Page 49 of Some Like It Deadly
Inside, she identified three benefits to the building. First, the location behind the main house meant no direct line of sight existed to the street. Second, the room Richard took his meetings in was located in the back of the building with a single window that faced a brick wall. Third, and best of all, the four women sitting in a group waiting for him weren’t armed and cheered up immensely at his arrival.
They were wary of her, but Kate didn’t mind. She tried to relax her shoulders and appear as nonthreatening as possible,but they didn’t know her and they weren’t prepared to trust her. She accepted that judgment without comment.
Richard introduced her to the first client, Valerie Manning—she and her four sons were all residents at Christine’s Center. She’d lost her job as a high school teacher after filing for an injunction against her abusive ex-husband. Richard handled a pair of cases for her—the first against the district for wrongful termination and the second against her ex-husband to terminate his parental rights.
By the time that meeting ended, Valerie was in tears and gave him a hug. Kate stared at the closed door, then at him. He’d never raised his voice or been anything more than solicitous, yet she could feel the quiet rage behind his professional veneer.
“What’s going to happen to the douche ex-husband?” She had the unreasonable urge to deliver a cease-and-desist order with a baseball bat and she didn’t know Valerie.
“He’s cooling his heels in jail right now. He violated the restraining order last month and trespassed.” Despite his matter-of-fact tone, he smiled tightly. “He might have had an open container in his vehicle and taken a swing at the officer who came to arrest him too. We have another thirty days and I’ll have Mrs. Manning relocated by then.” Richard filled out the last of the paperwork and handed it over to her. “We’ll need to file those first thing in the morning. Exigent orders for emergency temporary custody so she can move across a state line. Did she sign the power of attorney so I can handle the rest of it?”
She nodded. Valerie hadn’t hesitated when Richard told her about the job waiting for her in Arizona and the rental house that had been “donated” for her use for a few months. If Kate hadn’t already been falling in love with him, his care and dedication to these women would have sealed the deal. Clearing her throat, she paused next to him and brushed the hair away from his forehead. “Ready for the next one?”
“Yes.” He shot her a quick smile and tucked the first file away into his bag and pulled out the next. “Kathy Sanderson.”
Each case seemed to be bad on its own merits. One woman had lost everything to a house fire and the insurance company refused to pay. They had to go over her deposition preparation for the following week. Another had been arrested for possession of a controlled substance—she’d had a bottle of oxy in her purse that she’d taken from a coworker to help them stay clean—and now her three-year-old daughter was in CPS custody. Richard held her when she cried because he’d gotten the mother a visitation order and a judge would hear her case within the month about restoring her custodianship if she promised to complete drug rehabilitation offered by the center.
The last case got to Kate.
Really got her.
Side-swiped by a drunk driver, Melissa Kent had suffered a traumatic brain injury. According to the files, prior to the accident Kent had been a successful attorney with a promising career. After it, she struggled to remember where her office was located much less the legal code. Her husband had left her and taken custody of the children. She couldn’t hold down a job longer than a few days before she began to forget what she was supposed to do.
The accident left her with a seven-day window of time to start again and again and again. Richard took the time to reintroduce himself, explained the case, their progress, and that the other driver’s insurance company and hers had agreed to mediation. Melissa would not only receive the medical care she needed, the money would be available to see to her care for years to come and help her children.
It had to be hell.Kate’s eyes were damp as the woman shuffled out. One of the others had waited for her and escorted her back up to the main house.
“Hey…” Richard wrapped an arm around her middle and pulled her back against him. “Are you crying?”
“No,” she lied and blinked the tears. “How do you do that?”
“One case a time, Kate.” Comfort. God, he offered her comfort and he did this all the time. “One case at a time. I’m helping them the only way I can.” He nuzzled the side of her head. “And you helped them too.”
“How?” She turned to look at him. “I handed you files and called names.”
“You didn’t judge them.” The intensity in his gaze held her captive. “You stood there, quiet, composed and strong. Did you watch them watching you? They’d talk about their case or listen to me when I did but they’d glance at you. When Valerie asked me what she should do about that emergency order and her ex-husband, you lifted your chin and you looked fierce. I could see it in your body language—you wanted to kick his ass.”
Heat flushed her face. “I don’t like jerks who beat their wives and she got a raw deal.”
“Yes, she did. But she was afraid of you when she came in. She wasn’t when she left because you were on her side.” Was that pride in his voice? “Maybe it’s only a little thing, but those women saw another strong woman in here, a woman who is helping them face the crap life threw at them, and that tells them that maybe they can do it too. So, yeah, you helped. A lot.” He pressed his lips to hers and she savored the sweetness in his kiss.
“You’re amazing.” She licked her lips and shook her head as she stepped back.
He winked. “In a totally adequate way, right?”
“Oh, I think you passed adequate and moved right on to better than expected.” His laughter washed over her and she double-checked the files to make sure he had his and she had the right ones to carry to the courthouse. “Hungry?”
“Starving.” He checked behind the table before pushing all the chairs in. “I say we stop at some all-night fast-food place and grab some burgers, take them home, and eat them naked.”
The salacious offer stroked over the raw edges left from their series of meetings and she led the way out into the waiting area and opened the exterior door. True night had fallen and it was pitch black outside save for the pools of light cast from the front house. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for burgers. What do you think of Chinese or—ooh, how about some Thai?”
“So we pick up some Thai and take it home and eat it naked.” He didn’t miss a beat. Kate was still laughing as she pivoted to face him.
It gave her a front row view to all the blood draining from his face.
The gun pressed against the back of her head froze her in place and all traces of humor vanished. Richard’s gaze locked with hers and she could see the fear a heartbeat before it calmed and his attention went to the person with the gun. “Let her leave. She’s not a part of this.”
“But she’s important to you, Mr. Prentiss.”A man.His voice was rough, a little nasal and a hell of a lot angry. With the steel barrel flush against her scalp, she didn’t dare move.
