by Jamie Hill
Late June in Kansas, almost July, and the weather was increasing past warm to downright hot. If she wore too much on her face she was afraid at some point in the day she might melt. Finishing the look with her trademark pink lipstick, Addie was satisfied she’d make a decent first impression. She’d heard the US Marshals could be an ‘old boys club’ and really hoped they wouldn’t give her grief about being a woman. A young woman, at that. She’d done well in law school and had advanced through the ranks fairly quickly for someone not yet thirty. The marshals would probably be fifty and stodgy. She could already see the looks on their faces when she entered the room. She just hoped they didn’t call her ‘hon’ or ‘darlin’’. Nothing grated on her more.
The first meeting was scheduled for ten a.m. She put in a couple of hours work at her office before leaving for Witsec. Their offices were a short drive from hers, just enough time to get good and nervous. Part of her was wishing it was Sunday and she was pointing her red Mustang convertible in the direction of the nearest lake.
This will be fine. The first meeting was always the toughest as the unknown element bothered Addie the most. Once she met everyone and got going with the trial prep, she’d be more confident and comfortable.
The Witsec offices looked as sterile and monochromatic as the District Attorney’s space. Addie spoke with a receptionist whose nameplate read ‘Martina’. The friendly, middle-aged woman buzzed her through to the next office where she was met by a silver-haired man. Just as I expected.
He smiled and extended his hand. “I’m Chief Rhodes. You must be the ADA.”
She nodded and shook with him. “Addison Decker. Pleased to meet you, Chief.”
“You, too. Jim speaks highly of your work.”
Addie blinked, surprised. He hadn’t told her as much, but the compliment was nice to hear. “Thanks.”
“Come this way.” He led her into a conference room. “You’ll be working with two of my marshals on this case. Markham went to meet the plane coming from Atlanta, but Pierce will be with you shortly. Can I offer you some coffee or a bottle of water?”
“Water would be great.” Addie set her briefcase down on the table.
“We’ll be right back with you.” The chief gave her a friendly smile and exited the room.
So far, so good. He didn’t seem to be one of the ‘good old boys’, but then he wasn’t the one she’d be working closely with. She opened her case and began removing file folders.
“Hey.” A man joined her, handing over a cold bottle of water. “Nick Pierce, US Marshal. At your service.”
Addie was surprised for the second time. This guy was hot, with spiked blond hair and a cleft in his chin that rivaled Kirk Douglas’. He was also married, if the silver band on his left hand was accurate. “Addison Decker,” she replied. “Assistant District Attorney. Nice to meet you. Thanks for this.” She held up the bottle.
He grinned. “No problem. The fridge is stocked with water. Most of us guzzle coffee no matter what the season or time of day, so there’s always plenty of that, too.” He dropped into a chair close to the one she’d chosen. “I haven’t seen you before. Last case I worked was with a tall ADA. Spacey, I think?”
She smiled and sat. “Rob Stacey. But he is a little spacey, so you were close. I’m kind of new. I’ve been at Shawnee County for several months, but it takes a while to get a crack at the bigger cases.”
Nick nodded. “Understood. I’ve been back here a number of months, myself. Before that I worked in St. Louis.”
“Back here?” She picked up on his wording.
“Yeah, I lived here for a while, a few years back. Went looking for greener pastures, and found out that Topeka was just the right shade of green for me.”
His smile was endearing, and she couldn’t help but return it. “What brought you back?”
He wiggled his left hand. “The love of a good woman. We were married three months ago.”
“Aw, sweet. Do you have a picture of her?”
“Of course.” He patted his pocket for his phone.
Addie smiled. “That’s one thing I like about technology these days. We have access to our photos and all kinds of information on our phones.”
“And we use them to crush candies and find hidden objects.”
She laughed. “Of course! I’m on level three hundred in Candy Crush.”
He shook his head, amused. “I only know one other person on a higher level than that. You’ll meet him later.” He started to scroll through his phone then stopped. “What am I thinking?” Nick stood and walked to the doorway. He glanced out and motioned to Addie to join him.
She stood next to him and looked into the big bullpen-style office.
“See the brunette with three empty coffee cups on her desk and that drop-dead gorgeous face? That’s my wife, Jordan.”
Addie smiled at his accurate description of the woman. She was very pretty and had at least three empty paper cups on her desk. She wore an intense, focused look as she studied her computer monitor. The only thing cuter was the look on her husband’s face as he watched her. “She’s beautiful. I’d like to meet her sometime when she’s not so busy.”
“I’ll make sure you do.” He returned to his chair. “Thanks. I think she’s amazing, but I’ve been accused of being prejudiced.”
“I’m sure you’re not.” Addie glanced up as two more men entered the room. The first was a large, wide-framed man wearing a cheap, crumpled suit with some type of stain on the necktie. His blond hair was as disheveled as his clothing.
The man behind him was partially hidden, but when he stepped out from behind the Chris Farley look-alike, Addie’s breath caught. This guy was anything but messy, with thick brown hair and a three-day beard growth. His suit jacket was stylish and worn with a light colored pinstripe shirt and dark jeans.
He tucked a pair of sunglasses into his jacket pocket and said, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Nick replied. “Where’s Mitzi?” He said the name with emphasis and a grin.
Addie knew the marshals had been talking about their witness, probably sharing many of the same comments and thoughts she’d had about the notorious woman.
“Freshening up.”
Nick nodded. “This is ADA Addison Decker. Ms. Decker, these are a couple more of Witsec’s finest.”
The handsome man stepped forward quickly, extending his hand. “Ben Markham.”
Addie took his hand and they shook. His skin was soft and warm. A tingle zipped down her spine and she struggled to ignore it. “Addie. You, uh, can call me Addie.”
He smiled. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, not that she usually noticed such things. She just couldn’t help it with him. “Ben.”
Nick waved a hand. “Addie, Ben, Ben, Addie. And?” He glanced at the other man.
“Tom Stone.”
Reluctantly Addie withdrew her hand and extended it to Stone. “Pleased to meet you.”
“You too, hon.” He shook her hand roughly.
Addie stepped back. She couldn’t remember which marshal stayed and which would be returning to Atlanta. The chief had mentioned a name, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of anything besides the hunky man with the gorgeous smile. She knew which marshal she’d prefer to leave, but something told her that might not be the safest choice.
A woman joined them. Addie recognized her from her photo. Mitzi Pomeroy. She looked nothing like Addie had expected, wearing a simple cotton blouse over faded blue jeans.
Ben turned to her. “This is Mitzi Pomeroy. Mitzi, meet Assistant District Attorney Addison Decker and Marshal Nick Pierce.”
“Hello.” The soft spoken woman shook hands delicately with Addie then Nick.
He motioned for her to sit and she did, across from Addie.
Stone looked at Mitzi. “Well, darlin’, now that you’re safely delivered, I can take off. You behave yourself, you hear? Good luck with the trial.”
“Thank you for everything.” She glanced at him
with disdain then looked away.
The man turned to Ben. “I’ve got time to kill before my flight out so I’m going to find a steakhouse and have a nice meal. I’ll catch a cab.”
Ben nodded. “Martina can help you with that. Thanks, Stone.” They shook hands and the bigger man left.
Addie inhaled and blew the breath out. The safer choice had just walked out the door. She was left with Mitzi, the hot and very married, Nick, and the even hotter, status unknown, Ben. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.
Nick grinned at Mitzi. “I thought you were going to give him a good thrashing if he called you ‘darlin’ one more time.” He looked at her sideways, as if sizing up her outfit. “’Course I guess you might not have kept many of your whips.”
Her eyes flashed with amusement. “Oh, you might be surprised. For the record, I despise those cutesy terms of endearment.”
Addie took her seat. “That makes two of us, Mitzi.”
Still grinning, Nick returned to his chair. “Duly noted, hon.”
Mitzi placed both hands on the table and leaned forward. “Marshal Pierce, I suspect I can do more with my whip than your fertile mind can begin to imagine. So if you want to play, then I say, bring it on.”
Addie cleared her throat and glanced at Ben. “Um, I’ll rein in my witness if you rein in your marshal.”
He smiled. “Now that’s gonna be easier said than done. But I’ll try.”
Mitzi and Nick looked at them and at the same time said, “That doesn’t sound like very much fun.” They both laughed.
Addie raised her eyebrows at Ben.
His sweet smile caused her cheeks to flame with heat. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.
Watch for Cover of Darkness, coming in 2015 from Books We Love
About the Author
Jamie Hill was born and raised in a beautiful, mid-sized town in Midwest, USA. At various times she wanted to be a veterinarian, teacher, cheerleader, TV star or a famous singer. The one thing she always wanted to be was a writer. Starting at about age ten, she penned romance as she envisioned it in one spiral notebook after another.
When she’s not working at the day job she loves, Jamie enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and watching movies (the scarier the better!) In her ‘spare time’ she can often be found writing, editing, or doing something more mundane like housework. After that, she’s probably taking a nap. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
http://bookswelove.net/jamiehill.php
http://www.jamiehill.biz/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Hill/135137799867321
Chat with Jamie and other Books We Love authors in the Books We Love Online Book Club:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/153824114796417/
http://bookswelove.net