Ties That Bind (37 page)

She clicked off. Kate quelled a question and it seemed as if Reese did, too. Dray took the papers from him, and turned away. “I’m going.”

“I’ll walk you to the door.” Reese took her arm, but she shrugged it off. Still he followed her out.

“Good-bye, Dray,” Kate called after them.

She didn’t respond. No surprise there.

o0o

DRAY SEEMED DETERMINED to bolt as fast as she could, but Reese tugged her back just as she opened the door. “Wait a second, Dray.”

Her back to him, her shoulders stiffened in the pretty pink summer blouse she was wearing. “I don’t have anything more to say to you.”

“I know. I have something to say to you.” He tugged her around.

“If it’s more of the I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing stuff, forget it, we’re through.”

“I know we are. I just wanted to say good-bye.”

Her blue eyes moistened. “So you’ve decided to marry Kate.”

“Nothing’s gone that far. We’re embroiled in new developments from the case.”

“Are you going to be able to prove your innocence?”

“I think so.”

Her expression softened. “I’m glad, Reese. I knew you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Thanks for believing in me.” He shifted from one foot to the other, uncomfortable in her presence because he was ashamed of what he’d done. “Dray, I wish I could have given you what you wanted.”

She nodded to the family room. “She was always between us, Reese. I knew it all along.”

“Honestly, I didn’t.”

“I realize that. It’s the only thing that makes me not hate you.”

“I’m glad you don’t. Good luck, honey. In finding a house, in everything.”

“I’ll be fine. I hope you’re happy.”

“Thanks.” He didn’t spout platitudes, like she was a wonderful person, or someday she’d find love. He always hated those candy-ass sentiments.

Surprising him, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then she walked out of his life. He watched her go, again feeling deep regret for hurting her.

When he returned to the family room, Kate looked up from the paper. “Did you say good-bye?”

“Yes. It was tough.”

She gave him a weak smile.

“What the hell was all that about with her and Tyler, do you think?”

“Who knows?” Kate pushed her hair off her face. She was wearing it down and curly most days now. Along with a soft green outfit made of linen, she looked young. “That whole thing was odd.”

“Damn it, Kate, everything’s off.” He nodded to the newspaper. “What do you think it means about Ruiz getting killed?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to call Chase again.”

“We’re ruining his Sunday.”

“Ours isn’t shaping up so well, either, Reese.” She looked after Dray. “I feel bad for her. And Tyler.”

“I know. I feel like a shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Let’s call Chase Sanders again.”

o0o

TYLER SIPPED HIS latte and watched Dray enter Starbucks. She seemed slight in stonewashed jeans and a baby pink blouse. When she got close, he could see she’d been crying.

“What did that bastard do to you now?” he asked without even greeting her.

“Nothing. And hello to you, too.”

He gave her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hello. Are you all right?”

“As well as can be expected.” She sat and smiled at the coffee he’d ordered, just like old times when they were trying to keep Kate and Reese apart. They’d failed, miserably. “To answer your question, Reese did nothing to me. I went over his house, hoping he wasn’t home. I needed my papers from the safe for buying a house. Anyway, when he didn’t answer the doorbell, I let myself in. He and Kate were in the family room, like a married couple, having coffee, reading the Sunday paper.”

“I’m sorry.” That’s exactly what Tyler and Kaitlyn used to do, but he pushed away the thought.

“Did you talk to Kate?” Dray asked.

“Briefly. Did you tell her to call me?”

“No.” She was lying, but Tyler let that slide.

“It doesn’t matter now.” He sipped his coffee, too, then reached out and grasped her hand. “Why haven’t you returned my calls?”

She twisted the thermal holder on her cup. “I was embarrassed.”

“I am, too.”

On Wednesday morning, when they’d awakened together in bed, she’d asked him to leave right away, without talking about anything that had happened the night before. He’d gone because he was chagrined by what they’d done, too, and he had a hangover and he didn’t know what to say to her anyway. During the week, he’d tried to call her though.

“Tyler? I asked why you wanted to see me.”

“I can’t leave things between us like this, Dray.”

She blushed. “We were pretty drunk. Do you remember what we did?”

“Of course. Finally, I remembered why.”

She shook back her hair. “I did, too. We were comforting each other. We took solace in a little recreational sex, so what was the harm?”

“No harm in it, as far as I’m concerned. I was afraid you regretted it.”

“I only regret it if I’ve lost you as a friend.”

“You haven’t. I’ll always be your friend.”

Dray watched Tyler’s eyes turn a deeper blue. They did that when something hurt him. He was such a kind, sensitive, sympathetic man. If the situation were different, they might have been able to build something together.

“What are you thinking? You look so sad.”

“Honestly?”

“Please.”

“I was thinking that if things were different, we might have been able to have something together. I like you, Tyler, and truthfully, the sex—what I remember of it—was great.”

“Any relationship between us could never work, I know. The last thing you need is another man in your life who’s hung up on Kaitlyn Renado.”

“And the last thing you need is another woman in love with Reese.”

“Been there, done that,” he joked.

At least he still had his sense of humor. “I should have taken your calls; you always make me feel better.”

“You do that for me, too.”

“So, I guess we’re square?”

He grinned. “Uh-huh.” He smiled. “You’re looking for a house?”

“Yes, I got some listings from the newspaper. I’m heading over to see a couple this afternoon.”

“Want company?”

“I’d love some.”

He held out his hand. “Friends?”

She took it, feeling marginally better. “Friends.” As they stood to go, Dray felt a twinge of regret. Tyler was off limits because of Kate Renado.

Damn the woman.

AFTER COURT ON Monday morning, Kate headed for the courthouse cafeteria for lunch. She smiled sadly, thinking how Tyler had often brought her food, and they’d spend a short half hour together. In truth, she missed him, but she couldn’t regret what had happened. Apparently she had always loved Reese—something Tyler had feared and repeatedly voiced to her; it wasn’t fair to pretend otherwise with a good man like him. She intended to call him today and ask to see him one more time to say a final good-bye.

She was halfway through her BLT when she looked up and saw Reese heading toward her table. He wore a beautiful light tan suit that went well with his coloring. There was spring in his step; he appeared more rested. “Hi,” he said when he reached her.

“Hi.”

His green eyes were mischievous. There was a glimpse of that boy she had married again. “Do you have any idea how much I want to lean over this table and kiss you?”

She giggled, like a schoolgirl, not a judge. “I think I do. But it would surely shock the assembled crowd here to see that. Try to control yourself.” Then low and sultry, she added, “At least for right now.”

“Ah, I’d forgotten how lethal you are when you flirt.” He sat down and placed a bag on the table.

She said, “I didn’t know you were in court today.”

“I’m not. I brought you something.”

She focused on the bag. “What is it?”

“Insurance.” He smiled, a bit self-effacingly. “Open it.”

Inside she found something which resembled brass knuckles and a canister of some kind. “Not exactly hearts and flowers.”

“You want hearts and flowers, I’ll send them later. These are equally important.”

She studied the devices. “Pepper spray and a key ring with a weapon on it?”

His casual pose, leaning back in the chair, was deceptive. His gaze had intensified. “You going to and from the parking garage alone doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Reese, they caught the guy who attacked me. He’s in jail.”

“I know. But humor me. This might be one of those lawyer hunches we talked about. Or it might just be paranoia. In any case, I’m unnerved by what happened to you before.” He nodded to the weapons. “It won’t hurt you to carry them.”

She rolled her eyes. “All right.”

“Give me your car keys.”

She fished them out of her purse, handed them over, and watched him attach the brass knuckles. “These have holes for your fingers, but they’ll only work if you have your keys in your hand when you need them.” He finished the task and slid them on his own hand to show her how they worked. “I want you to promise me you’ll use them every time you go into that garage. At least for a while.”

“I guess.”

“And carry the pepper spray in your hand, too; don’t leave it in your purse or briefcase.”

At her skeptical expression, his face darkened. “I know it sounds extreme, but so much has happened, Kate. And I’m still uneasy about this whole Bingham thing. At least carry these until the case is solved. I don’t want to lose you now that we’ve…” He trailed off.

She knew the finish line. Now that we’ve found each other again.

“I promise.” He’d lost so much, even though he hadn’t played that card on her.

He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Now, can I have some of that lemon meringue pie?”

She grinned. “You can have anything you want, Reese.”

His eyes flared hotly. “Now there’s a thought. Hold it until we can be alone.”

For the rest of the day, Kate did indeed hold thoughts of her ex-husband, in her mind and close to her heart. It wasn’t until she left her courtroom after the last session that she realized that for five years, her goal was to keep thoughts of him out of courtroom. She wasn’t able to do that anymore because she believed in her heart they might just have a chance to make it work between them again. And she was going to take the opportunity when the time was right.

Because she was still thinking about him, as she packed files and her purse in her briefcase, she remembered to take out the pepper spray along with her keys. Then she left her chambers and took the elevator down to the ground floor parking.

As soon as the elevator opened at the garage level, she slid the new chain on her hand—it was bulky and awkward—and held on to the spray. She was also more alert, more watchful of her surroundings. Maybe Reese had spooked her, but he was right, she wouldn’t take chances with her safety.

She met John, the guard, coming toward the elevator.

“Hi, John.”

“Hello, Judge.”

“I don’t need an escort today.”

He grinned. “Sure am glad they caught the guy.” He held up jumper cables. “Judge Jenkins’s car won’t start, so I’m heading over to the other side to help her out.”

“I’ll drive around to where she parks and make sure she gets going.”

“Don’t think you need to, but go ahead.”

Kate made her way down the second aisle to where her car was parked. At nearly seven, the garage was well lit and daylight still streamed from the windows. She was thinking about spring, and how nice it was to have the warm weather; she’d just popped the lock on her Eclipse, when a shadow from behind blocked the light.

Her heart beat faster; dropping the briefcase on the ground and gripping the key ring and pepper spray, she whirled around. When she saw the man in the ski mask, she thought Not this time and raised her arm. But before she released the pepper spray into his eyes, the man grabbed her wrist. The canister fell to the concrete with a clank. She saw him grin at the triumph of disarming her, and felt adrenaline flow into her body as his grip released fractionally. She yanked the hand he held out of his grasp and with her other, she sliced the jagged edges of the key chain down the side his face. He growled in pain as metal cut through the knit material and his skin. When he recoiled, Kate pulled at the mask. Though his hand had clapped to one side of his face, and there was a lot of blood, she got a good look at the guy before he managed to push her away and turn tail and run.

o0o

REESE WAS LIKE a caged tiger at the police station. He waited in a conference room with Kate, pacing and swearing. At least she wasn’t hurt this time, though she was shaken. Her face was pale against her red linen dress and her hands trembled a bit. His heart had practically stopped when he got her call telling him about another attack in the garage.

“Jesus Christ, Kate, this can’t be a coincidence.”

“No, it was intentional. The police detective said the first guy’s still locked up.” She drew in a heavy breath. “Apparently someone else is after me.”

“Are you sure you recognized him?”

“Yes, but I have no idea from where. It could have been my courtroom or from our practice. But I have feeling it was more fleeting than that since I can’t place him. For some reason, I think I just saw him for a few minutes.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to nail this down though.”

He stopped behind her and kneaded her shoulders, letting the flowery scent of her hair soothe him. “I guess I should just be glad you’re all right.”

“It was your hunch.”

“What?”

“I was thinking about your hunch. I got the pepper spray out and put the key chain on, but even unconsciously, I had my wits about me enough to react quickly.” She shook her head. “So instead of just spooking me, you may have saved my life.”

“Thank God.” He ran a hand down her hair. “I don’t know what I would have done…” He shook his head and dropped down into a chair beside her. “The hell with waiting until things are settled. I love you. We’re getting back together now and giving our marriage another shot. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Before she could respond—damn it—a detective entered the room. “Judge Renado.” He nodded to Reese. “I’m Detective Pike.”