Nothing But the Truth (29 page)

Brett nodded. Braden Marcus was Duncan’s first assistant, the second most powerful person at the courthouse, and Ryan’s direct supervisor. Ryan would naturally do what he asked.

 “I got the message loud and clear. The charge was only a class C misdemeanor, but the property owner was someone who would draw headlines for even a minor infraction. I talked to the code inspector and he insisted the citation was justified. I went to the house myself. It was a huge place just off Swiss Avenue. I don’t know how many people were there, but I met five. Five of the most gorgeous men and women I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Before you.
“One of the women did most of the talking. She said they were models, on a shoot. I believed her. Every one of them was model-perfect. She assured me they would be more circumspect about their comings and goings. She said the shoot would be over soon and they would be moving to a new location. I sensed something was off, but I wanted to believe them.”

“You wanted to impress Braden.”

“Yes, but there was something more than that.” Ryan took a deep breath. “I wanted to impress the woman. She was tall, dark, exotic. When she spoke to me, she stood close, practically rubbing against me. Her voice purred. She was the first woman since Julia that I had let physically close enough to arouse me. I’m sure it sounds silly to you, like I was thinking with all the wrong parts, but in that moment I didn’t care about the consequences. I only wanted to melt into her embrace. She ignited a long dead fire within me, and in that moment, I would have done anything she wanted.”

As much as she dreaded the climax of Ryan’s story, now that she was well on the path, Brett wanted to know where she was headed. “What happened next?”

“I mustered the tiny bit of self control I had and left. I called the code inspector and told him I had handled the situation. I told him there would be no more problems with that particular residence. He was impressed I had given the matter my personal attention, so he backed off. One less time he would have to come to court.”

“Who owned the house?”

Ryan ignored the question. “The next day, Braden brought me an invitation to a campaign party for Senator Story. He asked me to represent Leonard at the function. Senator Story had sponsored many of the bills Leonard wanted pushed through the legislative session, and I was supposed to be on hand to demonstrate our mutual support.”

Brett decided Ryan was determined to tell the tale her way. She resigned herself to nodding at appropriate moments.

“The senator pulled me aside. Thanked me for handling a potentially volatile situation regarding his property in such a discreet manner. Said that someone else wanted to thank me as well and would I be so kind as to accompany him to a VIP party later that evening. He said ‘she’ would surely appreciate my presence.

“Have you ever been so desperate for something you would risk anything to have it? Or better yet, ignore the risk? The me that I show to the world is a person who takes risks for the sake of her cases but not in her personal life. Her personal wants and desires take a backseat to duty. Can you imagine how lonely, how tiring that can be?”

“Yes.” Brett didn’t have to imagine. She knew. She’d forsaken many personal pleasures for her profession, thinking the sacrifice was fulfilling enough. Reflecting, she realized too much sacrifice had created a vacuum, and large pieces of her life were sucked into the void. Brett knew Ryan’s pain, and even though she wouldn’t have chosen the same cure, she empathized. “Tell me what happened.”

“I went to the party. She was there. She devoted herself to me and my pleasure. What I wanted, what I needed was the only thing that mattered to her. We were together for hours. Passionate, mindless hours. We didn’t talk. I never even knew her name. Yet at that moment in time, it was the most fulfilling experience of my life.

“I was hooked. When I received a phone call inviting me to another party, I was thrilled. I eagerly gave my credit card number, not caring about the cost or the consequences. I never saw her again, but I have been with countless other women. Each of them made me feel like the center of the universe. My pleasure was their primary concern. What I needed. What I wanted. I thought I had everything I could ever want.”

“I suppose it was a perfect situation for you.” Brett didn’t try to hide the bitterness she felt.

“I thought so.”
But then I met you.
Ryan wanted to say the words, but she knew Brett wouldn’t hear them on the heels of Ryan’s confession.
I’m falling in love with you.
The declaration wouldn’t mix well with the fresh tale of Ryan’s indiscretions. She would have to wait and hope she had another chance.

Brett wasn’t in the mood to hear any more. “You should leave.”

“Is that what you really want?”

“What I want isn’t the issue.” It was, but Brett didn’t trust her desire. For the first time in her life, she had fallen for someone whose career made her uniquely qualified to understand her passionate devotion to her own career. She’d been foolish to mistake Ryan’s awkward personal interactions for naïveté.

“I don’t understand. You represent some of the most reprehensible scum on earth. How can you forgive them their indiscretions, but not mine?”

Brett shook her head. “I’ve never fallen for one of my clients.”

Ryan hardly slept. Brett’s words echoed throughout the night. She replayed the scene over and over. In various alternate versions, she took Brett into her arms and professed her feelings. Brett was receptive rather than repulsed.
In my dreams.

She finally gave up on rest. At seven a.m., she was seated at her desk, dreading her next move. She debated whether to confront Leonard directly or take a more circuitous approach through Braden first. Once she initiated the discussion, she had no doubt she would lose her position, if not her career. She resolved she would make her last stand with the boss himself. She spent the next hour poring over the files on her desk, tying up loose ends. At eight o’clock, she picked up the phone and dialed Leonard’s secretary.

“Hi, Doris, is he in? I need about ten minutes this morning. Thanks. Be right there.”

Ryan stood and straightened her suit. She had no idea what her future held, but she was certain of what she would lose if she didn’t come clean.

Leonard was seated on the couch in his office, drinking coffee from an enormous mug. He half stood as Ryan entered, then motioned for her to join him on the sofa. She sat in the chair opposite.

“Good morning, Ryan. What can I do for you this morning?”

Ryan glanced out at Doris sitting at her desk outside Leonard’s office. Leonard nodded his okay for her to shut the door. “You look so solemn. Gunning for a raise?”

“Hardly. We need to talk.”

“So talk.”

“Do you know a woman named Ann Rawlings?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Should I know her?”

“How about Heather Daniels?”

“Not familiar. What’s up?”

Ryan placed a copy of the police report from Rawlings’s file on the coffee table between them. “How about the address of this arrest? I think you might recognize it.”

Leonard barely glanced at the papers. His face assumed a stoic mask, and he stared intently into Ryan’s eyes. “What’s this about?”

Ryan took a deep breath. “This woman was arrested for compelling prostitution at a house you own. Why don’t you tell me what
that’s
about?”

Leonard’s laughter boomed against the tension but didn’t release it. Ryan waited for the punch line.

“I own a lot of property, Ryan.” His tone held the tiniest trace of condescension.

“There’s more. Do I have to say it?”

All traces of amusement were gone from Leonard’s expression. He reclined against the sofa, arms folded across his chest, regarding Ryan like a lion assessing his prey. “No. You needn’t say anything else on this subject. In fact, I suggest you tread carefully.”

Ryan ignored the threat and pressed on. “I can’t keep this from the attorney handling the case.” She knew she was offering her own threat, empty though it was since Brett already knew enough about Leonard’s involvement to cause serious damage to the case against Ann Rawlings, not to mention Leonard’s effectiveness as DA. She held out hope he would have some plausible explanation for the events surrounding Rawlings’s arrest.

“There shouldn’t have been an arrest that night—of anyone. But I haven’t run this office for this many years without making some enemies. One of them tried to take me down.” He pointed at the report. “This woman, she was collateral damage.”

“I have to tell her attorney. It’s
Brady
.” Ryan referred to the precedent setting case that required the prosecution to share exculpatory information with the defense. The legal requirement was a moot point since Brett already had at least a hint about Leonard’s involvement, but a growing sense of foreboding kept Ryan from sharing that fact with Leonard. She wanted to gauge his reaction to her thinly veiled threat to disclose his association with the Rawlings case. His response would be the touchstone for her own future.

“It’s not any such thing. We have the ability to use our own discretion in determining what’s
Brady
and what’s not. I trust that upon further review you will do what’s right.”

She expected his deflection, but she was still disappointed. Ryan knew ”what’s right” in Leonard’s mind consisted of doing whatever it took to keep information about his involvement from the public. She conceded she had stretched the boundaries of legal ethics in the past, but never to save her own hide.
You made yourself look good though.
Ryan’s thoughts were interrupted by Leonard’s sudden switch in topic.

“By the way, I hear you’ve been spending a lot of your free time networking at private parties. I’m proud of you. I think the contacts you make at such functions will serve you well in your campaign.”

Ryan’s stomach turned to stone. She’d been prepared to face the consequences of confronting Leonard about his own behavior, but she hadn’t considered how he would use her own her actions to force her compliance.
Stupid.

“I appreciate your, shall we say, cordial relationships with other women. Diverse support will serve you well in the election.” Leonard’s words oozed indirect threat. He wasn’t done. “I trust you to do whatever needs to be done on this case. And, as for the Edwards case, I expect you to score a big win. It will benefit the entire office and be the perfect kick-off to your official campaign.”

In the next few seconds, Ryan considered her lifelong goals: success, acceptance, love. The menace reflected in her mentor’s eyes spoke a clear message. She had worked hard to achieve nothing. She resolved to change her focus. Ryan took a sweeping look at Leonard’s plush office, the vast mahogany desk, the wall of accolades, the shelves lined with photos featuring Leonard, his hands clasped with those of the governor, senators, even a president. He had all the trappings of success. The kind of success she now knew she would never have.

*

Brett slammed her hand against the clock again. She had no idea what time it was or how many times she’d hit the snooze to put off the start of the day. She wanted to pull the covers back over her head and forget the trouble she was sure still waited on the other side of her slumber. Brett stared at the ceiling and calculated. Was it really only Tuesday? Three days ago, she’d been floating along in a cheesy, yet romantic swan boat with Ryan at her side. Ryan, with her muscular thighs. Ryan, with her doting indulgence for Brett’s obsession with all the harrowing rides and artery-clogging foods the fair had to offer. Ryan, with all her baggage.

Having baggage wasn’t the issue. Brett knew most anyone she met her age or older would carry around traces of the paths they had taken before. She knew she was far from perfect. She was a workaholic who kept friends and lovers waiting while she focused her attention on the needs of strangers. She’d spent her life trying to prove her brand of success was every bit as worthy as the moneyed achievement of her father and brothers.

Ryan was caked with the dirt from the trails she’d chosen. Ann Rawlings sold her body because people like Ryan were willing to pay for it. One woman sat in a jail cell while the other was poised to ascend to the top tier of prosecution. Brett didn’t group Ryan into the truly evil category she’d assigned to Leonard Duncan. She could see the genuine vulnerabilities despite Ryan’s actions, but Brett wasn’t sure time and circumstance would ever wash away enough to let the real Ryan shine through. She wished it would, while simultaneously wishing she didn’t care.

Time to stop thinking and start acting
. Brett threw back the covers and swung her legs out of the bed. She had to see Judge Langston for the second time in as many weeks to ask the judge to let her withdraw from a case.

*

Ryan pressed the print button on her office computer. When the single sheet slid out of the printer, she grabbed it up and penned her signature before she had a chance to reconsider. She folded the signed document into thirds and placed it in her briefcase for safekeeping until she had formulated the rest of her plan.

She decided to take a walk. If she’d stayed in her office, she would have been subject to the constant ringing of the phone and probable visits from Leonard to discuss her once bright future. Ryan knew only two things were certain about her future: she wasn’t going to be working for the DA’s office much longer, and she had to redeem herself in Brett’s eyes. She needed a plan. A plan to save the pieces of her soul she hadn’t yet sold.