'I'm terrified by what might happen in court, Matt,' she went on. 'But settling with no actual finding won't do anything to stop the red-paint people. And I don't intend to spend my life running from them or being harassed by them. If I'm innocent, they've got to know it. And if I'm guilty, I've got to know it. Believe me, I won't fall apart, even if the worst happens, even if Willis Grayson gets his wish and I get sent to prison. I believe in a Higher Power, and I believe She has a plan for me. So there you have it.'
'There I have it,' he said. 'Well, for what it's worth, I suspected you would decide to push forward. In fact, after I dropped you off, I started scheduling depositions-beginning as soon as possible with your old pal Ettinger. I can promise you one thing, Mallon is in for a hell of a fight.'
'And I'm glad you're representing me,' Sarah said.
'There is one problem, though. Something I need your help with.'
'Just name it.'
He stirred uncomfortably. Then suddenly he turned to her and took both her hands in his. 'Sarah, we can't have anything happen between us-at least not until this case is over. I… dammit, I don't even know what I'm trying to say. You've got to stop looking at me like that.'
Sarah locked her fingers in his. His face-his kind, wonderful face-was saying everything she needed to know about what he was feeling for her.
'I'd like to help you out,' she managed, 'but I have no control over how I feel or how I look at someone. Just like you can't control how you're looking at me now.'
She ran her tongue slowly over her lips. Matt loosened his collar.
'Hey, I need you to stop doing that before I melt altogether,' he said. 'Sarah, listen, I'm working ninety hours a week, I'm lonely as hell, and the truth is, I'm starting to think about you all the time. But if I'm going to continue being your lawyer, this really isn't a good idea. Lawyers are strongly discouraged from getting romantically involved with clients. It tends to wreak havoc with their professional objectivity. In some states it's the law now. It may be in Massachusetts before long.'
'I understand.'
'Then you'll help me out? At least for now? I don't have a lot of willpower.'
'I'll think about it. But, Matt, I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself pretty well, and I have no intention of reporting you to the bar no matter what. Besides, what more could a client ask for than to be defended by a lawyer who's thinking about her all the time?'
'Sarah, I mean it. There are a lot of choices to be made in a case like yours. A lot of decisions. Tonight's decision you made pretty much on your own. But for others you'll need an objective, unemotional attorney. If it seems like I'm too wrapped up in you to represent you properly, I've got to quit.'
'Wrapped up in me,' she said. 'I like the sound of that… Matt, I'm sorry. Please don't be upset with me. I understand. Really I do. I'm not trying to cause problems for you. If you need another attorney to help you, then I'm sure you'll get one. I trust your judgment on that-and mine. My case is important, sure. But take it from someone who's spent far too much time behind a stethoscope the past few years, so's this stuff.'
She took his hands in hers. Their eyes met. This time Matt made only the most fleeting attempt to look away. Sarah felt her mouth grow dry. How long had it been since she had felt like this with a man? Slowly her eyes closed. His hands slid up her arms and drew her toward him. She sensed his head tilt, his lips draw closer. Then her phone began ringing.
Instantly the fragile tension building between them shattered. Matt smiled awkwardly, lowered his hands, and pulled away.
'I have an answering machine,' she said, wishing she could rip the phone from the wall.
'That's all right. Go ahead and take it,' he replied. 'Please. Take it.'
The voice on the line was one she hadn't heard in six weeks.
'Sarah, this is Andrew Truscott. If you're about to hang up, please don't.'
Damn, Sarah thought. She covered the mouthpiece.
'It's Andrew Truscott,' she whispered. 'The surgeon I told you about… Yes, Andrew,' she said with exaggerated coolness. 'What do you want?'
'You've been really decent about not causing me trouble with Paris,' he said. 'And also with the way you handled that… that other business.'
'Is that what you called to say?'
'Paris has just offered me a damn good staff appointment at MCB complete with a teaching appointment at the med school, and my own lab in that new center-the one they're going to be constructing where the Chilton Building is. He's setting up some really exciting programs. Apparently his methods have pulled the place out of its financial hole after all.'
'No thanks to you.'
'Well, if you had complained to him about me, the faculty appointment might never have come through.'
'And that's what you called to say?'
'No. No, Sarah. Please listen. I don't know how much longer this guy's going to be here. Something's happening right now that has to do with you. And I want to help you. I really do.'
'I don't understand.'
'I'm in Chinatown right now. I was having dinner with an old friend from Australia at a place called the Szechuan Terrace, on Hudson Street. My friend had to go back to his hotel. After he left, I decided to stay for one last drink. That's when I heard someone in the next booth mention your name. He was saying something about how you were in court today, and about how easy it was to change the stuff in your herbalist's shop. He said he loved hanging your ass and Kwong's out to dry.'
Sarah felt her heart begin pounding. Her body tensed.
'Where is he now?' she asked.
'He's right over there. Right across the room from me. I just paid the cashier twenty bucks, and she told me his name. It's Tommy Sze-to.' Andrew spelled the name. 'Do you know him?'
'No. I've never heard of him.'
'Well, he's with two other guys. The cashier seems a little afraid of them. She said she doesn't know where he lives and-Shit, listen Sarah. I think they're getting ready to leave. I'm going to try and follow them. Meet me here in three-quarters of an hour. Szechuan Terrace. Hudson Street. See you then. Please believe me. Please come-'
Sarah listened to the dial tone for ten seconds or more before she set the receiver down. Nearly two months without so much as a word from Andrew, let alone an apology. Now this. From his spot on the sofa, Matt was looking at her curiously.
There was no reason to believe Andrew Truscott about anything, yet she couldn't come up with any ulterior motive that made sense. If what Andrew had just told her was true, and they could prove it, everything in her life was about to change for the better.
'He says he's calling from a restaurant in Chinatown, and that the man who changed the herbs in Kwong's shop was in the next booth, talking about what he did. He wants to meet me there in three-quarters of an hour. Will you come?'
'Of course I will. Do you believe him?'
'Does it matter? I want it to be over, Matt. I want it to be over so badly.'
He put his arms around her and held her tightly.
'So do I,' he said.
CHAPTER 25
'This place must serve incredible food,' Matt said, 'because it certainly isn't staying open on its atmosphere.'
The operative description for the Szechuan Terrace was plastic. Plastic lanterns off the ceilings; plastic
