“That’s an interesting viewpoint. No ex-employee or ex-lover?”
“No,” Clark replied, followed quickly by a no from the judge.
“If an employee has a problem, they can come to me. I’m tough, but I’m not without a heart.”
“In your opinion, Your Honor,” Zach pushed, testing her temper.
Kim didn’t take the bait. “It could be a stranger. I just wonder why?”
“It’s not a stranger,” Zach said quietly. “But we’ll find out who it is and end it. That’s what Hood does.”
“I like that,” Clark said.
“If I had to ask you for five names of suspects, who would they be?” Zach had directed the question to Clark, but Kim tried to intercept it, seeming to hate not being in control.
“That’s not fair,” Kim cut in.
“Judge, with all due respect, I’m trying to catch someone who is assaulting you. Nothing is impossible. Let him answer.”
“Trevor is the second assistant, and I think he’s rather sketchy. Lieutenant Franklin. Howard Daniels is a sheriff. The Baxters.” His eyes widened as he talked. “And Merrill O’Dell was the judge’s first conviction ten years ago, but he won an appeal recently. He skipped probation and hasn’t been seen since.”
Pleased, Zach wrote down everything Clark said, while Kim managed to look surprised and slightly annoyed.
“I believe Trevor is harmless,” she countered.
“Then where is he?” The sarcastic twist to Clark’s mouth wasn’t lost on Zach. “He’s gone longer than anyone on break, he leaves early all the time, and I’ve put him on two action plans for shoddy work. The man is a terrible assistant. He needs to be fired, yet you won’t do it.” He eyed the judge. “In my humble opinion,” he added, then rolled his eyes.
“He’s not that bad of an assistant, and he’s entitled to be absent once in a while. We all work hard and sometimes people have private lives that require some leeway. I don’t believe Trevor is a threat, but you’re going to do your own investigation.”
Zach nodded. “That’s right.”
Clark hugged the judge, then stood, holding his healing arm as he walked to the office door. “I’m going on three weeks of vacation far away from here, and when I get back I expect things to be different.” He smiled and leaned toward Zach. “Puh-lease. I don’t want to die.”
Zach chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not going to die, and not a hair will be harmed on the judge’s head, either. You remind me of Daniel, my administrative assistant. Nothing but drama.”
Clark’s eyes brightened. “Daniel? Well, I’d better cut your office a check. I’ll drop it off to Daniel on my way out of town.”
Zach looked at the judge, who seemed totally relaxed. Her legs were crossed and she was resting her face on her finger and thumb. “We haven’t decided to do business yet,” Zach told him, his gaze shifting back to the judge.
Clark held the doorknob. “Judge?” he asked softly.
She looked at the Hood Inc. logo that spun in a circle on Zach’s computer. “Notify me when I am able to sign the contract, then cut a check for twenty thousand dollars to Hood Investigations. Also, prepare a dossier on all the marshals who’ve worked the security detail for the past twelve months.”
“I’m going to need one on the staff, including you, Clark.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zach focused on the judge.
“Thank you and enjoy your holiday,” the judge told Clark.
“Mr. Hood, everything is already compiled. I’ll have it in a few minutes, then I’m leaving, okay, Judge?”
The judge waved and the door closed softly. She exhaled a deep breath. “I’m going to miss him.”
“You’ll be down an assistant for a few weeks. Can you manage?”
She looked confident. “I haven’t forgotten how to type. It’s not that we as judges can’t do those forms, we just have so much other work to do. If I get swamped, I can get Trevor to step up.”
“So you do have confidence in him.” Zach appreciated that she seemed to be taking everything in stride, but he wondered how many sleepless nights she’d had wondering when her predator would strike again.
“I do, but I understand Clark’s trepidations. Trevor came in and tried to take his job. There’s been some bad blood between the two of them.”
“What’s Trevor’s last name?”
“Mason.”
He studied her. “Otherwise, how are you holding up?”
There was a silence that he realized was her way of choosing her words. “I’m relieved to know this is under way. But I don’t think it’s a staff member.” She looked unsure again.
“If you had to guess, who do you think it is?”
Her hand caressed from her thigh to her knee. “One of my security detail.”
“Why?”
“They know my schedule. Professional and personal.”
“Have you ever been romantically involved with anyone on the staff or in the court system? Anyone on your detail?”
She was shaking her head before he finished the question. “Never.”
Her quick answer made him think she was lying or that she at least had something to hide. She was gorgeous and she had to know it. The judge was the kind of fine that gave drunk men hope that they could approach her and come up a winner. Regardless of her position or theirs, he knew she had broken a few hearts in the hallowed halls of Georgia Justice.
“How long have you been in the justice system, Judge?”
She seemed eager to debunk his questions about any preconceived notion he might have about her private life. “I’ve been here long enough to know every step I take is being watched by my subordinates, peers and the powers that be. I’m always professional. Period, the end. It’s saved me a lot of grief and heartache that other colleagues haven’t been so fortunate to avoid. I’ve sacrificed,” she said, and the word echoed through his body. “But I made a choice to do that. There is no one, Mr. Hood.”
She was too beautiful to be alone, but there were a lot of women in Atlanta like her. He suddenly felt very protective of her. Zach checked himself, putting distance between them. He busied himself by stowing his computer in his bag. “Okay. It is possible that you could have a jealous relative?”
She shook her head. “There’s no one left but me.”
He swung back to not believing her. How was it that he and his brothers were always meeting and falling in love with women who had no one in the world?
The saliva dried in his mouth and he saw the judge’s eyes narrow. “What are you thinking? You’re squinting at me,” she said directly. Her gaze didn’t waver as she read him as quickly as he’d read her. No woman had ever done that to him before.
Zach sidestepped the quick observation. “We may have to temporarily suspend your extracurricular activities until we neutralize whoever is after you.”
“I can sacrifice dancing, but not the other two. No.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I can’t bend on those. Judges live by a code of conduct that restricts our behavior. This code basically controls our lives. I’ve given up a lot of things,” she said, scooting forward on the couch until she could stand. “I’m not causing harm to