Page 9 of Some Like It Deadly
“They’re quite delicious. You must eat here regularly if they know your order.”Keep it light, Kate.The only other routine she’d pinned down was his adherence to office hours. The cases he tackled varied. He met clients at their places of business, homes, restaurants and parties as often as he did in his office. Mobility made him a harder target—which is why they hit in the car.And why the grand duke had assigned a second unit to shadow him when he was on the road.
She’d picked them out easily, but she’d known what to look for. At least, they kept their distance.
“I used to come in every Tuesday, but not for a few months.” Glancing up from his tablet, he nodded to hers. “You sync’d the calendar on both of these?”
Small talk was over, time to get to work. “Before we left the office. I’ve taken the liberty of suggesting two alterations for the rest of this week. You have appointments in the same area at two different times in the day. If we move the meetings to a central locale, we can actually cover both in less time and that will give you a cleaner afternoon.”And more time to rest.
He studied the suggested changes, then accepted them. “Clear it with my clients and that looks fine. We don’t have to be in court this week, but we will next. I have two briefs that need to be filed Friday?—”
“—and the third for Judge Ryan on Monday. Also, I compiled the data for Mikelson v Los Angeles and Officer Randall.” She chose the data and flipped it open to the file. She’d earmarked the pages he’d need to complete the brief. “I noticed that one of the depositions hadn’t been added to the digital record.”
“Whose?” He was already scrolling through the notations.
“Officer LaReaux. He’s noted in both Officer Randall’s deposition and Mr. Mikelson’s as being present during the incident, but we don’t have his statement.”
Richard pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dammit. Make a note that I need to contact Greg Chambers at the LAPD tomorrow morning, first thing. In fact, send an email to him tonight and get us on his schedule.” He paused when the waiter delivered their dinners, letting him serve and exit before continuing. Despite being alone, he dropped his voice. “LaReaux was under investigation in an unrelated matter, but we were asked to hold off on his deposition until IAD concluded the matter.”
“And it likely slipped through the cracks during your convalescence.” She traded the tablet for her phone. She’d already added the office email, his and hers, to her phone for easy access. She typed up the email with two thumbs and sent it off to the detective he’d mentioned.
They spent their dinner reviewing the open status of his caseload and he gave her a series of cases to pull first thing in the morning. It was after ten when Richard closed his tablet. “Enough for today and…” he glanced at his watch, “…I’ll have them call a taxi for me. You should go home and get some sleep. It’s going to be an even longer day tomorrow.”
“I have to go right past the office on my way home,” she lied smoothly. “I can take you to your car.”And after today, I’m going to need a raise.Being Anna’s assistant hadn’t required near the same amount of paperwork, emails and schedule management. Richard Prentiss had enough work for three assistants—she needed to manage thatandwatch his back.
He chuckled. “You’re in danger of spoiling me, Kate.”
“Change your mind at the last minute on any of these plans we’ve made this evening and we’ll see how much I spoil you.” Her light tone and hard look had the desired effect—he grinned wider.
“You realize that’s a challenge.”
“I’d have been disappointed if you didn’t see it that way.”
Blessedly, the ride back to the office went as quietly and dull as the drive out. She waited until she saw him get in his vehicle and dialed the follow car, miming that her phone had rung when he glanced at her questioningly.
“Rebel is flying solo on the home route and it’s twenty-two eighteen.” The follow car repeated their acknowledgement and she waited for Richard to back out of his parking space. “Handing off the ball.”
Hanging up, she followed him up the ramp to the exit gate and then out onto the street. The black SUV and a second follow car slid out, one ahead and one behind. It took skill to follow a driver by staying in front of them, but since Richard was heading home, they knew where to expect him to go.
Turning in the opposite direction, she had one more stop to make before she could get some sleep. The grand duke wanted a report on his best friend’s security situation.
And won’t that be an entertaining conversation…
Twenty-five minutes later,she found the grand duke waiting for her in Peterson’s office. He was alone, and to her surprise, Peterson didn’t remain to supervise the discussion. The grand duke was still in his suit, though he’d forgone the tie.
“Thank you for coming by so late, Kate.” He waved her toward a chair and settled against the desk rather than sitting. His offer of seating was more an order than a request, so she sat obediently.
“It’s not a problem, Your Highness.” She clasped her hands together.
“Richard hired you.” It wasn’t a question, but concern furrowed the grand duke’s brow. The man transformed control freak into dignified art. “How is he?”
“He’s well.” It was a non-committal answer, but their brief acquaintance said a great deal about Richard’s tenacity. He didn’t give in to the suggestion of weakness.
“That I know, but how is he really? What is his schedule like? Do we need to try and lighten his workload? Should I bully him into taking more time off?” The grand duke’s European accent sharpened and he enunciated each word with care.
“Your Highness, you’ll have to forgive me. The parameters of my assignment are clear. Mr. Prentiss is myprotectee,I cannot discuss the behavior of my protectee. Not even with you.” Unfortunately, that answer didn’t satisfy him.
“Richard is my dearest, oldest friend.” If he thought repeating the same information to her would get him what he wanted He was wrong.
“I understand, Your Highness.” And she did. She understood the lengths to which he would go to protect those he consideredhis. He’d hired her twice now to do the exact same job. “I must still say no.”
