Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) (34 page)

“Sarah,” Ryan answered, clicking his tongue.  “So suspicious.  What if
I’m just the new kid in school, trying to make friends on the playground?”

“We may both be on the defense side,” Sarah said, “but we’re opponents. 
I’m afraid friendship won’t take you very far.”

“Really?  Too bad.”  He smiled in an easy, casual way, and there was
nothing about it that should have made her uncomfortable, but it did.  She felt
the same way she thought Joe might:  wary.

When the bill came, Ryan snatched it up before Sarah could lay a
fingerprint on it.  “I offered,” Ryan reminded her.  “You can get the next
one.”

“I think it’s best if we all pay for our own,” she said.  “Keeps things
cleaner.”

“Just this once, then,” he said.  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell.”

They walked back the few blocks to the hotel.  The day was cloudy and
cold.  Sarah was grateful she’d dressed warmly.

“Which flight are you on tonight?” Ryan asked as he held the lobby door
open for her.

“The five-forty.”

“Too bad,” he said.  “I’m on the six-fifteen.  Oh, well, we all end up
in the same place.  Maybe I can buy you dinner.”

“I don’t think so,” she answered.

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

Sarah stopped walking and faced him.  “Look, Ryan,” she said, keeping
her voice low.  “I don’t want to make any assumptions here, but just in case
you thought there might be any kind of . . . personal interaction between us .
. . ”

“I’d never think that,” Ryan answered.  “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to—” 
He laughed.  “Sarah, I meant what I said:  I think you’re a beautiful woman. 
There’s nothing wrong with being friendly.  But I’d never pursue you while this
case is going on—we both know that’s wrong.  And I assume you wouldn’t try
anything with me.  But we also both know that these cases don’t last forever. 
There’s always an afterward.”

Sarah patted his chest.  “Thanks, Sollers, but I’m afraid the answer’s
always going to be no.”

Ryan shrugged good-naturedly.  “Like I said, just being friendly.  See
you in there, Sarah.”

“Right.”  She made a detour toward the bathroom before heading for the
conference room again.  She needed a few minutes alone.

The guy unnerved her—she couldn’t exactly say why.  She’d been hit on
plenty of times, but there was something about how he did it, the things he
said.

Sollers seemed smart.  She doubted he said or did anything without thinking
it through first.

So what was his game?

Thirty-six

The afternoon deposition followed the same basic course of the
morning’s, with Sollers gently charming and then leading Joe’s client through
the elements of the defense he obviously felt he could build:  these plaintiffs
were at fault.  They created their own fire hazards by not handling the iron
properly.  Atheena had done everything it should by printing out warnings in an
instruction manual that came with every product.  It wasn’t Atheena’s fault if
the customer chose not to read it.

It was only around three o’clock when Sarah finished her questions.  Ryan
thanked Joe’s client again for coming in.

“I hope that wasn’t too bad, Mrs. McKinley.”

“No,” she said, smiling in a motherly way, “it wasn’t too bad.”

“You have a good evening now,” Ryan said.

“You, too,” she answered.  Then she let Joe lead her out.

Sarah turned to Ryan and shook her head.  “Wow.  You could charm the
pearls right off that lady.”

“Like I said,” Ryan answered.  “Nothing wrong with being friendly.”

When Joe returned, Ryan once again asked the court reporter to leave. 
“We have some scheduling matters to go over, Wendy.  I hope you understand.”

“Of course,” she said, smiling at him this time.  “I’ll see all of you
tomorrow.  I might try to catch an earlier flight now and actually see some of
Seattle.”

“Sounds good,” Ryan said.  “Maybe we’ll get out of here soon, too.  See
you tomorrow, Wendy.”

The court reporter waved to him and carried her equipment case from the
room.

Looking at the woman’s face, the way she smiled at Ryan and shyly
dipped her head down, Sarah had no doubt Ryan could charm more than the pearls
off of that one.  He was a good-looking, confident man—no question about it. 
And Sarah had no trouble believing that those qualities worked for him more
often than not.

Ryan handed one sheet of paper to Joe and another to Sarah.  “Here’s my
proposed schedule.  You can look it over and give me your thoughts later.”

He had been sitting next to Sarah, but now Ryan got up and moved to the
chair at the end of the table where the court reporter had been sitting, so
that he had an equal view of Sarah and Joe.

“Now.  There’s something else I’d like to discuss with you two.”  He
gazed from one of them to the other, his posture still as relaxed as ever, but
there was something in his eyes, Sarah noticed.  A look of excitement. 
Pleasure.

“I find I’m in an interesting position,” Ryan said.  “As Sarah knows, I
like to do my homework.  Your law firms’ websites—even your old one, Sarah—had
very nice photos of both of you.  So I knew who I might be looking for.  Which
means that as of last night, I knew who you two were, but you didn’t know me. 
So you didn’t realize I was on your flight.”

Sarah’s heart thudded in her chest.  Her skin went cold.  Every nerve
in her body felt on high alert.  Had she seen him last night?  He was right,
she wouldn’t have known what he looked like—she didn’t even know who he was
until he showed up at the deposition that morning.  He could have been sitting
right next to them in the airport, and she might not have noticed.

Had he overheard something?  Seen something?  She remembered letting
her guard down when she saw that Marcela wasn’t there.  For all she knew, Wendy
the replacement court reporter had been on the flight as well, but Sarah had
been too wrapped up in Joe to notice.

She wanted so badly to look over at Joe then, to see his reaction.  But
she forced herself to keep her eyes on Sollers instead.  She needed to play
this whole situation as coolly as possible.

“I thought it was interesting that you both graduated from UCLA Law the
same year,” Ryan went on.  “I wondered if you two knew each other back then. 
You did, didn’t you?” he asked Sarah.

She didn’t say a word, but sat frozen, watchful.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ryan said.  “That part’s history.  I’m more
interested in the present.”

He pulled out his phone.  “I didn’t realize there’d be anything to
see,” he said, swiping his finger across the screen, “but that’s the nice thing
about modern technology—you always have a camera with you.”

Now Sarah did lock eyes with Joe.  He subtly shook his head, as if
warning her not to say anything.  She already had the same instinct.

“Nothing too incriminating at first,” Ryan said, looking through his
pictures.  “Just a few smiles, some laughter—the same sort of thing someone
would have seen at our lunch today, Sarah.  Ah, but then,” he said, smiling, “we
get to the rental car counter.”

Sarah tried to swallow, but there was no moisture left in her mouth.  Her
eyes burned into Joe’s.

“A nice photo here,” Ryan said, still not showing any of them to either
Sarah or Joe.  “The two of you standing so close.  But I can see how someone
might still interpret that as two old law school friends catching up.  So we’ll
let that go.  Even this one, Joe, where you have your hand so nicely against
her back as the two of you head for the garage.  Very nice.  But maybe you were
just being a gentleman—I can understand that.”

Sarah thought of Sollers making that same gesture as the two of them
walked to their table in the restaurant.  She hadn’t mistaken it for the touch
of a gentleman.

Ryan swept his finger across the screen again, then sat back with a
satisfied grin.  “And then . . . oh, yes, these really are the best ones.  The
lighting in the garage wasn’t great, but still . . . ”  He looked up at Sarah
and Joe.  “You know, you two really should be more careful.”

Sarah’s skin felt cold and sweaty.  Her heart pelted against her
chest.  She didn’t dare look at Joe now, for fear that the panic would show in
her eyes.

“This is all very interesting,” Joe said calmly, “but what do you
want?”

“Wait,” Ryan answered, holding up a finger, “there’s more.  I thought I
should at least introduce myself to you last night, Sarah, since we were both
defending this case, so I tried to call your room several times.  All the way
up until midnight, in fact, but the desk clerk said you still hadn’t checked
in.  Then I tried again this morning, but still, no sign of you.”

She had been so
stupid
, Sarah realized.  So
reckless
. 
Thinking that just because Joe was leaving the case soon—just because they had
settled things between the two of them—there was no danger anymore.  Forgetting
that there might be other eyes watching them.  Other people anxious to make the
most of their misdeeds.

“What do you want?” Joe asked again.

“Well, you can see my dilemma,” Sollers answered, giving them both a benevolent
smile.  “I’m in a very difficult position.”

“How so?” Joe asked, his voice still calm—calmer, Sarah knew, than she
could have possibly managed at that moment.

“Obviously I’m an officer of the court, just like you two,” Sollers
said.  “I have an ethical obligation to report any violations to the Bar.  I
imagine if they decided to investigate, they’d ask for all sorts of
information—maybe e-mails between the two of you, texts—nothing in this world is
secret anymore, boys and girls.”

It was his smugness, Sarah thought, his assurance, that finally made
her blood grow hot again until she could feel the pressure rise inside her
chest.  She understood now exactly what that lunch had been about:  Ryan was
someone who liked to play with his food.  He had been toying with her, drawing
out the pleasure of the hunt before finally going in for the kill.

Sarah found her voice again.  “So, Ryan, how did you see this playing
out today?  I’m sure you had a plan.”

“Oh, I did,” he agreed.  “But there are so many variables.”

“Such as?” she asked.

“Sarah, don’t say anything more,” Joe warned.

But she felt calm now, clearer.  And she needed information.  She
wouldn’t allow herself to feel trapped and at this man’s mercy.  She needed to
hear from him what he thought he stood to gain.

“It’s all right,” she told Joe.  “Ryan and I understand each other,
don’t we?”

“I think maybe we do,” he said cheerfully, and it took everything she
had not to leap across the table and punch that smug smile from his face.

“So,” she said, keeping her voice low and deliberately slow to hold her
pulse in check.  “Tell me what your scenario looked like:  you’d spring this
trap on us, and then . . . what?  One of us would quit?”

“‘Trap’ is too strong,” Sollers said.  “Remember, I didn’t force you to
do anything.  I was just in the happy position of observer.  But yes, quitting
would be one solution—and certainly an honorable way for the gentleman to
handle it.”  He turned to Joe.  “Or what do you think?”

“I think you’re a pr—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sarah said, cutting him off.  She was in full-on
lawyer mode now, heading deeper into the negotiation.  She had gone past it feeling
personal anymore.  “So, Ryan, what are your terms?”

Because she felt certain he had them.

Ryan shrugged.  “I keep this whole tale to myself—action photos
included—and you two figure out between you who goes.  It doesn’t matter to me,
although Sarah, you provide much better scenery.”

Sarah could see Joe’s jaw tighten.  But she knew him well enough to
know he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

“What’s in it for you?” Sarah asked, although she already knew.  She
just wanted to hear him confirm it.

“Never say no when another lawyer asks you for a favor,”
he had told her at lunch
.  “There’ll always come a
time when they have to pay you back.”

That was exactly his game, Sarah thought.  Make both of them owe him. 
Then at some point during the case, when Sollers saw the greatest advantage to
himself, collect on it.

“What’s in it for me?” Ryan repeated.  “Oh, I don’t know.  I’m sure we
can figure something out.  We’re all smart, civilized people.”

Sarah nodded.  Then she pushed back her chair and stood.  “Okay.  I
think we’re done here.”  She slipped her laptop back into its bag and turned to
retrieve her luggage from the corner of the room.

Just one more piece of evidence, she suddenly realized, that she’d
spent the night somewhere other than at that hotel.  If she had checked in the
night before, she probably would have left her luggage in the room.  Instead
she walked into the deposition first thing that morning wheeling her bag.