Expert Witness: A Romantic Suspense Novel (16 page)

Mike didn’t back down. “There’s no disputing you’re good at what you do. But if a client tells you to leave, you don’t have much choice.”

 
“You don’t get it. It was my fault.” He winced at the memory. “We’d become friends. I let that wall drop, and even though we disagreed half the time, there was something about us that worked. I got him, and I got why he did the crazy, screwed-up things he did.”

“Then do you honestly think, if you had no personal relationship with him at all, you’d have been able to talk him out of it?” He shook his head.

Chase dragged a hand through his hair and let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know, but I guess that’s the problem…that I don’t know. So I can continue to critique everything that happened that night and how many ways I could have changed the ending.”

“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. You can’t live life asking the what-if questions all the time or you’ll find that, somehow, you missed out on the ‘what truly is’ parts.”
 

“Buddy, you’d better watch it. You’re starting to sound like a shrink or something,” Chase said with a faint trace of a smile.
 

“Well, as long as you’re acknowledging that I sound like a good one, then I won’t complain,” Mike said, grinning.

“Okay, you win,” Chase said. “There may be a grain of truth in there somewhere.”

“Well then, the next question would be, what are you going to do with it?” Mike looked him directly in the eye.

Chase met his gaze. “It doesn’t change what happened.”

“But it should change what will. You need to lower the wall a little. You don’t have to take it down, but you have to let people you care about in again,” Mike said. “I’d tell you I’ve missed you these last five years, but it may go to your head.” He tapped his fist to Chase’s shoulder.
 

Chase didn’t have to read between the lines. He ought to make more of an effort. Now, Jordan was still his client. She was a whole other ball game. Or was she? He dismissed the thought as soon as he was aware of it.
 

Mike seemed to be reading his mind. “You don’t have to sleep with her. Actually, better stated, you’d better not sleep with her. She’s not into casual flings, and you aren’t the settling type.” He shot him a stern look. “But it wouldn’t hurt to be a little nicer. Damn, you’re running hot and cold so much when she’s around that even I never know which Chase to expect. She’s not the governor.”
“Yeah, I kind of noticed,” Chase said with a wink.

“Yeah, well, it stops at noticing in that regard,” Mike replied lightly.

“Message received.” He knew his friend was only half-joking. “Let’s get to work.” Chase opened the door and ran right into Jordan as he and Mike were leaving the office.

Mike gave her a nod and headed back down the hall.

Jordan started to move forward, but Chase reached out to stop her. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “And not only for almost running you over.”

Jordan tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, I heard that part last night. Please tell me. What exactly are you sorry for?” She pinned him with her glance.
 

There was no easy way to answer her. He was trying to be honest, but he had no desire to hurt her any more than he already had. “Jordan, I’m sorry for everything. It shouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t really thinking then.”
 

Her shoulders sagged beneath his touch, and she looked down the hall before turning back to him. “Then I guess that answers that.” She paused. “I don’t want it to be awkward between us. I’m trying to move forward. Just please don’t ‘stop thinking’ around me again. This—” she pointed her finger back and forth between them, “—whatever this is…was, isn’t as easy for me.”
 

Chase swallowed the words he wanted to say. They’d only confuse her more without sharing the whole disturbing story. “You have my word.” His tone was tinged with regret. He regarded her for a moment. “What time do you want to leave for the trial?”
 

“In about half an hour? It’s downtown,” she answered.

“I’ll meet you—”

“At the back entrance.” She gave him a small smile after finishing the sentence. “I’ve pretty much got the drill down now.”

Chase sat in the back of the courtroom while Jordan testified. Despite the tension in the room, she remained calm and answered each question succinctly. He stifled a yawn and tried to readjust his position again. There were only so many ways to sit in the stiff benches, and his body had grown tired of them all several hours ago.
 

Jordan sipped from a glass of water as the prosecutor approached the stand.

“Dr. Clayton, tell me some of the things you saw in the police report that would suggest to you that this wasn’t an impulsive act related to an inability to reason or control his behavior.”

“If you look at the timeline, the action didn’t occur in one night—as you might see when an individual gets angry and kills someone while involved in a lover’s quarrel or drug crime. The timing of the murder suggests it was carefully planned out so no one would notice the victim’s absence for several days. In addition, the crime scene was cleaned with materials the defendant brought with him to the house, and the disposal of the bodies was conducted in such a manner that would involve advanced preparation. For example, he dug the holes he’d use as grave sites earlier that week.”

The prosecutor took a few more steps forward. “Are the actions you described suggestive of a brain injury?”

“No, they’re not.” She shook her head.
 

“Tell me why.”

“The actions are more indicative of characterological traits that have been present over a long duration of time. The nature of personality issues is that they’re long-standing.” Her demeanor was relaxed as she proceeded to explain her conclusion. “In looking at the defendant’s past history, he demonstrated behaviors that reflected a general disregard for the welfare of others and any negative consequences of his actions. He’d manipulate people in order to fulfill his own desires, establishing relationships with women so they’d assist him in his crimes or befriending his clients in order to gain access to their personal banking information or credit cards…”
 

Chase listened to her expand on the characterological traits of the defendant and speculated that at least a few would apply to the perp who was threatening Jordan. But despite the stress she’d been dealing with, she presented the same now as she had when she’d first taken the stand almost seven hours ago—appearing self-assured but not arrogant or defensive. His chest swelled a little as she neatly sidestepped a trap the defense council set up. He’d done his share of testifying with the state patrol, so he had to give it to her. She was much better than he’d ever been.
 

Like he needed one more reason to admire the woman he was assigned to protect.
 

“Finally,” he said when she headed toward him after meeting with the prosecutor one last time. “I was beginning to think we might be sleeping here tonight.”

She laughed, seeming too tired from the long day to do anything else. “Yeah, I kept thinking we’d continue into tomorrow, but I think the judge was ready to wrap it up.”
 

She motioned for him to follow her, and he gladly followed her out of the courtroom. He was ready to move on from this day in more ways than one.

§

Jordan watched Chase’s forearm muscles flex as he steered the SUV onto the expressway. As soon as they’d shut the doors, he’d promptly pulled his tie off and rolled the sleeves of his button-down dress shirt up. His olive-toned skin contrasted with the light-blue material.
 

She reclined back in her seat and closed her eyes before her thoughts led her places she didn’t want to go right now—not ever, really. She’d stopped herself from telling him exactly how she felt, knowing the entire staff was around the corner. There was no point in risking being overheard and creating unnecessary drama at the office. So far, they’d managed to keep everything running smoothly, despite the frightening threats made toward her. Besides, Chase didn’t seem interested in her response. He’d clearly drawn his conclusions without her. His first apology last night had left her confused and hurt, and the second one today had made her as glad as he was that they’d stopped when they had. Being someone’s regret wasn’t something she ever wanted. She shoved the unpleasant memory out of her mind and tried to focus on the present. Moving forward, she reminded herself.

“You going to sleep on me?” he asked.

She opened her eyes part way and slid her gaze over to him. “I wish. I’m so ready to crash, but I’m also starving.” Her stomach chose then to rumble in agreement.
 

Chase lifted the corners of his mouth. “Sounds like it. I’ll swing by and grab us something to go. Do you have a preference?”

“Couldn’t care less. Whatever you want is fine with me.” She still hadn’t bothered to adjust her seat upright. It felt good to simply sit back for a moment and let him make the decisions. Between court today and the events of last night, she was done thinking.

After several minutes, Chase pulled into a deli and parked the SUV directly in front of the glass door. Through the slits of her eyelids, she could see there was only one other car in the parking lot. Not registering anything as a potential threat, she let her eyes drift shut again. But even with them closed, she could feel him staring at her. She shifted toward him.
 

“Sorry. I didn’t know if you were actually sleeping this time. Your stomach didn’t seem to have any input either way.”
 

The evening sun was just bright enough to illuminate his sexy grin as he teased her. Ugh. Truth be known, her traitorous stomach was busy doing somersaults as if an Olympic gold were at stake. It must have forgotten the need for food. But there was no way she was letting him in on that.
 

“No, I’m good. Still awake.”

“Okay, then. “Do you want to wait here while I run in?
 
I’ll be right in front of the door while they fill the order.”
 

She nodded absently. Sitting in the car and watching the sun sink behind the tree line, she tried to maintain her resolve to keep her mind still. She didn’t want to think about the hit on her life, or her bodyguard. Before long, she saw Chase push open the door carrying several bags, his confident stride showcasing his muscular physique now illuminated by the early moonlight.

She grabbed the bags from him as he jumped in the car. They were quite heavy, considering he was supposed to have picked up only two meals. “Seriously? How much do you think I eat?”
 

He arched an eyebrow at her. “Do you really want me to answer that? Because I’m not sure there’s a good one.”
 

“Yeah, you should probably scratch that question. My parents used to joke that I had hollow legs and that’s where all of the extra food goes.”
 

Chase’s eyes grazed over the length of her legs to the hem of her skirt, leaving a trail of heat along his path. When he reached her upper thighs, she realized her skirt had ridden up since she’d been reclining in the seat. Several inches of nylon-covered upper thigh was now on display. A flush crept into her cheeks as she did her best to balance the carryout bags while tugging at the wayward hem.
 

Chase shifted in his seat and abruptly directed his attention to merging into the oncoming traffic.
 

After deciding that her hemline had returned to a respectable position, she looked over at him. “So, what are we having?”

“Hmmm?” He muttered distractedly, checking the rearview mirror.

“You know, the ten-pound bags you have for dinner, what’s in them?” She wondered where he’d disappeared to.
 

Surely, her bare legs hadn’t left him that unnerved. From the way he’d won over the women on her staff his first day, she was pretty sure he’d seen more than his fair share over the years. She shook her head in an effort to brandish the thought away. After their recent encounter, she had no desire to picture him with a woman he’d chosen to be with. It would only leave her questioning why he didn’t pick her. She looked out her window as they drove by the turnoff into her neighborhood.
 

“Chase?” she said in an uncertain tone.
 

He still hadn’t answered and was glancing in the rearview mirror again. She checked her side mirror, noticing a car approaching them from behind.
 

“What is it? Are we being followed?” she asked. Her chest tightened as she gripped the bags in her lap.

“It would seem so. He’s been behind us for the past five turns,” he said. “And I made sure a couple were just around a block a few miles back. I need you to hang tight while I try something.”

Chase entered the right turn lane and turned on the right blinker. The car eased in behind them, though it was too dark to make out the features of the driver. When the light changed to green, Chase gunned the engine and sped into the adjacent lane going straight instead. He was able to get ahead of the other cars on the road.
 

Jordan looked back, hoping the car following them wouldn’t make it. Then the screeching of brakes tore through the night, and a car swerved over to avoid being hit by their tail. She held her breath until she saw that the other driver was safe.