Page 7 of Hush

Rumpled, stained with coffee, and late? Had to be something terrible. A car accident? Something worse?

Mike spotted Tom, waiting in the doorway in his robes, and Tom saw his face—scrunched up like he was trying to control himself, hold back some kind of twisted anger or frustration—fall. He jogged the rest of the long way to Tom’s chambers, shaking his head. As he came near, Tom saw Mike’s cell phone clenched in one fist, squeezing so hard his knuckles were white.

Mike closed his eyes, exhaling. The stench of coffee wafted off him. “Judge Brewer, I am so sorry. There’s no excuse for me being late.”

Up close, Tom could see dark bags beneath Mike’s eyes, purple stains that marred his tanned skin. The corners of his eyes were pinched, tiny crows’ feet that were just starting to form, looking deeper than they had yesterday. His lawyer’s brain started stacking up the evidence, putting together pieces of the puzzle that was Mike and this morning. “It’s all right. Something crazy must have happened. Car accident?”

Swallowing, Mike looked down, glaring at the polished tile floor. Tom kept watching him. A muddy stain, dried coffee with cream, marred one toe of Mike’s otherwise perfectly polished black wingtips.

“Not exactly.”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Wincing, Mike’s whole body clenched, and the hand holding his cell phone, his arm, all the way up to his neck, started to shake.

New evidence. Tom’s eyes narrowed, turning the frame on its side. There wasn’t a giant patch of coffee on Mike, like he’d expect if Mike had spilled it on himself. It was more of a splatter, almost like—

“Come in. Sit down.”

Mike’s cell phone kept buzzing, a constant drone and whine. Each vibration, each mechanical trill, made Mike flinch. Made his jaw clench and his eyes squeeze closed.

Tom leaned back against his desk, standing in front of Mike. Mike held his phone in both hands, suspended in front of him as he slumped in Tom’s leather chair.

The bailiff poked his head into Tom’s office again. “Your Honor, it’s been ten minutes.” His gaze flitted to Mike, and the bailiff’s eyebrows shot straight up.

“Thank you. Give us another ten minutes, and give the court my deepest apologies.”

Nodding, the bailiff shut the door. Mike groaned, pinching his nose with one hand. “Shit,” he cursed. “Judge Brewer, I’m—”

Tom waved him off. “Don’t even bother with apologizing, Mike.”

Mike sat up straight like a cord had been yanked along his spine, rocketing to professional in a half-second. He stared straight ahead, jaw clenched.

Tom softened his tone. “You don’thaveto apologize. This isn’t you. You’ve been absolutely perfect for every single day I’ve been here. I was starting to think you were actually a robot, some state-of-the-art android being tested by the marshals.”

Mike chuckled. His shoulders relaxed, fractionally.

“You’re allowed to be human.” Tom winked. “Once.”

Mike sat back, going boneless as he sighed. His phone kept buzzing constantly, like a beehive lived in his hand.

“Something you need to take care of?” Tom nodded to the phone. Was there a family situation? Something Mike needed to be focusing on, instead of being at the office?

“No.” Mike shook his head, his voice hard. “I’ve already taken care of it. This is just…” He swallowed. “This is someone wanting it to hurt.”

Oh.Tom’s gaze swept over Mike again. The clenched shoulders, the tight eyes, the bags. The flinch with every buzz—every incoming text, if he had to guess—and the coffee stains. “Bad breakup?”

Mike smiled, his gaze fixed on the edge of Tom’s desk, just to the right of Tom’s hip. He nodded, slowly. “The worst.”

“That coffee isn’t yours, huh?”

Groaning, Mike smoothed his hand down his spattered shirt and jacket. “No. I haven’t even had any this morning.” He took a deep breath. “Morning came way too quickly, in fact.”

Tom nodded. He dragged his phone close and paged his secretary. “Peggy, could you get me a cup of coffee, please?” He turned back to Mike. “How do you take yours?”

Mike’s jaw dropped. “Heavy on the cream, no sugar. Uh, Your Honor.” He tacked the honorific on at the end quickly.

Peggy chirped that she’d be right there. She was always bubbly, no matter the hour. Morning people were amazing.