Compromising Positions

by Beverly Bird

  “Roger wanted us to come home,” Tessa explained. “He thought we could talk some sense into you.”

  “It was your honeymoon,” Jesse responded disbelievingly.

  “Since we’re here,” Gunner said, “I want it all, every minuscule detail from start to finish.” He glanced at his wife again. “Homesick?”

  “Roger was vague,” Tessa said, ignoring him. “I get the feeling that that’s because you haven’t told him everything?”

  Jesse was grimly silent. Angela looked at Tessa. “Better order more coffee,” she suggested.

  Tessa blinked. “More? We’ve got a whole pot.”

  Angela sighed. “I think this is going to take awhile.”

  It was nearly nine o’clock before they finished filling Gunner and Tessa in. Gunner dragged them through each incident over and over again, until he was satisfied he had all the details in place. Tessa took notes, asking a question or two of her own.

  “All right.” Gunner said finally. “Laying low here is good. It’s a start. But it’s not enough.”

  “No,” Tessa agreed. “All it does is get Angela off the hook, and that’s only if Charlie does something else, if he doesn’t know she’s covered.”

  “I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance.” Gunner growled suddenly.

  Jesse felt a quick, sharp pain in his chest again. For the first time. he wondered just why Price had stopped harassing Angela all those years ago. He had just assumed it ended when his uncle had let the man off the judicial hook. Apparently not. But that was something he would deal with later.

  “I don’t want Homicide running this,” he said flatly.

  “I thought we’d settled that,” Gunner snapped.

  “Not to my satisfaction.”

  “What the hell would satisfy you?”

  Angela saw Jesse’s eyes shutter. “A quiet resolution that won’t affect my candidacy,” he answered flatly. “I won’t be caught in a firestorm of accusations here. I can’t afford it. We need to quietly and emphatically get our hands on one unequivocal shred of proof.”

  Gunner stared at him. “What’s important here?” he demanded. “A psycho rapist and killer on the loose, or a goddamned election?”

  “Both. And you’d realize it, too, if you’d calm down and think about it.” Jesse paused pointedly. Gunner waited. “Price is clever,” he went on. “If I let this investigation get beyond my control, out of my office, then there’s no telling how it might be handled. Do you have any idea how it will look for me if something goes wrong and the guy walks again?”

  Gunner opened his mouth to answer, then changed his mind.

  “You’re afraid,” Angela said, touched, watching Jesse, her voice soft, disbelieving.

  Jesse glanced at her. “Damned right I am.” His voice lowered with intensity. “Oh, I want him. But I want to make damned sure that he’s taken the right way, with our is crossed and all our is dotted. I don’t want him out on the streets again in two weeks, running against me and telling everyone how I tried to put him out of the race. I want to make sure nothing goes wrong. I want to err on the side of caution.”

  “I’m not a cautious man,” Gunner retorted.

  “Well, you’d better learn,” Jesse said shortly. “Let me illustrate what will happen here if he gets off. He’ll play the press like a finely attuned fiddle. He’ll turn this entire situation around to favor himself, just as he did to Angela. And I’ll come off looking like the dirty player. My name will be associated with sneaky underhandedness and lousy campaign tactics. And the worst-case scenario is that I’ll lose the election because of it. And if I lose the election, guess who’s your next D.A. And possibly mayor.”

  “Mayor?” Angela squeaked

  Jesse’s gaze softened as he glanced her way. He told them what he’d learned from his father. “I found out late yesterday afternoon,” he explained. “You were right. He wants the whole enchilada—he needs it because his family’s all over him—and this is his only chance to save his sinking ship. He can’t wait for another, later election, for some other post, because he’ll probably have gotten the boot from the ACLU by then, ruining his chances. It’s got to be now, this D.A. campaign. But Angela turned up, back in town, in a position of some prominence. He must have seen his life pass before his eyes. Not only did he have to worry about somehow unseating me, but he had to worry about Angela opening her mouth again. And people would believe her this time. At least a handful would, and that would be enough.”

  Angela sat back weakly. “Setting it up to look like I’m framing you undercuts both of us.”

  “Exactly.” Jesse looked at Gunner. “Now are you willing to do this my way?”

  “With your investigators? No way.” Gunner held up a hand when the others were about to argue with him. “It could take months for them to get to the bottom of this. They’re lawyers, not a one of them went to the Police Academy. They know the law, but they don’t know squat about investigation. Damn it, if evidence can’t be found through records, through computer sources, your people are at a loss!”

  Jesse was quiet for a long time before he finally nodded. It was true enough, and he was honest enough to admit that Gunner’s argument had merit. For the most part his team organized evidence. The police department compiled it.

  “So we’ll compromise,” Gunner went on. “We’ve got four of the sharpest minds in Philadelphia right here in this room. We’ll take care of this ourselves.”

  “We have another whole week of vacation,” Tessa added. “We don’t even have to technically report in with what we learn until then.”

  “And there won’t be any leaks,” Gunner affirmed. “Nothing will get out before you’re ready to point your finger.”

  Jesse nodded, then he had to smile. It was a tight reflex. “I was laboring under that assumption yesterday—that Kennery was going to keep this business quiet Next thing I know, you’re banging our door down.”

  Our door. Angela’s heart lurched then swelled.

  Tessa looked at her husband again. “So where do we start?”

  It was Jesse who answered. “Here’s a kick in the right direction. I think someone in Angela’s department might have recognized Price when he went to collect Lisette.”

  “But your people interviewed everyone there already,” Angela argued.

  “They asked about a suspicious-looking funeral-home employee,” Jesse countered. “Not about Charlie Price.”

  “I rest my case,” Gunner said dryly. “They don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

  Jesse ignored that. “It’s possible it’s another dead end,” he agreed. “Maybe he got out of there before this person actually saw him. But he was worried enough to try to set up an alibi. He turned up at my office immediately afterward. I literally bumped into him on my way to the morgue.”

  They were all quiet at that. Finally, Gunner blew out his breath. “Okay. Let’s get started.” He veered in his pacing to head for the door. Then he stopped by the chair and stared down at it in dismay. “That’s my hat.” He looked at Jesse. “You took my hat.”

  “Live with it.” Tessa suggested.

  “And my jacket. You took my jacket? That’s my favorite jacket!”

  “Actually, I hate it.” Tessa wrinkled her nose. “It’s old and it’s ragged.”

  Angela got up and grabbed the hat. She plunked it on Gunner’s head. “Satisfied? Come on, I’ll walk you as far as the elevator.”

  Jesse watched them go through narrowed eyes. It took him more than a moment to realize that his sister was watching him with a similar look. “What?” he asked warily.

  Her voice crackled with anger. “Damn it, Jesse, you should have called us!”

  “Actually, I probably would have, but Kennery beat me to it. It took me until last night to swallow that it really is Price, and that we’ve got bigger problems here than even a homicide investigation.”

  She stopped in her tracks and looked at him, surprised by the admission
. “You never reach out. You always think no one can do anything better than you can do it.”

  “They generally can’t.”

  She smiled, then sobered. “You’re different. You’ve... changed.”

  “Maybe I’m mellowing.”

  She looked at his robe. “I’d say so.” Her eyes narrowed again. “Don’t hurt her, Jesse. She’s not like...well you know,” she finished lamely.

  Jesse’s grin came slowly. “She’s a lot tougher than she looks.”

  Tessa watched his eyes. Her own widened at what she saw there. “Oh, boy. Mom and Dad are going to keel over in a faint when they get wind of this.”

  “I think they already have.”

  “What have you done?” she gasped, but it was partly a laugh.

  “For starters, I escorted Angela to Monday’s fund-raiser. Isobel just loved the idea that she was so close to Gunner. They might as well get used to it. She’ll be by my side for a while.”

  “Does Angela know this?”

  “Not yet.”

  Tessa gave another delighted burst of laughter as she stepped into the hallway. “You know, I’m really glad I came home. I wouldn’t miss any of this for the world.”

  Jesse was dressed—minus the jacket and the hat—when Angela came back. She stopped just inside the door and leaned her back against it, watching him. The invasion of Tessa and Gunner had kept her preoccupied, off balance. Now she realized this was the first they’d been alone since they left the shower. Suddenly, she felt shy.

  But Jesse’s gaze was shuttered when he looked at her. “Was it him?” he asked bluntly.

  Angela blinked. “Who? What?”

  “You said you tried, but couldn’t. Did you try with Gunner?”

  Her jaw dropped. “With Gunner?”

  Jesse felt something overpowering move inside him. Relief. But he was a very good judge of character, and he thought that just as she had been stunned when he suggested that the hair in Lisette Chauncy’s hand was his, now she was equally taken aback.

  “Never mind,” he said hoarsely.

  “No.” She shook her head and pushed away from the door. “I want to settle this.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.”

  “I owe you everything,” she said simply.

  “I don’t want to know who it was,” he admitted, and that shook him up, too. Because such information had never bothered him about any lover before.

  “I doubt if you know him anyway.”

  “Oh. Well, good,” he said stiffly.

  She stopped in front of him and took a deep breath. “My mother drank a lot. My father was in and out. I saw my share of foster homes. Gunner’s was one of them.”

  His heart kicked.

  “We dated, briefly, when we were teenagers. Nothing came of it because we were too close. We were—are—like brother and sister. The first time I lived with his family, I was eight.”

  “The first time,” he repeated carefully.

  “I ended up going back when I was eleven, and again when I was fourteen. While my mother was away drying out. Gunner’s been the only real friend I’ve ever had. Until you.”

  “He did something to Charlie.” He wasn’t sure he really wanted to hear this, either, but the words were out. When you were the district attorney, sometimes it was wise to be ignorant of certain goings-on.

  But Angela didn’t even hesitate, and that was when he understood just how much she had come to trust him. It had been a hell of a morning, he thought, shaken.

  “The last time Charlie came to...to harass me, Gunner was waiting for him outside,” she said, and her voice had taken on a toneless quality. “John had been waiting for him every night, until he showed up again. I didn’t go out when I heard the ruckus. I didn’t call the cops that time. I don’t know what happened. I really couldn’t say with any certainty in a court of law, and it occurred after the trial. But...” Her face took on a pained expression. “I ran into Charlie not long afterward. Downtown. He was on crutches and he had a broken arm.” She smiled thinly. “I think they call it street justice. I imagine it’s worlds away from the kind you Hadleys swear by.”

  “Thank God for that.”

  She looked up at him quickly. She wanted to hope that he understood it had been the only way to stop Charlie, but didn’t quite dare to.

  “By any name, it finally put an end to things,” he avowed.

  She should have known that he would always say just the right thing. She just barely managed to nod before he drew her into his arms. She relaxed against him with a deep, shuddering breath. “I thought so,” she whispered. “I thought it was ended—until a few weeks ago.”

  Jesse closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the top of her head. She didn’t know it, but she had just answered yet another question he’d had. She had been duking it out on her own for a very long time. And not once, not ever, had she broken all the way through. It wasn’t going to happen this time, either. This time he wouldn’t let it.

  “We’ll get him,” he said quietly. “We’ll get the bastard. And he’s going to weep with regret. For all of it.”

  Chapter 18

  In spite of everything, Angela floated through the day. She knew it was crazy, even ill-advised, to let herself become so preoccupied with thoughts of Jesse. Besides all her other responsibilities, Charlie was still roaming the city somewhere. Who knew what the next trick up his sleeve might be? She had to be ready, on her guard...and the only thing she could think about was what Jesse had done to her, for her, how he had set at least part of her free.

  No one had ever cared so much for her, she thought, trembling a little. No one had ever been strong enough to be so kind.

  She forced herself to wonder what was in this for him. It had always been her experience that no one ever committed any act without hoping to gain something by it. But with Jesse, she just couldn’t be sure. She found herself praying that she was capable of giving whatever it might turn out to be.

  She didn’t hear from him all day. Nor did she hear from Tessa or Gunner. But she knew they were all out there, doing their part It gave her a strong sense of comfort, even as it frustrated her. All she could do was appear to go about business as usual...and wait for Charlie to play another card.

  While she worked, she wondered how and if her relationship with Jesse might continue when this nightmare with Charlie was over. Once circumstances stopped throwing them together. would he just...drift away? Something in the area of her heart spasmed at the prospect. If it happened, that part of herself he had returned to her would die again.

  As the day wore on, she wondered. too, if he would stay at the hotel with her again tonight, and something in her stomach curled. She promised herself that if he did, this time she would find a way to give something back.

  And by five o’clock, she realized that she had barely thought of Charlie all day at all.

  It was half past five when Gunner burst into Jesse’s office. Libby trailed after him, angry and rattled.

  “I asked him to wait!” she cried.

  “It’s all right,” Jesse said neutrally. This was his turf. And it was a visit he had been expecting. He did not expect what Gunner said first.

  “We’ve got him.”

  Jesse stared at him. “Who?” he asked blankly, waving Libby out. The woman closed the door behind her.

  “Price.”

  “You got him? Just like that?” He was incredulous.

  “We’ve got something.” Gunner clarified. He began to pace. “A couple of somethings, actually. Tessa is picking Angela up right about now.” He glanced at his watch. “They’re on their way here. I’ll fill you in when we’re all together.”

  Jesse didn’t like it. Waiting gave Gunner a subtle edge; he knew something that Jesse did not. He forced himself to sit back and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the other man.

  Gunner moved to the window and stared out at the street below. “Look, I wanted to beat them here because I owe you an apo
logy,” Gunner said at last. “I was...rough on you this morning.”

  “You were.” Jesse agreed.

  Gunner looked back at him sharply. “Do you have any idea what she’s giving you? Hell, I’m the first to admit that she comes off a little prickly at times, but—”

  “I know,” Jesse interrupted calmly.

  Gunner went on as though he hadn’t spoken. “Inside, she’s vulnerable.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Damn it, if you’re just playing with her, it’ll kill her. Then I’ll have to kill you. And I just married your sister. Ugly.”

  Under any other circumstances, Jesse might have laughed. “Give me some credit,” he said shortly.

  “I don’t know if you deserve it,” Gunner replied bluntly. “That model you’ve been running around with...well, let’s just say neither one of you was the picture of commitment.”

  There’d been a time, Jesse reflected, not too long ago, when he would have wondered if Gunner even knew the meaning of the word. But that had been before Tessa.

  “Angela’s not like that,” Gunner declared. “I mean, there are women, and then there are women.” He paused again, looking miserable. “I’m not good at this.”

  Jesse didn’t let him off the hook. Now he was enjoying waiting. He did it silently.

  “Sometimes you get into it with someone, and she gives you something so...so profound, so special, it changes your life,” Gunner said, struggling. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s a responsibility to take something like that from her. You can’t just play around with it, man. It’d be like juggling with Fabergé eggs. How’s that for terms you understand?”

  Jesse’s mouth quirked. “It’ll do.”

  “You look at a woman,” Gunner went on, “at the way she’s watching you, and the trees are whispering, and it’s so damned cold, but there’s this incredible warmth in her eyes. And then everything changes. You’re not the same. You can’t ever settle for less again. Everything that ever went before is...hollow.”

  Jesse finally let loose a big grin. “John?”

  Gunner looked at him again, confused. “What?”