The Defender's Duty

“Your brother is concerned about you.”

“My brother is a typical oldest child. He thinks the world is his to command. I’ve spent most of my life trying to prove him wrong.”

Surprised, she laughed, her tension easing. This she could handle. A client talking about his life? Piece of cake. “I take it you haven’t succeeded yet.”

“Not quite, but I’m still working on it.”

“Good luck with that.” She stifled a yawn. Despite too much coffee, exhaustion stole her energy and made her want nothing more than to lie down and sleep for a week.

“Looks like that drive really wore you out.” Jude studied her face as if she were a mystery he had to solve. The thought made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be studied, and she certainly didn’t want to be solved.

“It did. I think I’ll go next door and get settled in. I really am sorry for waking you.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” He stood, walking to the front door with her, his slightly hitched stride speaking of the injuries he’d suffered.

“Can I get anything for you before I go next door? Something to eat? Medicine?”

“Lacey, I’m a grown man. If I need any of those things, I’ll get them myself.”

“Not while I’m around. Your brother hired me—”

“To be a home-care aide. Yeah. I get that.” He ran a hand down his jaw and shook his head. “But you need to get that I don’t need you here. Go next door. We’ll talk more about why you’re not staying after we both get some sleep.”

“Just so you know.” Lacey stepped outside, shivering in the cold winter air. “I’m planning to stay.”

“Just so you know, I’m the one who will be making that decision.” Jude scowled, his eyes flashing with irritation.

“We’ll see.” She offered her best smile, pulled her suitcase inside the other half of the duplex and closed the door, blocking her view of Jude and his deep-gray eyes.

Her heart beat a little too fast and a little too hard, but at least her legs weren’t shaking anymore. Dealing with difficult clients was something she did well, but Jude wasn’t like any client she’d ever worked with before. He was younger. Better-looking.

Lacey frowned.

A client was a client. Jude was no different from any other man she’d worked with over the past few years.

She ran her hand along the foyer wall, flicking on the light as she had in Jude’s house. She half expected to see a man standing in the living room pointing a gun in her direction. There wasn’t one. Just a sofa and a chair, both in decent shape. A coffee table and an end table. A fireplace.

It was a cozy room and perfect for Lacey. She hummed as she walked down a short hallway and into a roomy kitchen, filling the silence and distracting herself from the fear that hadn’t quite let her go. It was a remnant of a past she preferred to forget. After all, what was in the past couldn’t hurt her anymore. All it could do was teach her how to live her life today.

The kitchen appliances were dated but serviceable, the floor faded linoleum. A sliding glass door led out into the backyard. Lacey opened it, stepping outside and shivering in the cold. A full moon peeked over the treetops, casting green light onto the overgrown backyard. Aside from the wind, nothing moved. The silent stillness seemed heavy and oppressive. Unnatural.

Lacey cocked her head, listening. Waiting. When she’d been a kid, she’d learned how to do both. Then it had been a matter of survival. Now it was simply a matter of curiosity. Something unsettling was in the air. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she couldn’t ignore it. She glanced around the dark yard. It was small and hid nothing from view.

A few straggly plants butted up against a tall fence. A white bench stood close to the house and two gates offered entrances and exits to the yard, one at the back of the property, the other on the side of the fence that separated Lacey’s yard from Jude’s. There was nothing else. She stepped back and closed the door, locking it and pulling the bolt. Whatever she’d felt, it was outside, not in the cozy house she was going to be living in for the next month.

Her own place.

It had been a long time since she’d had that. There’d been a few times over the past ten years when she’d rented an apartment, but most of her assignments came with free board. That usually meant living in the spare room in a crowded apartment or cluttered house. Having a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath duplex to herself was sheer luxury. Lacey planned to enjoy it.

The thought made her smile, but it didn’t chase away her unease. Maybe the long ride and lack of sleep had gotten to her. Or maybe seeing Jude glaring at her over the barrel of his gun had knocked her off balance. Either way, Lacey was sure she’d feel better after a few hours’ sleep. First, though, she needed to eat.

She searched through her suitcase, sure that she had a few packages of crackers there. When she didn’t find them, she went to the front door, hesitating for a moment before she opened it. Outside, the heaviness of the air had lifted and the silence seemed more natural. Still, she wasn’t sure she wanted to step across the threshold and walk outside.

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend the next few hours hungry.

Her Mustang was parked a few feet from the porch and it would only take seconds to grab the duffel bag she’d left in the passenger’s seat. She knew she had pretzels and a Coke in there. Her stomach rumbled, cementing her decision.

She hurried down the porch stairs and opened the car door, grabbing the duffel and locking the car again. “We wouldn’t want someone to steal you, Bess. Another hundred thousand miles and you’ll officially be a relic. Don’t worry, I won’t get rid of you. I’ll just get you a nip and a tuck and a brand-new engine.”

“Do you always talk to your car?” The voice was as deep and rich as dark chocolate, and Lacey recognized it immediately.

She pivoted, searching the shadows until she caught sight of Jude’s tall, rangy form near the corner of the house. His shoulder was pressed against the siding as if he needed the support to stay on his feet.

That concerned Lacey, and she walked to his side, studying his face in the moon’s reflected light. “Bess isn’t a car. She’s a personality.”

“She looks it. How long have you had her?”

“I bought her when I was a senior in high school.”

“So, that was what? Five years ago?”

“I’m flattered, but high school was a few more years ago than that.”

“Seven, then. Or eight.”

“Try eleven.”

“That makes you, what? Twenty-nine?”

“Twenty-eight. Soon to be twenty-nine. Not that I’m counting or anything.” She smiled, wishing she could see his face more clearly.

Why was he outside leaning against the house instead of inside sleeping?

If she’d known him better, she would have asked. Lots of her clients suffered from insomnia. Some because of pain. Others because they knew the end was near and didn’t want to miss a minute of time. She had a feeling something else had Jude up wandering around outside in the wee hours of the morning.

“Why wouldn’t you want to count? You’re still a babe in the woods.”

“Not even close.” She unzipped the duffel and pulled out the bag of pretzels, opening it quickly and eating one. What she really wanted was chocolate. Lots of it. Based on what she’d seen so far, working for Jude was going to be a three-chocolate-bar-a-day job. She should have grabbed her emergency supply from the glove compartment, but there was no way she was going to do it now. Not while Jude was watching with dark, curious eyes.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Let me guess. You didn’t want to waste money stopping to eat on your way here.”

“Something like that.” And she hadn’t wanted to stop until she’d reached the assignment. She liked being busy. Downtime wasn’t something she handled well. Fortunately, Helping Hands had plenty of business, and Lacey never had more than a day or two when she wasn’t working.

“Then I wouldn’t want to keep you from your early-morning snack. Enjoy it.” He straightened and limped toward the back of the house, dismissing Lacey with an abruptness that other people might have found rude.