Free Suspicion of Madness by Barbara Parker

with Sandra McCoy?"
    Douglas blinked, then smiled as if he hadn't heard correctly. "What do you mean? Did I have sex with her?"
    Sex. He could have phrased it some other way, but he had used that word. "Were you? Why else would she agree to spy for you?"
    "Lois. For God's sake. Sandra didn't help me because she liked me. I paid her. She was planning to move to Miami. Anyway, I've been completely celibate since... you know."
    Lois looked toward his desk, where a framed picture of the woman named Jennifer smiled back at her. "Doug, you need to get past this."
    He nodded and let out a breath. "I'm trying to."
    "Don't you think that by having that picture on your desk, you prolong your attachment to her?"
    "My therapist says it helps me face my fears."
    "Your therapist isn't doing shit for you."
    "Lois, I can't talk about it now." Doug dropped his face into his palm.
    "Let me help." She rubbed his shoulder. "Tell me what you want from me. Anything."
    With a gasp he noticed his watch. "Damn! I've got a client coming in. Lois, I'm sorry to do this, but…."
    Lois looked up at him for several seconds, then said, "Someday, Douglas, when you're ready, I'll be here for you."
    "I'm aware of that." He backed across the room. "Thank you, Lois. Call me in a couple of days, let me know what you find out from Aunt Joan."
    "I'll keep in touch." Lois lifted her face, expecting him to kiss her cheek. He did, but she turned her face and he kissed the corner of her mouth before he could pull back. At the end of the hall she turned around and looked at him. Her long black dress hung straight from her shoulders, and the fish printed on it swam around her body in irregular rows. A few strands of hair drifted across her high forehead, and her mouth was a pink line across her face. Doug lifted a hand, then shut the door.
    He wiped his fingers over his mouth as he walked to the window and tilted one of the slats in the blinds. The light blazed on the white gravel parking lot. A few seconds later a dusty Jeep Cherokee appeared, waiting at the edge of the highway. The rear tires spun, and it shot across traffic. It dodged other cars parking at the grocery store and went to the back under a shade tree, circling around so that the windshield faced the law office. The sun glared on the glass.
    The miniblind gave a metallic snap when he let it go.
    The bitch was stalking him.
    He'd first noticed this about a month ago, looking to see if Sandra had arrived yet. Across the highway, headlights in the parking lot had swept across a dark green Jeep and he had seen Lois Greenwald's face at the driver's window, staring out. It hadn't really grabbed his attention until he noticed she was still there an hour later, as Sandra was leaving.
    A year ago, Martin Greenwald had been dropping hints about wanting new lawyers, so Doug had flirted with Martin's sister. A goof, a joke, some innocent flattery. He'd never imagined she would take him seriously. Now she was circling, closing in. He went to his desk, picked up the framed photograph, and shoved it into a drawer. The photo had come with the frame. One of these days, Lois Greenwald was going to take a closer look and figure it out.
    Doug didn't like waiting to file those damned papers, but he didn't have much choice. It would mean a delay, but he could deal with it.
    His father's people, the Lindemans, had been Conchs, original settlers, scavengers of shipwrecks, smugglers of rum. Lindemans had helped put the railroad through in 1912, and Lindemans had died in the storm that had swept it away. Their bones were buried at the foot of the 1935 Hurricane Monument. A few had hung onto the rocks by their fingernails. They had survived. They had stayed and prospered. Doug planned to get the hell out. He invented daydreams about leaving the Keys. Walking away, not looking back. Clients asking his secretary, What about my case? Fuck your case. Fuck everything. Drive to Miami International Airport, leave his car with the keys in