Free Sasha McCandless 03 - Irretrievably Broken by Melissa F. Miller Page A

Hemisphere Air disaster, he should have packed up and returned to D.C. Instead, he’d stayed because of Sasha. And, up until the powers that be had decided he was no longer wanted in the department, they’d been happy to let him stay indefinitely. But, they could have called him back at any time, and Sasha had understood that.
    Naya proved to be less understanding.
    “Sure, right, Homeland Security could have told you to haul your butt back to D.C., but they didn’t, did they? You went out and got yourself a better gig with no regard for Sasha or her feelings,” she said, her voice thick with anger.
    “It’s not like that,” he protested.
    “Then what’s it like?” she shot back.
    Leo clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. It wouldn’t matter what he said; Naya was on the attack now, like a mother bear.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER 14
     
    Sasha stared into the white foamy water pulsing up from the Point State Park Fountain and shivered. The early October wind whipped through the water, sending a spray in her direction. Some time in the next few weeks, the Department of Public Works would shut off the fountain’s pumps for the winter and the eight hundred thousand gallons that fed into the fountain from the underground river that ran under the Point would flow wherever it was they flowed.
    She scanned the park. It was nearly deserted, except for her and a lone older man walking a white cockapoo on the far side of the park. Both owner and dog had their heads bowed, leaning into the wind. The dog yipped and yapped at the leaves that skittered by him.
    She looked back to the fountain. Leo was going to leave. How could he not? A position as the chief security officer of a large pharmaceutical company was a great career opportunity.
    Her chest tightened and her eyes stung.
    Don’t cry.
    Growing up with three older brothers had taught Sasha innumerable survival skills. She could pitch a tent in a driving rainstorm, dress a good-sized wound without growing faint, and change her car’s oil. But the skill she valued most was her ability to shut down her tears before they started flowing. It was just a matter of discipline.
    Think about something else.
    Like why the firm was so eager for her to represent Greg Lang. The partners couldn’t actually believe Ellen had been slaughtered and Greg framed just so Prescott & Talbott would be dinged on work-life balance surveys. It was too crazy.
    But, they were worried, deeply worried, about something. That much was clear from the cloud of fear that had hung over the conference room. As far as she could tell, Will didn’t seem to know their real motivation, and the others would never tell her.
    In the end, it didn’t matter. She’d been retained to represent Greg, regardless of why Prescott & Talbott wanted her. They’d gotten her. So, now what?
    Did she have an innocent client? Did it even matter? She didn’t know. What she did know was someone had taken pictures of Greg Lang at the poker table and sent them to his wife. Might as well start by finding out who and why.
     
     
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
     
    Walking back to Prescott & Talbott’s garage to retrieve her car, Sasha pulled up Naya’s telephone number on her Blackberry.
    Naya answered on the third ring.
    “Where the hell are you, Mac?”
    “I took a walk after my meeting on the Death Star. Why, is something wrong?”
    Naya ignored her question and said, “Leo stopped by.”
    “Oh.”
    “Oh? Oh? Your boyfriend’s thinking about moving. Doesn’t that seem like the sort of thing you’d mention?” Naya’s voice oozed irritation.
    “We can talk about it later, okay? Did he mention what he wanted?”
    “No. He was surprised to hear you were at P & T to meet with the partners about whether you were going to represent a killer,” Naya said, still seething.
    “Alleged killer,” Sasha muttered, as she climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, where she’d left her car. Her heels clattered on the stairs but did nothing to drown