“I have no idea, but if you stumble across that whilst you’re looking let me know.”
“Okay. I think I know where to start. I’ll get Mr. West to contact Baron; they go way back, maybe he can get the court date moved. You need to be at the magistrates’. You’re the one who knows this case; it’s not going to bode well for Mr. Wilde if you’re not here.”
“Agreed.” I knew Paula would have the first email sent before we even got off the phone. She was efficient, and that’s why I loved working with her. “Oh, one more thing, just a hunch I have, but check the assailant’s history of love interests. Is he on any dating sites? Any social media evidence of wrongdoing? Has he ever cheated on his wife?” I asked.
It was a long shot, but there was something niggling away at me that I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Why?” Paulaquestioned.
“Just a hunch.”
“Oh, one of those gut feelings that appear to be 100 percent true. I hate it when you do that. It’s like some weird superpower.” I could practically hear her eyes rolling backin her head.
“Well, I can’t fly or lift cars with one hand, so give me this one.”
“Okay, I’ll get back to work. Callyou later!”
The road ahead curved off to the right. As we rounded the corner, I turned my attention back to Brooke. I could see her smirking out of the corner of my eye.
“Sorryabout that.”
“No problem. How many times has she called you on this holiday?”
“Just two times so far.”
“Let me guess, you told her to, ‘call you if she neededanything’.”
“No... not at all.” I looked out the window to hide my smile.
“You’re work obsessed. Sounds like an interesting case though. Imiss that.”
“The cases?”
“Yeah, the fact that no day is the same. I liked solving problems. Searching through the evidence was my favourite part.” There was a brief pause. She opened her mouth to speak but decidedagainst it.
“What were you going to say?”
“I also miss watching you in action.” Her body froze. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. I could feel the tension radiating from her stiff posture.
She was uncomfortable.
It felt like we were both carefully selecting our words because the slightest hiccup would do us both harm. After a few seconds of silence she justifiedher comment.
“Hearing you talk reminded me of all the times I watched you present evidence, or advise clients, or just debate with Mr. West on the best approach to a case. I found it all fascinating. I found you fascinating.”
She didn’t take her eyes off the road. She found me fascinating—The words echoed in my mind. As we approached the sign for Nikko, her body loosened. For months I had longed to hear her voice and witness her beauty in the flesh and not just through the photos on my phone I couldn’t bring myself to delete.
She foundmefascinating.
Such a simple sentence evoked deep emotion.
*
“The national park?” I observed the sign as I climbed out of the car. “This looks pretty.”
“I figured you don’t get to experience a lot of this in London, so why not experience the glorious Japanese countryside.”
Brooke spun around with her arms outstretched and her head raised towards the sky. The smile on her face was enough to brighten my day; I couldgo home now.
