Mistress of Justice

with me. But since I’m just an associate the firm can’t stop me.”
    “Congratulations, Thom.”
    She started to turn back to her desk. But he stepped forward nervously and touched her arm. “The thing is, Taylor.” He swallowed uneasily. “The thing is, I have to say something.” He looked around, his eyes dark and troubled. “I’ve spent a lot of time …” He swallowed. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about you and checking you out. What you found in my office, my notes about you? I shouldn’t’ve done that, I know. But I just couldn’t get you out of my head.”
    Taylor stood up, glanced at her arm. He removed his hand from it and stepped back. “What’re you saying?” she asked.
    “I’m saying I learned some things about you that’re a problem for me.”
    She looked at him steadily. “Yes?”
    “I’ve learned that you’re the sort of person I don’t think I’ll ever meet again. Who I think I could spend the rest of my life with.” He looked away. “I guess I’m saying that I think I love you.”
    She was too surprised even to laugh.
    He held up a pudgy hand. “I know you think I’m goofy and crude. But I don’t have to be that way. I
can’t
be that way at my new firm. I’m giving up the drugs. That’s what I was meeting with Magaly about the night she was killed—the night you got me out of jail. I wasn’t going to score anything—I was going to tell her I wasn’t going to buy from her anymore. I was doing that for you. Then, that night at the Blue Devil, I was going to ask if you maybe wanted to go outwith me—kind of, I guess, steady.” He shook his head at the old-fashioned word. “I had it all planned out, what I was going to say … but then Magaly got shot and you had to bail me out. The whole night went to hell and I couldn’t even look you in face, let alone tell you how I felt about you.”
    She began to speak but he took a deep breath. “No, no, no, don’t say anything yet. Please, Taylor. Just think about what I said. Will you do that? I’ll have the firm, I’ll have money. I can give you whatever you want. If you want to go to law school, fine. You want to play music, fine. You want to have a dozen babies, fine.”
    “Thom.”
    “Please,” he begged, “don’t say yes and don’t say no. Just think about it.” He took a deep breath and seemed on the verge of tears. “Jesus, I’m the world’s greatest fucking negotiator and here I am breaking all my rules. Look, everything’s in there.” He handed her a large white envelope.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “I did kind of a deal memo.”
    Now, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Deal memo?”
    He grinned. “For us. About how we might work things out. Don’t panic, we don’t get to marriage until phase four.”
    “Phase four.”
    “We’ll take it nice and easy. Please, just read it and let the idea sit for a while.”
    “I’ll read it,” she said.
    Then, unable to resist, he threw his arms around her and hugged her hard. He retreated before she could say anything more.
    Don’t get too interested in her.…
Sebastian’s comment to Bosk. It was a warning from a jealous lover, not a potential killer.
    Taylor lowered her face to her hands and laughed softly. Thinking: I guess it’s safe to say,
What a night
.
    Her desk was a mess; Vera Burdick’s ransacking hadn’t left it in very good shape. When she’d called Burdick about Reece earlier in the evening she’d asked him bluntly why his wife was searching through her things.
    “Vera doesn’t trust anybody,” Burdick had said, laughing. “Samuel Lockwood’s daughter? She thought for sure you were working with Clayton, helping him push the merger through—or, after he died, sabotaging me. You should consider it a compliment.”
    The way a fly should feel complimented that he’s a spider’s first choice for dinner.
    Taylor noticed a blinking red light on her phone. She lifted the receiver and pressed the play button.
    “Hey, counselor.”
    Hello, Dad.
    “Listen, hope you’re feeling better. ’Cause I’ve made some plans for us tomorrow. I get into La Guardia in the morning. How ’bout you come pick me up? I’ve made lunch reservations at the Four Seasons. There’s somebody from Skadden I want you to meet. A senior partner. He said they’re looking for people like my little overachiever. Now, get a pen: My plane gets in at—”
    Click
. Taylor Lockwood hit a button.
    A woman’s electronic voice reported:
“Your