Free Acts of Malice by Perri O'Shaughnessy Page A

it to you. Am I supposed to go into a long lecture about its admissibility? Besides, I think it’s the truth. That girl was scared. The detective who took the statement believed her.’’
    ‘‘You wanted to get my client in here and trick him. And me. You’ve got a lot of nerve.’’
    Collier came around the table, backing her into a corner. His eyes shone with anger. He said, ‘‘I’m not trying to trick you. I gave you the statement so you’d know what you’re defending. You know enough now to see where this is going. It’s early yet. You can still get out of it.’’
    ‘‘Are you saying you threw this statement at me to make me get out of it? Am I hearing right?’’
    He put his arms out against the wall, pinning her in the corner.
    ‘‘Listen to me,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s because I owe you. I’m trying to help. I’m laying it out for you before the arrest so you don’t commit to him blind. If you still want to represent him now, that’s up to you.’’
    ‘‘I don’t want any favors! You make me feel like a two-year-old! Is that how you think of me?’’
    ‘‘Don’t shout. If you’d rather, I’ll leave you to make your own mistakes next time . . .’’
    His face was about six inches away. Nina’s indignation was turning into something else. ‘‘I’m leaving now,’’ she said, suddenly aware of a new feeling between them.
    ‘‘No, you’re not.’’ She wished he wouldn’t lean down like that. He had great eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at them. He stopped talking. Neither of them moved. His coat was gray gabardine, his tie red silk. She had the crazy desire to reach out and stroke it.
    ‘‘Collier, move,’’ she said, eyes downcast. ‘‘Please.’’
    He leaned in and his eyes went blind and he planted his mouth on hers. She had been waiting for it. His lips felt warm, soft, right. She let him kiss her, let him feel how much she wanted it, but didn’t kiss back. Relieved of all responsibility, she just stood there and took it like a woman.
    The kiss lasted quite a while. Her mouth sent messages down her spine that stirred things up and she started trembling. His lips seemed to get hotter and hotter. He kissed her like he was searching for something, looking for her, only her. His hand went around her head and he held it buried in her hair so he could get just the angle he wanted. She was surprised to feel the soft bristles of his beard. This required investigation. Her arms came up to go around his neck—
    ‘‘Collier?’’ Barbara Banning, the impeccable young prosecutor, arms folded, said from the doorway. Collier stepped back, naked alarm in his eyes.
    ‘‘I’ll be seeing you,’’ Nina said with as much dignity as she could muster. She walked past Barbara’s fabulous perfume and curled lip, back into the pit where the secretaries labored, through the door, head held high, but in the hall she stopped, held her hand over her mouth, and said to herself, what the hell was that?

5
    SANDY STOOD IN the just-plowed parking lot of the Starlake Building talking to a silver-haired Native American man in a leather jacket. Sandy often had visits from relatives and other tribe members. There was nothing extraordinary about this. The beat-up Chevy Cavalier with chains on the tires and the orange pennant flying from the antenna wasn’t extraordinary, either.
    What Nina found extraordinary was Sandy’s posture: hands on hips, head thrown back. Though Nina could hardly believe her eyes, they insisted that Sandy was laughing. Also, even though the weather had turned menacing, Sandy was not wearing her usual shield, the heavy square purple coat she hung on the office hat rack with scrupulous care each day.
    A few snowflakes swirled down in icy wind at the start of a snowstorm that would last into the night. The Bronco bucked over the frozen snow of the driveway and Nina pulled into her spot on the far end.
    ‘‘Call me,’’ Jim said, jumping out. He got