Home Is Where the Heat Is (34 page)

“Uh-huh. Linda told me you canceled my order.” JT braced his hands on the solid wood barrier and stared the supplier down. “Do we have a problem?”

Chip scrambled back a step and tripped over the cash register. “Mark tried to make the delivery this morning, but he couldn’t get past all the cops and reporters. How would it look if one of my trucks showed up on the news?”

“I don’t give a shit how you look.” JT scowled, and the little man shrank. “I’ll send Nate over to pick it up.”

“That’ll be fine.”

“Good.” He hadn’t realized how tightly his jaw was clenched until he smiled and his teeth throbbed. “Don’t believe everything you hear on the news, okay?”

“Sure.”

JT turned and walked outside. The late morning sunlight glared off the snow and hit him right in the eyes, causing him to bump shoulders with a guy hurrying into the building. “Whoa, sorry buddy.” He steadied the man, but the grin on his face froze when he recognized who he’d run into. “Perkins.”

“The cops let you go already?” Martin Perkins, former Hodge electrical contractor, rubbed his shoulder while a smirk played on his lips.

JT stiffened. He knew he’d have to face rude questions, but he didn’t have to take shit from this idiot. “Have a nice day.” He brushed off his sleeve, freeing himself from the contact with the incompetent fool like he’d freed his company from Perkins’ employment.

The ex-electrician laughed. “I already have.”

What the fuck?
JT spun, but the man scurried into the store and disappeared. Had he just heard a confession? Should he tell the cops? And then what? He had no evidence Perkins had done anything. Maybe the guy was just enjoying his ex-boss’s misery. But his gut twisted and bile rose in his throat. Perkins had set him up.

Now how the hell am I gonna prove it?

Chapter 28

JT stared at the phone book until the names and numbers blurred.
What am I doing?
He blinked and located his mother’s name again. Diane Hamilton. She’d never liked the name Luck.

He pressed the number into his phone.
Are you nuts?
Nothing would change. He’d tell her about his troubles, and she’d tell him he was a worthless, unlovable loser. Same actions equaled same results. Wasn’t that the definition of insanity?

Hell, I can use this for my defense.
He pressed the call button. Don’t answer, don’t answer….

“Hello?”

Well, shit.
“Hi. Mom.”

“JT. I saw you on the news. You screwed up bad this time.”

He stomped on the urge to throw his phone across the room. “I called to tell you my side of the story.”

“This should be interesting.” Her tone said the opposite.

He made a mental note to stuff cotton balls in his ears the next time Kaylee wanted to give him advice. “I didn’t start those fires.”

She snorted. “I suppose someone framed you.”

“Obviously, since I didn’t do it.”

“So that’s it? ‘I didn’t do it’ is your story?”

Um….

“Thanks for calling. That cleared everything up.”

“Wait.” She couldn’t just brush him off like that. Not again. There had to be something that would defrost her cold, dead heart. “I met a girl.”

“Well, that’s an accomplishment. Tell me about her.”

Wow.
His stomach fluttered. She wanted to know about his life? The words came out in a breathless rush. “Her name is Claire. She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She’s a paralegal in the DA’s office.”

“She can’t be that smart if she’s just a paralegal. Why isn’t she a lawyer?”

He gripped the phone tight and ignored her criticism. “She likes being an assistant, and she’s good at it.”

“No ambition. She’s perfect for you.”

Fuck me with the same old thing.
“Yes, she is.” Why didn’t he go after her? “I hope she knows that.”
Are you an idiot?

“Of course, you screwed up. I’m not surprised. No woman will ever love you. You can’t do anything right. Remember the girl you took to prom? She could’ve straightened you out, but you ditched her.”

Actually, Selene had dumped him for the prom king, but his mom had condemned JT for not being good enough to be elected to the court.

He rolled his eyes and tuned out most of his mother’s rant, catching only her favorite words:
loser
,
screw up
,
unlovable
,
worthless
. They never changed. And they never would. Why did he bother? Why did he care?

His cell phone buzzed in his ear, and he pulled it away to read a text message.

Claire:
‘I miss you.’

Holy shit! Fuck me with perfect timing! Oh my God, she misses me!
His heart hammered, sending waves of heat rolling through his limbs. He slammed the phone book shut and flung it into the air, ducking as it came back down, barely missed his head. He ran a victory lap around the kitchen island, throwing punches while clutching the phone.

“Are you listening to me?” Diane’s irritated screech pulled him down from the clouds.

“No, Mom. I’m not.” Never again. She didn’t love him and never would, but he could let it go. He had to. Nothing he said or did would ever please her, and now that he understood that, he could deal with it. “I gotta go.”

He hung up the phone and ran down the hall, grabbing his jacket and keys on the way to the garage door. He tripped over the threshold and stopped to collect his thoughts.
Where is Claire? What time is it?
His pulse pounded under the watch she’d given him. One thirty-seven. She’d be at work. He couldn’t walk into the DA’s office!

Damn it.
He walked back to the living room and collapsed on the couch to catch his breath.
Call her.
After hesitating a moment, he dialed her number and waited. “Come on, come on.” He groaned as her recorded greeting played in his ear. But even that warmed his heart. He hung up and dialed again. “I miss you, too,” he whispered as her phone rang. She’d just sent him a text. Why wasn’t she answering?

***

Alex set aside the file he’d been reading and nodded toward the chair in front of his desk. “What can I do for you?”

“I need to confess.” Claire sat down and folded her hands in her lap, unable to look him in the eye.

“To what?”

Where to start? Jury tampering, conflict of interest, disobeying a judge’s orders…. “Your new case… I, uh… know the defendant.”

He flipped the file open and scanned the first page. “Jared Luck?”

His real name sounded so odd to her. “He goes by JT.”

Alex frowned. “I’ve heard that name before. How do you know him?”

Here it comes.
Her muscles tensed and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. “He was a juror on the Manziel case.”

“Juror number 4, that’s right.” He searched his database and pulled up that case file, then he turned and directed a sharp glare at her. “But you know him beyond that.”

She nodded.

He leaned his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together. “Why didn’t you tell me before the trial?”

He’d put her on the witness stand. If she lied to him, he’d know. “Because I didn’t know him then. We met… during Voir Dire. He stopped me in the parking garage after court and asked me out.”

Alex let out a deep breath and sagged back in his chair, running his hands over his face and raking them through his hair. “Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Was it an isolated incident?”

His calm, calculated questions rattled her. She wrung her hands and pressed them against her rolling stomach. “No. We saw each other throughout the trial… and after.”

He shot out of his chair and slapped his palms on the desk. “Sweet Jesus, Claire, you know this could get me disbarred?”

She’d only worried about her career, forgetting about what her activity could do to him. “I—”

“Appearance of impropriety, do you know what that means?” He paced as if lecturing a jury.

She nodded, and a lump welled up in her throat. “I didn’t think—”

Alex spun and snarled. “Damn right, you didn’t. Does anyone else know?”

No one had seen them, not until after the trial. She’d lied about how they met, keeping the details vague until one person needed to know. “Kurt.”

“The IT guy?”

“I told him….”
Whoa, don’t explain that.
“It’s a long story. I made him swear to keep it secret.”

“Do you trust him?”

If Kurt ratted her out, she could bring him down too, but she hadn’t needed to threaten him. He’d never hurt her. “Yes.”

That seemed to satisfy Alex’s need for security, but his anger lashed out unrestrained. “Fucking hell, what am I going to do? You can’t assist me with this case.”

She’d known that, but hearing the assistant district attorney forbid her to protect JT made her eyes sting. “He didn’t do it. I know JT. He’s not that kind of person.” She sobbed and wiped her eyes.

The unforgiving prosecutor crossed his arms over his chest. “I need proof, Claire, not tears.”

She turned in her seat and gripped the armrest. “Can you help him?” Desperation had driven her to confess. If Alex refused to spare him….

He shook his head. “No, I can’t. It’s my job to send him to jail if he’s guilty.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She’d failed. With Alex trying the case, JT would be convicted, and her career was over. “Am I going to jail?”

Her boss snorted. “For what? Fucking a juror?”

But wait! They’d always been interrupted until the night he’d gotten her clothes off… all her clothes… and his. “We didn’t! Not until after the case was dismissed.”

The tension left Alex’s shoulders, and he strode over to the credenza. He fished a key from his pocket, unlocked a cabinet, pulled out a bottle of bourbon and poured a glass. “You’re damn lucky it never went to the jury, but just talking to him was unethical and illegal.”

“I know.” She hadn’t known about the alcohol.

He pointed the half-empty glass at her. “I should fire you.”

She sobbed. “Please don’t. I love working for you.”

“You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. I’m not going to lose you. This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been accused of doing something unethical.” He downed the drink and locked the evidence away. “But I have to reprimand you somehow.” Alex turned to face her and pronounced her sentence. “You’re suspended without pay for two weeks.”

“What?” She’d escaped judgment with her job, but he might as well have ended it. “Please, you can’t… this’ll go on my employment record. I’ll never get promoted or—”

He smacked the back of his chair. “You should’ve thought of that when he asked you out.”

“I did!” She’d agonized over it, lost sleep, even lost her appetite and a couple of pounds. “But… sometimes, some guys… I just couldn’t say no.” And even now, with her career in ruins, she didn’t regret saying yes.

A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, I know what that’s like.” He sat down and rubbed his forehead. “All right, I won’t involve HR. Your suspension will be unofficial. I’m going to keep your check and donate it to charity.”

Claire gasped. “
That’s
unethical
and
illegal!”

“You’re Goddamn right it is, but it’ll teach you the consequences of fucking with the law.” He pushed back and snarled while she dug her fingernails into the armrests. The air between them practically crackled.

Finally, a rational argument poked into her head. “I have direct deposit.”

He rubbed his hand over his face. “Shit, then
you
make the donation. My point is this has to cost you something.”

She released her grip on the chair and sat back, rubbing the feeling back into her white knuckles. They’d dealt with the worst of it, for now, but small worries continued to pop up. “People will notice I’m gone.”

“You’re taking a leave of absence to deal with a family emergency. I’ll take care of the paperwork.” He clicked the mouse and pulled up a personnel document. “Are you still seeing this guy?”

I wish I could say yes.
She shrugged. “We went to Las Vegas last weekend, but I came home alone. I tried to call him after I read the case file, but it went straight to voicemail. Is he still in custody?” She hoped he had a good reason for not calling back.

Alex flipped through the documents. “His lawyer paid the bond money. How’d you miss that?”

Seeds of doubt sprouted in her head, sending twisted vines of fear to strangle her heart. “My mind isn’t exactly functional today.”

An indulgent smile lit his eyes. “Fucking someone you shouldn’t will do that. I think a couple weeks away will be good for you.”

Fucking someone you shouldn’t.
The DA’s office had firm rules against dating coworkers, so technically, she’d violated that principle twice. “I um… have another confession.”

He slapped his hand over his face. “Do I need to know?”

Why am I doing this?
“Not really, but I don’t know who else to tell.”

“I’m not a priest. I don’t need to hear about your sins.”

She nearly giggled at the image of her morally-challenged boss in a collar. “But you share them… sorta…. I just need someone to listen.” And understand.

He sat back and braced himself. “All right. Spill.”

Oh shit.
She’d begged him to let her talk, but the words didn’t want to come. “JT wasn’t the only man I was with in Vegas. We met a guy, someone I know from work—”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Kurt.”

She stopped and stared, then shook her head. “Why do I bother trying to keep secrets from you?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

“Anyway, the three of us….”
I can’t spell it out.
“Had a good time.”

“Just good?”

Or course he’d catch that. “Amazing. Do you want the dirty details?”
Please say no, please say no.

“No, I can imagine.” He grinned and—
oh my God
—actually blushed. “I’ve been a bad influence.”

Guilty! “No shit! I know about your reputation. You can’t blame me for doing something unethical when you would’ve done the same.” If not a guilty party, then at least a co-conspirator.