A Twist of Betrayal (22 page)

“Thanks, Clifford.”

“I want you to take a week off.”

“A week?” She stared at him.

Dan wondered if she was still dizzy or if Clifford noticed how pale she looked.

“Yes, you’ve earned it.”

“Thanks, Clifford,” she said again.

“Don’t thank me until you come back all rested and ready for the next case.”

Justine held up a hand to stop any further explanation. “Don’t tell me now. I’m not up to hearing about anything new. I don’t think I slept but maybe an hour or two, and I need some rest.”

“Fine, I’ll see you later.”

They waved him away.

With his arm around her, Dan led her back out into the hall near the bench they’d sat on together before the jury returned. “Well, Counselor, do you feel up to celebrating.”

“Sure,” she said.

Dan put his hand on the small of her back, and she shivered.

“Cold?” Dan asked.

“Maybe a little,” she replied.

“Maybe you really are coming down with something,” he said, his voice laced with concern.

“Oh, I think I’ll be all right. Especially since I get to spend the next week laying around and watching television.”

“And I know I’ve got to work this evening, but then I’ve got the next several days off. We could do something. Or we could just be bums together.”

They reached the doors and stepped out into the cool fall day. The season was in full swing, and the trees outside the courthouse were filled with leaves of brilliant red, orange and yellow. They fell like snow around Dan and Justine as they made their way to Dan’s truck.

Dan took her home, and Justine wasted no time making her way to the bedroom where she peeled off the suit she wore and climbed under the covers of their bed.

Dan came in a moment later staring at her with concern. “Can I get you anything? Aspirin, a cup of tea?”

“No thanks,” she replied. “It just feels good to lie down.”

Slowly, he crossed the room. Near the bed, he started to undress.

“What are you doing?”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night, either,” Dan explained. “I thought I’d take a nap before I have to go in to work. All right?”

“Of course, it’s all right,” she said quickly.

He climbed under the covers beside her. He turned toward her. Justine shifted so she could fit up against him.

“Hold me,” she said. “Just hold me.”

Dan took her in his arms. “How’s this?” he asked quietly.

“Tighter,” she requested.

He held her until he had to get up and leave to go to work. Damn, the last thing he wanted was to leave her.

“I feel better already. I think I’ll watch some TV while I wait for you to come home.”

“I think there’re a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup in the pantry if you get hungry,” he suggested.

“Maybe I’ll try that later.”

“I’ll see you when I get home.” He kissed her.

She melted against him and held him tight. “I’ll be here.”

Chapter 25

Five Days Ago

For the first time in a long time, Dan had an easy shift. A few speeders and a few kids under eighteen out after curfew summed up his evening. He was very thankful to get home to Justine on time instead of hours late because he had reports to write. It was a nice ending since he now had a few days off.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked when he found Justine in the kitchen at eleven thirty making sandwiches. Since her trial had ended two days before, she seemed to teeter totter between feeling better and still not wanting to eat, but he thought she was on the road to recovery.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I think so.”

The nagging feeling that she was keeping something from him still lingered. Maybe soon she’d be able to talk about it. But for now she still wouldn’t share with him any of the deep, dark secrets she might be harboring. So despite the fact that her color was better and she had toasted the cheese sandwiches and soup she’d made for them, Dan still watched her. And whenever she caught him watching her, he gave her a smile.

He noticed there were still circles under her eyes. Either she’d been crying or she was in shock or overtired. He wanted to shake the answers from her, but he’d rather she shared with him what was wrong.

“Steve invited us over tomorrow afternoon,” he told her.

“What for?” she asked.

“He’s grilling steaks and hamburgers as a farewell party for Jack Fillbrook.”

“Do I have to go?”

“No, you don’t have to, but it would be nice to have you with me.”

“Is Jack leaving town, too, after his last day on the force?”

“I don’t know. You know he hasn’t been the same since the shooting. It looks like next Friday is his last day. Steve also said we’ll all celebrate you winning your first murder case at the same time,” Dan said.

“Did you tell him it would probably be my last, too?”

Dan forced a grin. “No, but you can tell him if you want.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

The next day he even went so far as to help her with the bowl of coleslaw she insisted on making to take to Steve and Hannah’s.

“We don’t have to make this,” he reminded her. “Steve said we didn’t need to bring anything.” He had long since learned that Justine couldn’t go anywhere without something in her hand, whether it was a briefcase or a dish or a drink.

“Do you want to stir or should I?” she asked, ignoring what he said.

“I’ll stir, you pour on the dressing.” He gave in to her, staying close in case she got the sudden desire to share something with him.

“You know,” she said brightly, “we could start on the kitchen tile tomorrow since we both have the next few days off.”

“Do you feel up to it?” he asked.

“Of course,” Justine replied without any hesitation.

Dan paused his stirring and looked down at the old tile on the floor. The new tile had been bought and was still in boxes down in the basement. There hadn’t been time for them to get started on the job. “I guess we could start. I don’t know how hard it will be to get the old stuff off the floor.”

“Maybe Steve could help us.”

“Steve’s on duty tomorrow,” he told her.

“Oh.”

“Besides I think the two of us working together will be able to get the job done, most of it, anyway. And I guess if we ran into any trouble we could call one of your brothers or your dad.”
Maybe one of her brothers can get her to talk about what’s bothering her,
he thought.

“Sounds good,” she said, before leaning up and giving him a quick, light kiss on his cheek. Her touch was enough to send fire through his blood, and he did his best to ignore it. He wanted her. He always wanted her. But knowing she wasn’t being exactly straight with him hurt in more ways than he’d want to admit. She also didn’t seem to be in the mood to be touched any more than just held these days.

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on with you, Jus?” he asked casually, as if it was no big deal. His greatest hope was that she would suddenly confess whatever bothered her.

“There’s nothing going on.”

The rest of the morning went like that. He made little off-the-wall comments in a way to initiate conversation, and Justine responded to him but didn’t answer any of his questions. He had to nearly bite his own tongue in an effort not to come right out and ask her why she’d lied to him, to demand she tell him what bothered her. He was almost certain whatever it had been still existed. He couldn’t imagine a problem big enough to make her ill.

He tried not to worry about her, and he obviously did a good job keeping his worry hidden because she said nothing about it. His concern, however, only increased when they reached Steve and Hannah’s house later the afternoon.

Steve and Hannah were their usual out-going and happy selves, with a three- and five-year-old always underfoot. Jack was already there. He raised his bottle of beer slightly in greeting. “Nice of you all to show up at my party,” he said.

“We wouldn’t miss it.” Dan shook his hand. “But I’m sure the entire department will miss you.”

“I’ll miss the people, but not the job.” Jack took a swig of his beer.

“What are you going to do?” Dan asked. Was it his imagination or was Justine hanging back behind him? No, it wasn’t his imagination. She stood behind him and said nothing. What was that about?

Jack shrugged. “I think I’ll just find me a little place somewhere on a lake and fish when I’m not working a boring part-time job, just enough to make ends meet.”

“Good luck with that,” Dan said, meaning it.

“I told you to tell them they didn’t have to bring any dish,” Hannah said as she drew close and took the big bowl of coleslaw to put on the table with the rest of the food.

“I told him,” Steve said. “But you know how neither of them ever listen.”

“I have half a mind to dump all that slaw down the garbage disposal,” Hannah said, trying to sound serious. “Heaven knows we don’t need it.”

“At least wait until the feeling comes back into my thumb from all the chopping I had to do,” Dan replied, unable to keep the grin off his face.

“Nobody forced you to chop any of it,” Justine snapped, her tone far different than the teasing banter of the others. “I didn’t hold a gun to your head. I never even asked for your help.”

For a moment, the rest of them were quiet, all staring at her. Tess, Steve and Hannah’s three-year-old daughter tugged on her mother’s leg with a sudden, “Mama! Mama! Up!” and broke through the silence.

“Jus, we were just teasing,” Dan said, hoping to cut through the tension that surrounded her.

Hannah drew Tess into her arms and met Steve’s questioning look at the same time.

“Maybe we’re all just hungry,” Steve suggested. He took his daughter from his wife. “Just about everyone’s here. Let’s eat. We don’t have to wait for Chief Watson.”

Hannah forced a smile. “I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “I know I’m hungry, and everything else is ready.”

“Maybe you just need to lighten up, Justine.” Dan noticed the way Jack looked at Justine as he spoke to her. Jack raised an eyebrow in challenge of some way.

Justine ignored the look and stepped closer to Dan. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been feeling well.”

“Is that so?” Jack asked, sounding genuinely interested.

His dark gaze met Dan’s for a brief moment, but Dan didn’t have the foggiest idea what message Jack might be trying to convey, but his police-gut feeling told him something was going on.

“I think her last case got the best of her,” Dan said lightly, unable to take his gaze from Justine, feeling as if he were trying to make his way across a pool of broken glass without getting cut. “It’s left her a little under the weather.”

“Well, that’s what we’re here to celebrate along with Jack’s retirement,” Steve said. “The end of your first murder case—with no less than an acquittal.”

“Well, acquittal or not, I don’t think I want to make a career out of defending possible murderers.”

For the first time in a while, Dan thought Justine sounded a little more like herself.

“Why not?” Hannah asked.

“There was just something about the way Paulie Madison looked at me during the trial that kept me on edge. I don’t know if all murder suspects would look at me with the same look of triumph, but it isn’t something I ever want to get used to. So I think I’ll stick to robbers and car thieves.”

Dan said nothing but understood completely. When Adam had been killed, he remembered looking clearly at the young hood who had shot him. The look in that young man’s eyes had held something close to a dare, even though it lasted mere seconds before the kid ran off.

The kid dared Dan to make a move against him. As if he realized he’d stepped over the line between good and evil and he wasn’t afraid to stay on the wrong side of that line. The look in his eyes was clearly triumph.

Was this what was making Justine ill? Dan knew Justine’s strengths better than anyone. She had the determination to face this down.
Note to self
, he thought,
talk to her about this.

“That sounds a little scary even if you are crashing in on my party,” Jack joked.

Several people chuckled.

Steve looked into the refrigerator. “What can I get you two to drink? Beer?”

“Beer’s fine with me,” Dan put in.

“Just a glass of water for me,” Justine replied softly.

Dan watched Justine. She again spoke unusually quiet after her outburst. Steve handed him a cold beer, and Dan muttered his thanks.

“Can I help with anything?” Justine offered.

“You could find a spoon for your coleslaw,” Hannah said. She set out the rest of the dinner, and everyone found a chair and crowded around the three tables that were set up. Except for those on duty, nearly the entire department and their families were there.

“Steak or hamburger, Justine?” Steve offered. He set the large platter holding several hot, grilled steaks and hamburgers in front of her.

“Thank you,” Justine replied.

Dan noticed she stopped and stared at the platter of meat. He thought he actually saw the color drain from her face.

“Jus?” he asked quietly. He was grateful that Steve and Hannah were busy cutting meat and setting up plates of food for their kids and everyone else was eating that they didn’t notice his wife.

She met his gaze for a quick moment. “Excuse me,” she said then. “I’ll be right back.”

The smile she gave him was forced, and she left before he could stop her.

“Is she all right?” Hannah asked between Tess’s demands for more French fries.

“I think so,” Dan lied. He flashed her a brief smile, knowing it was as forced as Justine’s had been.

Justine returned a few moments later, and her color was slightly better. Dan was intrigued by a tiny droplet of water that he saw on her neck. She evidently splashed her face. And it took everything he had not to reach over and wipe that drop off, feel the softness of her throat beneath it before he dragged her out of the room and demanded she tell him just what was wrong with her.

The rest of the dinner passed in a blur for him. He knew he gave the appropriate answers at the appropriate times. But throughout it all, he watched Justine and it only added to his growing frustration when she avoided his gaze.