The Dream Stalker (Gifted Liaisons) Read online

  Another knock interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she said, thankful that this person decided to wait for a response. The advantage to having her own office, with a door that could be closed, was having privacy.

  “Daya,” Christopher Jordan walked into her office. God, her boss, the head honcho, the man in charge, the fire and hire at will guy and he was in her office.

  “Mr. Jordan,” she greeted him as evenly as possible.

  “Jack tells me you refused an assignment.”

  The rat bastard deserved to get hit by a falling meteorite. “Yes, sir. As I explained to, Mr. Larson,” she stipulated his name with an air of professionalism even though every part of her wanted to cause bodily harm. “I can’t take on another case right now.”

  “Sure you can,” he dropped the file on her desk.

  She stood slowly. “No sir, I can’t. I understand if you’d like me to hand in my resignation because of it, but I simply can’t take on that case, or any other, right now.”

  “Daya, it’s one case. You’re the best person for this job. I hear how the others talk about you. You’re the best person to close this case. Just take it.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She was going to stand her ground. She was an ace in the courtroom and out; she wouldn’t forget that. “No. Sorry, I can’t. I’ll have my resignation on your desk by the morning.”

  “Whoa!” He held up his hands. The grandfatherly smile that was on his face seconds ago had disappeared. “You’re not going anywhere. I’ll put somebody else on the damn case, but you can’t leave us, Daya. You’re the best.”

  Whew! Saved by reputation. She felt her legs steady beneath her. “I appreciate your understanding, sir. I would really like to focus on my current clients before taking on any old case loads.”

  “I get it,” he nodded. “You’re due some time off too, the honeymoon, right?”

  “We haven’t booked it yet. As soon as we can run concurrent schedules I’ll let you know what time I need off.”

  “Don’t wait,” he smiled before folding himself into one of the office chairs. She took the signal that the conversation wasn’t yet over and so she sat herself. “Trust me, family should come first. Don’t tell anybody I told you that because I like our lawyers cut throat, but a honeymoon is worth taking. If you need the time we’ll wiggle it in here at the office. We owe you that much.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She felt her stomach literally fluttering, as if she were up in front of a judge on her first case or something. This man made her nervous, but not in a bad way, more of the on-your-toes, don’t-screw-up, kind of way.

  “I don’t know why we didn’t make you a partner. Damn if I don’t know why. I remember you were at the top of our list.”

  “Really?” Now that was a shock because, while everybody else seemed so sure, seeing a man who hadn’t been with the company even a year get partner told her she wasn’t even on the list.

  “Yeah, first, at the top. The other partners raved about your track record. I reviewed your files. Even received a glowing recommendation from one of the judges…Alex. I believe you know him.”

  “Of course. He’s overseen so many of my cases.”

  “Mentor in college too. Or so I hear.”

  “Yes, he was that as well.”

  He smiled at her as if he knew something more, but had the professional respect not to say anything. She didn’t think anybody else could have known that she and Alex had been lovers for years until they called things off. Alex had been so secretive. And she had never given anybody reason to suspect because back then there was no way she was going to ruin her career when the man didn’t show an ounce of desire to tell the world about them.

  “Top of the list,” he mumbled again before shaking his head. “Don’t know what happened.”

  “Me either,” she mumbled.

  “Oh, it wasn’t you. I’m sure of that. Your record is remarkable. You’re dedicated. Would have been a perfect partner.”

  He stood, suddenly ready to make an escape as if he had some mystery to solve. He shook his head, as if the reason wasn’t coming and he couldn’t understand why, as he walked out of her office and closed the door behind him. He forgot to take the file with him. Now it was her turn to shake her head. She wanted to get that thing out of her office before it became a permanent fixture on her desk.

  She had nearly made it to the door when Christopher came back in to reclaim the file for himself. “Don’t know where my head is these days,” he said as he left again.

  Now she had her own mystery, one she wasn’t going to invest time in solving, even though she did want to know the answer to the question. How had Jack Larson managed to wiggle his way on to the list—not just wiggle his way on, but knock her off—when he hadn’t been with the company for long, didn’t have the best court record, and was a major jerk? More than that, why didn’t Christopher have an answer to that question himself?

  Life was getting stranger by the moment. First, there was the issue with Warren. She was sure she hadn’t given him reason to suspect she was having an affair. Still, he suspected something was going on. His suspicions were enough to keep him MIA in the bedroom. Now, the partners didn’t know why they didn’t make her a partner. Was the whole state going crazy? Was there something in the water? She looked at her bottled water. “The tap water here is gross, maybe there’s a reason,” she mumbled. “Maybe I should sue the city and check into it.” She had to laugh at her own reasoning. There was clearly nothing in the water…well, nothing she could prove was causing a lapse in sanity anyway.

  She called it a day early. Her thoughts had raced between taking time off for a honeymoon and figuring out why she hadn’t been made partner. The honeymoon had to wait for Warren anyway, and the other issue…well if the partners themselves didn’t know, she wasn’t likely to find out the answer either. “Suck it up,” she told herself.

  “Yeah, suck it all up,” she heard the voice from behind her. God, she knew who it was. Jack “the jerk” Larson. And now she was down in the parking garage alone. Just great, dark, dusty, alone and she had to pick that spot to get so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear him coming.

  “Go away.” She had several expletives she would have uttered, but none of them seemed to be the way to stay professional. Most days she was thankful the sun didn’t shine in the garage. Most of those days saw triple digit temperatures, hot blazing sun and one roving crack in her windshield that seemed to get longer by the hour. She still hadn’t had that fixed. She made a mental note to do that. This wasn’t one of those days where she was thankful for the absence of sunshine. This was winter, and in winter it got dark too early to not have something other than a few overhead lights shining in the garage. And God, if they could keep them all working she’d feel better.

  “You sure you want me to leave you alone,” he grinned. “Looks like you’re going to have a hard time getting home.”

  She looked back at her car, where he was pointing. “I know how to change a flat,” she said. She had a full spare in the trunk, plus her doughnut. She liked to be cautious, maybe a little too cautious as having two spare tires ate up the cargo space in her little car.

  “Hope you have more than one.”

  “I have two,” she smiled politely.”

  “You’re going to need at least three,” he pointed again to the car.

  This time she walked around. “Four!” She nearly yelled. “This is just great.”

  “I’d be happy to let you ride me home…ride with me,” he corrected.

  “Get lost you creep. And if I find out you had anything to do with this I’ll have your sorry ass arrested.”

  “Counselor, that’s not very professional of you. Accusations…I could sue you for slander.”

  She felt her fist curl into a ball. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she held them there. Instead of cursing him out, beating him over the head with her briefcase, or kicking him in the balls with th
e heel of her stilettos, she angrily punched in the speed dial for Warren.

  “Daya, I’m—”

  “I have four flat tires, Warren. Four flats and a jack ass harassing me. Could you please come pick me up?” Normally she’d call AAA, but right now she didn’t want to wait the hour it would probably take for somebody to come out. She could have the car towed in the morning.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Knowing Warren he’d put the sirens on, clear all the stop lights and be there in five minutes. Thankfully he worked in Chandler, which meant he wasn’t that far from her office.

  “The husband,” he grinned. “Nice to know you can count on him for something. Can you count on him when you need him most? That’s the life or death question.”

  “Are you threatening me?” She dug in her purse without looking at him. “Because I have…” she pulled a small canister from her purse. “Mace,” she popped the cap and pointed it before realizing she had it pointing at herself. She quickly turned it around. He laughed.

  “That’s not Mace darling. That’s hairspray.”

  She looked in her hand. She didn’t use hairspray unless she had a run in her stocking that she needed to stop. Both canisters were sleek, slender, it was easy to mix them up. Never-the-less, either would burn like hell if she hit him square in the eyes.

  The distraction was all he needed. He wound his arm around her, spun her around so fast she didn’t see it coming, and then he had her immobilized. The canister fell from her hand and even in the dim light she could tell she did have the can of Mace in her hand.

  He walked her up against her car, held her flush against the cold metal and then pushed his center against her behind. “This would feel so much better inside you.”

  “Get off me!”

  “It’s cold out here. How about if I keep you warm until your husband gets here?”

  “How about I press charges for assault!” She wiggled to try to free herself. He laughed. She was sure she knew why he was laughing. Her wiggling was doing nothing to free herself, and everything to make his erection grow harder.

  “You’ll have a hard time proving it. I left at two o’clock today. I’m on a plane right now.”

  “Could have fooled me,” she tried to dig her heel into his foot and he moved, just enough to avoid it, but not enough for her to get the upper hand.

  “My car is gone.”

  She looked to where his car should have been, and indeed it was gone. Somebody was bound to drive by…eventually. “Get off of me. This is highly unprofessional, illegal, and unacceptable.”

  “Who’s going to stop me?” He chuckled, his breath warm against her ear as he gyrated against her. “I’m almost there baby.”

  And so was she, although his version of “there” and her version were completely different things. She had the safety pin out of her purse, open and stuck in him before he could make another thrust against her.

  He yelped, stepped back and released her. “Touch me again and I will kill you,” she said. And she meant it. Jail or not, she would kill him.

  He laughed. “Next time.”

  “Not even in your dreams,” she snapped.

  “You sure about that? I’m the stuff women’s dreams are made of you know.” He winked at her before walking away.

  She resisted the urge to slide down against her car. She needed to stay on her feet, wait for Warren. But should she tell him about what happened? How could she not? This wasn’t a one off occasion. Jack had harassed her before, and this time he’d almost given himself a full-on orgasm. She didn’t want to upset Warren. She knew she would. He’d be pissed that it happened, more pissed that he wasn’t there to do anything about it, and then triple pissed that she hadn’t told him about it in the first place. She moaned, “I’ve stepped in it now,” she mumbled. Telling Warren was likely to cause more trouble, probably between them, but she couldn’t avoid telling him; could she?

  The first thing Warren did when he arrived was seat her in his car. Then he inspected the tires. She rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes. She was barely focused when he got back in the truck.

  “What happened?” His voice was low, angry.

  “I don’t know. What are the odds I ran over four nails; one in each tire?”

  “I don’t see any punctures in the tire. And that’s not what I was talking about.”

  “Oh,” she whispered. No punctures meant somebody had let the air out of her ties some other way. She had a good idea of who that somebody might be.

  “You look like you’ve gone through hell. And I found this under your car.” He held up her can of mace. “Talk to me.”

  She exhaled slowly. The words, “don’t be mad” were on the tip of her tongue, but she was sure he would be whether she prefaced the details with that request or not. She told him—everything.

  “Where is he!?” He roared.

  “Gone,” at least she hoped he was. Warren’s knuckles were nearly white from his grip on the steering wheel.

  “I’m sorry, Warren. I hoped it wouldn’t happen again.”

  “I get my hands on the bastard and it won’t.”

  “My options are limited here. I can’t prove either incident happened. I can’t talk to the partners because it would probably come across as my just being angry because I didn’t make partner and he did. Legally it’s my word against his and I’m not going into court with that.” There was the possibility she could win, but the burden of proof would be on the prosecution, the plaintiff, her. She needed proof before she would risk her career to end his. “Could you take me home; hold me? Just for a little while. I know you have work.”

  “Work isn’t as important as you,” he took her hand and kissed the back of it. “You should have told me before.” His voice was soft even though the anger was still there.

  “I know. I just…I thought I handled it. Are you angry with me?”

  He was silent for a moment and she feared the answer. “No. I’m angry with him for hurting you, and angry with me for not being there when you needed me.”

  “You would have been, if I had told you. Don’t be angry. You’re here now.” She exhaled sharply again.

  “What?”

  “I…um…I told him if he touched me again I’d kill him. Fortunately nobody else heard that because if he ends up dead I’d be prime suspect.”

  “I’d take care of it,” he grinned. “I am a detective after all.”

  “Yes, but you’re an honest one. You’d hand me over.”

  “The hell I would.”

  She took one look in his eyes and she knew he was deadly serious. He’d protect her no matter the cost to him, his career, his sense of self honesty. “That wouldn’t be what I’d want you to do, Warren. You’re a good guy. Don’t ever forget that.”

  “I’m a good guy who believes in justice, Daya. If I’m not willing to have you sleeping three doors down what gives you the impression I’d have you sleeping behind bars?”

  “Okay…okay,” she held up her hands in surrender. “You win. It’s a good thing I’m not a killer or you’d be in serious trouble.”

  “That I would,” he agreed as he turned out of the parking garage.

  Chapter Eight

  Warren had entered Daya’s dreams freely. She was wearing a skimpy two piece bikini, on a black sand beach—Hawaii, he guessed. Maybe that’s where he should take her on their honeymoon…provided they ever got one.

  When she awoke the next morning she seemed refreshed, as if a weight had been lifted and she could breathe freely. He had no trouble convincing her to take the day off and go see White Eagle with him. He had questions, White Eagle had answers—answers he wanted to share with Daya. She was in this as deep as he was and she deserved to know what they were facing.

  Despite the few nights of uninterrupted sleep he knew the dream stalker would return, and when he did he wouldn’t waste time playing games. He would take what he wanted and then he would take her life. He wouldn’t lo
se Daya; he couldn’t lose her.

  “White Eagle,” she nearly jogged up the stairs and onto the porch before throwing her arms around him. “I haven’t seen you since the wedding.”

  “It has been awhile,” he agreed. “I was trying to avoid my grandson,” he winked.

  “I know what you mean. But we’ll talk about him later,” she laughed.

  “Hey! I’m standing right here.” The two of them together were lethal. Before the wedding they had spent time together at family dinners. White Eagle liked her from the second he met her, and the two were nearly inseparable when they were in the same room. He didn’t stand a chance when they teamed up. One knew his past, held it in his hand like candy. The other knew his present, was his future, and she—she held his heart. She would always hold his heart.

  “I should keep the two of you separated,” he mumbled.

  “Come inside, we have work to do.”

  Warren hadn’t forgotten the reason for his visit, or the urgency. He only had today to get answers; tomorrow both he and Daya would need to be back in their respective offices. He didn’t officially have today off. He had told them he would be accessible by phone if they needed him, knowing full well he planned to have his phone accidently-on-purpose turned off. They wouldn’t need him, not today. There hadn’t been another death and with the official ruling being undetermined, he technically didn’t have a case to investigate. He worked homicides, but his boss was keeping him close to the precinct on the off chance the ME finally ruled on the cause of death, and that ruling came down as murder.

  “You have faced some of your demons. You are ready to continue your training, but there is little time.”