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Uh oh, Raven thought.Trouble’s brewing.
Corbett was still shocked that he was sitting at a dinner table with Naomi Ward. He and the woman had history—not a lot, but enough. The bad kind. She was the last person he’d expected to see tonight at the barbecue.
“That’s a big compliment, Wes,” he said, referring to Naomi’sthank you. “Miss Ward usually goes out of her way to tear apart my opinions, even when they’re based on evidence.”
Naomi didn’t miss a beat. “The fact that you just used ‘opinions’ and ‘evidence’ as interchangeable terms in that sentence speaks to your extreme arrogance, Mr. Lindstrom.”
She then smiled sweetly at Maggie, who was clearing the table. “Here, let me help you.”
As soon as Naomi had picked up a few empty plates and followed Maggie and Raven inside, Ridge flicked a carrot stick at Corbett and said, “What’s up with the two of you?”
“What do you mean?” Corbett asked innocently, though he knew exactly what Ridge was referring to.
“You could take a bath in the venom the two of you have been spewing all evening.”
Flynn’s ponytail bobbed in agreement, while Wes turned around from where he was scraping the grill and said, “Yeah, man, we’re all feeling the tension.”
Jake grinned. “It’s entertaining, at least.”
Hayley remained quiet, sipping her beer.
Corbett laughed. “She and I had an unfortunate first meeting. I was testifying in a case where we had the guy, dead to rights, in possession of enough cocaine to sprinkle across San Antonio and make everyone high. I was even with him when he picked it up with the explicit intentions of his gang distributing it. Miss Ward was this guy’s public defender. I always thought that PDs got assigned to cases reluctantly, but she either firmly believes in her job, or she had some kind of attachment to this one. She’s got a big ol’ bleeding heart. Anyway, after I testified for the prosecution, she went out of her way on cross-examination to shake my testimony. She came at me like a little rattlesnake who’d been poked with a stick. I stuck to my testimony, and her guy was convicted. I think she’s holding a grudge.”
“Oh, please!” Naomi was standing a few feet away with her hands on her hips. Corbett looked at her petite little frame and pretty, long blond hair, and he wondered how someone so pretty could be meaner than a snake when she wanted to be. “Tell them the real story, why don’t you?”
Raven came up behind Ridge and rested her hands on his shoulders. They, along with the rest of the party, had their full attention on Corbett and Naomi. He knew they were keen to get to the root of the animosity the two of them had exhibited all evening, except Flynn. He was just interested in looking at Naomi. Oh, and the blonde who couldn’t take her eyes off of Jake.
Feeling the heat, he laughed again. “Wow, I feel like I’m back on the witness stand. That’s exactly how she addressed me in court.”
“Yes,” she said, “I asked you for the truth. And you sat there on the stand with your hair cut nice and neat like you have it now, and in a neat little three-piece suit, and purposely misrepresented yourself.”
Corbett ignored her allegation. He’d heard it all before. Trying to ease the tension, he quipped, “How else should one show up looking for court? And come on, even a public defender can see the need for an undercover agent to not have his cover blown.” Amusement danced in his eyes.
Vexed, Naomi rolled her eyes and, too annoyed to speak, continued to help Maggie clear the table. Out of character, Flynn was suddenly anxious to help as well. He jumped up from the table and took a few of the heavier dishes out of Naomi’s hands.
By the time they finished with the kitchen, those outside had moved on to another topic. But as Naomi reclaimed her seat at the opposite end of the table, it was clear to Corbett and everyone else she had been stewing over Corbett’s earlier comments.
In lawyer mode once again, she looked at Corbett and said, “Perhaps one should show up looking like he did when he went along with my client, who was allegedly going to buy cocaine that would allegedly be resold to high school students by an alleged gang that he was allegedly a part of.”
“You know, saying ‘alleged’ before each statement doesn’t make him sound less guilty; it just makes you sound ignorant.”
“Corbett!” Maggie snapped. “I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying the banter, but you’re a grown man. There’s no need for name calling.”
“I’m sorry, Maggie.” He was sincere in his apology. The last thing he wanted to do was upset a pregnant woman. Then he looked at Naomi and said, “I’ll keep the alleged name calling to a minimum.”
Naomi glared at him from the other side of the table.
A few minutes went by when no one said anything, until Wes finally said, “Well now, one of you has to tell us the rest of the story.”
Maggie gave him a stern look, but Corbett suspected she wanted to hear it too. There was an eager twinkle behind her eyes. Corbett didn’t mind. He wanted to share.
Corbett looked at Naomi and asked, “May I?”
“Oh yes, please,” she allowed with a pasted-on smile. “It’s getting late, and I’ve always loved a good fairy tale right before bed.”
Flynn laughed out loud at that.
“I’ll start at the beginning,” Corbett said, ignoring her last comment and Flynn’s laughter. “I was working undercover about a year-and-a-half ago. I had infiltrated a gang that we knew was supplying most of the drugs to the high schools in the area. Our ultimate goal, however, was to find out who was supplying the gang.”
