta keep up with the competition. Tony lets me expense everything if I bring him back new ideas for the club.”

“I’m not letting you pay tonight,” Katy warned. “It was nice of you to call and invite me out. I’ve neglected my friends for so long; no one even bothers with me anymore.”

Trixie laughed. “You’ll never get rid of me. When I meet someone I like, I stick like glue. Plus I wanted to check up on you in case you’d been hit with post-traumatic stress disorder. You were pretty shaken when you came into the club the other night.”

“It wasn’t traumatic. Just…unsettling,” Katy lied. She leaned back in her chair and looked out at the boats in Coal Harbor. Situated beside Stanley Park and overlooking the water, the cozy restaurant with its dark wood tables and richly hued walls couldn’t help but do well. “I’m fine, really. I’m just worried about Mark. He figured out who it was and he said he was going to deal with him. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Katy took a quick look around the restaurant to make sure no one could overhear their conversation. A few couples, a group of men in suits and a woman dining alone. No one she knew, but busy for a Monday night.

She looked at the woman again.
Brave
. Had she ever dined alone? The woman scribbled in a notebook, engrossed in her writing. Her food sat untouched on the table in front of her. She reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. Beautiful, flame red hair. Was she waiting for someone? Women that beautiful didn’t need to eat alone.

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Trixie said. “Have you taken a good look at the guy? He’ll wipe the floor with Jimmy.”

“You knew who it was too?”

“The thumb marks on the collarbone and fingerprints along the neck are his trade mark.” Trixie waved a hand toward Katy’s scarf. “I also knew he was your client so it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”