Dangerous Secrets (Tall, Dark & Deadly #2)(2)

Julie reached for her coffee cup, and while she wasn’t usually a drinker, she wished she had some hard stuff right now. At nine o’clock in the morning she was wishing for alcohol. What did that say about her life? She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately, but she had this sense of dissatisfaction that belied her growing high profile client list that should have her reveling in success. Maybe she should consider joining the small firm Lauren had left the District Attorney’s office for. The firm she was with wasn’t a powerhouse, but it wasn’t an ant farm either. Still, she was nearly thirty now, and had to think about her future. After seven years here, she couldn’t say they’d helped her career. She’d been hired to handle corporate law, but they’d thrown her divorce cases no one had wanted and she’d made it work.

Her intercom buzzed. “The judge is on two.”

“Got it,” Julie said, punching the button before lifting the receiver to her ear. “Judge?”

He made an irritated noise. “I’m heading into court, Julie. What’s so important it couldn’t wait?”

Julie bit back the retort that threatened to slip out, managing an unaffected voice. “Your wife stopped by.”

“Oh, well hell,” he grumbled. “Surely this can wait.”

“I don’t know, Judge, you tell me. She seems to think she has some information you don’t want leaked. Her exact words were ‘I can play dirty too’.”

There was a pregnant silence.

“Go on,” he said a little too quietly.

Intentionally vague, Julie said, “She mentioned artwork.”

Silence, thick, and full of implications filtered through the phone line.

He cleared his throat. “Exactly what did she say about the subject?”

Not good, Julie thought. “She seems to think you have some pieces you don’t want anyone to know about,” Julie offered in a neutral tone as she tapped her pencil on her oak desktop.

“Such as?” he asked a pinch of urgency slipping into his tone.

“She wouldn’t say,” Julie told him in a voice that was deceptively light. ”Seemed to think I was better off not knowing.”

Silence again. He was having a quiet panic attack, Julie realized with concern.

He cleared his throat again. Julie waited; still nothing. “Judge?”

“It’s not a problem,” he assured her in a very tight voice. “There are thieves who will go to great lengths to get their hands on highly sought after art. I am always quite nervous about some of my holdings becoming targets. I will have the pieces in question put somewhere safe. Give me forty-eight hours, and then call her bluff.”

“It’s not a bluff if you think she’ll act on it,” Julie argued. “And if you need forty-eight hours, that tells me you think she might. Judge, I don’t want to offend you but,” she paused to consider phrasing and decided to be direct. “I need to be sure there is nothing going on I wouldn’t want to be involved with.”

He laughed, but it sounded forced. “I’m a judge for God’s sake. Give me some credit. I have masterpieces that certain collectors would literally kill for. I don’t want those pieces of my collection made public. Now do as I say, and call her bluff.”

Bluff. There was that word again that sat all kinds of wrong in her mind. “All right, Judge. Consider it done.”

Julie’s stomach churned with a sense of dread. Nothing about this situation was done. Her gut said that this was going someplace very bad, very quickly.



Chicago O’ Hare Airport

Wednesday night, two days later



Ten minutes. That was all Julie had to get to her gate and board. Considering the snowstorm blasting across the state, she couldn’t afford to miss it, as it might well be the last plane out for days. And considering she was in charge of Lauren’s rehearsal dinner Friday night, that would be bad. Really, really bad. That frightened her enough to send Julie into a half-run. She shouldn’t have agreed to travel this close to the wedding.

She eyed the gate numbers, spotting seven, when she needed eleven. She fought to ignore the pinch of her toes in the black three-inch heels that matched her safe black travel dress, cringing at the sight of huge snowflakes outside the wall of windows to her left. They seemed to fall at an accelerated speed while she watched. Her gaze lifted to the monitors and she cringed yet again at the flashing red with the word ‘cancelled’ next to a great number of flights.

“Please don’t let mine be one of them,” she murmured, afraid to stop to check for fear seconds could cost her the seat with her name attached.

Arriving at her gate, the empty waiting room seats emphasised just how late she was for boarding. The doors to the entry ramp were still open, and that meant she’d made it on time.

Eager to confirm she was right, Julie hurried to the counter and presented the attendant behind the counter her ticket. “Please tell me I’m not too late for this flight.”

The forty-something woman smiled and pushed the rims of her black glasses back onto her face. “You’re in luck. We’ve boarded the last group, but the flight’s been delayed fifteen minutes.”

A sigh of relief slid past Julie’s lips. “Thank you. And you’re right. That’s luck because I really need to be on this flight. Do you think I dare sneak away for some food to take on the plane with me before I board?” It was nearly eight at night and divorce negotiations had been so heated, she’d never gotten her sandwich down.