Cherish her: Laws of Seduction, Book 4 (14 page)

I jump to agree with her conclusion. Anything to keep her talking. “Yes, I am worried about Mark. He doesn’t have anything to do with this, and you should leave him alone.”

“Is he that important to you? I wouldn’t have thought he was even a blip on your radar.”

“You obviously targeted him because of me. What did you hope to accomplish?”

She looks at me as if the answer were obvious. “I did it because I could. How does it feel to have me breathing down your neck? Not so good, I would imagine.” She gives me a self-satisfied smile, but then her expression turns grim. ““If it weren’t for you, I would have a great job and a hot, rich boyfriend.”

“James?”

“Yes, I would have captured his interest eventually.” I don’t like the speculative look she gives me, and a chill runs down my spine. I remind myself that Nick has my back. ““I’m surprised that you arranged to meet with me alone… after out last encounter.”

“Yes, well, Mark explained how that was just a big misunderstanding.” She eyes me as if trying to figure out what my angle is, since we both know that the incident on the boat had been no accident. I know I walk a fine line between pacifying her and getting to the bottom of some of my questions. In a conversational tone meant to disarm, I risk a question. “What would a person hope to gain by setting fire to my office?”

Becca’s reaction to my change in topic is so subtle that it is almost imperceptible, but I am watching her closely and notice the slight tightening around her mouth. “If you are hoping for some kind of confession, it won’t work.”

“No, of course not. That would be silly, since you didn’t do it. I’m speaking hypothetically, of course.”

“Yes, well, I’m glad you understand that.”

From the excited light in her eyes, I know that she would like to tell me more so I give her another little push. “It would have taken a lot of forethought and planning. Don’t you think?”

Becca then proceeds to tell me at great length the exact steps it would require. Apparently, it would only take some careful reconnaissance to determine where any video cameras might be, and the knowledge of how to set a fire without leaving incriminating evidence. When she had clerked at the district attorney’s office, she had helped try a case on arson, so she knew a little about it. She went into so much detail that I no longer doubted that she had been the one to set the fire in my office. I had the feeling that although she would never come out and admit it directly, she wanted me to know.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep a rein on my temper. Her spitefulness and downright meanness disgust me, and I begin to second-guess my plan. At this moment, I want to call the police and have her hauled off to jail. Before I get very far with this train of thought, there is a sharp knock on the door. We both look up to see Nick, followed by two older men. Becca reacts immediately at the sight of one of the men. “Daddy?” The shock is clear in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

Becca’s father is on the heavier side, and has dark hair peppered with white and swarthy skin. She obviously inherited her olive complexion from him. He scowls down at Becca. “What do you think I am doing here Rebecca? When I got the call telling me what you had been up to, I was on the first plane out here. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the police were looking for you.” He sends a glance in my direction. “Is this the girl you’’ve been tormenting?” Attempting to murder would have been a more apt description, but I hold my tongue. His question must have been rhetorical, because Becca doesn’t get a chance to respond. ““We’ve come to take you home.”

Becca stiffens, “I don’t want to go home.”

Her father gives her a measuring look that does not bode well for Becca. “There is a houseful of people down there, so you are going to have to decide. Are we going to do this the hard way or the easy way?”

“Daddy, I don’t know what someone has been telling you, but there is no reason for you to have come all this way.” Her needling tone and imploring eyes do nothing to sway her father. I watch as large crocodile tears fill her eyes.

“Those tricks may have worked on me when you were little, but we are long past that. No amount of pleading and begging will get you out of this one. This time you have gone too far.”

The door opens once again, and Mark and James walk in. Mark’s look of confusion at the meeting being held in his bedroom is almost funny. James, on the other hand, shows no trace of emotion. This sets my nerves on edge and squelches my humorous reaction to Mark. Becca’s father ignores the interruption and continues to sternly regard his daughter. “We spoiled you too much when you were little, gave you everything your heart desired. By the time I realized what a holy terror you had turned into, it was too late. I hoped you would grow out of it. When things got out of hand when you were in high school, we hired the best psychiatrists that money could buy. We have done everything for you, and this is how you pay us back. I don’t know what to do with you. Your mother and I had hoped that those psychiatrists had done some good and that you would grow up, but I can see now that we were just fooling ourselves.”

During this speech, Becca’s denials had grown louder and louder. “They’re lying Daddy. Everyone is against me. They are all jealous of me and just want to get rid of me.”” When she realizes that her father is not going to back down, she becomes angry. “I hate you. I have always hated you.” Then she turns to face me. “You did this. I wish you had died.” I look away from her, and the shocked expression on Mark’s face makes me feel sorry for him.

As I look back at Becca, something in her expression sets off my instincts for self-preservation. I jump back just in time as Becca flings herself in my direction. Moving quickly, James grabs her arm before she gets a chance to strike again. Feeling shaken, I move closer to Nick, who reaches down and holds my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. James, who has Becca’s arms pinned down, turns to her father. “What are you going to do with her?” Becca’s father nods his head at the man who had accompanied him, and he walks over to Becca, who has begun to struggle. To my horror, the man pulls a syringe out of his pocket. When Becca sees this, she goes wild. It takes the three of them to hold her down so that the man can inject her with the shot. Becca’s screams have reached an ear-splitting level, and I am surprised when no one else from the party appears at the door.

I am relieved when Becca finally winds down. We all stand in shocked silence listening to Becca’s quiet sobs. When her father speaks, everyone turns away from Becca and looks at him. “That was a sedative. It takes effect almost immediately.”” I look over at Becca once again, who is now standing limply in James’s arms. Obviously not as unaffected as he appears, Becca’s father clears his throat before continuing. ““This is Dr. Morris. I hired him to accompany us.” The doctor appears to be in his mid- forties. He has a gray beard which contrasts starkly with his black hair, giving him a raffish appearance. He nods his head to acknowledge the introduction.

We turn back to Becca’s father as he explains. “I didn’t think Becca would come willingly, and I want to avoid involving the authorities.”” Becca’s father looks directly at me. “I’m very sorry for what Rebecca did to you. Sorry and ashamed.”” He glances at the listless Becca before turning back to me. “I also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this chance to take care of her without involving the police.”

Mark breaks in. “What are you going to do with her?”

“I have called in some major favors and have managed to schedule a private flight for us to Switzerland. There is a facility there that takes cases like hers. She won’t be able to leave, if that is what you are worried about.”

I feel bad for Becca’s father and hurry to reassure him. “We are just happy that she will be getting the care that she needs.”

Her father nods his head, but the sad droop to his mouth remains. “Thank you. We are going to do our best. I had better get going. Her mother is waiting at the airport.”

After Mark escorts Becca, her father, and the doctor out of the room, the silence stretches. I don’t know about Nick and James, but I am trying to assimilate everything that just happened. Slowly I become aware that they are both regarding me intently. “What?””

Nick looks at me with something like admiration. “Lainey, your plan worked. It actually worked.”

The disbelieving tone in his voice has me giving him a dirty look. “Of course it worked,” I say as if I never had any doubts. My eyes slide over to James, who is still silent. “Are you mad at me?”

“Furious, but we’ll talk about it in the car.” James extends a hand for Nick to shake. “I know you brought her, but I’m taking her home.” Nick can’t hide his delight at the direction things seem to be moving in and gives me a tight hug before making a quick escape.

I cross my arms over my chest. “What if I don’t want to go home with you?”

“I’d say tough luck, baby, because I seem to be your only ride.” He says with a satisfied smile.

I narrow my eyes at his smug assumption that I will just hop in his car with for the ride back. When I gird myself up for a fight, he takes the wind out of my sails by simply rubbing his hand against my cheek and whispering, “Please.”

I look into the deep blue eyes that I have missed so much and know that I have only been fooling myself. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away from that car ride.

CHAPTER 15

James pounds his palms down on his steering wheel, and I jump into my seat. “Hey, you shouldn’t do that while you are driving. You might cause an accident.”” The glare James sends my way makes me slouch back down in my seat. After a long pause, during which he flexes his grip on the steering wheel as if trying to get a grip on himself, he relents. “Sorry.” A few more moments pass before he continues. “The thought of you alone with that madwoman… What could you have been thinking?”

“I told you before. I wasn’t in any real danger. Nick had my back.”

“Except he didn’t. He was busy trying to keep me from stopping you.”

“So when Paulson called and told you that I was at Mark’s childhood home, you immediately dropped everything because you thought Becca might be there?”

“It took him awhile to figure out whose house you were visiting. Once he identified the owners as Mark’s parents, I remembered that picture you showed me of Becca and Mark together. I wasn’t taking any chances.” Taking his eyes from the road, James pins me with a reproachful look. “That phone conversation I overheard on Friday, you were talking to Mark weren’t you?”

Shame at my silly attempt to make James jealous makes me sink down in my seat. “Yea.”

“I need to spank you more often.” I feel a rush of heat at his words and shift around in my seat.

“Is your seat uncomfortable? You know there is a lever there that you can use to adjust the settings.”

“Thanks.” Feeling around the side of the seat, I begin pressing the buttons. I shift the seat backwards and forwards until I am satisfied.

“Better now?”

The low rumble of James’s voice reminds me of more intimate times. I clear my throat. “Yes, thank you.”

“Then tell me again how you came up with this infallible plan.” The bedroom voice is gone. I wonder if this is the way he interrogates witnesses in a courtroom. This hot and cold action is making my head spin. I let his sarcasm go without comment and once again relate how it had started when I had gone out with Patti on Friday afternoon. It was then that I realized that I needed a plan in case I saw Becca again. After one-too-many gin and tonics, I had found myself pouring out my troubles with Becca into Patti’s sympathetic ears. I told her about Becca locking me in a room and pushing me off the boat. Patti had been horrified. Then I had told her my suspicions about Becca starting the fire in my office. It had taken a while for Patti to calm down, but then we had put our heads together and had come up with a plan.

Our first idea had been to contact the police and let them pick her up when she showed up at the party. This seemed the most logical course of action. Then I thought of the fallout that would inevitably follow and had balked. The press might get their hands on the story, which would cause a major scandal. James was one of New York City’s most eligible bachelors, and the gossip rags would have a field day. There was also the firm’s reputation to consider. It would not look good to have a lawyer from the firm arrested for attempted murder and arson.

As a lawyer I also knew the case against Becca would be very difficult to prove. Even if the case went to trial, it would probably take a long time. I would have to be a witness, and in the end, she could be acquitted. A jury would undoubtedly take one look at her and fall in love with the innocent act she was so good at. The boating incident was my word against hers, and the evidence in the arson case was circumstantial at best. True, Becca matched the description of the woman in the stairwell, but so did half the women who worked in the building. We had almost decided that contacting the police was our only recourse when Patti had hit on another course of action.

Patti, being deviously minded, had the idea of contacting Becca’s parents and telling on her. It was risky, since we didn’t know how they would react. We didn’’t even know if she had a relationship with her parents, but we decided it was worth a try. The first step in our plan was to steal a look at Becca’s personnel records to see who she listed as her emergency contact. Since she didn’t have a husband, we thought it was pretty likely that she would put down one of her parents. I gloss over how we had managed to access confidential employee records, feeling the less said on that matter the better. Let’s just say it would be a very bad idea to get on Patti’s bad side.