Ties That Bind (10 page)

“Shoot.”

“Did you get any negative reaction at the courthouse these past few days?”

Her pause was meaningful. “Like what?”

“People say anything? Look at you funny? Whisper behind your back?”

She shrugged. “Probably. I tried not to pay attention. Did you get those reactions?”

“And worse.” He told her about his client.

“Shit. What happened in the case?”

“As favorable an outcome as possible. I could tell the judge didn’t like McAlister’s attitude, but I managed to avoid jail time. He got the max fine and a year suspension of his license. Next time this happens he’s in deep shit.”

“As he should be.”

“Agreed.” She sighed.

“What about you?”

“I was called in to meet with Larry Larkin.”

“How did that go?”

“He says he believes me.”

“You?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your emphasis was on the me.”

Her face reddened. She squirmed a bit. The subtle reactions might go unnoticed by the casual observer, but he knew this woman inside out. Though they both often played things close to the vest with others, he could always read her face better than anyone. “Was it?”

“You know it was. Doesn’t he believe me?”

Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out from her pocket, and scowled. “I’ll let it go.” She glanced back up at him. “I didn’t say Larry didn’t believe you.”

“You didn’t say he did.”

“Reese, please, don’t start on me.” She checked her watch. “Why did you come here?”

“For reassurance. That I’m not getting, Kate.”

“I—” This time her office phone rang. She ignored it but an odd expression passed across her face.

“Kate, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

Before she could answer him, the machine picked up.

“Kate, this is Carl. I got your message about Reese. Call me.”

Reese felt his blood pressure rise. Along with a swift kick to his heart. “About me? What message about me?”

She bit her lip.

“Larkin doesn’t believe me. Why?”

“He said there were rumors about you and Lindsay Farnum.” She swallowed hard. “Rumors, of course, that were true.”

“Which makes me guilty with Bingham? Jesus, he’s judge. “

“It goes to pattern, Reese. He’s right to be worried.”

“And did he convince you to be worried?”

“He said I should watch out for myself.”

“By what?” He glanced at the phone. “By blaming me openly. Clearing yourself and implicating me?”

“No! I’d never do that to you.”

“Is that why you called your lawyer?”

“I wanted to talk to Carl about it all.” She raised her chin. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

How could she even consider turning against him publicly? He was so angry he threw back his chair and stood. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me. We were married for fifteen years. We meant everything to each other. The divorce was both our faults. And you’re considering hanging me out to dry and saving yourself?” He shook his head. “Why the hell was I thinking that we could work together without this animosity flaring between us?” He gave her one last scathing glance and stormed out of her office.

Shocked, and stupidly, stupidly hurt by this new development, Reese found his way to the exit of the courthouse.

HER BREATHING LABORED, Kate nevertheless kept running in the cool, Friday morning April air. She’d awakened at four and had been unable to go back to sleep, so she decided to outdistance the demons by pounding the pavement.

Demon number one, though, kept up the pace she set as she jogged down her tree-lined street, two miles outside of town. The police reports weren’t looking good for her and Reese. The cops were close to ruling Anna Bingham’s death a suicide. And they hadn’t been pleased with the interference Kate and Reese had brought to their investigation. The seasoned captain in charge had told their lawyers he knew how to do his fuckin’ job, and to back off.

She speeded up and took a slight incline. Her calves began to ache but she kept going, letting the breeze ruffle her hair and revitalize her. Demon number two was right on her heels. A reporter from the Herald had been hounding her and Reese for a statement about their response to Anna Bingham’s charges. Eddie Wick had taken an interest in the case and had speculated in yesterday’s paper why Reese and Kate wouldn’t talk to the press. The editorial had a negative slant, asserting that the public had a right to know their response. It implied they were hiding something.

Kate reached the top of the hill and slowed down a bit. No sense in killing herself. Since she hadn’t been sleeping or eating right, she shouldn’t overdo the exercise. Catching her breath, she set herself an easier pace. Demon number three—the head honcho—came out and ran right alongside her. Reese. He’d been so angry about her misgivings. He’d stormed out of her office on Wednesday, full of righteous indignation. Though she’d known he’d always been angry with her, the vehemence of his reaction to her talk with Larkin had almost frightened her. Damn it, nothing was easy about that man. He messed up her thinking. He gave her headaches. He caused an insomnia that was driving her crazy. Maybe it would be best to take sides against him. That way, she wouldn’t have to work with him anymore and this disturbing contact with him would stop. Judge Larkin had given her that advice. So had Carl and Tyler…

Her lawyer hadn’t had to think too hard about it. “We should listen to Larry Larkin. He has his pulse on the legal world in Westwood. He’d know if associating with Reese, siding with Reese, will hurt you. Remember, I mentioned this line of defense earlier and said we’d wait for the police report to take a position. If Bingham’s death is ruled a homicide, you’re off the hook. If it is indeed ruled a suicide, you have to make a choice. I vote to blame Reese, if it comes to that. After all, he’s accused of the affair.”

Kate had felt a sinking in her stomach. “The note says I was in collusion with him.”

“We can imply that Reese lied to her about that.”

“I don’t know, Carl. I simply don’t believe it of Reese.”

“He had another affair, Kate. That gives you the upper hand.”

“I know. But that was right before the divorce. The thing with Bingham was supposed to have happened when Reese and I were both thirty-five. We’d just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Things couldn’t have been better between us.”

“You’ve got a way out of this. Think about taking it.”

So Kate had talked about it to Tyler…

“I think Wakefield’s right,” he’d said over dinner two nights ago at La Dolce Vita, her favorite Italian restaurant. She used to dine there with Reese. Tyler’s blue eyes were sober and he’d looked like he hadn’t been sleeping well, either.

“You think he’s guilty?” she asked.

Ever fair, ever the good guy, his face had flushed. “I didn’t say that. I think blaming him can clear you, which is what I want.”

“Don’t you want the truth?”

“Maybe not.” He’d sat back and sipped his wine. Shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m jealous enough to say this, but I’d do almost anything to get you away from that guy. If you thrust this off on Reese, that would solidify your break with him.”

“Tyler, the divorce solidified it.”

“No, it never did. And now, you’re getting drawn back into his life. I can feel it.”

Because Tyler might be right, because the notion scared her, she’d given a lot of thought to turning on Reese Bishop.

Only Jillian had suggested any reason to think she shouldn’t…

“What was going on in your marriage at the time?” Jillian had asked at Gavels where they met for a glass of wine after work last night.

“Oh, Jillian. It was a heady time. We’d opened the law firm and were doing great. We’d just gotten those classy offices. We couldn’t handle all the clients we had. Sofie was six and had started school. She was a happy, sunny child, and loved life then. And we’d bought and renovated that farmhouse just outside of town; I loved that place so much it broke my heart to sell it.”

“Doesn’t sound like he had time to cheat, even if he did have the inclination.”

“I can’t make myself believe he’d want to. We were so close. I would have known if he was seeing someone else, like I did with Malibu Barbie.”

“Well then, there’s your answer. If you do believe him, I know you won’t turn him over to the sharks to cover your own ass…”

Still running, Kate had made her way to town and stopped at a bench near the coffee shop on Main Street. She checked her watch. The place was due to open in ten minutes. Maybe she’d grab some coffee and then head home. Dropping down on the bench, she knew she had to make a decision. And she knew she could only find the answer in her heart. Would Reese really have screwed their client ten years ago? Think, Kate, think. All of what she’d told Jillian was true. And so much more.

They’d gone on a trip to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary that year, right before they took on Anna Bingham’s case. They’d returned to Florida, to Siesta Key, where they’d spent their honeymoon…

“Look, Reese,” Kate had said staring out of a penthouse condo window on Siesta Key Beach the first morning they were there. This time of day the sun gilded the water and the whoosh of the waves was soothing. “That beach is so beautiful.” It was advertised to have the best sand in the world.

“Not as beautiful as my wife of ten years. “ He’d come up behind her and circled her waist with his arms. He was nuzzling her neck.

“Remember our honeymoon here?”

He’d grinned. “We had that shabby hotel room, six blocks from the beach. It was sweltering hot at night, and was smaller than a postage stamp.”

“It had a bed. That’s all we cared about.”

His lips had traveled from her ear to her neck and she luxuriated in the feel of his mouth on her.

“Remember the plans we made out there on that very sand, the dreams we had?”

“And we’ve gotten it all, sweetheart.”

She’d pivoted in his arms. “It can’t get any better than this, Reese.”

He started to unbutton her blouse. “Hmm. Let’s see what I can do about proving that statement false, Counselor.”

Gently, she’d stayed his hands. “I’m serious. I love our life. I love you, so much. Promise me it’ll always be this good.”

His face lost the sexy tease and sobered. His green eyes had glittered like polished jade. “I promise it’ll only get better. I love you, too, Kate. I’ll never do anything to hurt you…”

Her eyes began to mist. Those had been the vows they’d made at their wedding. Sappy. Sentimental. Emotional as hell.

“I’ll protect you from others who want to…I’ll give you everything I have and always put your needs above mine…I’ll stay with you no matter how tough life gets and rejoice in the good things…” By the time he’d finished reciting those precious words they had written ten years before, she’d been sobbing…

Sitting on the bench, Kate sighed. She’d forgotten they’d renewed their vows again, in the privacy of their suite overlooking Siesta Key Beach, as the sun rose into the pink and white sky over the gulf, on their anniversary.

Now, as she looked at another sunrise, this time over Westwood’s horizon, Kate knew the truth. A man who vowed all those things on that beautiful, sunny morning, wouldn’t have an affair with a client the next month.

When the coffee shop opened, Kate stood, crossed the road and entered it. There were no customers inside yet; the pungent smell of strong coffee suffused the small space, and a waitress was behind the counter sipping from a steaming mug. Before Kate could close the door, someone came in behind her.

A delivery boy for the Herald. Turning, she saw him place a stack of the morning papers on the counter.

From where she stood, the headline leaped out at her.

NEW JERSEY POLICE DECLARE DEATH OF ANNA BINGHAM A SUICIDE.

o0o

REESE OPENED THE door to his house and stepped out into the morning air, cool at seven a.m. He shivered in his pj’s bottoms, having not thought to put on a shirt because his mind was muddled from tossing and turning all night; finally he’d given up on sleep at five. He’d downed a pot of coffee by the time he heard the newspaper delivered.

At the mailbox, he snagged the Herald out of its metal cylinder and turned to go back to the house, when his gaze caught on a cab coming down the street, unusual for this hour, on this quiet suburban street. He was further surprised to see the taxi stop in front of his house, and shocked to see his ex-wife climb out of the car—dressed a black-and-white running suit. His pulse began to thrum. He was still furious at her for doubting him. He’d met with his lawyer and they had a strategy all planned if she sold him out.

Which he guessed she would. Maybe that’s what she’d come to tell him. Kaitlyn Renado never backed away from a fight and he knew she’d inform him of her decision face-to-face.

She paid the cabbie and approached him. For a minute he was taken aback by her appeal—the sun rising behind her, the flush on her face from running, some of that glorious hair escaping from a tie of the ponytail. “Hi.”

“Kate.” He said her name stiffly. He wasn’t about to be bulldozed by her beauty when she was going to bury him.

Nodding to the paper, she asked, “Did you read that yet?”

He shook his head and opened it; the headline jumped out at him. “Terrific.” He glanced up at her. “How bad is it?”

“Bad. The reporter who’s taken an interest in us—Eddie Wick—peppers our name through the whole thing.”

“Fuck!” He skimmed the article. “‘No response from the judge and lawyer…police say Bingham’s note is genuine…don’t lawyers and judges have an ethical responsibility to their clients…”

He lifted his chin and looked at her. He’d never been one to back down, either, even when the odds were against him. “Do I even need to ask if this means you’re going solo? I’d guess that’s the advice from everybody in your life.”

Cocking her head, she gave him a sad smile. “Since when did I listen to advice?”

He frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m not going to clear myself at your expense.”

“Why?”

“Because it wouldn’t be right. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I remembered where we were in our life together at the time we took on Anna Bingham.”