Page 55 of Exposed

“See? I’d make a great partner.” Declan smiled.

“I know that.” Bennie hoped he wasn’t hurt, but he tended to roll with the punches, like her. Usually.

“Anyway it’s a standing offer. You change your mind, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you, really,” Bennie said, kissing him on the cheek. She snuggled beside him and put her arm across his chest, which was broad and strong, with lean muscles earned from riding horses and pitching hay. She secretly liked his farmer’s tan, typical of his lack of vanity, and he had the perfect amount of chest hair, dark and shot through with silvery strands. Just holding him calmed her down.

“Damn. The game’s on rain delay.”

“Aw, too bad. It’s raining in Philly?”

“Yes, a big thunderstorm.”

“It was fine when I left.” Bennie glanced at the television, where the news was coming on, broadcast from Philadelphia. The lead story was weather, and she rested her head on his chest and watched the TV without really seeing it, replaying Judy’s conversation in her mind. Suddenly a photo on the TV drew her attention, and she did a double-take.

“Declan, turn the sound on,” Bennie said, getting up onto her elbow.

On the screen behind the anchorperson was a smiling photo of Todd Eddington from OpenSpace. A lurid red banner readLOCAL MAN FOUND STABBED TO DEATH.

Bennie reached for her phone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Mary’s cell phone started ringing on her desk, and she felt a tingle of nervousness when she checked the screen and saw it was Bennie calling. Bennie’s profile picture was a candid of her laughing, taken in happier days, and Mary felt a guilty wrench at the sight. She had been working all afternoon, drafting an answer to the defamation complaint and doing the research to see if she should move the case to federal court. The fact that she was leaving the firm, and the effect on Bennie and Judy, had been in the back of her mind the entire time.

She picked up the phone call. “Hi, Bennie, how—”

“Did you see the news? Are you near a TV or a laptop?”

“I’m at the office.” Mary felt startled at the alarm in Bennie’s voice. “What news?”

“Todd Eddington was murdered. I just saw it on TV.”

“Oh my God.” Mary got onto Google, typed in Todd’s name, and a news story came up, a single paragraph:

Local Man Found Dead

Horsham resident Todd Eddington, 38, was found stabbed to death in his car today, at approximately 7:15p.m., in the parking lot of Tomahawk Country Club in Philadelphia. Eddington was a member of the club and was employed as a Sales Manager by OpenSpace, a cubicle manufacturer in Horsham. Authorities say that Eddington’s death was the result of a stab wound. It has not been determined at this time whether it was self-inflicted.

Mary couldn’t process it quickly enough. “This is terrible! This just happened? Didn’t you interview him just this morning?”

“Yes,” Bennie answered after a moment.

“Did he seem okay to you?” Mary’s mind raced, and she had a million questions at once. “Did he seem depressed or anything, like he’d want to kill himself? Do you think he killed himself because of the case?”

“I don’t know. I shouldn’t say more. We still have a conflict, and I don’t want to divulge privileged information. I shouldn’t have told you that I met with him.”

“But this isn’t about a case, this is about a person. He died, maybe by suicide. Or he could have beenmurdered.”

“I understand, but this doesn’t end our conflict. Whether it ends your lawsuit is up to you.”

“Right, that’s true.” Mary tried to collect her thoughts. “I wonder if they’ll continue the defamation case against Simon.”

“Pardon me?”

“The defamation case against Simon.” Mary repeated, her jittery gaze traveling over her desk, which was cluttered with Xeroxed cases on trade libel.

“I don’t know anything about that.”