what came naturally to Diana Mason, Attorney at Law.
Jack took a quick look around her small office as they stepped inside. Well-used law books lined the shelves that covered every available inch of wall space. Dozens of pieces of scrap paper stuck out of them marking passages. Several rather high but neat stacks of paper covered the beige metal desk.
Her functional office confirmed what Jack had already surmised. She was about substance, not show. The only personal touch was the half-dozen pots of geraniums, full of pink blossoms, that adorned the south-facing window-sill.
He sat in the offered guest chair as she slipped onto the chair behind the desk. Scooting forward to the desk’s edge, she rested her elbows on the small space of available surface and regarded him silently.
He smiled.
The expression on her face changed slightly, but not in a way he anticipated. He wasn’t used to this kind of reaction to one of his smiles. The lady was something less than overjoyed to see him.
Ah, a challenge. Jack loved challenges.
“Frowns like the one you’re wearing can leave permanent marks on a guy’s delicate ego,” he said projecting the faint hint of pain designed to amuse and maybe even elicit a defensive apology.
“I was counting on working with your brother, Richard,” she said with such absolute candor and no hint of defensiveness that he almost laughed.
“Not to worry,” Jack said. “I come with a sixty-day warranty and a money-back guarantee.”
Her frown did not abate. “Your brother cleared up a very sticky case for me that another investigator had badly bungled. He came through on two other difficult cases as well. I trust Richard.”
“Really?” Jack said, feigning surprise. “When we were kids, he used to put his spinach on my plate and tell Mom he’d eaten it.”
“This case demands the best,” she said pointedly.
He was disappointed that all his efforts to lighten her up weren’t working. A good sense of humor in a woman always added to her sex appeal. Still, he could be serious with her if absolutely necessary.
“Fortunately for you, the best is here,” he said, straight-faced.
An eyebrow raised on her forehead. “Are you always this modest?”
“Modesty is a false cloak when it covers competence, wouldn’t you agree?”
“If it covers competence,” she said, brutally.
He leaned forward, the better to emphasize his sincerity. “I understand that relying on a known quantity is always more comfortable. But Richard will not be available for a month. I was given to understand that you need help immediately. At least that’s what my father said when he persuaded me to take this assignment.”
Actually, he’d talked his dad into giving him this case, but he saw no reason to reveal that part. He’d been warned that Diana would be expecting Richard. Jack had told his dad not to worry. Charming women into accepting him had never been a problem.
But considering the continuing displeasure on this woman’s face, he was beginning to wonder if he’d spoken too soon.
“Your brother, David, found a missing witness for me once. I was also quite pleased with his work. Is he available?”
Jack almost laughed. Next she’d be asking for his father or mother to take her case. What did this woman have against him?
“I’m the only one who is both available and right for this job,” he said.
“How long have you worked at your family’s private investigation firm?”
He pitied anyone who got drilled by this lawyer while in a courtroom. Thankful he wasn’t sitting in the witness box, he avoided answering her sticky question by asking one in return.
“Do you think that my father would risk our firm’s forty-year reputation for excellence by sending you someone who couldn’t handle the job?”
Jack was well aware Diana had hired White Knight Investigations half a dozen times during the past two years. She’d come back because she’d been satisfied. Yes, she trusted Richard and David. But Jack also felt certain that she trusted their firm.
“You used to be an actor,” she said. Her tone was almost an accusation.
Ah, so that was the problem. She’d seen him on TV and was mixing up the character he’d played with the man he was. A common failing. Still, he would have thought someone with her obvious smarts would have hesitated before making such an assumption.
“I used to be a very good actor,” he corrected. “I’m very good at whatever I put my mind to, Diana. I have a strong sense that you are as well.”
He knew no one was immune to a compliment, as long as it was delivered with sincerity. Knowing when to mix a compliment with a first name had become second nature to him. The timing on these two had been right. Now he waited to see how well the combination had worked.
And waited.
She finally extracted a form from her middle desk drawer and slid it toward him. “This is our standard contract and confidentiality statement. Please initial beneath each clause, sign your full name at the bottom and we’ll get started.”
Jack told himself he hadn’t really doubted the outcome of this conversation. Nonetheless, he was relieved to hear her confirming words.
Scanning the contents of the two-part form she’d handed him, he noted that the confidentiality statement demanded absolute secrecy from him. It also warned that if he were to repeat anything about this case to an unauthorized party, he would be subjected to all the legal racks and thumbscrews at Diana Mason’s disposal. He had not a doubt that she’d be happy to apply them, too.
Jack took a pen out of his shirt pocket, initialed where she’d indicated, signed his name and passed the document back to her.
“I understand your client is charged with murder,” he said.
“First degree,” she said slipping the confidentiality statement into the fairly thin folder in front of her. “This is a court assigned defense.”
She pulled a stack of blank forms from her desk. “I’ll need your time and expenses recorded daily and turned in weekly on these.”
Damn, he hated paperwork. Dutifully taking the stack of forms she handed him, he decided to let Harry, the clerk at the firm, do this part for him.
“Does court assigned mean that you’re acting like a public defender?” he asked.
A new frown appeared on her forehead. “Don’t tell me this is your first criminal defense case?”
“If you don’t want me to tell you that then I definitely won’t,” he said and sent her one of his most engaging smiles.
She shook her head, clearly not engaged. “When there are more cases than there are public defenders to handle them, a judge drafts the services of lawyers from legal
