Caught Between Shifters

by Juniper Hart

  No, I have to go myself, she decided.

  Exhaling as if she had been holding her breath in for weeks, Rose pushed herself up from the desk and grabbed her purse. She reminded herself that there was a good cop bar down the street from the stationhouse.

  It’s gotta be five o’clock somewhere, she reasoned.

  Chapter Five

  Rose’s eyes were tired and burning, and she had no interest in pouring through any more video today. When she glanced at the time on her phone, she realized that it was after five.

  I better get home and get dressed to meet Derek, she thought with an irritated groan.

  She never did get a chance to grab the hair of the dog she had been desperately craving all day. It had been like a carrot at the end of a stick for her.

  I guess this mule didn’t get to eat today.

  She rose from her spot in the conference room and stretched, hearing her bones crack as she did it.

  Not only am I taking a vacation, she vowed, but I’m going to a five-star resort with a day spa where I’m getting rubbed down by cabana boys all day long.

  Rose wondered why she tortured herself with dreams that would never materialize into reality. She thought of her evening plans and grimaced.

  On the up side, I can probably drink as much as I want. He seems like the “let’s buy champagne” type to impress me.

  She had begun piling the files when someone rapped on the door.

  “Hey.”

  It was Julian. Oh, please not again.

  “Hey,” she replied, turning back to the papers on the table.

  “Listen, I just wanted to apologize for earlier,” he said. “I was—” Julian hesitated for a second, as if he didn’t know what was the right word to speak next. “I was being dumb. It was stupid. My feelings got hurt. I really have had a crush on you for the longest time.”

  Rose glanced up at him again. “It’s okay,” she sighed. “If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t have been too impressed with me, either.”

  Julian stepped into the boardroom.

  “Can I make it up to you by taking you to dinner?” he asked, his brown-green eyes hopeful. “As friends. No strings attached.”

  Rose smiled sadly and shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t,” she told him. “I have to meet with a witness tonight.”

  Julian’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Who? I can come, too. It would be good for me to tag along.”

  Rose paused, her mind racing.

  I can’t tell him I’m going to Golden Papaya with Derek Van Gould. There is no way he’ll believe that it’s professional.

  Rose hated that she was concerned about appearances.

  I don’t owe anyone an explanation for what I’m doing, she thought with annoyance. I’m a grown woman and a lawyer. What the hell is happening here?

  “No,” she said firmly. “It needs to be private.”

  Disappointment lit Julian’s face, but Rose forced herself not to mind his expression.

  And he’s a grown man. He should be able to handle rejection.

  “Oh. Maybe next time then,” said Julian.

  She flashed him a bright smile. “Sure.”

  Packing the boxes securely, she grabbed them to bring them to her office.

  “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be meeting with Derek Van Gould, would you?” Julian asked to her retreating back.

  Rose gritted her teeth.

  “What difference does it make?” she snapped without turning to face him as she continued down the hall. “You shouldn’t be asking me questions about my cases.”

  She could hear Julian hurrying to keep up with her.

  “It could make a difference,” he told her, “seeing as he’s the one who sent you all those flowers today.”

  Rose whipped her head around to glare at the investigator.

  “How did you know that?” she demanded. “Were you snooping through my office?”

  Color painted Julian’s cheeks, and he shook his head.

  “No! No, not at all,” he assured her. “I was just… I just was looking for you and the card was on your desk and I happened to read it. Meeting with him is really inappropriate, Rose.”

  Rose dropped the boxes onto a chair and spun to glower at Julian.

  “I’m well aware of my ethical obligations, Julian,” she snapped. “I certainly don’t need you or anyone else telling me what I should and should not be doing. So please, do me a favor and back off!”

  Julian threw his hands up and stepped backward. “Woah, hey, listen, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he proclaimed. “I’m just trying to watch out for you, Rosie.”

  She felt her spine stiffen.

  “It’s Rose,” she growled. Only her dad called her Rosie. It sounded obscene coming from anyone else’s mouth, especially Julian’s.

  Julian’s eyes flashed, and he nodded. “Okay, good night,” he sulked, turning to leave.

  She watched him disappear, and then she walked over to her desk to retrieve her purse.

  Is he going to be a problem? Rose knew she would have no one but herself to blame if he did become one. What will I do if he doesn’t outgrow this little crush?

  She shoved the worry from her mind. She would cross that bridge if they came to it.

  As she pulled her Louis Vuitton bag from the bottom drawer, she scanned the top of desk. Her heart began to pound slightly as she realized something.

  Slowly, Rose opened the utensil drawer beneath her keyboard shelf and saw the envelope that had come with the roses where she had put it earlier.

  The card from Derek was not on the table as Julian had said.

  Julian had gone through her desk.

  Rose had a feeling that Julian was, in fact, going to be a big problem.

  ***

  Derek released a low fox whistle as he hurried to open the passenger side door for Rose.

  “Wow! I didn’t think you could get any more delicious,” Derek murmured, kissing her on the cheek as she slipped into the white Mercedes. His lips lingered longer than they should have, leaving a damp spot on her cheek.

  Rose concealed a shudder and smiled.

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  She wanted to tell him how close she had been to sporting a pair of jeans and a tank top, simply to annoy him, but she had stopped herself.

  He is still paying the legal bills, Rose reminded herself. If I have to wear my little black Vera Wang to keep him happy, so be it. When else do I get to wear this, anyway? I may as well make the best out of an awkward situation.

  A quiet feminist rant exploded in her mind as she thought of the unfairness her sex had to endure.

  High heels, make up, little black dresses? What effort do these bastards put in? Nothing!

  But as the indignation quieted down, Rose also reminded herself what an advantage her legs could be.

  Women weren’t controlled by a man’s physical appearance.

  It’s an interesting conundrum, being a woman, she thought as Derek pulled away from her small house and tore through Ash Street.

  He was showing off for her, it was clear, babbling about how well his business was doing, commenting on how he had plans to build another wing in his already monstrous house.

  Rose was already bored of his little show, and she decided to annoy him for sport.

  “Seems like kind of a waste, doesn’t it?” she asked. “Putting an extension on a house that size? For three people?”

  “There’s more than three,” Derek replied, smirking at her. “I’ve got four staff members living in the house. It can occasionally get a bit crowded.”

  He cast her an appreciative look.

  “And of course,” he added, “I might get remarried again when the time is right.”

  Rose resisted the urge to gag.

  He had only just divorced his third wife.

  I’m the same age as his son, the son who is going on trial for murder if he doesn’t get his shit together and talk to me. And Derek her
e is using Chase’s situation as a matchmaking tool. This family is repulsive.

  “What about you, little lady? You ever want to get married?” Derek pressed as he wove through the non-existent traffic of town.

  Rose checked her temper at the shameless question.

  He really is treating this like a date. He’s despicable.

  “No,” she replied flatly.

  To her annoyance, Derek laughed.

  “No? Not at all?” he coaxed. “Come on, a pretty bright thing like you? You must think about settling down.”

  “Why?” Rose asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the posh restaurant where they would be dining. “What could a man give me that I don’t have for myself?”

  Derek howled with laughter, as if she had told him the funniest joke he had ever heard.

  “Oh, I think I can give you some things you’ve never had,” he replied, leering, and this time Rose didn’t stifle the shudder. Derek didn’t see it, though, as he was already handing the keys to the valet and rushing around to help Rose from her side.

  Deliberately, she had stepped from the car before he had a chance to come around.

  “You see? That’s why you need a man. A man should be opening your doors for you,” Derek chided, shaking his head.

  Rose swallowed a self-satisfied smile. She had no opposition to the act of chivalry, but she didn’t want Derek to indulge in any more feelings of manliness that night.

  He extended his arm and she accepted it reluctantly, instantly regretting it as he pulled her close to him. Inevitably, his hand found its way onto the tight material of her skirt as he pretended to rest it on her lower back.

  “Have you been here before?” Derek whispered in her ear as they entered the swanky restaurant.

  “Yes,” Rose replied. “When I got hired with the firm.”

  “Ah, yes,” Derek chuckled. “I introduced Ron to this place. He likes to think it’s his spot now, but don’t be fooled; I’m the one who put Golden Papaya on the map.”

  The phony smiles were beginning to hurt Rose’s mouth.

  They were seated immediately, Derek nodding at almost everyone who made eye contact, but where he seemed to be lost in his megalomania, Rose could see people casting him sidelong, suspicious looks.

  It’s like he thinks he’s above scrutiny in this town, Rose thought, watching the reactions with interest. Are the Van Goulds above scrutiny? I sure hope not.

  The maître d’ held out a chair for Rose, and she sat, her vivid green eyes combing the restaurant as if seeing the people for the first time.

  Riverton’s population was only 11,000, but Rose had always found there were two sides within it. It was hard to define into words exactly; there was an us versus them mentality that had nothing to do with social standing or class. Like the other underlying strangeness in her hometown, it was just something which existed, something unspoken.

  “I’m right here, sweetheart,” Derek called, waving his hand somewhat obnoxiously, like a teenage boy looking for attention.

  Rose forced herself to look at him.

  “Yes, I can see that,” she replied. “You’re difficult to miss.”

  Derek’s smile broadened, obviously taking her remark as a compliment.

  “I’m going to order us a bottle of Dom,” he announced, picking up the menu. “You order whatever you want. Money is no object.”

  Rose tried not to snicker at his predictability. She pushed the menu aside and leaned forward.

  “Mr. Van Gould—”

  “Rose, you’re going to have to start calling me Derek. You’re making me feel old,” he complained.

  Rose could see how much her refusal to call him Derek annoyed him.

  I don’t want to upset his midlife crisis, she thought dryly.

  “Derek. Sorry, I keep forgetting. It’s hard when you’re my client’s father. I guess if you hadn’t sent Chase and Christiana to private school, he and I would have been in the same class!”

  Rose made an effort to say it as if it had only just occurred to her.

  The smile on Derek’s face froze.

  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t perceive you to be in the same age group as my son,” he said stiffly. “Obviously you two have nothing in common.”

  “We do, though,” she replied quickly, worried that she had pushed him too far. She reminded herself that she still needed him.

  “What do you have in common?”

  “We both want him exonerated.”

  Derek closed his menu and also leaned forward, his blue eyes glittering.

  “He will be exonerated,” he replied with confidence.

  “Not if he doesn’t cooperate with me,” Rose said, sighing heavily.

  Derek’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “What do you mean?” he demanded. “How is he not cooperating?”

  “He refuses to answer any of my questions,” she said, remembering Chase’s attitude during their meeting, “and I have to tell you, without knowing what he has to say, a defense is going to be difficult.”

  Derek’s face seemed to transform into several expressions at once. “He’s scared,” he finally said.

  Rose knew he was lying, and she barely held herself back from scoffing at his words. Nothing about Chase’s demeanor suggested fear in the slightest. He was arrogant and threatening, not scared.

  “Well, he has to know that I’m the one person he should trust,” she assured the senior Van Gould. “If he talked to the cops, he should talk to me.”

  Derek nodded. “I will explain that it’s in his best interest,” he replied slowly. “He didn’t say anything to you at all?”

  She shook her head, not wanting to tell him about his threat.

  The server appeared with the bottle of champagne, and they paused their conversation long enough to allow him to pour their glasses.

  “Go ahead,” Derek encouraged.

  Rose took a sip, nodding her approval. Derek waved the waiter aside and he shuffled away, bowing to them both humbly.

  “Well, I—”

  “You whore!”

  The yell reverberated across the room and Rose jerked her head up. Julian was storming across the restaurant, the maître d’ scurrying behind him.

  “You blew me off to have dinner with Van Gould?” he exclaimed. “You lied to me!”

  Shocked, Rose stared at him, unable to speak.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Derek snapped, throwing his napkin onto his plate and rising to his feet. The men glared at one another as Rose collected herself.

  “Julian, what the hell are you doing here?” she hissed.

  “I followed you to see where you were going!” he replied. “I knew you were being secretive! I knew you were going on a date with him!”

  “This is not a date!” Rose snapped. “And you have no right to be here! Go home!”

  “Should I call the police, Mr. Van Gould?” the host asked, trying to grab at Julian’s arm.

  Julian shook him off angrily.

  “No, Marcus. I’ll deal with this. Rose, what’s going on here?” Derek growled, but his eyes were on Julian, who stared defiantly back at him.

  “You have everything!” Julian cried. “You don’t need to take her, too!”

  “You’re acting like a lunatic!” Rose yelled. “Go home, Julian!”

  He whipped his head around and glowered at her furiously. “You’re going to regret this, Rose,” he said, and she felt a flutter of nervousness in her stomach. “You can’t do whatever you want and get away with it! You’ll see!”

  “I’m calling the police!” Marcus, the host, cried, rushing towards the front. Julian, however, whirled away immediately.

  “Don’t bother!” he screamed. “I’m leaving!”

  He ran toward the door as Rose stared after him in awe.

  “Is he your boyfriend?” Derek asked, sitting down as if nothing had happened. Rose shook her head dumbly.

  “No,” she whispered. “Just a co-worker.”

&
nbsp; “Sounds like your co-worker needs to be put in his place.”

  Slowly, Rose turned to look at him, her mind whirling.

  Is he dangerous? He followed me here. He said so himself. Do I need to get a restraining order against him?

  “Sit down, Rose,” Derek said. “Don’t worry about Julian Morrow. He’s a nobody.”

  Rose sat down, her heart beginning to thud so loudly, she was certain the neighboring table would hear it.

  She kept her eyes trained on the table, willing her hands to stop shaking, and she tried to ignore the question screaming in her mind.

  If Derek didn’t know Julian, how did he know Julian’s last name?

  As she swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, Rose had the intense feeling that she was in way over her head in something she didn’t understand.

  But what?

  Chapter Six

  There was an insurmountable pressure growing in Rose, one that she could not escape neither at the office nor at home. It seemed that everywhere she went, she was plagued by stress, an inescapable vacuum determined to suck her away.

  Julian had gone back to work, pretending that nothing was amiss, but Rose had told Ron that she no longer needed Julian’s help on the case.

  “Are you sure?” Ron asked, seeming confused. “It’s a big case and you’ll need all the help you can get.”

  “I don’t need him,” Rose said flatly, leaving no room for argument. “And I will be working out of the office more.”

  She didn’t explain the strange way that the investigator had been acting because she recognized the part she played in Julian’s irrational behavior.

  At home, she was receiving flowers and presents almost daily from Derek Van Gould. He called her to ask her to dinner every night, and she avoided him whenever possible, but the fact remained that he was important to the firm and, most of all, to the case against his son.

  The night they had gone to the Golden Papaya, he had tried to kiss her and invite himself in, but Rose had proclaimed she was too upset over what had happened and that his actions weren’t appropriate.

  “Next time, then,” he’d sighed, his blue eyes flashing angrily.

  He doesn’t take rejection well at all, she had realized, and she didn’t know how far he would go to get what he wanted.