All In: Raising the Stakes (5 page)

Katie

Early, too early, Thursday morning I run around the house, throwing last minute things in my overnight bag, mentally adding a few more things to the long list of shit I need to do in the next fifteen minutes.

"Candace, are you sure you'll be okay with him all weekend? I can cancel if I need to," I assure the peppy brunette who looks even younger than her nineteen years with her hair swinging in a high ponytail. She may be young, but she's a great nanny to Drew. I verified that she's enrolled at Madison's night school majoring in early childhood education, and her previous employers all gave her wonderful references. She's the third nanny I've hired to take care of him, and I hope she'll last, unlike the other two who eventually accepted "real" full-time jobs with benefits I can't compete with on my state salary.

"Katie, I've got this. Little man and I are going to have a great time. Tomorrow I'm taking him to the science museum, and Saturday, if it doesn't rain, we're going to the zoo." I know Drew will be thrilled with both outings. I just wish I'd be here to go with him, too.

"But what if he gets scared at night when I'm not here?" I ask. This will be the first overnight trip away from him in the three years since he came home from the hospital with me. We have a routine at night that I don't want him to miss and get upset. He can be a handful at times, but overall, he's a really sweet boy and doesn't get into too much trouble. But he does get upset and has tantrums when his routine is thrown off or when there's something new happening. It just takes him a little time to adapt to change.

"He'll be fine. You need this seminar for the promotion, right? Go, and try to have a little fun for once."

Fun? What the hell is that?

"Fine, but call me at least three times a day: morning, lunch and at night with updates, and any other time you need me. His doctor's number is on the fridge, along with my friend Victoria's. If you need her help with anything just call and she'll be here within minutes. There should be plenty of food in the fridge and pantry, but I left some cash on the kitchen counter in case you need anything else."

"I've got this, Katie," she assures me. I know Drew’s in good hands with Candace, I just can't help but worry. Sometimes it feels like that’s all I do since I became a mother.                   

After double checking my packing to do list once again, I'm ready to go. I tiptoe into Drew's room and kiss his forehead since he’s still sound asleep in his race car shaped toddler bed. I hate leaving him without saying goodbye, but I don't want to wake him this early. The sun isn't even up yet, but I have a plane to catch.

"Love you, sweet boy," I tell him, and then I’m out the door and in my car, heading to the airport.

Since it’s a weekday, the TSA line is short at Piedmont Triad Airport, thank goodness. Sooner than expected, I'm sitting at my gate with half an hour to spare. I finally let myself relax, pulling out my cell phone to catch up with friends on Facebook. That peaceful feeling lasts a whole five minutes before the smell slaps me across the face. The delicious scent of a gorgeous man I want to bottle up and guzzle until I’m drunk on him.

Damn it!

I look around and finally spot the source across from me in the coffee shop.

Joe fucking Montgomery.

"You've got to be kidding me," I mutter aloud. How am I supposed to get through a whole weekend with that sexy bastard waiting around every corner? Oh shit! This means
he's
the other prosecutor DA Cardwell wants me to try homicide cases with! No! I can't handle working every day and night with him.

Wait, why am I acting like a whiny little teenage girl? This is my job, and his, too. I can admit that he’s a great attorney, probably better than all the rest considered for this promotion…well, except for me. After his help the other night when he stayed late to call my witnesses, I know he'll be a team player and pull his weight. I can do this. I
have
to do this unless I want to practice something other than criminal law. That will never happen.

After the hell my sister went through for what had to have been thirteen extremely long, terrifying months because of some sick pervert, I vowed to lock up as many guilty bastards as possible before I retire. She was so sweet and kind. Always a smile on her angelic face. Kelly was terrified of any and all bugs. She’d screech like a banshee at the sight of them but insist that my dad capture and release them outside instead of killing a single one. We actually had to have a funeral for the dead bat we found in the attic. Our neighbors were always bitching about the stray cat and dog population in our housing development because Kelly would put out food for as many of them that came along. She couldn’t bear to see them go hungry. She was pre-med at Madison, she loved kids so much she planned on being a pediatrician. Every summer she would volunteer full-time at the children’s hospital as a candy striper, constantly taking games and teddy bears to cheer up the tiny patients. It was an incredibly cruel twist of fate for her to be kidnapped and die so young when all she wanted to do was save everyone and make their lives better.

As soon as Drew is a little older and can understand, I’ll tell him all the wonderful things about his mother. I show him pictures of Kelly and talk about her some now, telling him simple things he’s familiar with, like her favorite color was purple, and just like him, she hated peas. When he eventually asks about his father, God, I don’t even know where to start or at what age I’ll have to tell him the truth. In a way, I wish he never had to know. But it’s a certainty that he’ll discover what really happened on his own if I’m not honest with him. All it will take is typing Kelly’s name in an Internet search engine and the articles will be right there for him to read. So how the hell am I supposed to tell him that his father is serving a life sentence in prison for kidnapping his mother? One day he’ll realize how he was conceived, and that’s something I imagine he’ll struggle to deal with for the rest of his life. That’s why I’m going to spend the rest of
my
life helping victims put criminals away; for him and for Kelly.

Since I’m not planning to practice anything but criminal law, I’ll have to get used to working with Joe. I do actually respect him for leaving criminal defense behind to prosecute defendants instead. Maybe that’s another reason why I was such a bitch to him when we first met. I couldn’t understand how anyone would want to represent rapists and murders. But now we work together, fighting for the same side. I need to lighten up and go easier on him. I’ll just consider the fact that Joe is eye candy as another benefit to my promotion. I'm a professional, damn it, and I will act like it! I'll be nicer to him now that I know we're going to be prosecuting murderers together. After all, I still owe him for coming through for me with my victim the other night.

I’m still watching him, admiring how his jeans hug his perfect ass and strong, muscular thighs when he turns around. Joe’s eyes widen when he sees me and then he laughs out loud. After paying for his coffee, he heads for me with his brown cup in one hand and his carry-on luggage in the other.

"Katie Kat,
you're
going to be my partner on murders?" He smiles, sliding into the empty seat beside me.

"Yep."

"Are you as surprised as I am?" he asks, and then his broad shoulders slump underneath his blue dress shirt that matches his eyes. "Hell, I bet you're pissed. I can't believe you haven't bolted out of here yet."

I cringe thinking about what a bitch I've been to him, mostly because I want him and can't have him.     

"Nah, it's fine," I reply with a shrug. "I'll just make you do all the work."

He chuckles again, and the laugh lines only makes his face even more gorgeous. 

"Actually, I bet all the women in the office will be pissed when they find out I'll be working with you," I tell him, forcing my eyes down to the phone in my hands so that I'll quit staring at him.

"Oh really? Why's that? Do they all want a chance to give me a hard time, too?" he asks.

"Seriously? You really don't know?" I ask while trying to judge the sincerity on his face. He always seems so cocky that I assumed he had to know the effect he has on women.      

"Know what? That I'm a pain in the ass?"

"Well that, too, but I'm pretty sure you have your very own fan club."

"What?" he exclaims. "That's ridiculous."

"There's actually a reward being offered for anyone who can provide confirmed information about your current relationship status with Lacy Pierce."

Joe's normally happy, upbeat face falls at the mention of the woman. Maybe they aren't together. "Sorry, it's no one's business," I say when he doesn't respond.

I hear his heavy exhale as he flops back in his seat. "It's okay. It's just things with Lacy are simple, yet…complicated. We're not together and haven't been for months," he says, staring down at the brown paper cup in his hands. An absurd amount of happiness fills me at that simple statement. "She's been living in Charlotte with her boyfriend and my good friend Will since June, and..." he takes a deep, shaky breath. "She's pregnant."

Oh, wow. I didn't see that one coming. Hold on. How far along? Does that mean…

"I don't know," he looks up at me with fear, worry, and sadness; all three competing in his eyes, answering my unspoken question.

"What…what do you mean you don't know?"

"The baby may or may not be mine. We won't know until he or she is born in about three months."

I stare at him in shock, trying to figure out how he feels about that or how to respond. 

"So you're worried the baby might be yours?" I ask.

He smiles sadly and shakes his head. "I'm torn. Of course Lacy and Will want it to be his, but in a way, even though it's stupid, I want it to be mine."

"Why?" I ask. Most men would be praying to God that it wasn't theirs to avoid the responsibility, and here he is actually wanting it? 

"I told you it was stupid. Lacy is…she's my best friend. I love her in a strange way, but I'm not in love with her, if that makes sense. So sharing a child with her and Will would be nice. Better than nice, even if it would be rather...complicated. Sorry, I don't really know how to explain it since I don't understand it myself. And I don't know why I'm telling you all this."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything to the fan club, even for the reward," I joke with him while trying to digest this ruffled, unexpected, sensitive side to Joe Cool.

"Thanks," he replies, shoving his fingers through his hair.                                                     

"So, you miss her?" I ask, unable to help myself from prying since he’s being so open and honest.

"Yeah I do. I hate that she moved, but even if she was still in town, we would never be together as a couple. Her and Will are really happy together, and I'm happy for them."

"You are?"

"Definitely. Besides, Lacy's always known that she's not the woman I want," he says, and when he looks up at me, my breath catches at the intensity in his blue eyes. That's when the intercom announces they’re now boarding our plane.

"Are you ready for Florida?" I ask, standing up to head for the line forming at the gate.

"Damn right, I am," he replies with a tight smile.

I send Candace a quick text message asking how Drew did waking up without me there this morning. As soon as she says he was fine and having breakfast, I relax, turn my phone off, and prepare for the flight. I’m actually a little disappointed that Joe wasn't assigned a seat closer to mine.            

…

Joe

I watch Katie as she sleeps with her head on the plane window, her breathing slow and regular. I asked the one other lady in her row to switch seats with me, giving the sweet, elderly grandma three seats to herself across the aisle. I didn't know Katie was so wiped out that she'd sleep the whole four hours. She’s probably exhausted from the trial she just finished. She won a guilty verdict of course. She always wins.

"No!" the exclaimed word escapes her lips. She’s dreaming. Apparently it isn’t a good one based on her furrowed brow.

"Drew, don't! Please don’t…nothing like him," she mutters.

Who’s Drew? Is that her boyfriend? I grow even more concerned when I see the tear slide down her cheek, so I shake her shoulders, trying to wake her. We’re only about ten minutes from landing anyway.

"Katie?" I say, taking advantage of the opportunity to put my hands on her. I rub down her shoulder and arm over her burgundy blouse, shaking her again. "Katie?"

"Stop!" she yells as she startles awake. I jerk my hand away from her, unsure if she was talking to me or her dream.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She looks over at me and blinks her beautiful greenish-yellow cat eyes a few times before glancing around the plane.

"Oh shit. I was having a nightmare. Sorry." She swipes her knuckles under her eye to wipe away the tear.

"Hey, you don't have to apologize to me for your nightmare. We're about to land, so I thought you might want to start waking up."

"Thanks. What are you doing over here?"

"Oh, I switched seats with the woman who was sitting here. I didn't know you'd sleep the whole time."