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The Defender Chapter 1 | page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | excerpts
(continued...) After leaving a message on his brother Nik’s cell, Theo dialed Kit and left the same one. Then he powered his cell phone off for the weekend, strolled onto the porch of the cabin, and took his first look at the sea. The tide was coming in, but the water in the little inlet was relatively calm. The position of the sun in the sky told him that there was about a half an hour left before sunset, and a glance at his watch confirmed it. 7:15. Still plenty of time to sit and relax and enjoy the view. Theo glanced down at his now turned off cell. It didn’t surprise him that his brothers hadn’t picked up when he’d called them. They would have known the minute they checked the caller ID what he was calling about. He’d made it to his grandfather’s fishing cabin first, so it was his brotherly duty to gloat. From the time they’d been kids, they’d always raced from their father’s car to see who got to the cabin first. The winner always got the first pick of the lures and poles. Well, he’d won the race this weekend, but it hadn’t been for the choice of fishing equipment that he’d left his office early. He’d set out to intentionally beat the holiday traffic because he’d wanted some time alone here before anyone joined him. There was something about being here near the sea that helped him to sort things out. Perhaps it would even settle the restlessness that had been plaguing him lately. No, it was more than restlessness. For the first time in his life he was doubting himself. In the courtroom he was hanging back, second guessing his instincts. A joyful bark had him shifting his gaze away from the water. Bob, a neighbor’s large, mixed breed dog, was bounding happily toward the cabin. No one was quite sure what Bob’s actual lineage was, but Theo had always suspected that there’d been a St. Bernard among his ancestors. He walked to the door, opened it, and Bob shot into the cabin. Theo heard his toenails clicking on the floors as he raced from room to room. A moment later, Bob returned to the porch and Theo could have sworn that his expression held reproach. “Ari is coming with Kit,” he said. “He’ll be here in another couple of hours.” Over the years, Bob and Kit’s dog Ari had become fast friends. Reminding himself that he wanted to have time alone before that joyful canine reunion, Theo strolled into the kitchen. He stored the whole grain bread he’d brought in the pantry and put the selection of cheeses into the refrigerator. When he turned, Bob stepped into his path, sat down, and thumped his tail on the floor. “Kit’s bringing the stuff you like,” Theo said as he reached back into the refrigerator for some cheese and broke off a chunk. His youngest brother always provided the more basic essentials – eggs, bacon, rolls, and enough deli meat for an army. Nik whose cupboard in his apartment was always bare would bring what he considered essential – beer and junk food. While Bob made short work of the hunk of cheddar cheese, Theo unpacked the wine he’d brought. There were two dry Italian whites from different regions, a German white, and a French chardonnay. All would go well with the fish they would catch this weekend. Kit was the real fisherman of the family. Even as a kid he’d had their father’s patience and the skill. Nik and he would throw in their lines, of course, but Nik would spend the majority of the weekend on his boat, testing his skills against wind and waves. Theo would take the boat out too, but what he enjoyed most about the cabin was simply being near the water and being with his family. Bob padded after him into the bedroom and sat ever hopeful as Theo stripped out of his city clothes and hung them neatly on hangars. Noticing the way that Bob was eyeing his Italian loafers, he rescued them and placed them on the top shelf of the closet. After pulling on the well worn jeans and T-shirt that he always kept at the cabin, he strolled barefoot back to the refrigerator, selected one of the Italian whites, uncorked it and poured a glass. Then he carried it to the porch. Theo sank into a chair, put his feet up on the railing, and crossed his ankles. As he sipped his wine, he reached absently down and ran a hand over Bob’s head. A gull cried out as it swooped close to the water, then soared into the sky. Far out on the water an outboard motor thrummed as a boat moved slowly past the dock. The driver already had his running lights on in anticipation of the sun set. At his side, Bob sighed. Theo could second the sigh. He had a decision to make this weekend. The fact that he wasn’t looking forward to it didn’t mean that he could avoid it any longer. Taking another slow sip of wine, he gazed out at the water. He wasn’t usually indecisive. His Aunt Cass believed that psychic powers ran in the family and she’d told him once that his own gift was particularly strong. He didn’t see visions the way she did, but from the time he’d been a child, there’d always been occasions when he just “knew” things. Most of his success in the courtroom had been due to the fact that he always had lucky hunches about which strategies to implement. And when it came to making choices, he was usually pretty sure which one to make. But that had all changed since Sandra Linton. It was the damn most eligible bachelor list that had started it all. After that splash of publicity, Sandra had been among the women who’d started attending his trials. His brothers had called them his “groupies.” Then he’d made the mistake of agreeing to have coffee with her. Why hadn’t he sensed that simple choice would almost lead to tragedy? For that matter, why hadn’t he sensed that she was disturbed? For two months the woman had followed him everywhere. Reasoning with her hadn’t helped. Neither had a restraining order. He’d finally rented a small apartment in town to keep her away from his family and he’d taken to sneaking out the delivery entrance of his office building. He’d even changed his parking lot. But she’d finally tracked him down at his father’s restaurant. Panic slithered up his spine even now when he thought of it. They’d been in the small lobby of The Poseidon when she’d pulled the gun. His sister Philly had been only a few feet away, and there’d been customers seated on banquettes waiting for tables. He hadn’t needed psychic powers to know what she’d intended to do. The violence, the fury, and the despair had been there in her eyes. If he hadn’t been able to convince her to leave... Taking a sip of his wine, Theo shoved the fear of the might-have-beens out of his mind and focused on the now. Watching the rippling surface of the sea, he repeated the little lecture he’d been giving himself for the last two months. It was high time he put Sandra Linton out of his mind. It was more than time for him to get his balance back. Perhaps taking the job with Jason Sangerfeld would help him do that. The high powered defense attorney had called him a month ago and offered him a job – a dream job, one that any defense attorney would jump at. If Theo accepted, he would be working second chair with Jason on high profile cases. The experience would be incredible, the money...well, it would be a lot more than he was making now. The catch was that he’d have to give up his own practice and move to Los Angeles. Theo knew exactly what his Aunt Cass would say – that the Fates were offering him a choice...and his decision would make all the difference in his life. The truth was he’d feel a lot safer about making it, if he just had some inkling that it was the right one. But his lucky hunches were leaving him high and dry on this one. He wasn’t sure any more what was the right thing for him to do. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was due to the fact that he was doubting his instincts. (continued...) |
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