Page 54 of The Wrong Side of the Law

Chapter Sixteen

Emily

Iwant to go home.

No. That’s not it. I don’t want to. Ineedto go home.

My pulse pounds in my ears as hard as the rain on my windshield as I pull out of the parking garage and onto Sixth Street.

For something that was supposed to be a business meeting, that got way too intimate, way too quickly. What was I thinking? Why did I let that happen?

I coast to a stop for a red light at Sixth and Bradshaw, maybe a hundred yards from the garage exit, and look over at the State Office building. The lights in the atrium are turned down, but through the tall bay windows I can see the silhouette of a man walking toward the elevator. I can’t make out much more than broad shoulders and a dark-colored shirt, but I know it’s him.

Tonight, I saw a very different Gabriel Cooper than I’d known at work. He was neither the slick power-play prosecutor nor the frustrated and easily-angered boss. He was just… a nice guy. A reallyhotnice guy.

By the time the silhouette disappears into an elevator and I look back at the traffic light, it’s yellow and turns back to red. I’ve completely missed the green light.

Why did I flirt with him? And who started it? I have no good answers. It didn’t feel wrong. It didn’t feel like a bad decision, not at the time. I know it can’t end well, though. And that’s why I need to go home now. That’s why I can’t go back to the office.

I’m paying attention this time, and when the light goes green I mean to let my foot off the brake, yet somehow I don’t.

The window of Gabriel’s office lights up and there he is, standing in the window. Does he see my car here? I must look like an idiot, sitting here still stopped at a green light.

Finally, just as the light cycles back to another yellow, I let the car start moving, but my left turn onto Bradshaw becomes an impulsive U-turn back toward the parking garage.

“Don’t do this, Em,” I say to myself, turning on the blinker. “This isn’t a good idea. Just drive straight past the garage and go home.”

But still I find myself parked inside, getting out of my car and swiping my keycard for access to the State Office building.

Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea. The words run through my head with each heartbeat, ever quicker the closer I get to Gabriel’s office.Ouroffice.

With my hand on the door handle, one final opportunity to seize common sense and go home remains.

“Last chance, girl,” Fearful-Emily whispers inside my head. “You know this isn’t smart. It doesn’t matter how hot he is. It doesn’t matter how nice he was tonight. You remember what Rita said about him. You remember all those days at work when he wasnotnice.”

But then there’s the other voice, too. The other half of my subconscious. Adventurous-Emily.

“You saw something different tonight. Something unexpected. And you liked it. Go ahead, go in there. What’s the worst that can happen?”

I know what the worst is: I screw up, I lose my job, my brother goes to prison, and I lose my house.

Adventurous-Emily and Fearful-Emily are still arguing, when I push the door open and go inside.

Gabriel is leaning back in his chair, feet up on the desk, reading something. He looks over at me, expressionless and silent. I stand in the doorway and return his gaze, waiting for some reaction.

What are you thinking right now, Gabriel? What’s going on inside your head?

He blinks first.

“Hey,” he says. “I thought you were going home? You need to get at least some rest.”

“What about you?” I ask.

He opens his mouth to answer, but I roll right over him.

“We’re in this mess together, Gabriel,” I say. Did his eyebrows move at the word ‘together’? “We might not have the same reasons, but wearein this together.” Yes. He definitely reacted, that time. “And besides, there’s nobody else here. With no interruptions, we can probably get more done in just a couple hours than we could during the day.”

Gabriel tilts his head to the side, considering, debating with himself. What’s to debate? He needs the help. The only reason that he’d even question it is if he’d felt something change tonight, too. I wish I could hear his inner monologue.

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