LITMIR.BIZ

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at the best of times, and to have lost to him again was almost more than she could bear. One more month’s rent was all she had in her checking account. Her feet ached, her back was killing her, and all she could think about was a chilled bottle of Sauvignon and— Her cell phone vibrated.

      Please let it be a client. Any paying client.

      The phone was on its fifth ring when she finally picked up. The voice on the end was serious. “Is this Isabella Clements?”

      “Yes, who am I speaking to?” she asked, praying that it wasn’t another pro bono case.

      “New York Police Department. We need you to come down to headquarters. A suspect in our murder investigation has requested you and only you. As quick as possible please ma’am.”

      “Murder?” she asked. But the line had already gone dead. She slowly took her phone away from her ear, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She was exhausted but she had to go, there was no two ways about it. Maybe one of her pro bono drunks had given her name to the potential murderer. Maybe he was some kind of insane, drunken killer who wanted her to work pro bono for him.

      These were the thoughts that were filling her head as she made her way along the street looking for a cab. She grabbed the first one she saw and asked for 1 Police Plaza. The traffic was fierce but they managed the journey in a little over fifteen minutes. All the time she was wondering why she had worked her ass off in law school. For what? This? Living in an apartment which had a bathroom in the kitchen. Attempting to defend clients who claimed they were innocent in the face of CCTV footage of them urinating on a police car singing the national anthem. This is not what she had wanted for herself. She had thought by the time she was thirty she would be living in New York. Check. Have her own firm. Check. Have a luxurious apartment with a view of Central Park. Not even close. Have a loyal and elite clientele. Couldn’t be further from her current reality. Be married and wonderfully happy. She hadn’t been on a proper date in years and the happiest she got was sitting at home in her dingy apartment watching Netflix with her two favorite men, Ben and Jerry. A sad existence. Actually, that was the exact word for it. An existence.

      She snapped out of her temporary self-loathing as they pulled up to the headquarters. It was an intimidating place. One which she frequented, due to her ‘not-so-elite’ clientele. She paid the driver and got out of the cab. Took a deep breath and headed for the doors.

      The moment she stepped inside she was greeted by a fresh-faced young officer.

      “Are you Miss Isabella Clements?” he asked politely.

      “Yes,” she replied with a forced smile. She didn’t like how he emphasized the Miss, but she let it slide.

      “OK ma’am, follow me please.” He turned and headed towards the interrogation rooms. He skipped the first six, but came to a stop at number seven. He kindly opened the door and let her step inside.

      The room was poorly lit. The only furniture inside was two chairs with a table between them. A familiar scene. The man sitting in the seat closest to her got up the moment she entered, blocking any view of her insane, drunken client..He was so big his head nearly touched the ceiling. Around about 6’6, she guessed. With arms like tree trunks and a neck so thick she couldn’t distinguish between what was shoulder and what was neck. He had balding ginger hair which started in the middle of his head and thick, bushy ginger eyebrows. His eyes were beady, deep set and a bizarre gray color. He had a full beard which was a slightly darker shade of orange than his hair and eyebrows. He had a small but pronounced nose and under, pursed, thin lips. He was a strange looking man but unquestionably big. The kind of big that big people class as big.

      He reached out a tennis racquet sized hand and said, “Detective Max Boyd. Nice to meet you.”

      “Isabella Clements, but I guess you knew that. Why am I here, detective?” she asked, a little impatient to get this over with.

      “This man has asked for you. You’re the only one he’ll speak to.”

      “Aren’t I lucky. Where is he?” she asked.

      “Right here.” He moved his giant frame to the left and pointed at a guy on the far side of the table. The guy was smiling the kind of smile she had only seen once before, years ago at college, in England. He stood up and said, “Hey Belle. I’ve got a little problem here.”

       Chapter 4

      He hadn’t aged a day since college. His style had changed somewhat though. He now had flowing brown hair, parted just off-centre, which fell nearly to his shoulders. He had kept that playful glint in his light blue eyes. He had lost the five-o’clock shadow look in favor of a more clean-cut image. Bella remembered that he had played rugby at college, but you wouldn’t know it to look at his face. He was tall, lean and elegant in a masculine way. He had always had class, but the suit he was wearing brought it out in him.

      He was a fine specimen, to say the least. They had been together for two years in college. Two of the best years of her life. For the entirety of the first year she had no idea who he really was: a young billionaire who stood to inherit an empire. She just knew him as Lex Archer. Kind, supportive and wildly entertaining. They’d had a fiercely passionate relationship but it had an expiration date. Knowing that made their time together even more special. The relationship had never truly ended. One day they were in love, the next, they were apart. She was going home to Columbia Law School for the final part of her degree and he was staying in London to take over the London branch of his father’s empire. But here he was in New York. In a police station, for murder. The detective left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

      “Le...Lex,” she stuttered. “Wow. It’s been seven years. Since college, right?”

      “It’s university, Belle. Not college, you know I used to hate when you said that. But yeah something like that.”

      He still called her Belle. A nickname that a few of her friends called her. It had always sounded best coming from his lips. Maybe it was his English accent or maybe it was the intensity he had always said it with. Either way, it still sounded good.

      “When did you get back to New York?”

      “I stayed in London for four years. But the New York branch was struggling so Dad called me back so I could take over operations here. He travels a lot so he needs someone full time here. I was the least nauseating choice for him.” He smiled.

      She didn’t ask the question that was on her mind. Instead she asked, “What kind of trouble are you in, Lex?”

      He ignored the question. “You started your own firm, right? Tell me about it,” he said, as he leant forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands.

      “Yes, but so far I’ve had nothing but drunks who want me to work for free.”

      “Too bad. But on the up side, now you’ve got me!” he said as if being summoned to the NYPD Headquarters to meet with a suspected murderer was an attractive prospect. Even if it was him.

      “Yeah, so about that. What have you gotten yourself into?”

      “Will you relax, I’ll get to that. Let’s catch up first. Where are you living?”

      “A small place in Brooklyn. It’s got a kitchthroom, Lex.”

      His face contorted in disgust. “What the hell is that?”

      “Bathroom in the kitchen. But on the upside, the view is phenomenal.” Lex chuckled politely. Bella carried on. “But it’s not that bad. I have some money saved up, I’ll be OK.”

      Lex shook his head, “Not having that Belle. I’m gonna get you one of the suites in my dad’s building. He’ll be happy to help. I’ll pay for it myself.”

      “Woah, I didn’t mean—”

      “I know you didn’t, but we have history and what kind of a friend would I be if I heard a story with the word kitchthroom in

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