it’s now your file. I’m off to go try to explain this to the media sharks circling our office.”
Sally glanced at Ben, who gave her a small wink and a nod. And this became, officially, the worst Day of her life.
* * *
Sally may have been spoiled, bratty and rude, but she had her back against a wall. What kind of man would he be if he let her squirm, pinned under the threat of her superior’s review? Win-win, Ben thought with some self-congratulation. He’d relieved his boss of additional work, and he now held the upper hand over Sally.
Not that he’d use it. He was a gentleman, after all, and gentlemen didn’t humiliate women. Having a little power over her might convince her to talk to him again, that’s all. If she did, she might learn that he wasn’t as vile as she thought he was. Not anymore.
He didn’t want to admit that her cutting glares that morning had bothered him. In the past, he’d made some choices he wasn’t proud of. The womanizing. The drinking. He was finished with both. Maybe, if she agreed to speak with him again, she’d stop looking at him as if he’d stepped in something foul. Not that he cared what Sally Dawson thought of him. He didn’t need the approval of a haughty trust-fund baby to sleep well at night. She’d always struck him as a little kooky, anyway. She did her own thing, traveled through life slightly off-kilter. He didn’t care if she thought he was a decent person at the end of the day. She didn’t matter at all. But he could repair the past by fixing his relationship with Sally. He hadn’t always been decent to her.
He flung a self-satisfied smile at her. In response, she leveled a withering glare that would have peeled paint off a wall. Had he expected his charms to work that quickly? Sally sat back in her desk chair stiffly, her piercing glare informing him that he should drop dead.
“You probably think I should thank you.” Her voice was a barely audible hiss. She rose, rounded her desk and stepped forward, closing in on him like a great cat evaluating its chosen prey. “I’m not going to.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to thank me,” he replied calmly. “You probably want my head. But I heard Jack laying into you, and I think it’s in your best interest that your superior not review that file.”
“Oh?” Her eyes narrowed to menacing slits. “And why is that?”
He focused on those light brown eyes. He’d forgotten that they contained tones of gold—the exact shade of whiskey filtering late afternoon sunlight. Beautiful eyes.
He tore himself from their glare to close her office door behind him. “Look, Sally. A mistake was made. It’s the only rational explanation, and whether it was made by you, the police or the crime lab, it happened. You brought a murder case for a victim who wasn’t dead. That’s a problem.”
“It’s not that simple—”
“No one said it was simple. But if I find the mistake first, I’ll come to you. Maybe you can spin it and save your job, or at least your position in this office.” He pulled up straighter and added, “I’m doing you a favor.”
“A favor?” She gave an unlady-like snort and walked away from him, heading back to her desk. She didn’t sit. Instead she leaned against it, her gray dress hugging her curves, and looking elegant and furious, preparing herself to give him a piece of her mind. “I’m not done with this case yet.”
Ben stepped forward then. “I beg to differ. According to Jack, you’re quite done.”
“I didn’t make a mistake. I know how risky it is to bring a murder to trial without a body. I was careful, and the evidence was good.”
The neckline of her dress was plunging to dangerous depths. Ben brought his focus back to her angry brown eyes. “I don’t care how good you think the evidence was. I’ve been instructed to review this file, and that means it’s mine.”
She tilted her head to the side and rolled her eyes. “You sound so military right now.”
Before he could decide what she meant by that comment, she pushed herself off her desk and approached him once more. He was very aware of her lean, bare legs and the way her body teetered just slightly on those heels. Those shoes were ridiculous—amazing that she could even stand, let alone walk in them. Her legs, on the other hand, looked strong and smooth. She probably ran five miles a day. He fought the urge to reach out and touch them.
“Ben.” Her voice had assumed a smooth, glassy tone, and her eyes were wide. “I’m going to level with you. I love my job, and I’m trying hard to save it.”
The note of desperation in her voice tugged at him. Damn. She hated him, but he didn’t hate her. He didn’t want her to lose her job, and he certainly didn’t want to be perceived as being responsible for something like that. “I’m just reviewing the file, not making any recommendations. I would never recommend that you lose your job.” There, that should settle it.
But she continued to watch him, unblinking. He released a sigh. “You may as well come out and tell me what you want me to do. I’ve never known you to hold back.”
She raised her chin. “I want to conduct the follow-up investigation with you. I need to know what went wrong, and if I can, I need to fix it. I need to save my job.”
“You want to doctor the file? Cover your tracks?” He shook his head. “I can’t agree to that. No way.”
“No, that’s not what I meant at all. Jack is locking me out of this case, shutting the whole thing down. But, Ben, the forensic evidence is strong. Mitch Kruger killed someone, I know it. I need a second bite at the apple. I need a chance to prove my case.”
“I think you’re going to have a hard time convincing anyone here to bring Mitch Kruger to trial again.”
She chewed her bottom lip while she considered this. “You’re probably right. My credibility is shot.” Her long lashes fluttered as she turned her gaze to him. “But yours isn’t.”
“Now wait—”
“I can help you review this file. I know everything about it, and you can provide the second set of eyes that Jack feels is needed. If I can convince you that Mitch Kruger committed murder, you can convince Jack that my judgment wasn’t off. Not entirely.”
“And you can keep your job.” Ben crossed his arms. “But Jack won’t like this. He wants an independent review.”
“Fine, make it an independent review. Just let me tag along, treat me as a partner. A consultant. Tell Jack that it’s too complicated and you think my input would be valuable.” He caught the sweet scent of her hair as she leaned forward. “He’ll listen to you. Besides, it wouldn’t be strange for two colleagues to consult with each other. Not if we’re already partners.”
“Sally, I realize you don’t want to lose control of the file—”
“You want to cut a deal?” She squared her shoulders. “Fine. Name your price.”
“A deal?” He started. “What kind of deal are we making here?”
“You let me in on your review process and convince Jack to make me your partner. Give me a chance to save my job and make my case. I’ll give you something in return. So what do you want? I’ll do your dry cleaning, buy you
