Page 52 of Heat of Justice

“It’s not wasted. Gives me an excuse to stay with you a bit longer.”

“You don’t need one. And I’m stalling. Look, the first time I met you, you wanted to know why I moved to Lewiston and shifted to family law.”

“I did.”

“I was not totally honest with you”

“No.” Cody nodded with a soft smile. “I’m aware.”

“I know you are.” Kim squeezed her hand. “So, here goes. I had this client, a running coach, who was accused of raping one of his athletes. He did have a rep for being a bit of an incorrigible flirt and a serial dater. But he swore blind that he was innocent of the rape, and it struck me as genuine at the time. I did not get bad vibes from him. Also, not long after I started to dig into the case, it became obvious that the woman was lying. I dug harder, and was able to prove it. Not only that, but she also eventually admitted that the claim was false.”

“She was not assaulted?”

“No. She had sex with another guy, rough sex, on purpose, then she tried to set up the coach. They’d been intimate once, but that’s all he wanted. She felt insulted, apparently.”

“Man, that’s twisted.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Not unheard of, of course, but still.”

“Yeah. The day after all charges against him were dropped, the client showed up at my office with a bunch of roses. Said he wanted to thank me. It was late in the day, and I was just aboutto leave. My secretary had gone home.” Kim swallowed. “So, I was all alone in the building.”

Sensing where this may be going, Cody suppressed a shiver, and she tensed.

“It’s silly, you know?” Kim went on. “My first thought was that he was going to ask me out for a drink or something like that. It occurred to me he might not know I was a lesbian, which would be weird because it was a very well-known fact about me. I never was in the closet. Or perhaps he thought he could sway me.”

“I don’t like it when guys think that,” Cody reflected.

“I don’t either; like if they insist enough, we’ll finally see the light, you know?”

“I suppose it’s just natural male arrogance.”

“Yeah. So I was a bit annoyed, but then I thought, hey, what the hell? Let’s just be polite, have a quick chat, and send him on his way. I took the roses, started to thank him, and also to make it clear I was on my way out.” Again, Kim exhaled. “The next thing I was aware of was this awful pain in the middle of my forehead. Everything went black; then I realized he had punched me in the face.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cody muttered.

“I never saw it coming. When I fell against my secretary’s desk, he jumped on top of me. Held me down. Said he wanted to thank me properly for being such a good lawyer. That none of the other women he’d actually raped previously, who may have wanted to come forward with a claim, would dare to try it now since I’d done such a good job of clearing him. And for a woman to do it, too… I remember how he pointed that out and laughed at the irony.”

“Kim…” Cody did not move to touch her, not even to offer comfort. She thought Kim might do better with a bit of space atthis particular point. So she held back, but her voice betrayed her emotion, sorrow, and compassion. “I am so sorry!”

“He was a big guy. Tall, full of muscle. More like a football player than a runner, even though he coached running. I fought him hard, but I was no match for him.”

“He would have killed you,” Cody reflected through gritted teeth. “He told you too much.”

“I think he probably would have, yes.” Kim agreed with a curt nod. “But as we wrestled, I finally managed to hit the panic button under the desk. A security guard was up in seconds and dealt with him.”

“How?”

“Coleman—that was his name, was armed with a hunting knife. He did not obey the guard’s order to stop and get on the floor. Instead, he grabbed his knife and went for him. So, the guard shot him twice in the chest in self-defense.”

“Did Coleman survive?”

“No, he did not.”

“Good,” Cody opined in a dark tone.

Kim scooted closer to wrap an arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. Seeking contact now.

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