Page 21 of Legal Attraction

The two women he’d left reading briefs both looked up and smiled eager expressions at him. Why had he been assigned the two of them? They were intelligent enough and seemed driven to please. Surely another partner could have been saddled with them. He’d pile them with so much work they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. And then he’d focus on getting more information about Muskanza.

“I need opinions from you both on what you’ve just read. I’ll expect them in my inbox by the end of today.”

“Already sent.” Mel lifted a new file. “I’ve been working on the next one, and I think you’re going in the wrong direction.”

His irritation and amusement battled one another a moment. Another day he might have humored her comment and opened a discussion. But not today, not with Coral down the hall.

Before he could answer at all, the alarm in the building went off. It was the particular intruder signal. He locked his door, slipped his gun in his pants, and then gestured for the women to lean up against the wall shared by his door, the one not covered in floor to ceiling glass, not seen from the hall.

“What’s going on?” Mel whispered.

She and Jaden had each taken a seat on the floor on either side of him. All three of their backs leaned against the wall.

“This is our active shooter drill.” He didn’t tell them that it wasn’t a drill. He’d keep that to himself unless necessary. “We have protocol in place if someone gets past our security,”

“You have really tight security though, don’t you?” Jaden frowned. “I sort of felt like I was at the airport.”

“We’re careful. Some of our clients require that we take precautions.”

“Wow, who do we represent? The drug cartel?” Jaden laughed. But Rand frowned.

He’d never discounted the possibility. But then he noticed both women watching him closely so he forced a laugh. “Our security is not to protect the drug cartel. This room is sound proof so we can talk freely but other offices are sitting in silence for this drill, just in case next time you’re in your own space.” He cleared his throat. “So tell me about why you chose Goldstein and Smithson.”

His watch alerted him with an update he scanned and then hid. Intruder was being pursued. There had been a bomb threat.

Immediately he thought of Coral and their experience at the Palisades. He hoped she was okay. It couldn’t be easy to have two threats in the same week. But maybe she was used to these sorts of situations.

His door handle jiggled.

Jaden gasped. And then held a hand over her mouth. She whispered. “This isn’t a drill, is it?”

He shook his head.

The women gripped his arms and closed their eyes. But to their credit, they remained perfectly still.

His door handle jiggled again, but then the room went silent. Rand held his body taut, ready to spring. His gun felt uncomfortably reassuringly wedged in the back of his pants under his belt and against his bare back.

His watched vibrated again. Shots had been fired. Goldstein and Smith’s security detail should be replaced. They spent much more time being overly concerned about the attorneys hired to work at the office than about protecting anyone from situations like this one. Too many minutes had passed with no resolution. “I think we should move back into my bathroom.”

Mel widened her eyes but then nodded.

“You too inch along this wall, out of sight of the windows until you get to the bathroom door then open it, slip inside and close and lock it behind you.”

“What about you?” Jaden’s lips quivered.

“You both have been so brave. Awesome under pressure. I don’t know what’s going on out there, but the intruder is still not caught. And that concerns me. No need to sit here waiting for them to come in through the door.”

“And you?” Mel studied his face.

“I’ll take care of things out here.”

When they looked like they might argue the point, he added, “And I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

Jaden nodded and started scooting along the wall away from Rand. Mel had to lift herself up and around Rand.

“Just stay as close as possible to me.” He pulled her close, on his lap as she moved over his body and then to the other side of him along the wall.

In just a few moments, both women were in his bathroom with the door locked.

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