Courting Disaster

by Carol Stephenson

  He winked. “Sure, hon. I need to discuss a file with Nicole anyway.” He left, shutting the door.

  “Wow, Kate.” I leaned back. “How do you manage it?”

  “Gabe, you mean?”

  “Yes. When you did that prim and proper routine, I figured for sure you would rile him.”

  She carefully examined her nails—as if one would ever dare to be chipped. Regular manicures were one of life’s necessities for Kate. “Arouse is the better word choice.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Her smile was downright wicked. “I’ll be lucky if we make it inside the door at home. He just loves the ice princess routine.” She folded her hands. “So tell me, did you?”

  “Did I what?”

  “Kiss Jared back?”

  My face warmed. “Major lip lock. In a public parking lot, no less.”

  “Does he still have that zing?”

  “Zing? I almost had his pants down around his ankles.”

  Kate settled more comfortably in the chair. “Tell me all the juicy details.”

  “There are none. We came to our senses and then I tried to run my car over his foot.”

  “Fascinating way to keep a man interested.”

  “He drives me nuts at times.”

  “Men are uniquely talented in that regard.” Kate smiled wryly and then eyed me with amusement. “Do you want him to drive you crazy?”

  “You mean get back together?” At her nod, I shrugged. “Yes. No. Maybe.” Even thinking about him caused yearning to squeeze my heart. I had it bad.

  “That’s what I love about you, Carling. Your decisiveness.”

  “Can we talk about something else?” I asked with a shade of desperation in my voice. “I’m starting to get a headache again.”

  “Ha! Now you know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a personal inquisition.” Kate wagged her finger at me.

  “I don’t do that.”

  “Do too. Many a time I’ve had to field your and Nicole’s questions about Gabe.”

  “Hey! Can we help it if we have to get our thrills vicariously through you?”

  “I think you’re quickly topping me in the thrill department. Making out with a man in a parking lot.” Making an umm sound, she smacked her lips, a very un-Kate-like reaction. I’d been a bad influence on her.

  The problem with women attorneys is we tend to be control freaks, so I recognized I was once more on the losing end of this conversation.

  “Enough about Jared or I’ll ask when you and Gabe are getting married.”

  A dreamy look filled Kate’s eyes. “Don’t think you can get me fired up on that score.”

  Things must be getting serious between them.

  “But I’ll accept your wish to change the topic.” Bracing her elbows on the chair arms, she pressed her fingers together to form a steeple. “Rumor has it you fired your client.”

  I winced, waiting for a comment about losing another paying customer. At the rate I was going, I wouldn’t have any by the end of the week.

  “Thank God. One of the benefits of having our own firm is being able to pick and choose our clientele, but so far you’ve been acting like you’re still at the public defender’s.”

  “Clark is innocent until proven guilty” was my rote response. Then my core beliefs kicked in. “Our justice system worked in this case.”

  Larry Clark probably was guilty of a lot of things. However, without physical or testimonial evidence linking him to this particular rape beyond a reasonable doubt, any accounting for his sins would have to wait.

  A tap sounded on the door before it opened. “Carling.” A white-faced Nicole entered trailed by a somber-looking Gabe.

  Uh-oh. I sat up straight. “What’s wrong?”

  While Gabe stood next to Kate, who gripped his hand, Nicole came around my desk. “I just took a call from the state attorney’s office. There’s bad news.”

  Oh God, something had happened to Jared. I started to rise. “Is it Jared? Is he hurt?”

  Nicole shook her head. “Sheree Greiner is dead.”

  Chapter Ten

  Sheree Greiner’s black cloud of bad luck had finally ended with her death. A victim of a violent carjacking, one of the fastest growing crimes in Palm Beach County.

  Wearily, I pulled into my driveway, the car’s headlights sweeping across the dark front of my townhouse. I turned off the engine and sat, trying to drum up the energy to gather my purse and briefcase.

  Investigators weren’t sure whether the carjacking had occurred after she’d left the deposition or at another location. However, because of the lack of blood in the car, the speculation was that she had been forced to ride with her murderer before he killed her and dumped her body in the Loxahatchee suburb. A man walking his dog had stumbled across her body. Because the area wasn’t heavily populated, no one had seen or heard anything.

  What wasn’t public information that Gabe learned from one of his police contacts was the professional degree of the shooting: two taps to the chest and a third, final one to the head. Exactly like Borys.

  Sheree’s car being stolen was no coincidence. She had been a deliberate target. Larry Clark was in the clear, since he was still in prison. However, his release was imminent. Had someone wanted to make sure his case didn’t go to trial?

  So much horror for that poor girl. All I could do was hope she was finally at peace. But the nightmare would continue for those left behind, including me.

  I opened the car door and got out. As I trudged up the abbreviated walkway, I pressed the button on my keychain, locking my doors. The idyllic days of leaving one’s car unlocked in Palm Beach County were long behind us. Crime’s invidious tentacles permeated all aspects of life.

  Juggling my purse and case, I managed to open the front door, dropping them with a thud on the floor, and reached to flip on the hall light switch.

  Nothing happened.

  I flipped the switch again. Only darkness.

  The skin on the back of my neck prickling, I reached behind me to open the door again.

  The squeak of a rubber sole on the tile floor was my only warning. I twisted as I was slammed into the door by the crush of someone’s body. Pain exploded along my right side. As hands clawed at my throat, I smelled the other person’s sour odor of…fear? Desperation?

  “Where is it? Tell me where you’ve hidden it,” the intruder demanded in a hoarse whisper.

  I whipped my head about, trying to avoid his deadly hands while my own were trapped between our bodies. I stomped down. Contact. For good measure I ground my heel into the soft flesh.

  “You bitch!” My attacker hissed with pain but stepped back, loosening his grip.

  At the same time I squared my body around, I jerked my knee up. Bull’s eye.

  The man bent over and I thrust my hands out, shoving hard. His dark form fell to the ground. I ran.

  My townhouse had only two entrances and he blocked one. I had to get to my bedroom door, which opened onto a small patio. Behind me I heard the small table by the front door crash to the floor. I sped down the hallway.

  One moment I was running, the next I was sprawled on the floor. My heart thumping, I fought to scramble to my feet again, but my legs were tangled with…cushions?

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the shadowy figure coming toward me. Desperately, I braced my hand on the floor and metal cut into my palm. I still held my keys. I thumbed the lower button as I got to my knees. Outside a horn blared to life.

  The man halted, cursed and swung around. I didn’t wait to see what his next move would be. I stood and limped to my bedroom. I slipped inside, shut and locked the door. A cool breeze fanned my face. Turning, I saw my patio door was open and partway off its track.

  Oh my God. He had come through it. I was trapped if he made his way around the house. I ran to the bedside table and grabbed the portable phone. Relief flowed through me when I heard a dial tone. I ran into the bathroom, locked the door and got into the bathtu
b. Then I punched in 9-1-1 and got the emergency operator. I fought to keep my voice steady as I told her what was happening. When she offered to stay on the line until help arrived, I knew she wasn’t the lifeline I needed. As I strained to hear what the intruder was doing, I called a second number.

  I drew my legs up and pressed my forehead against them. “Jared?” I could barely breathe past my fear. “I need you…please.”

  Ten minutes later the doorknob on the bathroom rattled. Silently, I rose and steadied my grip on the bottle of hair spray. It wasn’t much in the way of defense, but the spray would sting the eyes like hell.

  “Carling? It’s me,” Jared called out.

  His voice was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. I scrambled out of the tub and unlocked the door. I threw myself at him. He grunted but wrapped his arms around me in a fierce rib-crushing hug. He pressed tender kisses across my forehead. Then his mouth found mine. At first, his lips were gentle, but then he deepened the kiss so that heat blasted through me.

  I needed this. I needed his strength, his comfort. I burrowed against him as close as I could get. With a groan he broke the kiss off and cupped my face.

  “The police are here,” he explained in an apologetic tone as he glanced over his shoulder. I spotted a uniformed officer by the bedroom door.

  “Nothing like getting here in the wrong nick of time,” I muttered.

  The officer gave up pretending to stare at the ceiling and smiled. “Sorry, ma’am. Are you all right? Do you need the paramedic to check you out?”

  In comparison to the injuries I’d received over the past several weeks, my latest scrapes were a walk in the park. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

  The lamp by the bed flickered. Air spilled from the overhead vent. So the intruder had messed with the circuit breaker. I gaped at the sight of the tossed contents of my bedroom. Drawers upended onto the floor, bedding stripped.

  The officer turned to leave, but Jared called out, “Wait a minute.”

  He flipped the wall switch by the bathroom door. I blinked against the sudden bright light, but Jared scowled. “Have the medic check her out and take some swabs. She’s got red welts on her neck. You’ll want photographs as well.”

  “Yes, sir.” The officer left.

  I reached up but Jared caught my hand. “Don’t.” He lightly kissed my fingers before releasing me. “Sorry, honey, but—”

  “There’s the possibility of the creep’s DNA.” I shook my head as I recalled the struggle. The feel of rubber against my neck. “Go ahead and take the samples but you’re not going to find much. He wore gloves, probably disposable latex.”

  Fury darkened Jared’s eyes. “That bastard. I’ll kill him.”

  “And risk my having to represent you?”

  He smiled. “Horrifying as that may be, I can’t imagine being in anyone else’s hands.”

  “Mr. Manning?” The officer stood in the doorway. “We’d like to take Ms. Dent’s statement.”

  “Coming.” Jared took my elbow and drew me out of the room. I cast a glance at the hall closet and winced. The door was opened and several jugs of water had been tossed out of the way, their thin plastic sides split.

  Jared followed my gaze. “Your hurricane supply closet?”

  “Yes. I’d just finished stocking my water.” From this angle, it didn’t look like the intruder had gone through everything. Maybe I had interrupted him before he got to the rubber tub.

  Jared gestured to the policeman and said something in a low voice. If I knew him, he was telling the officer to inspect for footprints. I would have to wait until everyone was gone to check it closer. Best not to draw too much attention to the closet.

  I surveyed the damage while Jared conferred with the police in the living room. Voices from outside drew my attention as Kate and Gabe rushed inside.

  “Carling, are you all right?” Kate hugged me as Gabe patted my shoulder, all the while studying the scene.

  “He was after something,” he said in a low tone, but Jared had the ears of a bird of prey when he wanted.

  “Yes, he was. He didn’t touch any portable items to steal such as the DVD player or stereo. And he turned on the laptop like he was looking through her files.”

  Jared was all prosecutor as his gaze burned into mine. “What was he looking for?”

  I managed a nonchalant shrug. “Who knows? I represent a lot of folks.”

  “Carling—”

  “We’ll go over our client list, Jared.” Cool as a cucumber, Kate gave him her best debutante smile. “Of course, we’ll try to cooperate as much as possible given the attack on Carling, but we also have to respect matters of attorney-client privilege.”

  Jared’s jaw tensed but he only nodded. “Okay.”

  Kate’s arm tightened around my waist. “Can we take Carling home with us now?”

  “Hold on.” I gave her a hug and then stepped away. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Kate and Jared exchanged a look.

  Gabe, who had gone down the hallway, reappeared. “Her patio door was jimmied off the track. That’s how the creep popped her lock.”

  “No way can you stay here alone tonight,” Kate protested.

  “Sure I can. I’ll get one of these nice officers to help me put the door on the track. I’m hardly going to sleep, not with all this mess. I’ll be fine.”

  “If you’re not going to Kate’s, then I’m staying.” Jared’s tone was mild but no nonsense. “You need to have your locks rekeyed before you spend one night alone.”

  “No one’s staying but me. There’s an all-night drug store down the street. I’ll pick up…” I waved my hand but couldn’t think what would work. “Whatever I need to secure the house.”

  Shaking his head, Gabe sighed. “I know that stubborn look. She’s not going to budge.” He sauntered over to Kate and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be right back. I should be able to find enough odds and ends to keep your crazy partner safe for the night.” He raised a brow. “I trust you have a drill.”

  I sniffed. “Of course I do.”

  He winked and left. Kate gave me and Jared a long look. “If they’re done with the kitchen, I’ll go make tea.” Jared winced. “And a pot of coffee,” she continued with a smile.

  I wandered into the living room and perched on the edge of the sofa. Jared sat on the cocktail table and clasped my hands in his. Rather than the usual heady spark I felt when he touched me, a quiet sense of connection stole through me.

  “I apologize for what happened the other afternoon at the track.”

  I swallowed. “Me too.”

  He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “I’ve never stopped wanting you, honey. There’s nothing I crave more than to have you under me in my bed.”

  I caught my breath at the banked desire in his eyes. The corner of his mouth kicked.

  “Or on top of me if you so choose. However—” his fingers tightened, “—we were out of control those weeks after you were shot. Fast and furious. I don’t want only mindless sex with you, Carling.”

  He lifted my hands and kissed my fingertips. A shiver rippled along my arms.

  “For me, that’s not good enough. Don’t we deserve lazy Sundays in bed or walks in the moonlight?”

  Tears burned in my eyes and my throat tightened so I was afraid to speak. I nodded.

  I heard a sound from the hallway and looked over at the uniformed officer standing there. “Is this a bad time to take your statement, Ms. Dent?”

  I blinked the moisture from my eyes. “No, let’s get it done.”

  Jared rose and sat next to me on the sofa. I gave the officer a quick but thorough rundown.

  Kate entered the room carrying a tray with four mugs. She passed them around and sat in the remaining chair.

  The officer checked his notes. “Although this appears to be a break-in you interrupted, I should ask if anyone has threatened you lately?”

  “No.” I lifted a shoulder. “We have the occasional irate client
but I haven’t received any threats.” I tapped the scar on my forehead. “At least not in a year.”

  Jared stiffened. “What about Larry Clark? Andy told me he hated women and ranted about your letting him go as a client.”

  “He’s in jail.”

  “No he isn’t. We had to drop the charges. He was a free man as of five today.”

  I glanced at the front window. Spending the night alone didn’t seem brave now, but rather downright reckless. I doubted any lock could hold out Larry if he wanted in. But what about tomorrow night or the next? I couldn’t hide forever.

  Carrying several bags, Gabe appeared in the entryway. He shot Jared a look. “Manning, if you’re done drinking coffee, I could use a hand carrying the lumber and rods in from the truck.”

  With deliberation Jared finished off his coffee, put his mug down and rose. I scrambled up. “You’ll need that drill and other tools.”

  Gabe shook his head. “I picked up a few tools.” Kate groaned from behind me.

  “Ye of little faith.” I opened the hall closet and pulled out a blue metal box. I flipped up the lid and displayed a monster electric drill.

  “Gentlemen, this drill is guaranteed to chew through wood, mortar or steel.” I appreciated the way Gabe’s and Jared’s mouths gaped.

  An hour later, with temporary locks on the door and windows and a makeshift bar across the patio door, Gabe and Kate left. Jared insisted on checking every entrance one more time before heading out. “I want to hear every lock being set, Carling, before I leave.”

  “Yes, sir.” I saluted him.

  “Dammit.” He snaked his arm around my waist and jerked me against his body. “Promise me you’ll be careful and call me if you hear anything.”

  I splayed my hands across his chest and smiled. “I will. I plan to sleep with the cell phone next to the pillow.”

  “Good.” He gave me a hard kiss and then set me inside. “Door, locks.”

  I complied, flipping the first lock before sliding the dead bolt into place. Then I stood by the window and watched his car leave.

  I looked down the hall toward the closet. If my attacker had been Larry, would he have searched the place? Given what I knew about his character, he would have gone straight to rape or worse. No, the intruder had been looking for something.