Page 14 of See You Again

“I never copied—” Cami’s low throaty laugh cut him off, the sound hitting him deep in his gut.

“I’m just teasing.” She gave him a tiny smile. “Sort of.”

James wanted to be annoyed, irritated by her laughing at him, but instead he found himself staring at her mouth.

“What was it about Alicia’s case that interested you? It was a really sad story. Murdered by her high school sweetheart because he didn’t want his family to view him as a failure because he’d gotten divorced. Tragic.”

“Not as rare as you’d think. I saw too many families destroyed by someone they loved when I was a prosecutor.”

Cami rewarded Annie with a bright smile when she reached across and refilled Cami’s glass. “In Miami?”

He lifted his brows, and her cheeks tinged pink. “It’s not like I was stalking you. It was online.”

That sobered him. A reminder of why he’d cut her out of his life over a decade ago.

Don’t let her smiles fool you. You know who she is… was.

College was a lifetime ago, he argued with himself, lifting the glass.

Was he looking for an excuse to forgive her?

“Are you okay?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m great.”

“It’s only… You drank that last one in a shot, and I think you’re about to crush the crystal.”

James relaxed his grip. What was wrong with him? He didn’t have time to let his mind run down memory lane. He owed it to his family to get the information they needed.

An unpleasant thought occurred to James. When Luke suggested approaching the podcast, had he known it was Cami’s?

In college, Luke had never believed James when he had insisted that he and Cami were just friends…

No, his brother was a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t cruel.

Then again, he doesn’t know what happened or the role Luke himself inadvertently played.

James cleared his throat. “The Alvarez case. Her husband poisoned her with a heavy metal, right? Thallium? I’ve done a bit of research, but I hoped that since your podcast already put in the time, you might have information on how it could effectively be used to murder someone and why Alvarez thought he’d get away with it.”

“He almost did. Why? Are you planning on poisoning someone?” she teased.

“It’s for a client,” James lied.

“You’re a defense attorney now.” The hint of pink was back before her mouth turned down. “I don’t remember seeing anything on the news about a thallium poisoning. I have Google alerts for that kind of thing. Thallium isn’t a super popular way to kill someone, though it is one of the best for getting away with murder.”

“Let’s call it a working theory. What do you know about it?”

“That’s pretty broad. What’s your case about?”

James found himself momentarily mesmerized by her fingertip delicately tracing the rim of her glass. Wrenching his gaze away, he forced himself to be dispassionate. “An elderly man died after a short, indeterminate illness. The symptoms began in his gastrointestinal tract. After routine testing, the doctors still couldn’t nail down a diagnosis. Later, information came to light that there was good reason to believe someone poisoned him.”

“What information?”

“That’s not important.”

“It is if you want me to help you,” Cami smiled, but he recognized the stubborn line of her jaw. “Your client is the accused?”

“I can’t discuss that. This is a purely hypothetical exercise.”

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