The Defender

Spotting her reflection in the driver’s window of her car, she added dowdy to her list. Just the cherry she needed to top off a very depressing sundae.

Sadie narrowed her eyes as she studied her image in the glass. Her long, dark hair was pulled back in a braid because she didn’t like to fuss with it. Her earrings and suit were definitely conservative and work oriented. She’d taken great care in the selection because she wanted to represent her family well. But the ensemble reflected in the glass didn’t make the transition to after-five easily. Not that she was an after-five kind of girl, or had been, well, ever. It wasn’t until she’d begun to work at Oliver Enterprises that she’d bought a couple of basic black dresses appropriate for the social functions that she was expected to attend as part of the Oliver family.

Finally, she glanced down at her shoes and winced. They were…well…serviceable was the best word she could come up with. Dowdy repeated the little voice in the back of her mind.

Annoyed, she turned and hurried up the street. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have given a second thought to the way she looked. Her baby sister Juliana, who’d taken after their mother, had always been the girlie-girl. Since Sadie had tried to do everything her older brother Roman could do, she’d become a bit of a tomboy. Being a woman, fussing with her clothes and her hair had always made her…uncomfortable. But she’d been satisfied with herself. Hadn’t she?

Sadie frowned. It had only been since Theo Angelis had stopped to talk to her in the courthouse two months ago that she’d caught herself glancing in the mirror more frequently and…what? Seeing herself the way Theo would see her? Dowdy, insisted the little voice.

“Stop being ridiculous,” she scolded herself as she picked up her pace. Theo Angelis didn’t see her as a woman. He saw her as a colleague. He’d sought her out to congratulate her on the way she’d handled a case, a case that she’d been surprised to learn he’d sent her way. Sandra Linton, the woman she’d defended that day, had stalked him and pulled a gun on him in his family’s restaurant. And Theo had actually been pleased that she’d gotten the woman psychiatric treatment instead of jail time. He’d said that he’d admired her work, a great compliment since she felt the same way about his work.

Just thinking about the encounter shouldn’t have her recalling his scent…soap and something a little earthier. She was tall, but he’d been taller so that she’d had to look up to meet his eyes. Dark eyes with just a hint of danger in them. Just talking to him shouldn’t have made her knees grow weak. And shaking his hand—she could still recall the way her mind had fuzzed over, as if her brain had been replaced by a vat of cotton candy. It had been hot in the courtroom. That was why she’d felt heat shoot right down to her toes; that was why her throat had gone dry.

What she’d experienced in that moment of contact had to have been some kind of aberration, no doubt due to that rush of adrenaline she experienced at the end of every trial. And that was probably the reason she’d developed a sort of schoolgirl crush on Theo Angelis—totally one-sided and very self-indulgent.

And safe, nagged the little voice. Ignoring the voice, Sadie lifted her chin. It was just a handshake, for heaven’s sake. She’d better get over it. She knew from experience that she didn’t have the…know-how or the…equipment to attract a man like Theo Angelis. The kind of man she evidently appealed to was the practical, steady kind. Someone like Michael Dano, who headed up the legal department at Oliver Enterprises. The kind of man she thought of as a mentor and a friend. Michael had waited almost six months to make a move on her…and then she’d felt nothing. Theo had made her feel more with one look. It was just her fate to only be able to feel things with a man who could have any woman he wanted.

And she’d do well to put him out of her mind. The whole San Francisco legal community was buzzing with the fact that Jason Sangerfeld, defense attorney to the stars, had offered him a job in Los Angeles.

Glancing at her watch again, Sadie broke into a run. Her sister Juliana hadn’t given her much notice. The invitation hadn’t arrived until shortly after four o’clock, and she hadn’t had time to go home and change. Not that she knew what she was changing for. Her younger sister’s note hadn’t been very specific. All it had said was: Come to St. Peter’s Church at seven tonight. Please. Juliana. And she hadn’t been able to reach her cell.

As Sadie reached the foot of the steps, she felt another wave of guilt wash over her. Juliana and she weren’t close. Part of that was due to the fact that her sister was eighteen and she was twenty-six. The eight-year difference in their ages had seemed even greater when they were kids. Juliana had still been playing with Barbie dolls when Sadie had gone East for college and law school. And when Sadie had come back home to work in the legal department at Oliver Enterprises a year ago, Juliana had been away at boarding school.

When her sister had come home three months ago, Sadie’s goal had been to get to know Juliana better. But she’d let her work and perhaps her current frustration with it interfere.

Frowning, Sadie hurried up the last steps. For the last five months, ever since the kiss, Michael Dano had seemed intent on keeping her buried in busywork—real estate deed and title searches. And when she wasn’t doing that, her father and brother were insisting on her presence at various social functions.

No, Sadie gave herself a mental shake. She was not going to blame Michael Dano or her father or brother for the fact that she hadn’t taken the time to get closer to her sister. There was no one to blame for that except herself.

Pulling the door open, she stepped into the gloom of the vestibule and felt the silence of the church envelop her. Then she heard two gunshots in rapid succession.

AFTER LEAVING A MESSAGE on Nik’s cell, Theo dialed Kit and left the same one. Then he turned his cell phone off for the weekend, strolled onto the porch of the cabin and took his first look at the sea. The tide was coming in, but the water in the little inlet was relatively calm.

The position of the sun in the sky told him that there was about a half an hour left before sunset. Still plenty of time to sit and relax and enjoy the view.

It didn’t surprise Theo that his brothers hadn’t picked up when he’d called them. They would have known the minute they checked the caller ID what he was calling about. He’d made it to their grandfather’s fishing cabin first, so it was his brotherly duty to gloat.

From the time they’d been kids, they’d always raced from their father’s car to the cabin. The winner got the first pick of the lures and poles.

Well, he’d won the race this weekend, but it hadn’t been for the choice of fishing equipment that he’d left his office early. He’d set out to beat the weekend traffic because he’d wanted some time alone before anyone joined him. There was something about being near the sea that helped him to sort things out. Perhaps it would even settle the restlessness that had been plaguing him lately. No—it was more than restlessness. For the first time in his life, he was doubting himself. In the courtroom he was hanging back, second-guessing his instincts.

A joyful bark had him shifting his gaze away from the water. Bob, a neighbor’s dog, was bounding happily toward the cabin. No one was quite sure what Bob’s actual lineage was, but Theo had always suspected that there’d been a Saint Bernard among his ancestors. He opened the door and Bob shot into the cabin. Theo heard his toenails clicking on the floorboards as he raced from room to room.

A moment later, Bob returned to the porch and Theo could have sworn that his expression held reproach.

“Ari is coming with Kit,” he said. “He’ll be here in another couple of hours.” Over the years, Bob and Ari, Kit’s dog, had become friends. Reminding himself that he wanted to have time alone before that joyful canine reunion, Theo strolled into the kitchen. He stored the whole grain bread he’d brought in the pantry and put the selection of cheeses into the refrigerator. When he turned, Bob stepped into his path, sat down and thumped expectantly his tail on the floor.

“Kit’s bringing the stuff you like,” Theo said as he reached into the refrigerator and broke off a chunk of cheese for the dog. His youngest brother always provided the more basic essentials—eggs, bacon, rolls and enough deli meat for an army. Nik, whose cupboard in his apartment was always bare, would bring what he considered essential—beer and junk food.

While Bob made short work of the hunk of cheddar, Theo unpacked the wine he’d brought. There were two dry Italian whites from different regions, a German white and a French chardonnay. All would go well with the fish they would catch this weekend.

Kit was the real fisherman of the family. Even as a kid he’d had their father’s patience and ability. Nik and Theo would throw in their lines, of course; but Nik would spend the majority of the weekend on his boat testing his skills against the wind and waves and what Theo enjoyed most about the cabin was simply being near the water and being with his family.

Bob padded after him into the bedroom and sat ever hopeful as Theo stripped out of his city clothes and hung them neatly on hangers. Noticing the way that Bob was eyeing his Italian loafers, he rescued them and placed them on the closet’s top shelf. After pulling on the well-worn jeans and T-shirt that he kept at the cabin, he strolled barefoot back to the refrigerator, poured a glass of the Italian white and carried it to the porch.

Theo sank into a chair, put his feet up on the railing and crossed his ankles. As he sipped his wine, he reached absently down and ran a hand over Bob’s head. A gull cried out as it swooped close to the water’s surface before soaring into the sky. Far out in the distance, an outboard motor thrummed as a boat moved slowly into the center of the inlet. The driver already had his running lights on in anticipation of the sunset. At Theo’s side, Bob sighed.

Theo could second the sigh. He had a decision to make this weekend. The fact that he wasn’t looking forward to it didn’t mean that he could avoid it any longer. Taking a slow sip of wine, he gazed out at the water. He wasn’t usually indecisive.

His Aunt Cass believed that psychic powers ran in the family and she’d told him once that his own gift was particularly strong. He didn’t see visions the way she did, but from the time he’d been a child, there’d often been occasions when he just knew things. Most of his success in the courtroom had been due to the fact that he’d had a hunch about which strategies to implement. And when it came to making choices, he was usually pretty sure which one to make.

But that had all changed since Sandra Linton. It was that damn most-eligible-bachelor list that had started it all. After that splash of publicity, Sandra had been among the women who’d started attending his trials. His brothers had called them his groupies. Then he’d made the mistake of agreeing to have coffee with her. Why hadn’t he sensed that simple choice would lead to tragedy? For that matter, why hadn’t he sensed that she was disturbed?

For two months the woman had followed him everywhere. Reasoning with her hadn’t helped. Neither had a restraining order. He’d rented a small apartment in town to keep her away from his family and he’d taken to sneaking out the delivery entrance of his office building. He’d even changed his parking lots. Still, she’d eventually tracked him down at his father’s restaurant.

Panic slithered up his spine even now when he thought of it. They’d been in the small lobby of The Poseidon when she’d pulled the gun. His sister, Philly, had been only a few feet away and there’d been customers waiting for tables. He hadn’t needed psychic powers to know what she’d intended to do—the violence, the fury and the despair had been there in her eyes. If he hadn’t been able to convince her to leave…

Taking a sip of his wine, Theo shoved the fear of what might have been out of his mind and focused on the now. Watching the rippling surface of the sea, he repeated the little lecture he’d been giving himself for the last two months. It was high time he put Sandra Linton out of his mind. It was more than time for him to get his balance back.

Perhaps taking the position with Jason Sangerfeld would help him do that. The high-power defense attorney had called him a month ago and offered him a job—a dream job, one that any defense attorney would jump at. If Theo accepted, he would be working second chair with Jason on high-profile cases. The experience would be incredible, the money…well, it would be a lot more than he was making now. The catch was that he’d have to give up his own practice and move to Los Angeles.

Theo knew exactly what his Aunt Cass would say—the Fates were offering him a choice and his decision would make all the difference in his life. The truth was, he’d be a lot quicker about making his decision if he just had some inkling which choice was the right one. But his lucky hunches were leaving him high and dry. He wasn’t sure anymore what the right thing to do was. And he couldn’t help but wonder if this was due to doubting his instincts.

When Bob sighed again, Theo lifted his feet off the railing, rose and started moving toward the shoreline. One thing he did know: he should have put Sandra Linton behind him once she’d been arrested and he’d contacted the public defender’s office to request that they assign the case to Sadie Oliver.

Theo strolled out onto the dock and sat down. Bob stretched out beside him. For a moment, he let his mind empty and fill with nothing more than the soft sound of the waves and the sight of the sky turning red in the west. Behind him, insects murmured in the grass.

Watching the sun sink into the water, his thoughts returned to Sadie Oliver. She’d been on his mind a lot lately. His brother Kit’s best friend, Roman Oliver, had mentioned both of his sisters on occasion. He was very proud of the fact that Sadie had gone east to college and had edited the law review at Harvard Law School. His other sister, Juliana, who was twelve years his junior, had been sent away to a boarding school for high school. Theo had been aware through Kit that both sisters were back in town and that Sadie worked in the legal department of Oliver Enterprises, a multimillion dollar real estate development company that her father and her brother Roman ran.

Theo set his wineglass down on the dock beside him. His curiosity had been piqued when Kit had mentioned that Sadie was also doing some pro bono work for the public defender’s office and he’d been intrigued enough to sit in on one of her trials. She was very good. His mouth curved slightly. Her style was more conservative than his, but she had a logical mind and a cool, unflappable manner that played well with a jury. An aloof, controlled ice princess was the way he’d summed her up in his mind. Not his type. Then he’d seen her address the jury and for the first time he caught a hint of the passion that lay beneath the cool exterior. The next time he’d seen her name on the docket, he’d gone back to watch her again. It was only natural that when his stalker was arrested, he’d thought of Sadie.

Theo frowned as he picked up his glass and sipped his wine again. Something had happened when he’d talked to her after that trial. Actually, a few things had happened and they’d given him pause. As the bottom edge of the sun disappeared into the Pacific, he let his mind drift back to that meeting…

When he’d approached her, the courtroom had already emptied and Sadie was packing papers quickly and efficiently into her briefcase. He’d had plenty of time during the trial to take in the details of her appearance. She was taller than average and she always wore a conservatively tailored suit and plain black pumps. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a neat braid that fell below her shoulders.

There was nothing in her appearance to hint at the passion he sensed when she was pleading a client’s case. For some reason, the contrast appealed to him.

He was about to speak to her when his gaze came to rest on her hands and he felt that first inexplicable tug of attraction. Her fingers were long and slender, the nails short and painted with a clear polish. They moved competently. Theo could imagine them pouring tea into delicate china cups. He could also imagine them moving over his skin. With no more warning than that, desire had snaked up his spine and settled in his gut. Where in hell had it come from?

Her cell phone rang and as she took the call, Theo took the opportunity to gather his thoughts.

“Yes?”

Even though he could only see her face in profile, he noted the frown and the way her grip tightened on the phone.

“Michael, I told you I had a trial today.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “I’ll be back in half an hour and I plan on working late. You’ll have my report on your desk first thing in the morning.”

Her shoulders had tensed and one of her feet had begun to tap. Whoever this Michael was, she wasn’t happy with him. Still, she kept her tone cool. He wondered what it would take to chip through her control. What would he find beneath the surface? There was definitely passion there. He could see it in that tapping foot. A man couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like when it was released.