by Boone, Lisa
She forced a smile to her face, trying to lighten the mood. “You know, I can’t wait to hear you describe the evening we spent at the Hatfield Arms interviewing a potential client.”
His face brightened. “I just remember how the moonlight sparkled in your eyes when you asked me up to your hotel room.”
“It wasn’t my hotel room. It was crazy Joe Beazley’s hotel room.”
His hands slipped to her waist. “I like my version better.”
“So do I,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck.
§
10:45 P.M.
Madison slipped her arms through her coat sleeves as she exited the restaurant’s ladies room. Still feeling flushed from the dancing, she smiled as she continued down the hallway toward the hotel lobby. Halfway there, she stopped and glanced out a glass door leading to the parking lot, hoping to see Ethan pass by as he drove toward the front door of the hotel in order to pick her up. Her attention was so focused on trying to spot Ethan’s car that she didn’t notice the man walk up behind her until he spoke to her in a harsh, raspy growl.
“Where is she?”
Madison spun around.
Paul Harris stood a few feet away from her. His bloodshot grey eyes bored into hers with a hateful gleam. She involuntary took a step back, down the hallway towards the ladies’ room.
“Where is my wife?” he asked through his teeth as he stepped toward her.
Madison backed up a few more steps as he continued to advance toward her. “Mr. Harris, please leave.”
“This is a public place.”
“It is not a public place. It’s a private business and unless you have a reason to be here…”
“I was thinking about having dinner. Is that okay with you?”
“Be my guest. In fact, I hope you have a lovely meal.” She tried to step around him but he blocked her.
“Why can’t you talk to me like a normal human being?”
“Mr. Harris, I represent your wife and since you are represented, it would be unethical for me to speak to you. Now if you would excuse me,” she said taking a step to the side.
He blocked her way again. “I just want to know why Vanessa is doing this to me.”
“In that case, I suggest you speak to your attorney and not me.”
“I don’t want to speak to my attorney. She’s costing me a fortune and not doing a thing to help me. I might as well be throwing money out the window.” He crossed his arms and sneered at her. “Just answer me this? How do you sleep at night?”
“Perfectly fine. Thank you for asking. Now if that is all—”
He slammed his hand against the wall causing Madison’s heart to beat faster. She took a step back down the hallway while keeping her eyes on the man in front of her.
Paul Harris took another deep breath, visibly making an effort to calm down. “Just tell Vanessa that it’s over. I’m not going to fight her any longer. I’ll sign the divorce papers. She can have it all.” His face twisted into a grimace. “Go on. Tell her. You’re so good at telling her what to do,” he spat out angrily.
Madison looked around hoping that someone would appear as she continued back down the hallway. The only thing that kept her calm is that Paul remained where he was and didn’t try to follow her. In fact, his shoulders slumped slightly as he looked down at the toes of his boots. “She can have the car. The house. My kids. Everything. I give up. I don’t blame her for this. I love Vanessa.” He lifted his head to glare at Madison. “If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be divorcing me right now.”
A surge of adrenaline and fear shot through Madison’s body as she looked over her shoulder, searching for an exit. Unfortunately, it was a dead-end. The only way out was past Paul Harris and there was no way she was going that way.
Paul must’ve known she was trapped. He looked over his shoulder and then back at her as he took a step towards her. Suddenly, he pulled his foot back and took another glance over his shoulder as a young man in a waiter’s uniform turned the corner and came down the hall towards the restrooms.
As the waiter passed him, Paul called out, “Well, as you know, Ms. Love, I can’t really talk to you since I already have an attorney. Really, it would be unethical,” he said as he backed down the hallway. “But don’t worry, I’ll talk to my attorney and she’ll get in touch with you.”
Madison backed up against the wall as Paul slammed open the glass side door and disappeared into the night. She was still standing there when Ethan appeared at the end of the hallway a minute later.
“There you are. I thought you were going to meet me in the lobby.” His eyes narrowed in concern as he came closer. “Hey, what happened?” he asked running his hands down her arms. “Why are you trembling?” He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close.
She leaned into his chest and let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“What happened?” he asked, gently cupping the back of her head.
“Paul Harris was just here. He’s a bit upset about the divorce.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened as he started to turn toward the lobby. “Where is he?”
She held onto the lapels of his dark wool coat, pulling him back to her. “He’s long gone by now.”
His face darkened as he wrapped his arms around her again. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“Did he threaten you?”
“Not in so many words, but yes.”
“Good enough for me,” he said taking her hand. “Let’s talk to the police.”
“And tell them what? That Paul Harris spoke to me. He didn’t commit any crime.”
His dark brown eyebrows drew together in an angry frown. “But he threatened you and he’s been following you.”
Madison waved her hand dismissively. “We don’t know it’s him in the blue car and it’s not a crime to walk down the same street as me. As for the threat, a good defense attorney would get that charge thrown out.”
“But—”
“Juries like to hear words that would actually constitute a threat,” she continued over his objection. “Words like, kill, maim, die, murder, hurt, or break. What he did was implied a threat. They don’t like that. It’s too hazy. Too unclear. Gives a defense attorney too much wiggle room.” She bit her lip. “Besides, the man has never been in trouble. He hasn’t even gotten a ticket to his name. Even if we could prove it, he’d likely just get a slap on the wrist.”
“I don’t like it. He wouldn’t be the first guy to try to take out his wife’s attorney and it sounds like to me he’s just testing the waters. Seeing how far he can get before he makes his move.” He wrapped his arm around her waist as he led her down the hallway, through the lobby and outside towards his car. “I think I’ll drop you off at home and then see what I can do about Paul Harris.”
“No, I’m not going home yet. Can you take me to Sarah’s pub? And don’t do anything about Paul yet. I’ll call his attorney, Cheryl, tonight—I have a feeling Cheryl knows he’s a kook. She’ll sit him down and talk to him—and then I’ll let the court know. That should shake him up a bit. If he tries anything else, I’ll call the police. I’m hoping he’s gotten it out of his system.”
Ethan crossed his arms when he reached his car. “And like a good little boy, he’ll do exactly what he was told, huh?”
“I’m not naïve. I know a stern talking to from his attorney or the court may not have an effect, but… I think we should try it before we escalate the situation. Especially since we don’t really have anything against him. Not to mention, he just agreed to give my client everything she asked for in the divorce. I don’t want to screw that up by giving him a reason to change his mind.”
His jaw tightened as he shook his head. “Still, I should probably make sure he made it home safely.”
“How do you know where he lives?”
His lips lifted into an impression of a smile. “I’m a detective. I’ll find out.” He lifted up his hands when sh
e began to protest. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything unethical, but I’d like to keep an eye on him for a bit.” He unlocked his car door and jerked opened the passenger side door.
Not wanting the night to end like this, she turned around and tugged on his tie. “I’d rather you keep an eye on me. A very close eye,” she said teasingly. She looked up at him, hopefully, as she pressed her body to his.
She smiled as she felt some of the tension leave his body and he relaxed against her.
“I think I can manage that,” he said softly as he slipped his hands around her waist and bent his head towards her.
Her eyes drifted shut as he kissed her slowly, at first, gently, before deepening the kiss. With one hand on the small of her back pushing her forward, the other snaked up to the nape of her neck, his thumb stroking along her jaw. She clutched at his coat as her knees buckled slightly from the intensity of the kiss. It was only when they heard the sound of the car door slamming next to them that they broke apart, their breaths ragged. He cupped her cheek gently as he stared down into her face. “Do you still want to go to the pub?”
She shook her head slightly to clear it as she tried to steady her breathing. “Sarah will be waiting for me.”
A look of disappointment crossed his face for a fleeting second before he smiled and kissed her on her forehead. With a firm hand on her elbow, he helped her into the car before closing the door.
She lightly touched her fingers to her lips as she sank down into the leather seat, mentally adding another word to her already long list of qualities the man was blessed with.
CHAPTER FOUR
11:46 P.M.
Madison pressed her finger to her ear, trying to block the noise from the bar, as she slid into an empty booth in the corner of the pub. “Vanessa, would you just stop for a second and listen,” she said to the irate woman on the other end of her cell phone. “He said that he would sign the divorce papers.”
“He’s lying,” Vanessa Harris said before launching into a soliloquy about her soon-to-be husband’s many, many, faults. When the woman finally paused for breath, Madison quickly said, “The only reason I’m calling is because I’m concerned.” There was silence and then a soft noise that sounded like a whimper. “Vanessa?” The whimper turned into a soft choking wheezing noise that sounded suspiciously like muffled sobs.
Madison was just about to tell her not to worry when Vanessa choked out, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Not sobs, Madison realized in irritation. Vanessa was laughing, hysterically.
“I’m glad you’re taking this so seriously,” Madison said in annoyance.
Vanessa took a deep breath as her laughter died down. “Paul is a coward. He’s not going to do anything to me or you.”
“You can’t be certain of that. Just because he’s never done it before doesn’t mean that he won’t.”
“Please. I cut my finger one day and he fainted. The man is a hypochondriac and a neat freak. He wouldn’t do anything that could possibly get him hurt or thrown into a dirty old jail cell. He’s just running his mouth as always. The only thing you need to worry about is him trying to sue you. He used to keep our lawyer’s number on speed dial because he was always threatening to sue someone over something stupid. The lawyer eventually told him to stop calling. ”
Madison wanted to believe Vanessa’s opinion of her soon-to-be ex-husband was accurate but there was still the issue of that blue car that seemed to be following her around. “What kind of car does he drive?”
“He’s not getting the car,” Vanessa said her voice rising in anger. “I bought that car—”
“Did I say he was getting the car?” Madison said quickly trying to forestall another long rant. “I asked what kind of car he’s driving right now.”
There was a deep sigh from the other end of the line. An image of Vanessa rolling her eyes flashed through Madison’s mind. Madison’s fingers gripped her cell phone tightly. “Vanessa…” she prompted.
“A white BMW,” Vanessa said with a bored tone. “It belongs to his mother.”
“Does he own a blue four door sedan?”
“No.”
“Does he know anyone with a blue—?”
“Not that I know of. When is he going to sign?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Typical.”
“But he said you can have everything.”
“Oh, I can have everything,” Vanessa said sarcastically. “How very generous of him. I bought the house. I bought the car. I bought the furniture. He hasn’t had a job in ten years. Of course, I can have everything. It belongs to me. You can tell him that he can keep my ex-best friend that he was screwing around with and the bed they were screwing on. I’ll let him have that. I want my jewelry that he stole from me to give to her. He can’t have that.”
Madison sighed. “I’ll pass it along to his attorney.”
“Good. Just so you know, my mom and sisters surprised me with an early Christmas gift. They bought tickets for us all to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. We leave the day after Christmas and we won’t be back until after New Year’s Day. If Paul signs the papers, just leave a message on my voice mail and I’ll get back to you when I return.”
“Fine, and in the meantime, just watch out for him.”
There was a snort of laughter and then the connection ended.
Madison slipped her phone into her purse and she craned her head to find her sister. The pub was still crowded despite the fact closing hour was in twenty minutes.
It didn’t take long to spot the golden haired blonde standing behind the bar. Sarah’s blue eyes sparkled with laughter as she leaned across the bar to say something to a man seated on a bar stool at the end of the bar.
Madison watched in a sort of rapt fascination as her normally reserved sister leaned in close to the man, whispering something in his ear as her fingers lightly touched his arm. She looked up at him with a hopeful expression on her pretty face causing Madison to look at the man a bit more closely.
He was young, somewhere between Madison and Sarah’s ages. He wore ripped jeans with a green and blue flannel shirt and work boots. His long, sandy blond hair—much darker than Sarah’s own light blond hair—fell to his shoulders and partially obscured his face when he bent down to whisper in Sarah’s ear.
A look of irritation crossed Sarah’s face as she pulled away from the man. Pursing her lips together, she gave her head a very definitive shake.
He reached up and pulled his hair back, giving Madison a better look at his face. A few days’ worth of beard covered what appeared at first glance to be an attractive face. In any other setting, in a different set of clothes, a haircut, and a shave, he might even have been considered classically handsome. That is until you looked into his icy blue eyes. They were cold.
Madison got a funny sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched him and her sister together. It was like watching a predator sizing up his prey.
He turned slightly on the stool, his gaze moving, searching for someone or something in the restaurant as he spoke to Sarah out of the side of his mouth. A sudden sense of familiarity washed over her. She had seen him before… but where? Not here, she didn’t think, but somewhere outside.
Keeping an eye on her sister, Madison weaved through the tables as the man suddenly turned back and motioned for Sarah to come closer to him.
They bent their heads closer to one another again but from the tight line of Sarah’s mouth, it was clear she wasn’t happy with whatever he was saying to her. She shook her head dismissively as she turned away. The young man grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back towards him.
Worried, Madison quickened her steps, dodging by a couple of customers who were trying to make their way to the entrance.
She glanced back toward her sister who was laughing as she tried to remove his hand from her arm. When he refused to let go, she leaned forward again, her lips mere inches from his ear.
Madison’s eyebrows lif
ted in surprise as she slid next to the young man and an older woman nursing a drink at the bar. She couldn’t hear what Sarah was saying, but whatever it was caused an immediate reaction. The man’s eyes widened slightly as she continued to whisper in his ear. Suddenly, he jerked back. He looked at Sarah in annoyance. “Baby doll, I can’t help you.”
“Then don’t,” she said simply as she moved her arm out of his grasp and walked toward the other end of the bar.
He lightly hit the bar with his fist as he shook his head in irritation.
“Hello,” Madison said.
The young man did a double take when he noticed Madison standing next to him.
“All yours,” he said as he slid off the stool and weaved his way through the restaurant to a back booth.
Madison motioned to a waitress who passed by. “Emily, who is that guy sitting in the corner booth?”
Emily looked over her shoulder. When she turned back, her pretty face was twisted in a grimace. “That’s Jamie,” she said with an expressive roll of her eyes.
“Does he come in here often?” Madison asked.
“He spends more time here than I do. I’m surprised you haven’t seen him.” She checked her watch. “Usually, he’s gone by now. That’s probably why you haven’t seen him. He usually ducks out right before you get here, then he goes and hits up another bar down the street.”
“What does he do?”
Emily laughed. “Do? I don’t think he does anything but drink.” A couple at the next table over caught her eye. They held up their drinks. With a nod, she rushed over to take care of them.
Madison turned just as two big guys, with thick barrel chests crowded in on the younger man. Pushing Jamie over, they slid into the booth next to him.
They appeared jovial but their manner was clearly threatening. Jamie scowled as the shorter of the two men threw his arm around his shoulder and whispered into his ear while the bigger man slid in from the opposite direction. They scooted in close until they had Jamie trapped. The bigger, heavier set man suddenly let out a burst of laughter as he pounded Jamie on the back, causing the younger man to wince slightly at the impact.