“Ah.” He looked embarrassed. “The poor man had something a little too heavy for lunch,” he confided. “He said he would be back in a moment.”
Alex nodded and led him back to the elevators. She pulled out her electronic key card to activate the elevator.
“The offices are closed today, but thanks to computer networking, a lot of us have started working more out of our home offices.”
The man nodded his understanding.
Alex switched on lights as they crossed the reception area and went back to her office. She gestured toward a chair as she walked around her desk.
“I’m afraid I’m still working on getting myself back up to speed,” she said, reaching into her desk and pulling out a legal pad. “Was there something we hadn’t gone over when I was in your office?”
He settled back in the chair and smiled. “Just a few minor points I happened to think of when I arrived in the city here. That’s why I’m grateful you were willing to see me so we can clear them up now.”
“Actually, I was going to contact you on Monday.” She decided to just get it over with. “I have decided to cut back on my workload. The best way to do that is to eliminate my clients in the city. If you would like some recommendations I can easily provide you with names, and I will do everything in my power to make it an easy transfer.”
The man looked startled, then appeared a trace suspicious. “I must say I didn’t expect this.”
“I’ve come to realize that I need to slow down and make some lifestyle changes,” she explained.
“Any particular reason why?” he asked in his quiet voice, which she now swore had a hint of menace to it.
Alex thought it an odd question. While she realized she didn’t remember everything, she did know that she didn’t make it a habit of discussing her private life with any client.
“No.” Now she knew this meeting was a mistake. She should have told him she couldn’t meet him and spent the day indulging in her misery. As she sat back in her chair, a clicking noise was heard as her pocket hit the chair arm. She remembered the CD and pulled it out. At the same time the question rose in her mind as to how he knew her cell phone number since she didn’t give it out to clients. They always had to go through Janet, who forwarded the call to Alex’s cell phone. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Something was very wrong.
Mr. Merrill’s eyes remained fixed on the case. “So that’s where it was.” He smiled with delight as he reached forward to pick the case out of her hand. “My secretary was in tears, positive she had somehow lost that CD. She had a year’s worth of work on it.”
Alex’s grip tightened on the case. Inside her mind’s eye she saw it all in super speed. She was making her goodbyes to Mr. Merrill as she picked up papers and put them in her briefcase. From there she’d headed straight for the airport. As she’d waited for her flight to Sierra Vista she found the CD and popped it into her notebook computer. It was easy for her to see that she was looking at neatly laid out records of offshore bank accounts, along with files with detailed information on women and obscene amounts of money.
Dylan would have a field day if he heard about this. On the heels of the words was a sharp stabbing pain to the side of her head.
“What were you doing?” she blurted out, without her usual habit of first thinking things through.
Mr. Merrill continued smiling as if he were there for nothing more than a casual impromptu meeting.
“I am sure you can understand that I do not care to go into something that is really none of your business, Alexandra,” he said smoothly. “After all, I have done my best to ensure you remained unaware of my secondary business.”
“Which doesn’t mean a thing when this comes out,” she argued. “You sell women!” She felt bile start to rise up in her throat.
“And it has nothing to do with you,” he reiterated.
“Unfortunately, it does.” She gasped as she saw a small gun leveled at her. “This is not a good idea.” She tightened her hold on the case, but he pulled harder and regained his property.
“I was afraid I would have to find a way to get you out of here so I could search your office,” he said. “Of course, if my men hadn’t been so incompetent I would not have had to make this trip up here.” He flicked a piece of lint off his sleeve while keeping his gun aimed at her chest.
Alex couldn’t keep her eyes off the black barrel. They’re wrong. Your life doesn’t flash before your eyes, she thought hysterically.
“I am relieved you made it so easy for me. I have been quite upset at having to wait so long for my property and I am sorry you saw that information. Of course, as my attorney, you can’t do anything about it. I need to access those accounts and the information I require is on this CD.” He didn’t miss her look of disgust. “It isn’t as if I deal in drug trafficking or worse. The women I provide to exclusive clientele have extremely comfortable lives.”
Alex opened her mouth, prepared to scream her lungs out.
“We’re alone,” he reminded her. “I am afraid your security guard downstairs had an accident. Oh, he isn’t dead, but that is only because he didn’t see me. All anyone will know is that you apparently came into your office for something and must have disturbed a burglar. After everything that has happened to you recently, no one will be surprised. Nothing will be traced back to me. I do apologize that you have to be the victim in this. I always felt you were an excellent attorney.”
Alex spat out a reply that surprised the man. She was determined not to make it easy for him.
I’m sorry, Dylan. Sorrow briefly washed over her. She should have told him she’d never stopped loving him and now she’d never have that chance. She raised her chin.
“You’ll never get away with this,” she said coolly. “My husband is more than a cop. He’s like a bloodhound. He won’t stop until he’s tracked you down. When he finds you, he’ll tear you apart with his bare hands and that will only be the beginning.” Her calm voice belied the trembling in her hands, which she kept hidden under her desk.
Dylan didn’t need to see the empty desk in the lobby to know something was very wrong. A quick search revealed the guard unconscious and tied up in a closet. After making sure the man was still breathing, he ran for the elevators, swore under his breath when he found them nonoperational and sprinted for the stairs. Deep in his gut he knew something was wrong. He hoped he’d get up there in time.
He had no concept of time or place as he raced through the reception area, then slowed down as he neared Alex’s office. He could hear her voice, calm but with something underlying it, as if something unexpected was going on in there.
She said my husband is a cop, not ex-husband.
“I love you, darlin’,” he whispered, pulling out his weapon and making his move.
Alex’s eyes widened in horror when he appeared in the doorway, and Mr. Merrill spun around. “Dylan, no!” she shouted as he came in. “He has a gun!”
Dylan’s breath left him in an oopf! as the other man rushed him.
“Get out of here, Alex!” Dylan shouted, struggling with the man. He grunted when the man’s fist buried itself in his stomach. He retaliated with a head butt to the chin that sent the man staggering back.
She ignored his order and picked up a vase off a bookcase and held it high, ready to throw it.
Dylan only had to think of seeing that gun trained on Alex to know he wanted this man to feel some pain. He just didn’t expect a man wearing a designer suit to fight dirty. But Dylan remembered what he saw in the emergency room. He remembered Alex’s fear and insecurity. It gave him more power than he needed. Another well-placed punch and Merrill was lying unconscious on the floor. He felt a sharp pain along his ribs as he straightened up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, making his way over to Alex, who’d dropped down onto the small couch. She still held the vase in her hands.
She swallowed several times and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Dylan cro
uched down in front of her, plucked the vase out of her hands, then covered her hands with his. He found them cold to the touch.
“Talk to me, Alex,” he said softly, rubbing her hands between his. “Just tell me you’re okay. Nod your head. Blink. Anything,” he pleaded. “I need to know you’re okay.”
“He was behind everything,” she whispered. “He wanted a CD I had accidentally picked up in his office.”
“I have to secure him and call for a car to pick him up,” he said softly. He straightened up and got out his handcuffs and cell phone. Once he had the man handcuffed to the credenza he made his call and requested an ambulance.
“He did something to Ray!” she said suddenly. “The security guard downstairs.”
Dylan nodded. “I found him. He’s going to have a whopper of a headache, but he’s okay. I called for a paramedic so they can check him out.”
Alex licked her lips. “He sells women.” Disgust colored her voice. “It’s all on the CD. I looked at it when I was waiting for my flight back here, realized what was there and knew there was trouble ahead. I was thinking about that when I was hit. And I was thinking about you.” She unconsciously lifted her hand and touched her healing wound. “I had no idea, Dylan,” she insisted with tears in her eyes. “I was such a fool.”
“Hey, some guys hide stuff really well,” he soothed. “We’ll get it straightened out, you’ll see.”
She looked past him toward Merrill, who groaned and stirred. “I guess I won’t be able to collect any fees still due me,” she laughed feebly before she burst into tears.
Detective Whitmire and several patrol officers showed up to take over the scene. Alex was taken to the police station so she could give her statement. She repeated her story to more than one detective while drinking coffee that tasted as if it had been on a warming coil for the past month. She hadn’t seen Dylan since he put her under the care of a woman patrol officer, who drove her to the station and stayed with her during all the questioning. She would have preferred that Dylan stay with her, but she understood he had a job to do. She wanted to see him alone and tell him everything she truly felt.
She crossed her hands on top of the table and rested her cheek against them. She had dropped into a light doze when the door opened. She was vaguely aware of someone crouched down beside her and a hand stroking her hair.
“Hey, wanna get out of here?” Dylan asked in a low voice that caressed her raw nerves. He stood up and held out a hand.
“Yes, please,” she whispered, placing her hand in his and allowing him to pull her to her feet. She was dazed as he guided her out of the station and out to his truck.
“Are you hungry?” he asked as he drove out of the station parking lot.
She placed her hand against her stomach as it rolled around at the mention of food. “No.”
He took a hand off the steering wheel and squeezed her fingers. She was grateful he didn’t coax her to talk. She was positive she’d done enough talking for the next month.
“Would you please wake me up when it’s next year?” she asked wearily.
Dylan chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
When they entered her condo, she walked around, touching various pieces of furniture.
“I bought this and the throw pillows at Creative Decor six months ago.” She picked up a porcelain figurine then ran her fingers over the table it sat on. “But I still don’t remember when and where I got this. I guess I could check my credit card statements.” She sat on the couch, sitting forward with her arms resting on her thighs. She looked up. “Please, sit down. I need to tell you something.” She took a deep, shuddering breath and raised her face so she could face him. “I lied to you this morning,” she began. “Well not lied, exactly, but I didn’t tell you the whole truth. I don’t know all the details from our divorce, just what I’ve read in my journal. But I’ve read enough to realize that I was the cause of a lot of our problems. I decided I needed to focus on making partner and that meant putting you in this small compartment. I was convinced you would understand. I refused to see what I was doing to you and to our marriage. I know it sounds crazy, but I was a different person then. An unlikable person.”
“A person who didn’t stop to think she could have it all,” he pointed out.
She nodded. “These past few days have been good for me. Even though I was scared and confused, in some odd way I was better off. I pushed you away because I was afraid I would turn into that same obsessive person. I couldn’t do that to you again.” She used her fingers to brush her tears away.
Dylan pulled a tissue out of his jeans pocket and leaned over to dab her cheeks again.
“Did you really think I was going to take your lofty dismissal this morning?” He continued to mop her face. “I was going to give you time to cool off, then I was going to show up and sweep you off your feet and back into my life.”
Her lips quivered. “Really?”
Dylan nodded. “At first at the ER I thought it was some kind of sick joke. Then I saw your face, that you were well and truly scared. I knew I was a goner.” He threaded his fingers through her hair. “I told you I wasn’t going to leave you and I meant it.”
“I’m eliminating a lot of my clients,” she babbled. “And I want to have a full life, not a shallow one.”
He smiled. “Just as long as you remember me.”
“I’ll never forget you,” Alex vowed, but there was still a tiny bubble of fear inside her. “I don’t want to turn into the monster I was.”
Dylan got off the chair and moved over to sit next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Then we’ll work together to make sure it doesn’t happen, but you know what? I don’t think it will happen. You’ve changed a lot these past days, Alex. You know what you want. Luckily, it’s me.” He grinned. “I love you, Al. You’re stubborn, detail-oriented, a bit crazy at times, and maybe that’s why. I never know what to expect.”
“I don’t want to lose you again, Dylan,” she whispered.
“You won’t.” He settled back against the cushions, keeping her curled up next to him. “We’ll take it day by day. How soon can you leave this sterile excuse for a condo and move in with me?”
She felt that fear bubble burst and joy take over. “Move in?”
“Sure. I’ll let you bring Clarence, but that’s all.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then lifted her chin for a deeper kiss. It wasn’t long before his polo shirt was tossed onto a nearby chair while Alex’s T-shirt ended up draped over a lamp and her jeans partially covered the television screen. “Just one thing?” He nuzzled her neck as he unclipped her bra. “About that alimony payment that’s past due?”
She straight-armed him before the rest of him could get any closer. “Don’t push it, Dylan.”
One month later
“How many people find bags of gold coins in their backyard?” Dylan commented as he followed Alex into the living room.
“They’re very lucky.” Alex dropped onto the couch and kicked off her turquoise high-heeled slides. She released a blissful sigh when Dylan sat beside her and turned her around so that her feet rested comfortably in his lap, where he could massage her bare toes.
“All right, all right, I should have worn flats,” she admitted. “I thought a barbecue meant a backyard. I didn’t know it could also mean dirt and rocks and things.”
“No complaining on my part.”
“That’s because you were too busy looking at my legs,” she teased him.
Dylan grinned at her, always happy to see Alex relaxed and enjoying life. He swore each time he looked at her he again realized why he’d fallen in love with her all over again. After leaving corporate law and Will Zane’s office, Alex opened a storefront office where she saw clients who normally couldn’t afford the services of an attorney of her caliber. He claimed she’d found her niche and she’d never looked happier. She’d moved back into their house that very night and they made sure to talk things over every night. Now he kne
w she had felt she had to emulate her parents, which was why she worked so hard to get ahead. Now that she knew she didn’t, their lives were a lot easier.
Alex’s memory still hadn’t fully returned, but she no longer obsessed over it. She declared it was her chance to have a new life and she was going to enjoy it. So far, they’d done their share of enjoying each other.
They had spent the day at Jared and Rachel Stryker’s ranch for the couple’s belated wedding reception.
But for now, Dylan was happy to have Alex to himself. He considered her a sexy vision in a pair of turquoise capris, a turquoise-and-white-swirled T-shirt that showed just a hint of her flat belly and turquoise high-heeled slides that made her legs look a mile long. He was looking forward to pulling that sassy clip out of her hair and watching her hair tumble down around her shoulders and seeing her wearing only those sexy shoes. He pulled her legs over his lap to bring her closer to him as he dipped his head and stole a kiss that quickly heated up. Her laughter bubbled up as she returned his kiss with equal fervor.
“So what’s next, Mr. Parker?” she asked in a husky whisper.
Dylan stood and scooped Alex up in his arms. She laughed heartily and wrapped her arms around his neck. A gold-and-diamond band sparkled on her left hand while an etched band gleamed on his.
“I’m going to guarantee you the absolute best rest of your life you can ever imagine, Mrs. Parker.” He touched his nose to hers and she smiled.
“It sounds perfect.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6309-7
MEMORIES AFTER MIDNIGHT
Copyright © 2006 by Words by Wisdom
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
Memories After Midnight Page 21