The Taxman Killeth (14 page)

He feasted on the slippery
softness of her femininity. He tasted her passion and sensed her opening to his
demands. Knowing that neither of them could wait any longer, Todd stood and
removed the bath towel. Amy’s eyes concentrated on the thickness of his
erection as she moved further up the mattress.

She looked up at his eyes and
caught the fire brightening the blue of his irises and reached her arms out to
him.

“Are you sure, Amy? You know I
might not have much of a future.”

“We’ll work together to make a
future for us.”

Todd knelt on the mattress,
straddling Amy’s hips. Gradually he slid inside her, watching her responses,
wanting desperately to satisfy her. When she moved too quickly, he slowed her
with a whisper. “Don’t hurry, Amy. I want to stay inside of you for as long as
I can.”

Her body joined him in slow,
luxurious thrusts. She used her fingers to wind through the dark locks of his
hair as he covered her breasts, neck and lips with kisses.

When she knew she couldn’t stop
the approaching orgasm, she cried out his name, and Todd responded by thrusting
harder, joining her in a heightened, throbbing climax.

Minutes passed before they were
able to communicate again.

“I’m so glad I found you,” Amy
said, knowing that she truly loved this man.

“I’m ecstatic to be found.”
Resting on his elbows Todd swept back the copper-colored hair off her forehead,
spreading it out on the bedspread.

“We should eat that food.”

“Amy, I don’t want to move,” he
said, snuggling between her legs.

She giggled when he brought his
mouth to her ear and blew on the delicate convolutions.

They rested and dozed for
another half hour before Todd called out, “Dinner time.”

“The steak must be ice cold.”

“No microwave. I’ll have to make
do.”

After they finished eating they
made love again. Later, while each held a champagne glass and was propped
against pillows, Todd questioned Amy about the information she had to share.

“Stu’s leaving town.”

“Good for him.”

“Todd, Stu’s going to Texas. The
other partners have asked him to take a vacation. They must have found out
about him assisting in smuggling illegal aliens.”

“Amy, what he was doing may have
been legit. There are lots of lawyers who earn their living by assisting aliens
to become legal.”

“But what about Joey’s murder?”

“I don’t believe he had anything
to do with that. I think it was a personal vendetta.”

“But who would hold a grudge so
intense he’d murder someone?”

“Amy, I’ve put a lot of people
away. The list of people who would like to see harm come to me and Joey is
long.”

“Could Joey have had enemies you
didn’t know about?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to
find out by hanging out in the dives he used to frequent.”

“Why did Joey hang out with such
ruffians?”

“His father was an alcoholic.
After they took Joey away from him because of child abuse, his father hit skid
row and went down fast. I think Joey always hoped to find his old man.”

There were a few moments of
silence as Amy watched Todd look off into space, remembering his friend and
partner.

“Maybe your sister would have
some ideas.”

“My sister has no knowledge of
what I do for a living.”

“I have the impression she does.”

“No way. I’ve been careful never
to utter a single word about the undercover jobs Joey and I handled.”

“Joey talked.”

“What?”

“Jennie said Joey used to tell
her a lot about the work you two were involved in.”

“She must mean the export
business.”

“No. I have the definite
impression that she knew.”

“That’s impossible. Stay away
from my sister, Amy. I don’t want her involved. She has enough to deal with.
Hell, I don’t want you snooping around, either. That klutz you were talking to
in the bar could have been trouble.”

“Is that why you moved closer?”

“Exactly.”

“How did you know I’d leave when
I got out of the ladies’ room?”

“I reckoned that you had some
common sense.”

“Thank you.”

“I should get back to my room
before it turns daylight,” he said, checking the time on her watch.

“Will I be able to find you at
that bar again?”

“Amy, I don’t want you coming
around that neighborhood, understood?”

“Then where can we meet?”

“If things work out, I’ll be
knocking on your door,” he said, rubbing the back of his hand across her cheek.

“If... I’m not sitting this out,
waiting on the sidelines, Mr. Coleman.”

“Amy...”

“Hey, you can’t stop me from
looking for you. Wouldn’t it be better if we agreed on some place to meet?”

Todd knew controlling this woman
was impossible, and he feared for her safety if he didn’t come up with a simple
task that could keep her occupied.

“Okay. How about you keep tabs
on my sister, but don’t mention what I’ve done in the past. And I’ll give you
calls periodically to see how she’s doing.”

Amy shook her head.

“You won’t help out with my
sister?”

“I’ll certainly do that. She
needs a person she can talk to, given that beast she lives with.”

“Has he given you a hard time?”

Todd had jerked forward and his
eyes flashed out trouble. If she told him about the attempted rape she wasn’t
sure what he would do.

“No. But anyone could see that
he’s not an appropriate husband for your sister.”

Sighing, Todd eased back against
his pillow. “I wish I could have talked sense into her years ago.”

“You’ve supported her
financially and emotionally, and that’s all you can do. No one can tell a
person how to live or what to do, including you, Mr. Coleman.”

He prepared himself for her
demands.

“I don’t just want to hear from
you. I want to be able to see you and make sure you’re all right. And I still
think I should follow up with Stu.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing dangerous. Maybe stop
by his apartment and dig for information.”

“Amy, I assigned you a task, and
I don’t want to hear about anything else. Otherwise, I’m not going to call at
all.”

“But...”

“Two can play this game. I’ve
compromised, Amy, and I expect you to do the same, or you’ll never know what’s
happened to me.”

Amy nodded, thinking all he
really asked is that she not tell him what she planned. That she could agree
to, she decided.

“By the way, that conversation
you had with Pickens...”

“Ah, yes.”

“What did he say, exactly?” she
asked.

“Didn’t know anything.”

“What’s that smirk on your face
for then?”

“I think you underestimate
Pickens.”

“That twerp! You’ve never had to
work with him.”

“Either you’ve underestimated
the charms of Pickens or accountants do far better than I thought.”

“He lives in a big house?”

“Average size, but nice.”

“Todd, you’re holding something
back. What is it?”

“Nothing,” he laughed. “He just
seems to be doing quite well. Enough of Pickens and your curiosity. You
promised to keep yourself confined to watching over my sister, remember?”

Not really, she thought.

“I’ve committed myself to seeing
your sister on Saturdays when she takes the children to the library.”

“Great! Then I’ll give you a
ring on Sunday evenings.” Amy began to open her mouth. “Not another word. I’d
rather have a touchy-feely good-bye,” he said, tickling her into his arms.

Chapter 15

The Secret Understanding

What did Todd mean when he said
that she underestimated Pickens? she wondered. Pickles sat across from her at
the conference table, his glasses low on his nose and his sparse dark hair
swept in long strands across his pate. He looked over the frame of his glasses
directly into her eyes.

“Maybe Teddy could help me
instead of you.”

“Not his job.” She purposefully
made her stare more intent. It was an ‘I can see right through you, Mister’
kind of look, except that she really couldn’t. But maybe she could bluff him
into giving something away, even if Todd hadn’t.

Pickens looked back down at his
pad and tapped the worn-down eraser end of the pencil on the Formica table. The
steady tap was driving her crazy.

“Must you constantly watch me?”
he asked, not bothering to look at her.

She said nothing but didn’t even
attempt to divert her attention away from her target.

By lunch time they were both
nervous wrecks.

“What’s with Pickles?” Trudy
asked. “I’ve never seen him go out to lunch before.”

“He probably figures it’s the
only way to get away from me. And he’s right. Unless we catch up with him. He
might be meeting someone for lunch,” Amy said, dragging Trudy along by the
sleeve of her dress.

“Wait! There is no way I’m going
to be following Pickles around during my free time. Why has he become such an
obsession for you? Are you really interested in him?”

Amy slowed down to a stop. Todd
said he had spoken to Pickens and Todd knew how to interrogate, didn’t he? He
must have been trained to do such things, she reasoned.

“Okay. Where would you like to
go for lunch?”

“Anywhere away from that pudgy
little Pickle.” Trudy slipped her arm around Amy’s and they both headed for the
elevator.

When Amy got back from lunch she
found out that Teddy had been assigned to work with Pickens. Teddy didn’t know
all about the office management, but he would act as an intermediary between
her and Pickens, at least during this phase of the job.

That was fine with Amy. She hadn’t
been getting any answers out of Pickens. Now she would have to turn to another
source: Stu.

“Trudy, do you remember where Stu
lives?”

“Oh, you’re referring to that
Christmas Party.” Her eyebrows had risen. “You’re interested in Stu now?”

“No. I’m not trying to seduce
Pickens or Stu. I have a few papers for him to sign.”

“But he’s not supposed to sign
anything, everyone knows that.”

“They’re things that he should
have signed before he left, Trudy. I have an old address for him, but he never
bothered to give us the change when he moved.”

Trudy hesitantly gave Amy the
address.

“You’ve been acting peculiar
ever since that hunk was here to do the taxes, Amy. Is something wrong?”

“No,” she curtly replied, then
went back to her office to call up Sam’s taxi company again. One of these times
she was sure to bump into that driver again if she kept using cabs the way she
was.

Later, a clone of Sam dropped
Amy off in front of Stu’s house. This time, she didn’t mind the fact that he
wouldn’t wait. The neighborhood was ritzy enough that cabs occasionally
wandered through, and she didn’t expect to get mugged climbing the stairs to Stu’s
house.

At first Amy doubted that anyone
was at home, even though a light shined in the front window. She knew that many
people used that ploy to keep burglars away. When she was about to descend the
steps, Stu opened the front door.

“Amy, what are you doing here? I’m
sorry. Come in. I guess I sound rude, but I didn’t expect to find you on my doorstep,
otherwise I would have neatened the place up.”

She walked into a huge room.
Cardboard cartons were piled in the center and Teddy was picking up several
piles of paper off the floor.

“Amy! Hi.” He looked as if he
had been caught in a raid.

She nodded.

“Teddy volunteered to help me
sort out much of my work.”

“But I thought you weren’t
supposed to be active now.”

“Not on company work. To be
frank, I’m probably not going to be allowed to come back to the firm. The
partners found out that I had been spending an inordinate amount of office time
doing my own private cases.”

She wished she could pore over
the same pages Teddy was now reading.

“Can I help?”

“No! Teddy and I have an
understanding.” Stu looked over at the paralegal, who quickly glanced up from the
materials. “Nothing firm. That’s why Teddy would—”

“I would rather you not mention
that you saw me here to anyone at the office.”

Amy swallowed hard. She should
have realized that Stu wouldn’t be in it alone. And Teddy had been out on
vacation when Joey was killed. She gave a long hard look at the young man. His
brown hair was chopped short and his face looked pinched with his flat thin
features.

“Amy? Please?”

Teddy was pleading for time. For
what, she wondered, so that both men could make their getaway?

“Sure,” she said, trying to
appear relaxed. Why wouldn’t Todd believe that Stu had something to do with the
murder? She was vexed.

“Do you think you’ll be called
on the carpet also, Teddy?” she asked, straining to keep her anxiety under
control.

“No. I doubt they have any
suspicion about my...” Teddy paused. “I never let any of this interfere with my
work at the office, Amy. You know my assignments are all handed in on time, and
no one has ever complained about my work.”

“I’m certain you don’t have to
prove anything to Amy,” Stu said. “She’s used to hearing people sing your
praises around the office, right?”

“Especially from you,” she said.

The two men looked at each
other. She wondered whether she was digging her own grave.

Stu was able to keep his composure
and asked if she liked something to drink, which she refused. Teddy grappled
with the papers in his hands, stuffing them into boxes before they slipped
through his nervous fingers.

“You never did tell me what you
had done on vacation, Teddy.”

Again the two men passed a brief
look at each other.