Dark and Deadly

to her. He still wanted her.

The difference was now he knew better than to come anywhere near her.

Especially now when he was, for all intents and purposes, her lawyer.

Oh, and there was that murder suspect thing. The sarcastic thought got him past his anger, and with a sigh, he parked the car. He had to stop thinking of her as anything but a client in trouble at this point. He had to divorce himself from the Torie with whom he had a past, think of her as someone else.

Pacing the porch he cleared his mind, tried to see her in a different way, to separate her from Todd, from college, grad school, and from his life. Clean slate. It took him a few moments, but he managed to adjust his attitude, at least a little bit, by the time he walked in.

Remember, she’s a client. Remember, she’s a client. Clients pay the bills. Clients are good, ergo, Torie is good.

The image which leapt to mind about Torie being good had nothing to do with virtue and everything to do with vice.

“Stop it,” he muttered to himself as he opened the door. “Remember, she’s a client.”

She’d waited for him in the lobby, and they mounted the generous main steps to a lovely sitting area. A fire burned in the fireplace, taking the chill off the room.

“Torie?”

“In a minute. You want coffee?”

“Yeah, that’d be good.” He leaned on the mantel as she poured from a thermal carafe, added two sugars, and handed it to him. “You remember how I take it?”

Torie looked at him, surprised. “Yeah, that’s one of the crazy things about me. I forget a lot of things, and like anyone, there’s things I’d prefer to forget that I can’t, but I always remember phone numbers and how people take their coffee or tea.” She sipped from her mug. “Go figure.”

He tamped down a snarky comment and went for bland. “Handy if you want to go into politics or catering, I guess.”

She laughed. “There’s a thought, if I ever want to give up engineering. Problem is I’m a horrible cook.”

“Good businesswoman, though, from what I hear.”

Her face was a study in surprise. “Thank you, I guess. Who’d you hear that from?”

“From Todd, of course, and from some clients who use our services and also use your firm, and from the Chamber folks.”

“The Chamber of Commerce guys? Alex and Tom?”

“Yeah, you get saddled with a lot of the public relations, I take it.”

She grimaced, and he had to smile. He’d forgotten how mobile her face was, how quickly she could go from looking like a calm society debutante to making a goofy face. She’d entertained Todd to no end with the impressions she could do.

Thinking about it made his heart clench. His best friend was dead, and he was standing alone in a room with the woman suspected of murdering him.

“How quickly can you pack?” he asked, trying to keep his thoughts out of his voice.

Torie looked at him, her eyes sad. She set the cup down. “I won’t be long. Make yourself at home.”

Spinning on her heel, she left the room. Because the house was so quiet, he heard the rattle of the door opening and closing. Muffled and distant, he heard the unmistakable sound of her blowing her nose.

Crap. He hadn’t meant to make her cry.

Or maybe he had. God. She’d already driven him to drink on more than one occasion. Maybe he needed therapy.

The only trace of tears he could see when she came out, though, was in her refreshed makeup and slightly reddened nose.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She hefted a briefcase onto her shoulder.

“Just like that?”

She looked exasperated. “You want me to hurry, then you ask me how I can be ready so quickly? Which is it, Paul? What, do you want me to give you another reason to dislike me by being slow?”

“No, not at all.” He sighed. “I don’t dislike you, Torie. You know that.”

“Oh, sure,” she scoffed. “I know that by the way you avoid me, make such friendly remarks when you do see me, and generally speak ill of me to all and sundry.”

“I do not,” he protested, stung, as he picked up her rolling bag.

“Um hmm.” Her muttered rejoinder was as mocking as any biting words. She excused herself at the bottom of the stairs to locate the innkeepers and check out. She efficiently settled her bill and joined him in the lobby. He loaded her bag into her rental car for her, and they drove separately to the Wilmington airport.

“I don’t know when the next flight out is. I’ll be on it and back in Philly as soon as I can.”

“I booked you on the same flight as mine.”

A mutinous look crossed her face, but she didn’t speak. It was interesting to watch the feelings skate across her mobile features. Irritation, anger, hurt, and finally resignation.