Free The Copy by Grant Boshoff

was all she really knew. How naive of him to think otherwise.
    "Oh, Geoffrey," she said. Her face held a look of pity, or was it grief? Her eyes moistened and she reached across the table and took his hand. "Do you think any of this - these things - do you think they mean anything to me? I have you again, and we have Lilian and Patch, and that's all we need. My life is full. It's fuller than anyone deserves."
    He looked up at her, uncertain. "Do you really mean that? What if we lost it al-"
    "Geoffrey, do you remember our vows? Well, I meant them. I love you, Geoffrey Bartell. For richer or for poorer. And our family is all I need to be happy."
    Jeff released the breath he'd been holding. "God, I love you," he said around the lump in his throat.
    Camilla refilled their wine glasses and raised hers in the air. "Screw the houses!" she said.
    Jeff lifted his glass and tapped it against hers. "Screw the cars!"
    They both took a long sip, then lifted their glasses again.
    "Screw the fancy restaurants!" she said.
    "Screw the vacation homes!" he replied.
    "Screw the money!"
    "Screw the business!"
    "Burn it to the ground!" she said, waving her glass high in the air before tipping it up and downing the remainder in one swallow. She set the glass down and leaned across the table to him. The candlelight reflected a sheen on her neck which trailed down to her exposed cleavage. She looked hard at him, a fire blazing behind her eyes, and whispered, "Now take me home and make love to me."
     
    They made love in a wine-induced frenzy. When their passions were at last spent, Jeff lay on his back staring at, but not seeing, the ceiling fan. Camilla showered quickly and returned to bed. She flopped down next to him and threw an arm across his chest. Jeff angled toward her and propped himself on an elbow. He brushed a lock of hair from her face and traced the line of her jaw with his finger.
    "I love you," she said softly, her breathing deepening.
    "Camilla?"
    "Mmm?"
    "Will you promise me one thing?"
    "Of course, baby," she said as sleep was taking her.
    "Promise me that you'll never forget me, the way I am now."
    Her eyelids fluttered open for a second. "Whadyoumean?"
    "Just promise me that, no matter what happens, no matter how things end up, that you'll remember me - remember us - the way we are now."
    "Prom'se," she said and tightened her arm around him.
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
     
     
    DISTRICT ATTORNEY ALTON MCBRIDE stood down the hall from the courtroom doors, his cell phone pressed to his ear. The grim pallor of the gray-green walls mirrored his mood.
    "How's it going over there, Boss?" asked his assistant, Anna Langley. Her voice warbled as it came over the line and Alton turned and walked a few steps further down the hall. He looked briefly at the phone to assess the signal strength.
    "It okay, Anna," he said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. "I need you to do something, top priority."
    "Name it, Boss."
    "Can you get a hold of Judge Minkhaus? In a hurry?"
    "The old codger's probably holed up in his fishing lodge but, yeah, I can track him down."
    The retired appellate court judge had served on the bench for four decades before slipping into reclusion, but Alton knew the man stayed connected digitally even at his lakeside hideaway. Holding sway over the lives of men was an addiction not easily broken.
    "Good. Tell him I need a legal opinion urgently. Something without precedent. Ask him to standby this afternoon. Jim will get you the details in the next couple hours."
    As if on cue, the deputy DA, James Bianchi, exited the courtroom and, with a quick look up and down the hallway, drew a bead on Alton and came stalking towards him. The man's stocky build gave the impression of a bull, his shoulders involved in each stride and straining against an ill-fitting coat.
    "You believe this guy?" Jim said as he rolled to a stop in front of Alton just as he was ending the call.
    Alton shook his head. "I see where