LITMIR.BIZ

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underestimated Deana. She was not about to sit there and be quiet.

      Score one for the younger Armstrong.

      “I’m listening,” he said even though he really wasn’t.

      Deana did not cede the floor to her mother. “The police trust you. You have connections and respect among your peers. Your reputation is solid.”

      Josh wondered when they’d moved to the obvious and false flattery portion of the program. “No thanks to your family.”

      “People will listen to you when you say Ryan is innocent. You can cut through the years of red tape and get the prosecutor to listen.” The way Deana talked over him proved she wasn’t willing to turn over control to him, either.

      Josh appreciated the position the family was in. The precious baby, the next generation, struggled to live up to the polish and propriety of the older generations. The story was not all that original. Ryan got in with the wrong crowd, dabbled in drugs, and believed he was entitled to everything. He traded on his family name and depended on the same people he claimed to hate to get him out of his current predicament.

      Still, the boy killed his parents. Not out of fear. Out of greed. Josh didn’t want any part of putting a kid like that back out in society.

      “What if Ryan isn’t innocent?” Josh asked.

      “Do you really think your insults can deter me?” Mrs. Armstrong’s brittle voice rang through the silent room. “I have lost a husband, a son, a daughter-in-law, and I am inches away from forever losing a grandson to the court system.”

      Deana glanced at her mother but did not go to her. Instead she focused on Josh. “And what if Ryan is innocent? What then?”

      Josh didn’t want to think about that possibility. Didn’t want to be responsible for anyone else. Hell, he couldn’t keep his own life straight. How was he supposed to undo a valid jury verdict and a mountain of evidence against a kid he didn’t particularly like in the first place?

      Deana stood up and walked past her mother to a table behind the couch. Picking up a file about two inches thick, Deana returned to stand in front of Josh. “Here.”

      He knew what it was. Touching it would signal agreement and no way was he going there. “I don’t want it.”

      “You’re newly retired.”

      “Following me again? I thought we talked about that”

      “Reading the newspaper.” She dropped the file on his lap. More like shoved it at him. “This will give you some light reading while you’re trying to figure out what to do with your life.”

      Somehow the chair remained upright under the extra weight. He was sure that feeling would also soon return to his upper thigh from where the rough corner jabbed him.

      “How many ways can I tell you I’m not interested in your offer?” he asked.

      “That’s your copy. Do whatever you want with it.”

      What he wanted was to get the hell out of there. “If that’s all…”

      Deana nodded. “It is.”

      He took one last look at the tumbling waves right outside her back door, wishing he were surfing or anywhere else, and stood up.

      He made a show of leaving the folder on his chair. “No thanks.”

      Deana grabbed his sleeve as he started to walk away. Rather than fight her, he let his body be pulled around to face her, then he exhaled as loud as possible to let her know his frustration. Nothing else seemed to work, so he thought he’d try the new tack.

      She thanked him for that courtesy by sticking the folder in his gut. “Take it.”

      Something in her face, in those sad eyes, got to him. Instead of arguing, he grabbed the file. Fine. He could abandon it in his office at home or shred it later. Right now he just wanted out before he did something dumb.

      Deana followed Josh to the door and shut it behind him. “About time.”

      “What an awful man.” Her mother’s words dripped with distaste.

      Deana walked back into the family room and sat down. Inside, she seethed. “You could have told me you once tried to blackmail and bribe him.”

      “Oh, please. You tried to find evidence with which to ruin his credibility on the stand.” Georgianna fixed the brooch on her short-sleeve sweater. “I hardly see the difference.”

      There was one. Deana was sure of it. The other option, that she was just like her mother in shoving people around to get her way, was not a pleasant one, so Deana pushed it right out of her mind. Her mother was a good woman, but when she was threatened the claws came out. Georgianna Armstrong knew how to use her place in society to her advantage.

      Deana knew she had slipped in the past and shown signs of those traits. She vowed never to again…right after Ryan was freed.

      “And I still don’t see what’s wrong with using resources if you’re lucky enough to have them,” her mother mumbled.

      “Either way, I think we’re finally moving in the right direction,” Deana said.

      Georgianna’s head popped up, but her fingers stayed on the pin. “What on earth are you talking about? He turned us down.”

      “Well, that’s what he said, but you’re missing my point.”

      “Clearly.”

      “He came here today. He didn’t have to do that. He showed up because he’s going to help.” Deana felt that reality straight down to her toes.

      Her mother folded her hands on her lap. “I don’t mean to question your knowledge of the male mind, but—”

      Deana stopped that line of thinking before her mother launched into a lecture on men. “He felt as if he was summoned. His ego rebelled and he got defensive. I put him in a position where I held the power. Under those circumstances he couldn’t just say yes.”

      “Sure he could.”

      “He has to fight me a little more.”

      “I think you are giving this Mr. Windsor a good deal more credit for possessing depth than he actually deserves.”

      Deana refused to believe that was true. “He’s the right man for the job. He’ll realize it soon enough.”

      “I would remind you that he just lost his job over a scandal.”

      “Have you read the paper? Everyone believes he walked out of that hearing and the DEA in protest. Law enforcement all side with Josh. Public opinion is on his side. If anything, his reputation for integrity is even more solid now than it was before the hearing began.”

      “If you say so.”

      “I do.” And Deana vowed to keep saying it until she won Josh over.

      “Frankly, I don’t see anything positive about him.”

      “Coming here instead of calling or just plain ignoring me proves he’s going to help once he adjusts to the idea.” At least that was the theory. Deana just hoped Josh would see it the same way.

      “You act as if we can afford to wait around for this man to come to his senses.”

      They could. That was the unfortunate truth at work here. “Ryan isn’t going anywhere.”

      Her mother’s shoulders slumped. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”

      “But it’s true.”

      Chapter Five

      Despite the rain, it felt good to be back in Kauai the next morning. Sitting at Kane and Annie’s kitchen table watching Annie hover by the sink making coffee while Kane sat there reading the paper washed

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