The new week brings the assignment of another capital murder trial, which renews the media frenzy around me. The constant scrutiny has Alex on high alert, and he's overly protective of every action I take. It’s almost impossible to work, with Thomas now stationed full-time in my office, Jake coming by once or twice a day to check in, and the constant phone calls and texts from Alex demanding updates on my activities. He nearly went apoplectic when he learned I would have to meet my client at the county jail to begin work on her case.
I sit at my desk, weeding through information, when Sarah's voice comes over the intercom.
"Kylie, Jack needs to see you in his office."
"Okay. Thanks, Sarah. I'm on my way." I close the file I've been reviewing on the new case. It's a particularly nasty one, and I'm hopeful I can plead it out before it goes to trial.
Thomas removes the noise canceling headphones he is required to wear in my office as I stand.
"Just going down the hall. Be back in a few," I inform him.
He gives me a thumbs-up, replacing his headphones and returning to his video game.
I knock on Jack's door and hear his gentle voice invite me in. When I enter, Jack motions toward the chair across from his desk.
"We have the usual hate mail coming in now that you’ve been officially assigned to the Barber case. You know the drill. Safeguards are in place to make sure the threats are not serious, and we don't anticipate any problems. I just wanted you to be aware, so you can be on guard and a little more careful." Jack smiles.
"Okay." I smile back. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll probably have Jake talk to our security team about it, just to keep him in the loop, if that's okay with you."
"I have no problem with Jake working with them. Whatever we can do to make sure you're taken care of, Kylie," he says, rising.
I make my way to the door before he calls to me.
"Everything else okay?" he asks.
I know he's referring to John, but I can't tell him about the latest threats against Alex and me. It would only worry him, and there's nothing he can do at this point. Sometime in the future, I'll have that discussion with him, but now is not the time.
"It's all good, Jack. Nothing new to report."
He smiles at me and waves me out.
As I enter my office, my cell phone beeps on my desk. There's a missed call from Alex. I hit the callback button and wait for him to answer.
"Kylie, where are you? Why didn't you answer the phone?"
I've been trying all week to figure out if Alex is more concerned that John will finally carry out his threat or if I'll follow through on mine and leave to protect him.
"I was in Jack's office, babe." I keep my voice light, trying to calm and reassure him.
"Why didn't you take your cell phone with you?" comes the exasperated reply.
"Well, it wouldn't have mattered if I had, Alex. I still wouldn't have answered it. I was in a meeting with my boss." I sit down in my desk chair as the line is silent on the other end. I take advantage of Alex's muteness and offer, "Babe, I know you're doing everything you can to make sure I'm safe, and I appreciate it. I really do. I have to work, though, and that might involve me not being able to keep in constant contact with you or being available to you at all times. I have Thomas with me. Jake is in and out of here all day long. You're going to have to trust me, and you are going to have to give me some room to breathe."
Alex exhales on the other end. "Fine, I'll try. When will you be ready to leave today?"
"Well, that depends on your schedule. I'm just going through all the notes on the new case, and I can do that from home, so I can be ready whenever you are." Please let this get him to a happy place, so he'll lose the attitude.
"I'm home already. When are you planning to leave?" His voice has softened.
The tight muscles in my neck slacken a bit. "In about fifteen minutes." I smile and cross my fingers the good mood he's moving toward will still be present when I get home.
I dump the files on the couch in Alex's study and head into the bedroom to change clothes. I know I should continue to go through the case notes, but I need a break from the details. It disgusts me, and I would like nothing more than to pass it off to another attorney in the firm. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. If I were my own boss in my own firm, I would never have taken this case.
Marilyn Barber is accused of killing her two children because she feared she was about to lose custody of them to her ex-husband. The children were found in the bathtub, apparently drowned while taking a bath. Marilyn claims she placed the children—a boy, seven, and a girl, five—into the bathtub while she went to lie down on the bed with a migraine.
At some point, she fell asleep, and when she awoke, the children were dead in the tub. The problem centers on the autopsy of both children and the ligature marks around their necks, denoting strangulation.
I met with her after being assigned to her case, and the woman sat there without any guilt or remorse, smoking a cigarette, telling me that her children were in a better place. She was quick to offer alternative arguments, like her ex-husband had sneaked into the house while she slept and strangled the children.
When I asked why he would do that, she said without batting an eye, "Because he still wants me, but since I won't have him, he wanted to hurt me by sending me to prison."
There was nothing about the devastating toll the loss of her children was having on her. No, she was more concerned that she would be spending all her Saturday nights locked up instead of being able to find someone at the bar to take her home at the end of the night. She truly makes me sick.
I wander into the kitchen, looking for Alex, hoping to spend some much-needed downtime with him. He's standing next to the breakfast bar, talking to Jake. I slide onto a barstool next to him and wait for them to finish their riveting conversation regarding Jose, the landscaper, and his nephew's underdeveloped ability to evenly cut the hedges.
As the conversation wraps up, I look at Jake. "Hey, heads-up for you. You might want to meet with firm security about my latest round of hate mail. Apparently, there are people who dislike the fact that I'm defending Ms. Barber more than I do."
"What type of hate mail?" Jake asks as he glances at Alex.
I pop a green grape in my mouth from the fruit bowl in front of me. "I haven't seen any of them yet, but Jack indicated there are some death threats," I say nonchalantly.
This is not new. Criminal defense attorneys often get hate mail, and it very rarely amounts to anything.
Alex instantly tenses beside me as Jake looks over at him.
"I'll look into it," he says before leaving the room.
Alex turns toward me.
I smile at him, pop another grape in my mouth, and stretch my hand out to him. "Grape?"
"No."
"What shall we do for the rest of the afternoon, Mr. Stone?" I ask, hoping my attempt to seduce him with my eyes is not coming off as creepy.
"How about we start with you explaining why you failed to let me know you're receiving death threats, Kylie?"
Alex's eyes are stormy, and not the I-want-to-take-you-to-bed-and-make-love-to-you-for-hours stormy I was hoping for. No, these eyes are dark and ragey and pissed.
"Jack just told me today. That's what our meeting was about. Why are you upset? It's not anything to worry about."
"Your life is being threatened, and there is nothing to worry about? How the hell can you say that, Kylie?" Alex throws his hands up and storms into the family room, pacing in front of the large TV.
I slide off the barstool and walk over to him, grasping his hands. "Babe, I just mean this is par for the course in murder trials. It's happened nearly every single time I've been involved in one, even when I was only assisting. Granted, the volume of hate mail increased during Tony's trial, and I expect even more now with this piece-of-shit defendant."
Alex tenses again, and the line across his forehead deepens as his neck muscles tighten, ready to snap.
"Nothing ever comes of it, babe. People are outraged and disgusted by the news reports. They form conclusions, get pissed, and vent. Then, it's over. I just wanted Jake to be in the loop in case John tries to slip something in, and the firm security doesn't recognize it." I place my hand on Alex's cheek. "Please don't be angry. If I thought these were substantial threats, I would've told you immediately."
Alex takes my hand from his face, not softening at all. "Any threat against you is substantial, Kylie. Have you forgotten there is already one madman trying to kill you? Now, I have to try to protect you from others? How can you claim this is nothing?"
Alex is yelling now, which pisses me off and throws me into defensive mode.
"You're not listening to me, Alex. I've gone through this before, and nothing ever happens. That is how I can claim it's nothing. All criminal defense attorneys go through this, and we all survive. Want to know how? Because nothing comes of it!" I scream at him.
"You're getting off this case, Kylie. Tell Jack he needs to find someone else to handle it," Alex orders. His voice is low and controlled, but his eyes are dark.
"Are you insane?" I bring my own voice under control. "I will not do anything of the sort. This is my job. This is what I do, and I'm tired of explaining this to you, Alex. You will not dictate my life or my career. So, you had better find a happy place and get the fuck over yourself."
Alex sighs as his shoulders drop. "I'm not trying to dictate your life or your career, baby. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"Bullshit. I'm tired of you trying to justify your actions and your insertion into my career under the guise of protecting me. I don't tell you how to handle your business, so, don't you tell me how to handle mine."
I'm losing control of my emotions, and I need to pull back. I need to remove myself from the situation and clear my head before this escalates and one of us says something we can't take back. I turn and begin to walk away from him. "I'm going for a run."
"No!" Alex's voice booms.
I actually agree with him, as much as it kills me. "Fine. Swim, okay?"
"We need to finish this," Alex says.
"And you need to recognize that I'm trying to avoid an all-out war, Alex. I need space. I need to clear my head, and then we can discuss this." I don't wait for an answer. I walk to the bedroom to change.
My shoulder muscles are on fire as I make another turn and come up for air. I'm not sure how long I've been in the pool, but it's long enough to calm myself down and see things from Alex's viewpoint. He's as desperate to keep me safe as I am him. John is a real threat, but these others are not. I just need to figure out how to get Alex to realize that and put this in the proper perspective.
Reaching the end of the pool, I lift myself onto the deck and decide to sit in the hot tub to relieve the aches I feel everywhere. I slide in the recliner seat and rest my head against the pillow, closing my eyes. The heat of the water, along with the well-placed jets, is hypnotic. I empty my head, concentrating on the bursts of air through the jets as they work on the knots in my lower back and shoulders. I let the darkness behind my eyelids lull me into nothingness—no thoughts of anything, no worries, just simple, easy relaxation.
The water sloshes around me, and I open my eyes as Alex lowers himself into the water and moves to the seat facing me.
"Mind if I join you?" he asks.
His piercing blue eyes send shivers through me.
"Of course not. I was hoping you would wander out here." I sit up and cross the hot tub, needing to be close to him. I straddle his lap, resting on his knees, and stare into his eyes as he smiles at me.
"I hate fighting with you, Kylie."
I lightly run my fingers through his hair. "I do, too, babe."
We sit this way for another moment. Alex pulls me toward him. I grasp his hair tightly as our lips collide, and we start reconnecting through our kiss.
"You know," I say, looking into his eyes once more, "you're very sexy when you're angry. You're all fierce, and the lines in your forehead get really deep. It's kind of hot."
Alex snickers. "Really? You're scary as hell when you're angry."